Thrifle Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Thrifle (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the Thrifle website at thrifle.com and the Thrifle mobile application (together, the “Service”). The Service is a deal-aggregation and affiliate-marketing platform that helps users discover discounts, coupons, and offers from third-party retailers.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over your information. By using the Service, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

If you have questions about this policy, contact us at [email protected].

2. Who We Are

Thrifle is operated by Thrifle, a company based in the United States. For purposes of GDPR and similar laws, Thrifle is the “data controller” of personal information collected through the Service.

3. Who Can Use Thrifle

Thrifle is intended for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not use the Service or submit any information to us.

If you are between 13 and 18 (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction), you may use the Service only with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian where required by law.

Thrifle is family-friendly. We do not host or promote deals involving alcohol, tobacco, firearms, drugs, gambling, or adult content.

If we learn we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete it promptly. Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided us with personal information may contact us at [email protected] to request deletion.

4. Information We Collect

The Service can be browsed anonymously — you do not need to create an account to view deals. We collect information in the following categories:

4.1 Information you provide to us

You only provide personal information to us if you choose to create an account or interact with the Service in certain ways. Specifically:

• Account information — When you create an account to post deals, like deals, comment, or otherwise contribute, we collect your email address, a username (User ID), and a password (if you sign up with email and password). If you sign up using Sign in with Apple, we receive your name and a unique identifier from Apple, and we may receive an email address (which Apple may relay through a private email forwarding service).
• User-generated content — If you post a deal, leave a comment, react, or upload a photo, we collect the content you submit and associate it with your account. This content is publicly visible to other users of the Service.
• Communications — If you contact us by email or through the Service (for example, to request support, send feedback, or report an issue), we collect the contents of your message and any information you choose to include.

4.2 Information collected automatically

Whether or not you have an account, when you use the Service we automatically collect certain technical information, including:

• Device and connection information — Your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type and identifiers, screen size, language preference, and referring/exit pages.
• Usage information — Pages and screens you view, deals you click on, links you follow, time spent on the Service, search terms you enter, and similar activity data.
• Cookies and similar technologies — We use cookies, web beacons, pixels, and similar technologies to operate the Service, remember preferences, and analyze usage. See Section 8 for details.
• Crash and diagnostic data — If you use the Thrifle mobile app, we collect crash reports, error logs, and performance metrics through tools such as Sentry or Apple’s crash reporting to help us identify and fix bugs.

4.3 Information from third parties

We may receive information about you from:

• Authentication providers — If you sign in with Apple, we receive limited profile information from Apple as described above.
• Affiliate networks — When you click an affiliate link on Thrifle and complete a purchase on a partner retailer’s site, the affiliate network reports certain transaction information to us (typically anonymous or aggregated, such as commission amount and product category) so we can be paid. We do not receive your name, full payment details, or shipping address from these reports.
• Analytics providers — Google Analytics provides us with aggregated reports about Service usage. See Section 8.

4.4 Information we do not collect

We do not collect or store payment card information, bank account details, or shipping addresses. All purchases happen on the third-party retailer’s website. We do not request access to your contacts, microphone, or precise location. We do not display the App Tracking Transparency prompt because we do not track you across other apps and websites for advertising purposes.

5. Mobile App Permissions

The Thrifle mobile app may request the following permissions on your device. You can grant or deny each permission and change your choice at any time in your device’s settings.

• Push notifications — Used to send you alerts about new deals, replies to your posts or comments, and other Service updates. Optional. You can disable notifications at any time in your device settings.
• Camera and photo library — Used only when you choose to upload a photo to a deal you are posting. We access only the photos you select; we do not scan or upload other content from your device.
• Crash reporting — The app reports crashes and performance issues to help us debug. Crash reports may include device model, operating system version, app version, and a stack trace, and do not include the contents of your photos, messages, or other personal data.

6. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Operate, maintain, and improve the Service, including showing you relevant deals and recommendations.
• Create and manage your account, authenticate you, and let you post, comment, like, and otherwise interact.
• Send you service-related communications, such as confirmations, security alerts, and policy updates.
• Send you optional product communications, such as deal alerts and newsletters — you can opt out at any time.
• Respond to your support requests, feedback, and inquiries.
• Generate aggregated, de-identified analytics about how the Service is used.
• Detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, security incidents, and violations of our Terms of Service.
• Process affiliate-link clicks and verify commissions earned through our affiliate partners.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our agreements.

We do not sell your personal information for money. See Section 11 for how we treat “sharing” under California law.

7. How We Share Information

We share information only as described below.

7.1 With service providers

We share information with vendors that help us operate the Service. These providers are bound by contract to use information only as needed to provide services to us. Current providers include:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) — Cloud hosting and storage of the Service and its database.
• Google Analytics — Aggregated usage analytics.
• Apple — Sign in with Apple authentication, push notification delivery, and crash reporting.
• Email and customer support tools — For sending transactional emails and responding to support requests.
• Crash and error reporting tools (e.g., Sentry) — To identify and fix bugs.

7.2 With affiliate networks and merchants

When you click an affiliate link on Thrifle, you are redirected to a third-party retailer’s website. The retailer and the affiliate network (such as Amazon Associates, AliExpress Affiliate Program, eBay Partner Network, CJ Affiliate, Awin, Impact, and similar networks we may add over time) will collect information about your visit and any purchase you make under their own privacy policies. The most common information they collect is a click identifier and any transaction details. Once you leave Thrifle, the retailer’s privacy practices apply.

Affiliate disclosure: Thrifle is an affiliate marketing platform. We may earn a commission when you click a link on Thrifle and make a purchase from a partner retailer, at no additional cost to you. This is how we fund the Service.

7.3 Public content

Deals you post, comments you write, reactions you make, and your username are publicly visible on the Service and can be seen, copied, and re-shared by anyone, including search engines. Do not include personal information in public posts that you would not want to be public.

7.4 Legal and safety

We may disclose information when we reasonably believe it is required to:

• Comply with applicable law, a subpoena, court order, or other legal process.
• Enforce our Terms of Service or other agreements.
• Protect the rights, property, or safety of Thrifle, our users, or others, including investigating fraud or suspected illegal activity.

7.5 Business transfers

If Thrifle is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you (for example, by email or a prominent notice on the Service) of any change in ownership or material change in how your information is handled.

7.6 With your consent

We may share information for any other purpose with your consent.

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:

• Strictly necessary — Required for the Service to function, such as keeping you logged in and remembering items in your session.
• Preferences — Remember your settings, such as theme or language.
• Analytics — Google Analytics cookies help us understand how the Service is used in aggregate. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing Google’s browser opt-out add-on.
• Affiliate tracking — Affiliate networks may set cookies when you click an affiliate link so they can attribute your purchase. These are set by the affiliate network, not by Thrifle.

You can disable cookies in your browser settings. If you do, some features of the Service may not work properly. We do not respond to “Do Not Track” browser signals at this time, but we limit our tracking to the purposes described above.

9. How Long We Keep Information

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy. In practice:

• Account information — Retained while your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your account information within 30 days, except for content that is required for the Service’s integrity (for example, comments on threads remain but are anonymized).
• User-generated content — Public deals and comments may remain visible after account deletion in anonymized form. You can request removal of specific posts at any time.
• Server logs and analytics data — Typically retained for up to 26 months, then deleted or aggregated.
• Records we are legally required to keep — Retained for the period required by law (for example, tax records or fraud-prevention records).

10. How We Protect Information

We use commercially reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including:

• Encryption in transit using HTTPS/TLS for all communications between your device and the Service.
• Access controls and least-privilege principles for staff who can access systems containing personal data.
• Hashed and salted passwords — we do not store your password in plain text.
• Regular security review of our infrastructure on AWS.

No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a security incident affecting your personal information, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by applicable law.

11. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have specific rights over your personal information. Regardless of jurisdiction, you can:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Delete your account and associated personal information.
• Withdraw consent to optional communications by clicking “unsubscribe” in any marketing email.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at [email protected]. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request, and we will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.

11.1 European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland (GDPR)

If you are in the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and equivalent UK and Swiss laws:

• Right of access — obtain a copy of your personal data.
• Right to rectification — correct inaccurate personal data.
• Right to erasure — ask us to delete your personal data.
• Right to restrict processing — limit how we process your data.
• Right to data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object — object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including direct marketing.
• Right to withdraw consent — withdraw consent where we rely on it.
• Right to lodge a complaint — with your local data protection authority.

Our legal bases for processing your personal data are: (a) performance of our agreement with you, (b) our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the Service, (c) your consent where required, and (d) compliance with legal obligations.

If you access the Service from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States. We rely on appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses where required) for international data transfers.

11.2 California (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

• Right to know what categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected, used, disclosed, or shared about you.
• Right to delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to legal exceptions.
• Right to correct inaccurate personal information.
• Right to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information.
• Right to limit use of sensitive personal information.
• Right to non-discrimination for exercising your rights.

In the past 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information: identifiers (such as IP address, email, user ID), internet or other electronic network activity (such as browsing and click data), commercial information (such as deal interactions), and inferences drawn from the above (such as deal interests).

Do we sell or share your information? Thrifle does not sell your personal information for money. Under California’s broad definition, however, the use of cookies and tracking technologies for analytics or affiliate attribution may be considered “sharing.” If you would like to opt out, email us at [email protected] with the subject line “California Opt-Out”. We will also honor a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal sent by your browser as an opt-out request.

You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We will require written authorization and may require you to verify the request directly.

11.3 Other US states

Residents of other US states with comprehensive privacy laws (including Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, and others as such laws come into effect) have rights similar to those described above. To exercise your rights, contact us at [email protected].

12. International Users

Thrifle is operated from the United States and the Service is primarily intended for users in the United States. The Service is accessible globally. If you access Thrifle from outside the United States, you understand that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country.

13. Third-Party Links and Services

Thrifle contains links to third-party websites and services, including retailer sites, affiliate networks, and social media platforms. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party site or service you use through Thrifle.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Effective Date” at the top of this policy and notify you by email (if we have your email) or by posting a prominent notice on the Service. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact us:

Thrifle
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://thrifle.com