Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly:

• Account registration data: name, email address, relationship to care recipient;
• Facility inquiry data: search criteria, care type preferences, geographic criteria;
• Facility representative data: name, title, facility name, contact information (for claimed profiles);
• Payment information: processed exclusively by Stripe, Inc. · we do not store card numbers or bank details;
• Communications: messages sent to our team or submitted through Platform forms.

Information collected automatically:

• Usage data: search queries, facility profiles viewed, session duration, features used;
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device identifiers, operating system;
• Location data: general geographic area inferred from IP address, if you use location-based search;
• Cookies and similar technologies: session management, preference storage, analytics, and session recording (how you move through a page · see Section 6).

2. Sensitive Information

We recognize that your use of Palmelle may indicate that you or a family member is facing a care transition, which is a sensitive personal matter. We handle this context with care. We do not collect, infer, or store medical diagnoses, health conditions, or clinical information about any individual user or their family member. Search queries and browsing patterns are used only to improve Platform functionality and are not shared with third parties for marketing purposes.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To operate, maintain, and improve the Platform and its data accuracy;
• To process payments and manage facility subscriptions;
• To authenticate users and enforce account security;
• To send transactional communications (account confirmations, subscription notices);
• To facilitate referral inquiries to care facilities, with disclosure as required;
• To detect fraud, abuse, and violations of our Terms of Service;
• To comply with applicable legal obligations;
• To analyze aggregate, anonymized usage patterns to improve Platform performance.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your data for targeted advertising.

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

• Service providers that process information on our behalf, each under its own data-protection terms:
  • Stripe, Inc. · payments;
  • Google Cloud Platform · hosting, database, and file storage;
  • Google · Gemini language models used as described in Section 13;
  • Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager · site analytics;
  • Microsoft Clarity · session recording and heatmaps (Section 6);
  • Ahrefs · web analytics;
  • HubSpot · contact records for people who call or write to us;
  • Mailgun · transactional email (account, verification, and inquiry messages);
  • MailerLite · newsletter delivery, only if you subscribe;
  • Twilio, Inc. · SMS and voice communications.
  We will update this list when a provider is added or removed;
• Care facilities: If you submit an inquiry about a specific facility, that facility may receive your name and contact information for the purpose of responding to your inquiry. This is disclosed at the point of inquiry submission;
• Referral partners: Where disclosed on a facility profile, we may share inquiry information with a referral partner. Such sharing is always disclosed to you before it occurs;
• Legal compliance: Where required by law, regulation, court order, or to protect the safety of individuals;
• Business transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, subject to the acquirer's agreement to honor this Policy.

5. Data Retention

Account information is retained for the duration of your account and for five (5) years following closure, as required for legal and business purposes. Facility inquiry data is retained for three (3) years. Payment records are retained as required by applicable financial regulations. You may request deletion of your personal data by contacting us; certain records may be retained where required by law.

6. Cookies, Analytics and Session Recording

The Platform uses cookies for session management, authentication, and to remember preferences such as your display theme. We do not use third-party advertising cookies and we do not use your data for targeted advertising.

Analytics. We use Google Analytics (loaded through Google Tag Manager) and Ahrefs Web Analytics to understand which pages are used and how visitors arrive. These tools receive your IP address, browser and device information, and the pages you view.

Session recording. We use Microsoft Clarity, which may record how you interact with a page · mouse movement, clicks, scrolling, and the pages you visit · and turn those recordings into replays and heatmaps that we review to improve the Platform. Under Microsoft's default settings, text you type into form fields is masked in these recordings. Clarity may also set cookies to recognise a returning browser. Microsoft's handling of this data is described in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

Your choices. Declining cookies in our consent banner stops Google Analytics and HubSpot from loading. Microsoft Clarity and Ahrefs currently load on every page regardless of that choice; you can block them with your browser's tracking-protection setting or a content-blocking extension, and you may configure your browser to refuse cookies entirely, in which case some features may not function properly.

7. Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational safeguards including encryption in transit (TLS), encrypted storage, access controls, and regular security reviews. Given the sensitive nature of care-related searches, we apply particular care to protecting user data. However, no online system is fully secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute protection.

8. Your Privacy Rights (California and Other States)

California residents may: (a) request disclosure of personal information collected about them; (b) request deletion of personal information, subject to exceptions; (c) opt out of sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information); and (d) not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. Submit requests to [email protected]. We respond within 45 days. Residents of other states with comprehensive privacy laws (including Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, and Oregon) may exercise the access, correction, deletion, and opt-out rights those laws provide through the same address, and may appeal a decision by replying to our response.

9. Children's Privacy

The Platform is not directed to individuals under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from minors. If we become aware of such collection, we will delete it promptly.

10. Federal Data Sources

Facility information presented on Palmelle is sourced from publicly available federal databases including CMS Medicare and Medicaid data. This data is not collected from users but from government sources. It is presented for informational purposes under applicable data use agreements.

11. SMS and Text Messaging

If you provide your phone number and consent to receive text messages from Palmelle, we may send you SMS or MMS messages related to your inquiry, including placement advisor follow-ups, facility information, appointment reminders, and service updates. Text messaging services are provided via Twilio, Inc., which processes message delivery on our behalf subject to appropriate data protection agreements.

Message frequency: Message frequency varies based on your inquiry and interactions. Typically 1·5 messages per month. You will not receive marketing texts unless you separately opt in to marketing communications.

Opt-out: You may opt out of text messages at any time by replying STOP to any message from us. After opting out, you will receive a single confirmation message and no further texts. You may also opt out by emailing [email protected] or calling (888) 282-7256.

Costs: Message and data rates may apply depending on your mobile carrier and plan. Palmelle does not charge for text messages, but your carrier may.

Carriers supported: Service is available on all major U.S. carriers. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Data handling: Your phone number is used solely for the purposes described in this Policy. We do not sell, rent, or share your phone number with third parties for their marketing purposes. Phone numbers are stored securely and retained in accordance with our data retention practices described in Section 5.

For help with text messaging, reply HELP to any message or contact [email protected].

12. Sign In with Google

Palmelle offers an optional account that you can create using Sign In with Google. If you choose to sign in, Google sends us three pieces of information about you: your name, your email address, and your profile picture. We do not receive your Google password, your contacts, your calendar, your photos, or any other data from your Google account. We store this information in our Firestore database operated on Google Cloud Platform. We use it to address you by name, to send you communications you have asked for (such as the Sunday digest or saved-article notifications), and to recognize you when you return to the Platform. We do not share or sell this information. You may sign out at any time, and you may delete your Palmelle account, including all stored profile data, from the account page or by emailing [email protected]. Account deletion does not remove records we are required to retain for legal, financial, or regulatory reasons (for example, payment records under Section 5).

13. Automated Systems and AI

Parts of the Platform use language models. This section says where, and what reaches them.

Facility summaries and scores. The written summary on a facility profile is drafted by a Google Gemini model from public regulatory data. Clarity Scores are computed from that regulatory data by fixed rules; a model does not set them. No information about you is used to produce either.

The phone line. Calls to (888) 282-PALM are answered by an automated voice assistant. What you say on the call is transcribed and sent to a Google Gemini model to generate the assistant's replies, and a record of the call · including your name and callback number if you give them · is stored so our team can follow up, and may create a contact record in HubSpot. You can ask the assistant at any time to connect you to a person or to take a message, and calling is never required to use the Platform.

The assessment quiz. When you complete the home-safety quiz, the result is written by a Google Gemini model from a fixed table of facts. Only your multiple-choice selections are used to phrase the result. Nothing you type · and never your name, email address, or phone number · is sent to the model.

No automated decisions. We do not use automated systems to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you, and no model decides which facilities are shown to you or in what order.

Provider data-handling terms apply to each of these services; Google's are set out in the Google Privacy Policy and the Gemini API terms. Model-generated text can be wrong, and Section 4 of our Terms of Service describes why it is not advice.

14. Photos and Files You Upload

Facility representatives with a claimed listing may upload photos of the facility through the operator portal. Uploaded photos are resized, stored in a Google Cloud Storage bucket, and published at a public web address so they can appear on the listing. Anyone who has that address can view the photo for as long as it remains stored, whether or not they visit Palmelle. Please do not upload photos that show residents, staff, or other people without their permission, and do not upload documents containing personal information; the portal is for photos of the premises only.

You can remove a photo from the portal at any time. Removal takes it off the listing and deletes the stored file; we do not keep versioned copies. Photos are otherwise retained for as long as the listing is claimed.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time with fourteen (14) days' notice of material changes. Continued use of the Platform after notice constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.

16. Contact

Privacy inquiries: [email protected]
July Blue Sky LLC · Palmelle · Wyoming, USA