Privacy policy

The short version

We collect what we need to run the site: who you are when you sign in, the town and interests you pick, and the things you save, post or ask us to send you. We never sell your information. We don’t use ad networks or third party ad trackers. You can ask us to see, fix or delete your information at any time.

What we collect when you sign in

Howdy doesn’t use passwords. When you sign in with Google (or Apple, Facebook or an email link when those are available), we get your name, email address and profile picture from that service. We use them to create your account and show your first name and last initial on things you post.

Howdy New Caney’s use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We only ask Google for your basic profile and email, never your contacts, files or anything else in your Google account.

What you tell us

When you join, you can tell us your town, your interests, your birth month (for a birthday treat from local partners, never your full birthday) and whether you want text alerts. If you turn on texts, we’ll ask for your mobile number and keep a record of when you said yes.

When you use the site, we keep what you do with your account: reviews you post (with your paws, stickers and words), coupons you clip, and when a business marks a coupon used.

If you run a business on Howdy, we also keep what you send us about it: your claim, the changes you make to your page (name, hours, address, phone, website and description) and the photos you upload. Business contact details may come from public filings and the business’s own listings, never home addresses.

What we collect automatically

We count how people use the site on our own servers: pages viewed and clicks on buttons like Book, Order now, Directions and Website, so businesses can see how their page is doing. Those button counts are stored by business, not tied to your account.

Like every website, our hosting provider logs basic technical details such as IP address, browser type and the time of each request, to keep the site running and secure.

We use a small number of cookies to keep you signed in and to protect sign in from forgery. We don’t use advertising cookies.

How we use it

To run your account and the features you use; to show your reviews and a business’s page; to send the newsletter, texts and alerts you asked for; to tell businesses how their page and coupons are doing (in totals, not who you are); to keep the site safe, including screening for fake reviews and fraud; and to follow the law.

Ads on Howdy are local businesses paying for a labeled spot. We don’t target ads to you using your personal information.

Who we share it with

Other people on Howdy see what you choose to post publicly, like reviews with your first name and last initial.

Companies that help us run Howdy, only to do that work for us: Railway (hosting and database), Google and any other sign in service you choose, GoHighLevel (our customer and newsletter system), Resend (the emails we send you, like sign in links), and Stripe when payments are added. If you edit a business address in the business portal, the address you type is sent to OpenStreetMap’s Photon service and the U.S. Census address lookup to place it on the map.

We may share information if the law requires it, to protect someone’s safety, or as part of a sale or merger of the business, in which case this policy keeps applying to your information.

We never sell your personal information and we don’t share it for targeted advertising.

Email and texts

Every email has an unsubscribe link. Texts only go to people who turned them on, and you can reply STOP at any time. Message and data rates may apply. If you haven’t opened the newsletter in 60 days, we’ll ask once whether you still want it, then stop.

Ages

Howdy New Caney accounts are for people 13 and older. Posting reviews and other social features are for people 18 and older. We don’t knowingly collect information from children under 13; if you think a child has given us information, contact us and we’ll delete it.

Your choices and rights

You can see and change your town, interests and alerts by going through Join again while signed in, and turn off any alert with the unsubscribe link or STOP.

You can ask us for a copy of your information, to correct it, or to delete your account and what’s tied to it by emailing hello@howdynewcaney.com. We’ll confirm it’s you and answer within 45 days. Texas residents have these rights under Texas law, and we give them to everyone. If we say no to a request, you can appeal by replying to our answer, and we’ll respond within 60 days.

How long we keep it

We keep your information while your account is open. When you delete your account, we delete your personal information within 30 days, except what the law requires us to keep. Reviews you posted are removed with your account. Copies in backups are deleted on their regular schedule, within [backup retention period].

Keeping it safe

We use secure connections, keep data with established providers, and limit who on our team can see it. No system is perfect, and if something goes wrong that affects you, we’ll tell you as the law requires.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top. If a change is important, we’ll tell you by email or on the site before it takes effect.

Contact us

Howdy New Caney is run by [Bite Media LLC]. Questions or requests: hello@howdynewcaney.com, or write to [mailing address].