Last updated: 31st October 2026

Your privacy matters to us. This Privacy Policy explains how Sow Revolution collects, uses, and protects your information when you use our website.

1. Information We Collect
   We collect the following information depending on how you use the platform:

   • Account information: name, username, email address, and password when you register.
   • Profile information: bio and profile photo if you choose to add them.
   • Follows: the members you follow and the members who follow you.
   • Referrals: your personal referral code, the member who invited you (if you joined with a referral), when a referral reward was given, and when any free Plus from a referral ends.
   • Address information: mailing address if you provide one for seed swaps.
   • Seed listings: details and photos of seeds you list on the platform. If you are a Plus member and have chosen to enable seed-packet scanning in your settings, your photos are processed using Google Cloud Vision to help read text from them. This feature is optional and off by default.
   • Messages: content of messages sent through the platform's chat feature, delivered in real time via Pusher.
   • Payment information: payment details are collected and processed securely by Stripe. We do not store your full card details.
   • Mailing list: email address if you sign up to our mailing list.
   • Support & contact messages: your email address and message content when you contact us, submit a variety suggestion, or report an issue.
   • Usage and tracking data: information about how you use the site, collected via Google Analytics and Hotjar (Analytics cookies, with your consent).
   • Activity data: the date you last used the site. We use this to send you reminders and to hide your seed listings if you haven't visited for a while.
   • Advertising data: information about your visits used for ad measurement and targeting via Meta (Facebook) Pixel (Marketing cookies, with your consent).

2. How We Use Your Information
   We use your information to:

   • Provide and operate the platform, including facilitating seed swaps.
   • Send service emails about your account and swaps, including swap notifications and reminders to dispatch or confirm receipt of seeds, chat message notifications (which may include a short preview of the message), new follower and referral reward notifications, reminders to finish setting up your account or start swiping, notices before and after your seeds are hidden for inactivity, email verification and password resets.
   • Keep the platform active and useful for everyone, for example by hiding listings from members who haven't visited recently. We do this on the basis of our legitimate interest in running a working swap community.
   • Check whether seeds for agreed swaps have been marked as dispatched, and temporarily pause swiping, matching and Seed Gifts while they are overdue.
   • Send newsletters and digest emails if you have opted in.
   • Process payments for Plus membership via Stripe.
   • Run our referral program, including giving free months of Plus and preventing misuse.
   • Improve the platform and understand how it is used (with your consent for Analytics cookies).
   • Measure and improve our advertising (with your consent for Marketing cookies).
   • Enforce our Terms & Conditions and protect against misuse.

3. Sharing Your Information
   We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. Limited information is shared with other members as part of the swap process (such as your username and, where you have agreed, your mailing address). We share data with third-party service providers only as necessary to operate the platform (see section 5).

   Referrals: If you join using another member's referral link or code, your dashboard shows their username with a link to their profile, and they are told your username when you both receive a referral reward. The number of friends who have joined with a member's referral is only visible to that member.

   Seed Gifts: When you like another member's seeds, that member can see your username, your packets gifted count, and which of their seeds you liked, so they can offer you a Seed Gift. If you accept a Seed Gift by mail, we share your mailing address with the member sending it.

   Your public profile: Every member has a profile page that anyone with the link can view, including people who are not signed in. It shows your username, profile photo and bio (if you have added them), your feedback rating, any badges you have earned, how many seed packets you have gifted, the month you joined, and how many seeds you have available. Signed-in Plus members can also see which seeds you have available. Profile pages are marked so that search engines do not list them. Your followers and following lists are only visible to you.

4. Consent for Cookies and Tracking
   We use Google Analytics and Hotjar (Analytics cookies) to understand site usage, and Meta (Facebook) Pixel (Marketing cookies) to measure and improve our advertising. No analytics or marketing cookies or tracking scripts will be set unless you have explicitly consented via the cookie banner. You may manage your cookie preferences at any time using the preferences option in the banner.

5. Third-Party Services
   We use the following third-party services:

   • Stripe for payment processing.
   • Lettr for mailing list management and transactional emails (such as swap notifications and reminders, chat message notifications including a short message preview, email verification, and password resets).
   • Pusher for real-time chat delivery.
   • Algolia for site search.
   • Google Cloud Vision for reading text from seed packet photos, only if you are a Plus member and have chosen to enable this optional feature.
   • Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud file storage.
   • Google Analytics and Hotjar (with consent) for site analytics.
   • Meta (Facebook) Pixel (with consent) for advertising and marketing.
   • Slack for internal team notifications, such as contact form submissions, support messages, and variety suggestions — these may include your email address, message content, and username.
   • Browserless for rendering group poster PDFs.
   • Laravel Nightwatch for application performance monitoring and error diagnostics, to help us detect and fix technical issues.
   • Cloudflare Turnstile for bot protection on our forms. It evaluates visitor and device signals to score the likelihood of automated abuse, and may set a cookie as part of that check.

   Your use of those services is also subject to their respective terms and privacy policies.

6. International Members & Data Transfers
   Sow Revolution is run from the United Kingdom. If you use the platform from outside the UK, including from the United States, your personal information is transferred to, stored, and processed in the UK, and by the service providers listed above, some of which are based in the United States. We rely on the safeguards those providers offer, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, where the law requires them. By using the platform from outside the UK, you understand that your information will be handled under UK data protection law.

7. Data Retention
   We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with our services. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data in accordance with applicable law, except where we are required to retain it for legal or regulatory purposes. Mailing list data is retained for as long as you remain subscribed.

8. Your Rights
   You have the right to:

   • Access the personal information we hold about you.
   • Request correction of inaccurate information.
   • Request deletion of your personal data.
   • Withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time.
   • Unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time.

   To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below.

9. Security
   We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information, including encryption of passwords and secure payment processing via Stripe. However, no system can guarantee complete security online.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
    We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. Continued use of the site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Governing Law
    This Privacy Policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

12. Contact
    If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: hello@sowrevolution.com .

Thank you for trusting Sow Revolution with your information.