Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Bridleway LLC, a Maryland limited liability company (“Bridleway,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or “Company”), operates the bridleway.co website and is the data controller responsible for your personal data. This Privacy Policy informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our Service and the choices you have associated with that data.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring transparency in how we handle your information. By using our Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

2. Information We Collect

Personal Data

We may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when you:

• Create an account or profile
• List a horse for sale
• Make a purchase or payment
• Contact us with inquiries
• Subscribe to our newsletter
• Participate in surveys or promotions

This information may include:

• Email address
• First and last name
• Phone number (optional)
• Postal address (for sellers)
• Payment information (processed securely through Stripe)

Technical Data

When you access our website, we may automatically collect:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Internet Service Provider (ISP)
• Referral source
• Cookie identifiers
• Device IDs
• Session data

Usage Data

• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Features used
• Search queries
• Interactions with listings
• Clickstream data

Identity Verification Data (Sensitive Personal Information)

To become a Verified Seller and to help prevent fraud, we offer identity verification powered by Stripe Identity. To complete verification, you provide a government-issued photo ID (driver's license, passport, or identity card) and a live selfie. This may include “sensitive personal information” as defined under California law.

• The ID document images and selfie are captured and processed by Stripe Identity. We do not store copies of your government ID images or selfie on our servers.
• We retain only the verification resultand a limited set of fields returned by Stripe to record that verification succeeded — such as your name, date of birth, document type, and issuing country.
• We use this information only to verify your identity, prevent fraud, and meet our legal obligations — not to infer characteristics about you or for advertising.

3. How We Use Your Information

Bridleway uses the collected data for various purposes:

• To provide, operate, and maintain our marketplace services
• To process transactions and send related information
• To verify seller and buyer identities
• To notify you about changes to our Service
• To respond to inquiries and offer customer support
• To send promotional communications (with your consent)
• To detect, prevent, and address fraud and security issues
• To monitor usage patterns and improve your experience
• To comply with legal obligations

Legal Bases for Processing (EEA/UK Users)

Where the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation applies, we process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis to do so. These bases map to the purposes listed above:

• Performance of a contract— to create and operate your account, publish your listings, process transactions, and provide the marketplace services you request.
• Legitimate interests— to keep the platform secure, prevent fraud and abuse, and understand and improve how the Service is used, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Consent— for non-essential analytics cookies and for optional marketing communications. You can withdraw consent at any time without affecting processing that already took place.
• Legal obligation— to meet tax, accounting, identity verification (including the INFORM Consumers Act, below), and other legal requirements.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our Service and hold certain information. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent.

Types of Cookies We Use

5. Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, to help us understand how visitors use our website. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect anonymous information about your visits, including pages viewed, time spent on the site, and how you arrived at our website.

This information is transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google may use this data to contextualize and personalize the user experience.

For more information about Google Analytics privacy practices, visit: https://policies.google.com/privacy

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

6. Third-Party Services

We may use third-party services to improve our Site:

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data for as long as necessary to provide our Services, comply with legal obligations, or resolve disputes:

• Account data: Retained while account is active + 12 months after deletion
• Transaction records: Retained for 7 years (IRS requirements for 1099 reporting)
• Analytics data: Retained for 26 months (Google Analytics default)
• Cookie data: Retained until expiration or user deletion

8. Your Data Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

To exercise any of these rights — including requests to access, delete, correct, or opt out — contact us at legal@bridleway.co. You can also use our Data Deletion page for erasure requests. We will respond within the timeframes required by law — generally within 45 days for CCPA/CPRA requests and within 30 days for GDPR/UK GDPR requests, each extendable where the law permits and we notify you of the extension.

9. Children's Privacy

Our Service is intended only for adults and is not directed to anyone under the age of 18. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account or use the Service. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that a minor has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from anyone under 18 without verification of adult status, we take steps to remove such information from our servers.

10. Security of Data

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your Personal Data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• SSL/TLS encryption for all data transmission
• Secure password hashing and storage
• Regular security audits and updates
• Access controls and authentication requirements
• PCI-compliant payment processing through Stripe

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Last Updated” date at the top. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us: