§privacy policy
Belmont Batcave LLC, a North Carolina limited liability company ("Belmont Batcave," "we," "us," or "our"), runs the store and music venue at 2603 Boundary St, Belmont, NC, and the website at belmontbatcave.com. This policy explains what information we collect through the website, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. We keep it short and we don't sell your data.
01Who we are
Belmont Batcave is an independent alternative store and vendor collective in Belmont, North Carolina, operated by Belmont Batcave LLC. We are the party responsible for the information collected through this website. You can reach us any time at [email protected].
02What we collect
Information you give us
- Newsletter signups — your email address, and the page or form you signed up from.
- Vendor applications — your name, business/brand name, email, phone number (optional), Instagram handle (optional), a description of what you make or sell, your message, and any images you choose to upload with your application.
Information collected automatically
- When you submit a form, we record your IP address, your browser's user-agent string, and a timestamp. We use this to prevent spam and abuse and to keep a basic security log.
- Our web server keeps standard request logs. We do not run advertising trackers, third-party analytics, or behavioral profiling on this site.
We do not collect payment-card information through this website. In-store purchases are handled at the register and are not part of this website.
03How we use your information
- To send you our newsletter when you ask us to (new vendors, drops, and event invites).
- To review and respond to vendor applications.
- To protect the site against spam, abuse, and fraud, and to keep it secure.
- To operate, maintain, and improve the website.
- To comply with the law and enforce our Terms of Use.
We only process your information where we have a lawful basis to do so — typically your consent (newsletter), our legitimate interest in running the store and keeping the site secure, or to take steps you asked for (reviewing your application).
04Cookies & tracking
We try to keep the site light. Here's the full picture:
- No advertising or analytics cookies. We don't use Google Analytics, ad pixels, or cross-site tracking.
- Local storage (not a cookie). When you dismiss or sign up through our newsletter pop-up, we store a small flag in your browser so we don't show it again for about 30 days. This never leaves your device and isn't shared with us.
- Google Fonts. Our typefaces load from Google Fonts. Your browser requests the font files from Google, which means Google may receive your IP address as part of that request. Google states it does not use these requests to build advertising profiles.
- Instagram embed. Our home page embeds an Instagram post. When that embed loads, Instagram/Meta may set its own cookies and receive your IP address and page information under Meta's own privacy policy, which we don't control.
You can block or delete cookies and local storage in your browser settings. Blocking them won't break the core site. Because we don't track you across sites, we honor "Do Not Track" by simply not doing it.
05Vendor chat and direct messages
The vendor portal has a chat area: shared rooms that every active vendor can read, and one-to-one direct messages between vendors, or between a vendor and Batcave staff.
Batcave staff can read messages sent in the vendor portal, including direct messages. We do this to run the collective and to deal with reports, not to browse for the sake of it, and every time a member of staff opens a direct conversation we record who opened it and when. Direct messages are private from other vendors: nobody except the two people in a conversation and Batcave staff can read it.
Please treat the chat as you would a conversation in the shop rather than a private channel. Do not send payment card numbers, bank details, passwords or government ID through it. If you need to send us something sensitive, email [email protected] instead.
Photos posted in chat are deleted after 30 days. Messages are kept for 6 months and then removed automatically. A message you report, or that staff hide, stays on record so we can deal with it.
06Email & the newsletter
We send our newsletter using Resend, an email delivery provider that processes sending on our behalf. Every newsletter includes a one-click unsubscribe link and our physical mailing address, in line with the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act. You can unsubscribe at any time, and we'll stop — no hard feelings. If you unsubscribe, we keep a minimal record of your email's unsubscribed status so we don't email you again by mistake.
07Who we share it with
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share it only with:
- Service providers who help us run the site — our hosting provider, Cloudflare (security/DNS/CDN), and Resend (email delivery). They process data only to provide their service to us.
- Legal authorities, if we're required to by law, a valid legal request, or to protect the rights, safety, and property of Belmont Batcave, our visitors, or others.
- A successor, if the business is ever sold or transferred, subject to this policy.
08How long we keep it
- Newsletter: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete you.
- Vendor applications: for as long as needed to review and follow up, after which we may delete or archive them.
- Security logs: a limited time for abuse-prevention and troubleshooting.
09How we protect it
We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards — including encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS), access controls, and rate limiting — to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we take protecting your information seriously.
10Your choices & rights
You can ask us to access, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you, or to stop using it, at any time. Depending on where you live, you may have specific rights:
- California residents: you have the right to know what personal information we collect and to request its deletion. We do not sell or "share" your personal information as those terms are defined under California law, so there is no need to opt out of a sale.
- EU/UK residents: where the GDPR/UK GDPR applies, you have rights to access, rectify, erase, restrict, and port your data, and to object to processing or withdraw consent.
To exercise any of these, email [email protected] and tell us what you'd like. We'll verify your request and respond within a reasonable time. We won't discriminate against you for exercising your rights.
11Children
This site is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we'll delete it.
12Other sites & links
Our site links to and embeds third-party services (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Google/Apple Maps). Their privacy practices are their own and are governed by their policies, not this one.
13Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we'll change the "last updated" date at the top. Material changes will be reflected here, so check back occasionally.
14Contact us
Questions, requests, or concerns about privacy?
Belmont Batcave LLC
2603 Boundary St, Belmont, NC 28012
[email protected] · (980) 990-3223
⌇ See also our Terms of Use and Accessibility Statement.