Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Scratch Lending ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our financial services platform.

2. Information We Collect

Personal Information

When you apply for financing, we collect:

• Full name, date of birth, and Social Security number
• Contact information (email address, phone number, mailing address)
• Employment information and income details
• Bank account information
• Government-issued identification

Credit Information

We obtain credit reports and scores from credit bureaus to evaluate your eligibility for financing. This includes both soft inquiries (for pre-approval) and hard inquiries (when you accept a loan offer).

Technical Information

• IP address and device information
• Browser type and version
• Usage data and analytics
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Process and evaluate your loan application
• Verify your identity and prevent fraud
• Connect you with our lending partners
• Communicate with you about your application and account
• Comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• Improve our services and user experience
• Send marketing communications (with your consent)

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

Lending Partners

We share your information with our network of licensed lending partners to facilitate loan offers. Each lending partner has its own privacy policy that governs their use of your information.

Service Providers

We work with third-party service providers who help us operate our platform, including:

• Credit bureaus and reporting agencies
• Identity verification services
• Payment processors
• Cloud hosting and data storage providers
• Analytics and marketing platforms

Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information when required by law, court order, or other legal process, or to protect our rights and the safety of our users.

5. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information, including:

• 256-bit SSL encryption for data transmission
• Encrypted data storage
• Regular security audits and monitoring
• Access controls and authentication
• Employee training on data protection

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Your Privacy Rights

Access and Correction

You have the right to access and update your personal information. You can do this by logging into your account or contacting us directly.

Opt-Out Rights

• Marketing communications: Unsubscribe via the link in our emails
• Cookies: Adjust your browser settings to decline cookies
• Information sharing: Contact us to limit sharing with lending partners

State-Specific Rights

Residents of certain states (including California, Virginia, and Colorado) have additional privacy rights under state law, including:

• The right to know what personal information we collect
• The right to delete your personal information
• The right to opt-out of the sale of personal information
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Typically, we retain application data for 7 years after account closure.

8. Children's Privacy

Our services are not intended for individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected information from a child, we will delete it promptly.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the new policy on our website and updating the "Last Updated" date. Your continued use of our services after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Email: privacy@scratchlending.com
Phone: 1-800-SCRATCH
Mail: Scratch Lending Privacy Office, 123 Finance Street, New York, NY 10001