Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 30, 2026

This policy explains what Street-Biz Enterprises LLC (Columbus, Ohio) collects when you use street-biz.net, scan a The-Code-Network printed code, or participate as an advertiser or distributor — and what we do and don't do with it. The short version: we collect very little, we never store your raw IP address when you scan, we use no advertising trackers, and we never sell personal information.

1. When you scan a printed code

Scanning one of our QR codes sends your browser to our redirect service, which forwards you to the code's current destination. For each scan we record:

• which printed code was scanned, and when;
• a one-way salted hash derived from your IP address — used only to estimate whether a scan is unique that day. Your actual IP address is never stored, and the hash cannot be reversed into it;
• your browser's user-agent string and, when our hosting provider supplies it, an approximate region — never a precise location.

Scan data is used as aggregate counts only: total and unique scans per code, channel, and area. We never show any individual's scan, location, or identity to advertisers, distributors, or anyone else — they see numbers, not people. No account, signup, or app is required to scan, and scanning sets no cookies.

2. When you use the free QR generator

The generator at street-biz.net/qr runs entirely in your browser. The links or text you type, and the codes you create, are never transmitted to, stored by, or visible to us.

3. When you message us

The contact bubble collects your name (optional), email address, subject, message, and which page you wrote from. We use it to read and answer your message and keep a record of the correspondence. It is never added to a marketing list.

4. If you are an advertiser

• Account information: business name, contact name, email, phone, and notes about what you want to promote.
• Sign-in: we email you one-time sign-in links instead of storing passwords. Only a hashed form of each link is stored, links expire quickly, and your signed-in session is kept in a functional cookie.
• Creative and business records: artwork you upload, orders, and payment records.

5. If you are a distributor

• Application and program data: your name, contact details, referral and area codes, territories, placements, scouted sites, and earnings and payout records.
• Location — only when you choose: logging a placement or scouting a site can attach your device's GPS coordinates, but only when you tap the location button and approve your browser's prompt. It records where the booklets were placed — never your ongoing whereabouts. Placement pins are visible to us and, in aggregate territory form, on the shared board; other distributors see area totals and your first name with last initial, never your contact details or earnings.
• Photos: placement and scouting photos you upload. Photograph shelves and storefronts, not people.
• Tax information: if we pay you $600 or more in a year, we collect what IRS Form 1099-NEC requires and use it only for tax reporting.

6. What we never do

• We never sell or rent personal information.
• We use no third-party advertising, analytics, or tracking cookies — the only cookies we set are the functional session cookies that keep admins and advertisers signed in.
• We never store raw IP addresses from scans, and we never disclose an individual's scans or location to anyone.
• We do not send marketing email lists — email from us is transactional (sign-in links, program notices) or a direct reply to you.

7. How we use information

To operate the redirect service and produce aggregate scan reports; to verify placements and administer territories, challenges, and commissions; to review and print advertiser creative; to answer messages; to prevent fraud and abuse (for example, detecting artificial scans); to meet legal obligations, including tax reporting; and to maintain business records.

8. Who we share with

Only the service providers that run the platform, and only what each needs: our hosting and database provider (Railway), our transactional-email provider (Resend), and our domain/mailbox provider (Namecheap). Map pages load street-map tiles from OpenStreetMap directly in your browser, which — like any web resource — sees the tile requests. Advertisers receive aggregate scan counts only. Beyond that, we disclose information only if the law requires it, to protect our legal rights, or as part of a sale or reorganization of the business (in which case this policy continues to apply to it).

9. Retention

Scan records are kept as long-term aggregate statistics; the hashed values they contain identify no one. Contact messages are kept while we handle them and for a reasonable record-keeping period. Advertiser and distributor records are kept for the life of the relationship plus the period tax and business law requires. We delete or anonymize data when it is no longer needed.

10. Security

All traffic is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). Sign-in links are stored only as hashes; scan identifiers are one-way salted hashes; the administrative interface requires a password plus a time-based two-factor code. No system is perfectly secure, but we deliberately collect little so there is little to lose.

11. Your choices and rights

• Access, correction, deletion: message us and we will show you what we hold about you, correct it, or delete it — except records we must keep by law (such as tax records) or that are already in print.
• Location: distributors can always log placements without GPS by simply not tapping the location button.
• Email: reply to any message from us to opt out of anything beyond essential transactional email.
• Do Not Track: we do not track visitors across other sites at all, so there is nothing for a DNT signal to turn off — you get that behavior by default.
• California residents: we are a small business below the thresholds of the California Consumer Privacy Act, but we honor its spirit voluntarily: we will tell you what we have, delete it on request, and we do not sell or share personal information for advertising as those terms are defined there.

12. Children

The Service is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. Advertiser and distributor roles require you to be at least 18. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

13. Changes to this policy

If our practices change, this page changes first — with a new effective date, and notice to active advertisers and distributors when the change is material. We will never quietly start doing something this policy says we don't.

14. Contact

Street-Biz Enterprises LLC · Columbus, Ohio. Privacy questions and requests: the message bubble on any page, or hello@street-biz.net.