Privacy Policy

Who We Are

LostPropertyFinder.com ("we," "us," "our") is operated by Shoeboxed, Inc., a corporation organized under the laws of North Carolina, with its principal office in Durham, North Carolina. This Privacy Policy describes how we handle information when you use the LostPropertyFinder.com website and services (the "Service").

The Short Version

When you contact us, we use what you tell us to help you and to answer your questions. We do not sell or rent the personal information you give us.

Separately, our site publishes unclaimed property information that the states release as public records, and we may use that public data to let people know they might have money waiting. If you would like your name removed from our site, just email us and we will take care of it.

Information You Give Us

When you use LostPropertyFinder.com, you may give us:

• Contact information: your name, email address, and phone number, for example when you email us or fill out a form to ask for help.
• Search terms: the names you search for on the site.
• Account credentials: if we offer optional accounts and you create one, your email address and a password (which is cryptographically hashed and never stored in plain text).

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit the site, our servers and tools automatically collect:

• Log data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages viewed, and date and time of access.
• Cookies: a session cookie and a security (CSRF) token needed for the site to work.
• Advertising and analytics: we use the Meta (Facebook) advertising pixel, which sets cookies and tells Meta which pages you viewed so we can measure and improve our advertising. We also use Ahrefs Web Analytics, a privacy-friendly, cookieless tool that helps us understand overall site traffic without tracking you personally. See "Cookies" below.

Public Unclaimed Property Records

States publish unclaimed property records as public information. We import and display that public data, including owner names, cities, the company that reported the property, the type of property, and, where the state publishes it, dollar amounts. This is government data, not information you gave us.

We may use this public-records data to let the people listed know they may have unclaimed property, and to tell them about Shoeboxed. That outreach may take the form of mail, email, or online advertising built from these public records. This is separate from the personal information you give us as a visitor, which we do not use to build advertising audiences.

If you would like your name removed from LostPropertyFinder.com, email us at support@lostpropertyfinder.com and we will remove it promptly.

How We Use the Information You Give Us

We use the information you give us to:

• Respond to you about your question or request for help.
• Provide and improve the Service.
• Tell you about LostPropertyFinder.com and Shoeboxed, unless you ask us not to.
• Detect and prevent fraud or abuse of the Service.

We do not sell or rent the personal information you give us, and we do not use it to build third-party advertising audiences.

If You Use an Optional Paid Claim Service

States require strict identity verification before they release unclaimed property. If you choose to use an optional paid service to help file a claim, we may need to collect sensitive information to verify your identity and your right to the property, such as:

• A picture or scan of your driver's license, passport, or other ID.
• Proof of address, such as a utility bill or bank statement.
• Your Social Security number, where the state requires it.
• Other documents the state requires to file a claim.

We collect this kind of sensitive information only when you choose a paid service and only through trusted third-party identity-verification providers. Where we store any of it, it is encrypted. We never ask for this information just to browse or search the free site.

Data Retention

We keep the information you give us only as long as needed to provide the Service and for legitimate business or legal purposes. If you ask us to delete your information, or to remove your name from the site, we will do so within 30 days, except where we are required to keep certain records by law.

Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information:

• Data sent between your browser and our servers is encrypted via HTTPS/TLS.
• Sensitive information, such as a Social Security number collected for a paid claim service, is encrypted at rest.
• Passwords, if you create an account, are hashed and never stored in plain text.
• Our application is hosted on Heroku, which maintains physical and operational security controls.
• Access to production data is restricted to authorized personnel.

No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. While we work hard to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Cookies

LostPropertyFinder.com uses:

• Session cookie: keeps the site working as you move between pages. Expires when you close your browser or after a period of inactivity.
• CSRF token: a security cookie that prevents cross-site request forgery attacks.
• Meta (Facebook) advertising pixel: sets cookies and shares the pages you view with Meta so we can measure and target our advertising. You can limit this through your browser settings and your Meta ad preferences.

We use Ahrefs Web Analytics for traffic measurement. It is cookieless and does not track you across sites or store personal information.

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate LostPropertyFinder.com:

• Heroku (Salesforce) — application and database hosting.
• Meta (Facebook) — advertising and the advertising pixel.
• Ahrefs — privacy-friendly, cookieless website analytics.
• Smarty — address verification for public records.
• DataFinder — contact data for advertising built from public records.

These providers may process data as part of providing their services to us. They are bound by their own privacy policies.

Children's Privacy

LostPropertyFinder.com is not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If we learn that we have, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child has provided us information, please contact us at support@lostpropertyfinder.com.

Your Rights

All Users

No matter where you live, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate personal information.
• Delete your information, or have your name removed from the site.
• Opt out of marketing emails at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@lostpropertyfinder.com. We will respond within 30 days.

California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you also have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose.
• Request deletion of your personal information.
• Correct inaccurate personal information.
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not sell the personal information you give us as a visitor. Where our advertising pixel involves "sharing" under California law, you may opt out by emailing us or using your browser and Meta ad-preference controls.
• Not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights.

European Residents (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area, our legal bases for processing are performance of a contract (providing the Service you asked for), our legitimate interests (security, fraud prevention, and improving and marketing the Service, balanced against your rights), and your consent where required. You may also have rights to data portability, to restrict processing, and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Data Breach Notification

In the unlikely event of a data breach affecting your personal information, we will notify affected users within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, or as otherwise required by applicable law, and will notify regulatory authorities where required.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will post the updated policy on this page with a new effective date. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

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

Shoeboxed, Inc.
Attn: Privacy
Email: support@lostpropertyfinder.com