Privacy Policy

Pinellas Podcast LLC ("Pinellas Podcast," "we," "us," or "our") operates this website and the Pinellas County Explorer rewards program. We respect your privacy and are committed to being clear about how your information is handled.

Information we collect

Information you give us

• Account & profile: your name/display name, email address, and any optional profile details you add (avatar, city, birth year, gender, interests).
• Content you submit: reviews, photos, community nominations and votes, reel comments, business listings, contact-form messages, and any voice or video you choose to record and upload.
• Business accounts: business details, listings, offers, and messages you send to or receive from other users.

Information collected automatically

• Check-in & location: when you check in at a participating business, we use your device's location to confirm you're on-site and record the check-in. Location is used at the moment of check-in and is not tracked continuously in the background.
• Usage & analytics: pages viewed, referring site, and watch time, associated with a random anonymous visitor ID (not your name). See our Cookie Policy.
• Optional location sharing: if you turn on the "share location" toggle, your recent check-in spots may appear to other explorers on the map. This is off by default and you can turn it off anytime.

How we use your information

• To provide your account, the Explorer rewards program, and check-ins.
• To process payments and manage business subscriptions.
• To display community content, reviews, listings, and leaderboards.
• To send transactional and, where you've opted in, promotional emails.
• To understand traffic and improve the platform.
• To keep the platform safe, prevent abuse, and comply with the law.

Voice & AI processing

Some features let you record audio or video. Where a feature transcribes audio (for example AI-generated captions or voice tools), the audio is sent to a third-party AI provider (OpenAI, via the Lovable AI gateway) to produce text. We only do this for content you actively choose to record. We do not use your recordings to train third-party AI models.

How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as needed with:

• Service providers who run the platform on our behalf — our cloud/database and email provider (Lovable Cloud / Supabase), our payment processor (Stripe), and our AI provider for transcription features.
• Other users — content you post publicly (reviews, comments, nominations, listings, and, if enabled, your shared location) is visible to others by design.
• Legal & safety — when required by law or to protect rights, safety, and the integrity of the platform.

Payments

Payments and subscriptions are processed by Stripe. We don't store your full card number — Stripe handles card data under its own privacy policy and PCI-compliant systems.

Data retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the platform. You can ask us to delete your account and associated personal data; some records may be retained where required for legal, tax, or fraud-prevention purposes.

Your rights & choices

• Access, correction & deletion: you can view and edit your profile in your account, and request access to or deletion of your data by emailing us.
• EU/UK (GDPR): you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, and port your data, and to object to certain processing.
• California (CCPA/CPRA): you have the right to know, delete, and correct your data, and to opt out of any sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not sell your data. You can opt out of analytics using our cookie banner or the "Cookie preferences" link in the footer.
• Marketing emails: you can unsubscribe anytime using the link in any promotional email.

Children

The platform is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we'll remove it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We'll revise the "Last updated" date above and, for material changes, provide a more prominent notice.

Contact us

Questions or requests? Email pinellaspodcast@gmail.com. See also our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy.