Data Use Policy

Effective Date: November 5, 2026 · Part of the Herd Yard Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

This Data Use Policy explains, in plain terms, how Herd Yard LLC ("Herd Yard") uses the data that moves through the Herd Yard Platform, and the rules users must follow when they receive data about other users. It supplements the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service.

1. Data we handle and why

• Account data (name, email, password hash or Google/Apple sign-in identifier, ranch or business name, optional phone): to create and secure your account, approve new accounts, and contact you about your account.
• Producer Profile and listing data (descriptions, prices, breed, registration, health and breeding details, photos, videos, YouTube links, PDFs, general location): to publish your listings and profile. This data is intended to be public.
• Messages between users: to deliver buyer and seller conversations and, if you opted in, to send Herd Yard Message Alerts about them.
• Herd Yard phone line: texts and calls to the Herd Yard number are answered, logged (including voicemails), and forwarded to Herd Yard staff so we can respond.
• Payment data: card and payout details are handled by Stripe. Herd Yard stores Stripe customer and connected-account identifiers and payment records (amounts, status, refunds, disputes).
• Location data: listing and ranch locations are geocoded to show on the map and to estimate delivery distances. When you open the map, your approximate area may be estimated from your IP address, rounded to about 7 miles, and used only to center the map.
• Usage data: page views and key events (searches, listing views, sign-ups, checkouts) through Google Analytics, linked when you are signed in only to an internal account ID, never your email.

2. What we do not do

• We do not sell personal information for money.
• We do not share mobile numbers or SMS opt-in data with third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes.
• We do not use SMS consent collected for Herd Yard Message Alerts for any other program.
• We do not send your email address or other direct identifiers to Google Analytics.

3. Rules for users who receive other users' data

When you receive another user's contact or transaction information through Herd Yard, you may use it only to communicate about and complete the listing or transaction it relates to. You may not:

• Scrape, harvest, bulk-download, or compile Herd Yard listings, profiles, or contact details;
• Add other users to marketing lists, or text or call them for marketing, without their separate consent;
• Sell, rent, or share other users' data with third parties;
• Use Herd Yard data to build a competing database or service.

4. Admin access

A small number of Herd Yard staff can view account, listing, message, payment, phone-line, and traffic records to approve accounts, provide support, prevent fraud, and run the Platform. Access is limited to those purposes.

5. Retention and deletion

We keep data as described in the Privacy Policy. Listings may expire and be hidden automatically; records needed for payments, disputes, tax, fraud prevention, or legal obligations may be kept after an account is closed. To request access, correction, or deletion, email [email protected].

6. User Content and Aggregated Data

User Content. Content you post to public areas of Herd Yard, including listings, photos, videos, PDFs, descriptions, Producer Profile content, and public reviews, is licensed to Herd Yard as described in Section 15 of the Terms of Service. Herd Yard may use it on and off the Platform for any purpose, including marketing, advertising, promotion, training and improving software and AI/ML models, and building data products. That license is perpetual and irrevocable and survives account deletion.

Aggregated and de-identified data. Herd Yard may combine and analyze listing, transaction, and market data, such as prices, volumes, head counts, breeds, classes, weights, regions, and timing, in aggregated or de-identified form that does not reasonably identify you or any individual. Herd Yard owns that aggregated and de-identified data and may use, publish, sell, and license it to others for any purpose, including market reports, price indexes, research, analytics, and AI/ML training. Herd Yard will not attempt to re-identify de-identified data, and will require recipients not to do so.

What this does not cover. Personal information stays governed by the Privacy Policy. Private messages between buyers and sellers are not published or included in licensed data products. Mobile numbers and SMS opt-in data are never shared with third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes, and the SMS program terms are unchanged.

7. Changes

We may update this policy and will post the revised version here with a new effective date.