Privacy policy

1. What we collect

• Account details: name, email address, password, and profile photo.
• Identity verification: for sellers, government ID and a selfie check processed by a specialist verification provider.
• Location: approximate location, used for distance search, sorting, and pickup within the same city. We show distance, never a precise address.
• Listings and orders: photos, item details, messages, deposits, payouts, reviews, and meetup arrangements.
• Payment data: handled by our payment provider. We store the last four digits and card type only; we never see or store full card numbers.
• Device and usage data: app version, device type, crash reports, and basic analytics.

2. How we use it

To create and secure accounts, show items near you, process deposits and payouts, hold funds in escrow, verify sellers, authenticate gowns, arrange pickups, resolve claims, prevent fraud, and send transactional messages about your orders.

3. What other users see

Other users see your display name, profile photo, verification badge, rating and reviews, the city you are shopping in, and an approximate distance. They do not see your address, email, phone number, ID documents, or payment details. Exact meetup locations are shared only after both parties agree to a booking.

4. Who we share with

Service providers acting on our instructions: payment processing, identity verification, gown authentication, shipping carriers, cloud hosting, customer support, and analytics. We also disclose information where the law requires it, or to investigate fraud and protect users. We do not sell personal information.

Payments and seller payouts are processed by Stripe. When you provide personal data in connection with payments on Encore, Stripe receives that data and processes it under the Stripe privacy policy. Where you set up payouts, Stripe may also obtain information from credit agencies to verify your identity, and we share your account and transaction details with Stripe so it can pay you and meet its own legal obligations.

5. Location controls

Location access can be declined or revoked in your device settings at any time. Encore still works without it. You can set a city manually and will lose only automatic distance sorting and pickup matching.

6. Messaging

Messages between buyers and sellers stay on Encore so they can be used as evidence in a claim. They are retained with the order record and may be reviewed by our support team when a claim is opened.

7. Retention

Order and payment records are kept as long as required for tax, accounting, and fraud prevention. Identity verification results are retained; underlying ID images are held by the verification provider under their own retention schedule. Deleting your account removes your profile and listings and anonymises your reviews, but does not erase records we must keep by law.

8. Your choices

You can access, correct, export, or delete your personal information from account settings or by asking our support team. You can opt out of marketing messages at any time; transactional messages about live orders cannot be switched off while an order is open.

9. Security

Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access is restricted to staff who need it, and payment credentials never touch our servers. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password.

10. Children

Encore is not intended for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

11. Changes and contact

We will note material changes to this policy in the app. For any privacy question or request, contact us through support in the app or from the website footer.