Last updated October 2026.
The Plant Stand is a small, free community site. We don't sell your data, run ads, or track you across other websites. Here's plainly what we collect and why.
We ask for your email so we can send you a sign-in link to manage your listing later — no password needed. Firebase Authentication (the sign-in service we use) stores that email to deliver the link. In our own database, we only ever store a one-way hash of it, used so we can help you find your listing again if you lose your link — we never store your plaintext email ourselves.
While you wait for that email, the details you filled out (name, description, items, and the exact spot where you dropped your pin, before it's shifted) are held temporarily in our database so the link works no matter which browser or device you open it on. They never include your email, and they're deleted automatically a few hours later whether or not you finish.
The location you drop a pin on is randomly shifted by 50–150 meters before it's ever shown publicly, so your exact address isn't exposed. If you choose to type an address or cross-street into the optional address field, that's shown exactly as you typed it — it's up to you whether to include one.
The name, description, items, and any links you add to your listing are public and visible to anyone who visits the site.
You can add one photo of your stand. It's public on your stand's page. Before it's uploaded, your browser shrinks it and removes hidden details such as where the photo was taken. A new photo replaces the old one, and the photo is deleted when you remove your stand.
To comment on a stand, you sign in with the same kind of email link. Firebase Authentication stores your email to deliver the link, but your email is never shown with your comment or stored with it. We store the comment, the name you choose to show (if any, otherwise it says "A visitor"), when you wrote it, and an account number that lets us limit how often one account can comment.
Comments are public on the stand's page. Each comment is deleted automatically 60 days after you write it, or sooner if the stand is removed. You can delete your own comment at any time, and the stand's owner can delete any comment on their stand.
If you allow your browser to share your location, we use it only in your browser to sort listings by distance — your precise location is never sent to our servers or stored anywhere.
If you use the feedback box or answer the optional pricing question, we store what you submit. Neither is tied to your identity beyond whatever you choose to write.
This site runs on Firebase (Google) for hosting, sign-in, our database, and stand photos, Google Maps for the map, Google reCAPTCHA to help block automated abuse, and Sentry for error monitoring so we can catch and fix bugs (which may capture basic technical details like browser type). Each of these has its own privacy practices.
You can remove your plant stand at any time from My plant stand. It disappears from the map right away, along with its updates and comments, and its photo is deleted. We keep the rest for 30 days in case it was removed by mistake, then delete it, its updates and its comments for good. A temporary stand is deleted when it expires. We keep only an anonymous note of how many days each removed stand was up, with no name, place, or link back to you. If you'd like your data removed entirely or have any other privacy question, use the feedback box on the home page to reach us.
If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we'll update the date at the top of this page.