Prefer the readable version? The plain-English summary covers what is in here without the legal grammar — though this document is the one that governs.
Read the short versionPorchfest HQ helps community event organizers manage performers and hosts, build schedules, identify potential conflicts, and create maps, schedules, and other materials for their events.
This Privacy Policy explains how Darren Austin, a sole proprietor doing business as Porchfest HQ (“Porchfest HQ,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information.
It applies to the Porchfest HQ website, software, applications, and related services (collectively, the “Service”).
Our approach is straightforward: we collect and use information to provide and improve Porchfest HQ. We don’t sell your personal information, and we don’t treat the performer and host information entrusted to Porchfest HQ as ours to market or publish.
1. Who Is Responsible for Privacy at Porchfest HQ?
Porchfest HQ is responsible for the personal information under our control.
Our designated privacy contact is:
Privacy Officer Porchfest HQ Darren Austin, sole proprietor doing business as Porchfest HQ 729 Main St., Edmonds, WA 98020deletemyaccount@porchfesthq.com
Questions, privacy requests, or complaints may be sent to this contact.
2. The Different Kinds of Information in Porchfest HQ
There are two important categories of information in the Service.
Information You Give Us Directly
This includes information associated with people who have a direct relationship with Porchfest HQ, such as organizers who create accounts or purchase the Service.
Information an Organizer Entrusts to Porchfest HQ
Organizers may also enter information about performers, hosts, volunteers, venues, and other people involved in their event.
In those situations, the event organizer generally decides:
- what information to collect;
- why it is collected;
- how it should be used;
- who on the organizing team may access it; and
- what information the organizer may ultimately choose to publish outside Porchfest HQ.
Porchfest HQ provides the software used to process that information.
We do not treat that information as ours simply because it is stored in Porchfest HQ.
3. Information We Collect
The information we collect depends on how you interact with Porchfest HQ.
Account and Organizer Information
When you create or use an account, we may collect:
- name;
- email address;
- telephone number;
- organization or event name;
- role within an organization;
- login and authentication information;
- billing information;
- account preferences; and
- communications with Porchfest HQ.
Event Information
Organizers may enter or upload information such as:
- event name and date;
- event location;
- performance locations;
- event schedule;
- time slots;
- performer and band information;
- host information;
- venue information;
- organizer notes;
- scheduling preferences;
- mapping information; and
- other information used to plan the event.
Performer, Host, Volunteer, and Venue Information
Information entered by an organizer may include:
- names;
- email addresses;
- telephone numbers;
- band or performer names;
- musical genres;
- performance requirements;
- availability;
- host names;
- residential or venue addresses;
- location information;
- scheduling preferences;
- event-related notes; and
- other information relevant to organizing the event.
Event organizers should collect only information reasonably necessary for their event.
Porchfest HQ is not designed to store Social Security numbers, Social Insurance numbers, financial-account credentials, medical records, government identification numbers, or similarly sensitive information.
Payment and Transaction Information
We currently use Stripe Managed Payments for eligible purchases.
For transactions processed through Stripe Managed Payments, Sold through Link, LLC, a Stripe affiliate, acts as merchant of record and facilitates the transaction on behalf of Porchfest HQ. Porchfest HQ remains the seller and provider of the Service.
Stripe and its affiliates may collect and process information associated with your purchase, including:
- name;
- email address;
- billing address;
- telephone number;
- payment-card or other payment-method information;
- transaction and order information;
- tax-related information;
- information used for fraud prevention, authentication, or dispute handling; and
- information necessary to provide payment-related customer support.
Porchfest HQ may receive information about your transaction, including information such as the purchaser's name and contact information, product or plan purchased, amount, date, status, applicable taxes, refunds, disputes, and limited payment information.
Porchfest HQ does not intend to store complete payment-card numbers or card security codes on our own systems.
Stripe and its affiliates may process transaction information for purposes associated with Managed Payments, including payment processing, fraud prevention, receipts, order management, transaction support, refunds, disputes, tax administration, regulatory compliance, and other purposes described in Stripe's own terms and privacy notices.
Stripe's handling of information for its own purposes is governed by its applicable privacy practices.
Usage and Technical Information
When you visit our website or use Porchfest HQ, we and our service providers may automatically collect information such as:
- IP address;
- browser type;
- device type;
- operating system;
- referring page;
- pages or features used;
- dates and times of use;
- session information;
- approximate geographic information;
- cookie or device identifiers; and
- diagnostic and performance information.
Sign-In Bot Protection
Our sign-in screen uses Cloudflare Turnstile, provided by Cloudflare, Inc., to distinguish human visitors from automated scripts before a one-time sign-in link is sent by email. It operates only on that screen. We use it because the address a sign-in link is sent to is chosen by whoever requests it, and unattended requests would otherwise be sent in our name.
To make that assessment, Cloudflare receives client-side signals from your browser, which may include your IP address, TLS fingerprint, User-Agent header, and the site key and originating website. Cloudflare states that it does not have the ability to directly identify an individual from these signals, and that they are collected only as necessary to detect and block automated abuse.
Cloudflare’s processing of this information is described in the Cloudflare Turnstile Privacy Addendum.
Refund Requests and Related Records
If you request a refund, we may collect information identifying your purchase, the date and channel of your request, any feedback you choose to provide, our correspondence, and the outcome of the request. Feedback is requested to help us improve the Service but is not a condition of an otherwise eligible refund.
4. Google Analytics and Mixpanel
We use Google Analytics and Mixpanel to understand how people use Porchfest HQ and to improve the product.
For example, analytics may help us understand:
- which features are used;
- whether users successfully complete common workflows;
- which pages are visited;
- where users encounter problems;
- general usage trends; and
- how well product changes are working.
These services may use cookies or similar technologies and receive technical and usage information from your browser or device.
We do not intentionally send performer rosters, host lists, personal notes, or similar Customer Data to these analytics services for advertising purposes.
We configure and use analytics for product measurement and improvement rather than to sell personal information.
We may also use Mixpanel and relevant application records to support human review of refund requests and suspected fraud or refund abuse. These records may include dates and times of feature use, successful or failed imports and matching operations, schedule or map generation, exports, and counts of completed actions. Internal identifiers may associate these records with an organizer account, event, or purchase, including relevant activity by authorized members of the organizing team.
For refund-review analytics, we limit information to relevant activity metadata and counts rather than performer or host contact information, residential addresses, private notes, uploaded file contents, or payment credentials. Freeform refund feedback and correspondence are handled as support records rather than product-analytics event content.
Usage information does not by itself establish that the Service met your needs. Refund decisions are reviewed by a person, not determined automatically from analytics. Ordinary evaluation does not by itself defeat our 14-day satisfaction guarantee. Missing analytics or exercising applicable privacy choices does not by itself make you ineligible for a refund.
Where legally required, we will provide choices regarding non-essential analytics cookies or technologies.
6. How We Use Personal Information
We use personal information to:
- provide and operate Porchfest HQ;
- create and administer accounts;
- authenticate users;
- facilitate purchases and manage customer relationships;
- provide customer support;
- review and administer refund requests and use optional refund feedback to improve the Service;
- enable organizers to manage performers, hosts, venues, and schedules;
- generate matches, schedules, maps, and other event-planning materials;
- identify potential scheduling or sound conflicts;
- operate automated planning features;
- send account, service, security, and transactional communications;
- understand Service usage;
- troubleshoot problems;
- improve Porchfest HQ;
- protect the security of accounts and systems;
- prevent fraud and misuse;
- enforce our Terms of Service;
- maintain appropriate business records;
- comply with applicable law; and
- protect the rights and safety of Porchfest HQ, our users, and others.
We limit our collection, use, and retention of personal information to purposes we consider reasonably appropriate for operating Porchfest HQ and our business.
7. Porchfest HQ Does Not Publish Your Event Data
Porchfest HQ does not independently publish your performer, host, venue, address, contact, or event-planning information to the public.
The Service may generate:
- schedules;
- maps;
- reports;
- downloadable files;
- web-ready materials; or
- other event artifacts.
An organizer may choose to publish, print, embed, distribute, or otherwise use these materials outside Porchfest HQ.
The organizer — not Porchfest HQ — determines whether and how that publication occurs.
Once an organizer publishes information outside Porchfest HQ, the organizer's own privacy practices and the practices of the destination service may apply.
8. Information We Process for Event Organizers
When an event organizer submits information about performers, hosts, volunteers, or other participants, Porchfest HQ generally processes that information to provide services to the organizer.
The organizer is responsible for determining:
- why the information is collected;
- whether it has an appropriate legal basis or consent to collect it;
- what information is necessary;
- who may access it;
- how it will be used;
- whether any portion will ultimately be made public; and
- when it should be deleted, subject to applicable law and Porchfest HQ functionality.
If you are a performer, host, volunteer, or other event participant and have a question about information entered by an organizer, you may contact that organizer.
You may also contact us at deletemyaccount@porchfesthq.com. Where the organizer is responsible for determining how your information should be handled, we may refer or coordinate the request with that organizer.
9. How We Disclose Information
We do not sell personal information.
We may disclose information in the following limited circumstances.
Service Providers and Payment Partners
We use third parties that help us operate Porchfest HQ or facilitate purchases.
These may provide:
- hosting and infrastructure;
- payment processing and merchant-of-record services;
- fraud prevention and dispute handling;
- analytics;
- databases;
- email delivery;
- authentication;
- bot detection and abuse prevention;
- customer support;
- mapping;
- monitoring; and
- other technical or operational services.
Our providers and partners currently include Stripe and its affiliates, Google Analytics, Mixpanel, and Cloudflare, among others.
They may receive or process information as reasonably necessary to provide their services, fulfill their own legal obligations, or for other purposes described in their applicable terms and privacy notices.
We may share a limited, relevant summary of purchase, usage, support, or refund records with Stripe and its affiliates where reasonably necessary to respond to a transaction inquiry, refund request, or dispute. We limit such disclosures to information relevant to resolving the matter rather than sharing unrelated event data.
Your Organizing Team
Information associated with an event may be available to authorized organizers who have access to that event.
At Your Direction
We may process, export, or transmit information when an authorized user instructs the Service to do so.
Legal and Safety Purposes
We may disclose information when we reasonably believe it is necessary to:
- comply with applicable law;
- respond to valid legal process;
- enforce our agreements;
- investigate fraud or security incidents;
- protect Porchfest HQ systems; or
- protect the rights, property, or safety of Porchfest HQ, our users, or others.
Business Transactions
If the Porchfest HQ business is incorporated, transferred to another business entity, or involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of some or all of the business or its assets, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable law and appropriate protections.
10. We Don’t Sell Personal Information
Porchfest HQ does not sell personal information for money.
We do not sell performer, host, organizer, or event-participant information.
We do not use performer or host information submitted by organizers to create third-party marketing lists.
If our practices materially change in the future, we will update this Policy and provide any choices or consent required by applicable law before using previously collected personal information for a materially different purpose.
11. Marketing Communications
We may send Porchfest HQ customers and prospective customers information about the Service where permitted by law.
Marketing emails will include a way to unsubscribe.
Opting out of marketing messages will not prevent us from sending necessary:
- account communications;
- purchase confirmations;
- security notices;
- support messages; or
- other transactional or service-related communications.
For recipients in Canada, we will endeavor to send commercial electronic messages in accordance with applicable Canadian anti-spam requirements.
12. Automated Features
Porchfest HQ may use automated systems, optimization techniques, algorithms, or artificial intelligence to help create recommendations involving matters such as:
- performer-host matching;
- scheduling;
- conflict identification; or
- event planning.
These systems generally operate on information supplied for the event.
They are designed to assist organizers rather than make consequential decisions about individuals without human review.
Organizers remain responsible for reviewing recommendations and making final event-planning decisions.
13. How Long We Keep Information
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for purposes including:
- providing Porchfest HQ;
- maintaining active event records;
- supporting customers;
- maintaining appropriate business and accounting records;
- complying with legal obligations;
- resolving disputes;
- preventing fraud;
- maintaining security; and
- operating reasonable backup systems.
Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and why we hold it.
When personal information is no longer reasonably necessary, we will delete or de-identify it in accordance with our retention practices, subject to applicable law and backup processes.
Third parties such as Stripe may maintain transaction or other information according to their own legal obligations and retention practices.
14. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information from:
- unauthorized access;
- unauthorized disclosure;
- misuse;
- loss;
- alteration; and
- destruction.
Our safeguards are intended to be appropriate to the nature and sensitivity of the information involved.
No internet service can guarantee absolute security.
Users are also responsible for protecting login credentials and limiting access to appropriate members of their organizing teams.
15. Where Information Is Processed
Porchfest HQ is based in the United States.
Personal information belonging to customers and individuals in Canada may therefore be transferred to, stored in, or processed in the United States, including by Porchfest HQ and service providers supporting the Service.
Our service providers and payment partners may also process information in other jurisdictions depending on their infrastructure and operations.
When information is processed outside your province or country, it may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction and may be accessible to courts, law-enforcement agencies, or governmental authorities in accordance with applicable law.
We take reasonable steps to select service providers and contractual arrangements appropriate to the information entrusted to them.
Questions about our use of service providers outside Canada may be directed to our Privacy Officer at deletemyaccount@porchfesthq.com.
16. Your Privacy Rights and Choices
Depending on where you live and the law that applies, you may have rights concerning your personal information.
These may include the right to:
- know whether we hold personal information about you;
- understand how it is used;
- request access to it;
- request correction of inaccurate information;
- request deletion where applicable;
- obtain a copy of certain information;
- withdraw consent where processing depends on consent;
- object to or restrict certain processing where applicable; and
- submit a complaint about our privacy practices.
You may submit a request to:
deletemyaccount@porchfesthq.com
We may need to verify your identity before responding.
Some information may be exempt from a request when retention or processing is permitted or required by law.
We will respond within the period required by applicable law.
If your request concerns information held independently by Stripe in connection with a payment or Stripe Managed Payments transaction, Stripe may separately be responsible for responding to the request under its applicable privacy practices. Where appropriate, we may direct you to Stripe or coordinate with Stripe regarding the request.
17. Requests Involving Organizer-Supplied Information
If Porchfest HQ holds information about you solely because an event organizer submitted it, that organizer may be responsible for deciding how the information should be corrected, deleted, or otherwise handled.
In those circumstances, we may:
- direct you to the organizer;
- forward your request to the organizer; or
- work with the organizer to respond.
We will not use this distinction to prevent you from raising a privacy concern with Porchfest HQ.
18. Canadian Privacy Rights
Porchfest HQ serves customers in Canada and endeavors to handle Canadian personal information consistently with applicable Canadian private-sector privacy laws.
Depending on the circumstances and province, these may include:
- Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”);
- British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act;
- Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act; and
- Québec's private-sector privacy legislation.
Canadian privacy principles include accountability, identifying purposes, appropriate consent, limiting collection, limiting use and retention, accuracy, safeguards, openness, access, and the ability to challenge compliance.
Canadian users may contact our Privacy Officer about access, correction, consent, our use of service providers, or other privacy questions.
19. United States Privacy Rights
Residents of certain U.S. states may have rights under applicable state privacy laws.
Where such laws apply to Porchfest HQ, those rights may include:
- access;
- correction;
- deletion;
- data portability; and
- rights concerning certain sales, sharing, targeted advertising, or profiling.
Porchfest HQ does not sell personal information for money.
Our current business model does not depend on selling performer, host, organizer, or customer information or using that information for third-party targeted advertising.
We will not discriminate against an individual for exercising a privacy right protected by applicable law.
20. Children and Youth
Porchfest HQ is intended for use by event organizers and is not directed to children under 13.
We do not knowingly solicit personal information directly from children under 13.
Some Porchfest events may include youth performers.
If an event organizer enters information about a minor, the organizer is responsible for ensuring it has appropriate authority and consent to collect and use that information.
Organizers should minimize information collected about minors and should take particular care before including information about minors in materials that they intend to publish.
If you believe information about a child has been collected improperly, please contact deletemyaccount@porchfesthq.com.
21. Privacy Complaints
If you have a concern about our privacy practices, please contact our Privacy Officer first.
We will review privacy complaints in good faith and respond as required by applicable law.
Nothing in this Policy limits your right to contact an appropriate privacy or data-protection regulator where that right is provided by law.
22. Third-Party Websites and Services
Porchfest HQ may link to or integrate with third-party websites or services, including payment services provided by Stripe and its affiliates.
Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies for information they process independently.
We encourage you to review the privacy practices of third-party services you choose to use.
23. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy as Porchfest HQ or applicable privacy requirements evolve.
We will update the Effective Date when changes are made.
If we make material changes to how we handle personal information, we will provide additional notice where appropriate or required by law.
24. Contact Us
For privacy questions, requests, or complaints:
Privacy Officer Porchfest HQ Darren Austin, sole proprietor doing business as Porchfest HQ 729 Main St., Edmonds, WA 98020deletemyaccount@porchfesthq.com
For general product or support questions: