The Velvet Exchange (“The Velvet Exchange,” “Velvet,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is operated by Velvet Financial, Inc.
We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect information when you visit TheVelvetExchange.com, use app.TheVelvetExchange.com, create an account, purchase or maintain a membership, interact with participating businesses (“Partner Houses”), communicate with us, or otherwise use The Velvet Exchange services (collectively, the “Services”).
By using the Services, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
We may collect the following categories of information.
Information You Provide to Us
This may include:
Beauty, Personal-Care and Wellness Preferences
To personalize your Velvet experience, we may ask you to provide information regarding your interests, preferences, and goals, including:
We use this information to personalize recommendations, editorial content, offers, Partner House experiences, and other aspects of your membership.
The Velvet Exchange is not a healthcare provider, and the Services are not intended to collect medical records, diagnose or treat medical conditions, or provide medical advice.
We may collect information regarding:
Membership payments are processed through third-party payment processors, including Stripe. The Velvet Exchange does not directly store complete payment-card numbers. Payment processors may collect and process payment and billing information in accordance with their own privacy policies and security practices.
When you use our website or application, we and our service providers may automatically collect information such as:
We may use cookies, pixels, analytics tools, software development kits, and similar technologies to operate and improve the Services, understand usage, measure engagement, personalize experiences, and support marketing activities.
We may use personal information to:
We may also create aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify an individual and use that information for analytics, research, business planning, service development, and other lawful purposes.
The Velvet Exchange is designed to provide a curated and increasingly personalized membership experience.
We may use information about your preferences, interests, interactions, offer activity, Partner House activity, and use of the Services to develop a profile of your interests and tailor your experience.
For example, information about your interests in hair care, skin care, beauty, wellness, or particular services may be used to determine which content, Partner Houses, experiences, products, or offers may be most relevant to you.
We may disclose personal information as described below.
We may disclose information to a Partner House when you choose to interact with that Partner House, including when you redeem an offer, request or make a booking, follow a booking link, participate in an experience, or otherwise request that we facilitate an interaction.
The information disclosed may include information reasonably necessary to identify you as a Velvet member, validate membership or an offer, facilitate the requested service or experience, and support the relationship between you and the Partner House.
Once information is provided to a Partner House, that business may process information according to its own privacy practices. Partner Houses are independent businesses and are not controlled by The Velvet Exchange.
We may disclose information to vendors and service providers that help us operate the Services, including providers of:
These providers may process personal information on our behalf to perform services for The Velvet Exchange.
We may disclose information among our corporate affiliates where reasonably necessary to operate, administer, improve, or develop our businesses and services.
If Velvet Financial, Inc. or The Velvet Exchange is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, sale of assets, bankruptcy, or similar corporate transaction, information may be disclosed or transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable law.
We may disclose information when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to:
The Velvet Exchange does not sell personal information for money.
Certain digital advertising or analytics activities may, however, be considered a “sale,” “sharing,” or “targeted advertising” under some state privacy laws even when no money is exchanged.
Where applicable law provides you with the right to opt out of such activities, The Velvet Exchange will provide a method for exercising that right.
We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of individuals under 18.
Members may receive email and/or text-message communications regarding:
You may unsubscribe from promotional emails by using the unsubscribe link included in those messages.
You may opt out of promotional SMS communications by replying STOP or following the instructions provided in the applicable message.
Opting out of promotional communications will not prevent us from sending communications that are necessary to administer your account, membership, transactions, security, or Services.
Message and data rates may apply to SMS communications. Message frequency may vary.
We and our service providers may use cookies and similar technologies to:
You may be able to manage certain cookies through your browser or through privacy controls we make available.
Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Services.
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Services, administer memberships, fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, comply with legal and accounting requirements, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, and enforce our agreements.
Retention periods may vary depending upon the type of information, our relationship with you, and applicable legal requirements.
When information is no longer reasonably necessary, we may delete, anonymize, or de-identify it, subject to applicable law.
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.
However, no website, application, database, or electronic transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and should notify us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised.
Depending upon where you live and applicable law, you may have the right to:
These rights vary by state and are subject to exceptions and limitations under applicable law.
To submit a privacy request, contact us at: [email protected]
Please include sufficient information for us to understand and respond to your request. We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests.
Where permitted by law, an authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf, subject to appropriate verification.
California residents may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended (“CCPA”), if and when the CCPA applies to The Velvet Exchange.
These rights may include the right to know or access personal information, request deletion, request correction, opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, limit certain uses of sensitive personal information, and receive nondiscriminatory treatment for exercising privacy rights.
The categories of personal information we may collect include identifiers, customer records, commercial information, internet or electronic network activity, general geolocation information, account information, preferences and characteristics, and inferences created from other information.
We collect and use these categories for the business and commercial purposes described throughout this Privacy Policy.
We may disclose these categories to service providers, contractors, Partner Houses when you choose to interact with them, affiliates, professional advisers, and other parties described in this Privacy Policy.
We do not sell personal information for monetary consideration.
California residents may submit applicable privacy requests by contacting: [email protected]
Residents of certain U.S. states may have additional rights under their state’s consumer privacy laws.
Where those laws apply to The Velvet Exchange, we will honor applicable rights and provide required mechanisms for exercising them.
If we deny a privacy request and applicable law provides a right to appeal, you may appeal our decision by contacting [email protected] and stating that you are requesting an appeal of a privacy decision.
The Velvet Exchange is intended only for individuals who are 18 years of age or older.
We do not knowingly offer memberships to or collect personal information from individuals under 18 through the Services.
If we learn that we have collected personal information from an individual under 18 in violation of this policy or applicable law, we will take appropriate steps to delete the information.
The Services may contain links to Partner Houses, booking platforms, social-media platforms, websites, applications, payment processors, and other third-party services.
The Velvet Exchange does not control the privacy practices of independent third parties. Your interaction with those services is governed by their respective privacy policies and terms.
We encourage you to review the privacy practices of third parties before providing personal information to them.
Membership payments are processed through third-party payment processors, including Stripe.
Payment information submitted in connection with a transaction may be collected directly by Stripe or another designated payment processor. Their collection, use, storage, and protection of payment information are governed by their applicable terms and privacy practices.
The Velvet Exchange may receive limited transaction information necessary to administer your membership, such as transaction status, payment confirmation, payment method type, and related identifiers.
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes to our Services, technology, business practices, legal requirements, or other circumstances.
When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date above. If changes are material, we may provide additional notice as required by applicable law.
Your continued use of the Services following an updated Privacy Policy is subject to applicable law.
Questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices may be directed to:
The Velvet Exchange
Operated by Velvet Financial, Inc.
910 S. Riverside Drive, Suite 3
Elmhurst, IL 60126
United States Email: [email protected]
