Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information TattooArtistSearch ("we", "us") collects when you use TattooArtistSearch, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. We wrote it to be read, not skimmed past — if anything is unclear, email us at hello@tattooartistsearch.com.

The short version: we collect what we need to run a tattoo artist directory and the tools artists use to manage their bookings. We don't sell your information, we don't show ads, and private client records are visible only to the artist who keeps them.

Who this applies to

• Visitors who browse artist and shop profiles.
• Clients who send booking requests, with or without an account.
• Artists and shop owners who create profiles and use the dashboard.

Information we collect

Account information

When you sign up we collect your name, email address, password, and account type (client, artist, or shop owner). Artists also give us their city, state, and ZIP code. Your password is stored only in a scrambled (hashed) form that we can't read. If you turn on two-factor authentication, we store the secret and recovery codes needed to check your sign-in codes.

Public profile information (artists and shops)

Artists and shops choose what to put on their profile: profile or shop photo, bio, location, years of experience, styles, prices, weekly availability, portfolio images, website, social media handles, booking link, and contact email or phone. Once a profile is published, everything on it is public — anyone can see it, and search engines may index it and show it in their results. Unpublished profiles are visible only to their owner.

Booking requests

When you send an artist a booking request we collect your name, email address, optional phone number, your message, and any details you add (style, placement, size, budget). The request goes to that artist, who can see everything in it and use it to reply to you.

Client records kept by artists

Artists can keep private records about their clients: name, email, phone number, notes, preferred styles, appointment history, reference photos, and allergy information. Allergy notes are health information, and we treat these records as sensitive:

• Notes, allergy information, and reference photos are visible only to the artist who created them — not to other artists, not to the shop the artist belongs to, and not publicly.
• Reference photos are stored privately and are only shown to that artist after they sign in.
• We don't use client records for anything other than showing them to the artist who keeps them.

The artist decides what to record about their clients and is responsible for having a good reason to keep it — we store it on their behalf. Artists should record allergy or other health details only with the client's permission. If you're a client and want to see, correct, or remove information an artist holds about you, ask the artist first; if they don't respond, email us and we'll help.

Appointments

Artists can record appointments in their calendar, including date and time, duration, deposit amount and whether it's been paid, status, and private notes. Shop owners can see the schedule of artists on their roster, including each appointment's time and client name, but not the artist's private notes or client records. We don't process payments — deposits are tracked, not charged, through TattooArtistSearch.

Emails we send

We email you about your account (verifying your address, resetting your password, and a welcome message for new artists) and about booking requests: artists get an email for each new request, and clients get a confirmation that their request was sent. An artist's booking email includes the request details so they can reply straight from their inbox. A confirmation to someone who sent a request without an account never repeats what they wrote, and includes a link to stop further confirmations if they didn't send it. We don't send marketing emails.

Feedback

If you send us feedback from the dashboard, we store your message along with your account, the page you were on, and your browser type, so we can find and fix problems.

Information collected automatically

• Cookies. We use a session cookie to keep you signed in and a security cookie that protects forms from forgery. We don't use advertising or third-party tracking cookies. Your light/dark mode choice is saved in your browser.
• Profile view counts. When someone views a profile, we count it using a scrambled version of their browser session — not their name, account, or IP address — so artists can see roughly how many people visited.
• IP address and server logs. Our servers record IP addresses and basic request details in technical logs. We also use IP addresses briefly to limit how many booking requests can be sent, to block spam.

How we use information

• To run the service: show profiles, deliver booking requests, and let artists manage their calendar and clients.
• To power search, including turning ZIP codes into approximate map locations for distance search.
• To keep accounts secure and prevent spam and abuse.
• To respond to you and to fix problems you report.
• To comply with the law.

We don't sell your personal information, share it for advertising, or use it to build advertising profiles.

Who we share information with

• The artists you contact. Booking requests go to the artist you send them to.
• The public. Published artist and shop profiles are public.
• Shop owners. When an artist joins a shop, the shop owner can see that artist's appointment times and client names.
• Service providers who help us run TattooArtistSearch, only as needed to provide their service: our hosting provider; Amazon Web Services, which stores uploaded images and delivers our emails (so it handles the names, email addresses, and contents of the emails we send); Zippopotam.us, which receives ZIP codes (and nothing else) to look up their location; Bunny Fonts, which serves the site's fonts and sees your IP address when your browser loads them; and UI Avatars, which receives your name to draw a default profile picture if you haven't uploaded one.
• Legal reasons. If required by law, or to protect the safety and rights of our users or others.
• Business changes. If TattooArtistSearch is merged or sold, your information may be transferred as part of that, subject to this policy.

How long we keep information

We keep your information for as long as your account is open. You can delete your account at any time from Settings → Profile. Deleting an artist account deletes the artist profile, portfolio, booking requests received, appointments, and client records. Deleting a client account removes the account, but booking requests you sent stay with the artists who received them, since they're part of those artists' records. Booking requests sent without an account stay with the artist unless you ask us to remove them. Feedback is kept after an account is deleted but is no longer linked to you. Technical logs and backups are kept for a limited period and then deleted.

Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), store passwords hashed, offer two-factor authentication, and limit private client photos to the artist who uploaded them. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong, unique password. If we learn of a breach affecting your information, we'll notify you as required by law.

Your choices and rights

• Edit your account and profile information at any time from the dashboard and settings.
• Unpublish your artist or shop profile to hide it from the public.
• Delete your account from Settings.
• Email hello@tattooartistsearch.com to ask for a copy of your information, to correct it, or to delete it. Depending on where you live (for example California, Colorado, Virginia, or other states with privacy laws), you may have additional rights, and we'll honor them. We won't treat you differently for using them.

Age requirement

TattooArtistSearch is for people 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone younger. If you believe someone under 18 has given us information, contact us and we'll delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as TattooArtistSearch changes. We'll update the effective date above, and for significant changes we'll let account holders know by email or in the app before they take effect.

Contact us

Questions or requests about your privacy: hello@tattooartistsearch.com.