HotSpot 2.0

Privacy policy

Last updated November 13, 2026

HotSpot 2.0 (CRECHotSpot.com) helps people who would like a church of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) near them find one another. Because telling us you're interested in a CREC church says something about your faith, we treat everything you give us with particular care. This policy explains what we collect, who can see it, and the choices you have.

Who is responsible for your information

HotSpot 2.0 is operated by [the data controller, to be confirmed before launch], which decides how your information is used (the “data controller”). The site is built and hosted by Shamgar Digital on our behalf. For any privacy question or request, contact [privacy contact address, to be confirmed before launch].

What we collect

• Your email address and password. Your password is stored only as a secure one-way hash. Your email is never shown to other members unless you both choose to share it.
• Your area. Your US ZIP code, or the first three characters of your Canadian postal code. We never ask for or store your street address. If you type a full Canadian postal code, we discard everything after the first three characters.
• Your profile. Your display name (or “Member #” if you stay anonymous), and optionally your household type, number of adults and children, and whether you are an interested person, a potential church planter, or a church representative.
• Your messages, and any blocks or reports you make.
• Basic technical information needed to run and protect the site, such as your IP address for rate limiting and bot protection, and a record of the emails we send you.

Your interest in a CREC church is sensitive information

Interest in a particular church can reveal religious beliefs, which many privacy laws treat as a special category of information. We only show it with your explicit consent, which you give when you create an account, and you can withdraw that consent at any time by taking yourself off the map or deleting your account.

Who can see what

• Anyone visiting the site sees, for each ZIP or postal area, the number of households hoping for a CREC church there, the outline of that area, and approximate totals. They do not see names.
• Signed-in members can also see display names, roles and household summaries in each area, and approximate distances (rounded to 5 miles) on the Nearby page. In areas with only a few households, names are hidden on the map.
• The person you're messaging sees your messages, your display name, role and household summary. Your email address is shared only if both of you choose to share it in that conversation.
• HotSpot moderators can see account details to run the site. They read a conversation only when someone reports it.

We never sell your information, and we don't use it for advertising.

Service providers

• Cloudflare hosts the site and database and provides bot protection (Turnstile). Data is stored in the United States.
• Resend delivers our emails.
• OpenFreeMap supplies the background map, and Google Fonts supplies the typefaces. Your browser loads these directly, so those services see your IP address, as with any website.

Cookies

We use one essential cookie to keep you signed in. We don't use advertising or tracking cookies, so there's no cookie banner.

How long we keep information

• Accounts whose email address is never confirmed are deleted after 30 days.
• If you don't visit for about a year, we'll email to ask whether you're still interested. After about 18 months without a visit, we take you off the map; after about two years, we delete your account. Signing in at any point resets this.
• Records of emails we've sent are kept for one year.
• When you delete your account, we delete your profile and every message you've sent straight away.

Your choices and rights

• Update your profile or take yourself off the map on your account page.
• Download a copy of your information (account page → “Download my data”).
• Delete your account permanently at any time.
• Turn email notifications on or off, or use the unsubscribe link in any non-essential email.
• Contact us at [privacy contact address, to be confirmed before launch] with any other request; we'll respond within 30 days.

Age

HotSpot is for adults. You must be 18 or older to create an account.

Security

We use encrypted connections, hashed passwords, rate limits and bot protection, and we limit who can access member information. No system is perfect; if we learn of a breach affecting you, we'll tell you promptly.

Where HotSpot is available

HotSpot currently accepts members in the United States and Canada.

Changes

If we make important changes to this policy, we'll tell members by email or on the site before they take effect.