Privacy Policy

Last Updated: June 24, 2026

Our Commitment

HotCrate is a small app built by a small team. We collect only what we need to run the service, we're transparent about how we use it, and we don't do anything creepy with it.

Data We Collect

Account Information

Email address (required for login)
Business name, phone number, and address (optional, used for your public catalog and rental communications)

Inventory and Rental Data

Items, bundles, categories, photos, and pricing you add to your inventory
Rental records, date blocks, and availability data
Messages exchanged through the rental communication system

Customer Data You Provide

Your renters' names, email addresses, and phone numbers
Rental inquiry details submitted through your public catalog or embed widget

You are responsible for having appropriate consent from your customers to store their contact information in HotCrate. We process this data on your behalf to operate the service.

Technical Data

Session tokens (to keep you logged in)
Bot protection tokens (Cloudflare Turnstile, used on public forms)
Cookieless, aggregate analytics on public pages (Vercel Web Analytics; no cookies and no cross-site tracking)

How We Use Your Data

Your account data authenticates you. Your inventory and rental data powers the app. Customer data submitted through your catalog is used to create rental inquiries and facilitate communication between you and your renters.

Public Catalog and Embed Widget

If you make items public, their names, descriptions, photos, and daily rates are visible to anyone who visits your catalog page or a site where your embed widget is installed. Availability information (whether an item is booked for given dates) is also accessible through the public catalog. No customer data or private inventory data is exposed publicly.

Email Communications

Transactional emails (login codes, rental notifications, inquiry confirmations) cannot be disabled while maintaining an account.

We use Resend to deliver emails. They process email addresses to deliver messages on our behalf.

Cookies

We keep cookies to a minimum. The only cookie we set is an essential session cookie that keeps you logged in. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies, and our analytics (Vercel Web Analytics) is cookieless.

Payments

Paid subscriptions are processed by Stripe, our payment provider and Merchant of Record. Stripe handles your payment details; we never see or store your full card number. We keep a record of your subscription (such as plan, status, and Stripe customer and transaction identifiers) to manage your account. See our Refund Policy for how refunds are handled.

How We Monetize

HotCrate is supported by paid subscription plans. We don't run ads, sell your data, or share it with ad networks.

Data Sharing and Sub-Processors

We don't sell or rent your personal information. We rely on a small set of trusted providers (sub-processors) that access only the data needed to perform their function:

Supabase (database and authentication)
Vercel (hosting and cookieless web analytics)
Resend (transactional email delivery)
Stripe (subscription payments, as Merchant of Record)
Cloudflare Turnstile (bot protection on public forms)
Upstash (rate limiting to prevent abuse)

Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure database storage, and row-level security policies to isolate your data from other accounts. No system is perfectly secure, but we take this seriously.

Deleting Your Data

You can delete your account and its associated data at any time. For questions about data deletion, contact us.

Children's Privacy

HotCrate is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from this age group.

Business Transfers

If Sandpiper Media Group or HotCrate is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to the protections of this policy. We'll post notice of any change in ownership here.

Changes to This Policy

Significant policy changes will be posted on this page. Continued use of HotCrate constitutes acceptance of updates.