The short version. The Painted World is a map of art, rooted in place. We collect the information we need to run it — your account details, what you choose to post, and what you buy or sell — and nothing more. We do not sell your personal information, and we never will. If we ever share insights drawn from how the site is used, those insights are anonymized and aggregated so they can never point back to you. The longer version below explains all of it.
The Painted World ("TPW," "we," "us," or "our") is operated by Sandra Ford as an individual based in Baker City, Oregon, United States. Sandra is the person responsible for your information under this policy. If you have any question about your privacy, you can reach a real person — not a ticket queue — at info@thepaintedworld.com.
This policy explains what we collect when you visit thepaintedworld.com or create an account, why we collect it, who helps us handle it, and the choices and rights you have. We've tried to write it in plain English. Where a sentence has to be precise to be honest, we've kept it precise.
When you create an account, we collect what you enter on the sign-up form. The exact fields depend on the kind of account:
Beyond sign-up, we collect whatever you choose to add: a profile photo and banner, a bio, artwork images and their details, the map locations (pins) you create, events you post, messages you send to other members, comments, and any reports you submit about content on the site. You're in control of this — if you don't add it, we don't have it.
When you buy or sell artwork, subscribe as an art-related business, or make a donation, payment is handled by Stripe, our payment processor. Your full card number is entered directly with Stripe and is never seen or stored by us. We receive and keep a limited record of the transaction — such as the amount, the date, what was purchased, and an identifier Stripe gives us to reference the payment — so we can fulfill orders, pay artists, keep accurate books, and meet our tax and legal obligations. If you are an artist or business receiving payouts, Stripe collects the information it needs to pay you and to comply with financial regulations; that relationship is governed by Stripe's own privacy policy.
We keep our analytics deliberately light. When you visit the site, we record basic, non-identifying visit information so we can understand how TPW is being used and where our visitors come from. Specifically:
We do not use advertising cookies, cross-site trackers, or third-party analytics suites that follow you around the web. We don't run ads, and we don't let anyone pay to track you here.
We use the information above to:
The Painted World is, by design, a public map and community. Some of what you provide is meant to be seen by others. Your username, profile photo and banner, bio, the artwork and pins you publish, the events you post, and the public comments you leave are visible to anyone who visits the site. Your email address and password are never shown publicly. Please treat anything you publish as public, and share only what you're comfortable having seen.
One firm rule worth stating here: only artist accounts can ever drop a pin on the map. That has always been true and isn't changing.
We share your information only with the service providers that make TPW work, and only so they can perform their part. These providers process data on our behalf under their own privacy commitments:
We may also disclose information if the law genuinely requires it — for example, a valid legal request — or to protect the safety, rights, or property of our members, the public, or TPW. If TPW is ever transferred to new ownership, your information could be part of that transfer, and we'd tell you before your information became subject to a different privacy policy.
This one matters enough to say on its own. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not trade it for profit. The map and the community generate insights about creative life in a place — how many artists are in a region, where interest is growing, how a town's art scene is taking shape. If we ever share or use those insights to help TPW grow or to work with partners like local chambers or tourism organizations, we share them only in anonymized, aggregate form — patterns and totals, never an individual's identity. We will offer the map, the access, and the insight. We will not offer you.
Access to the database is locked down with row-level security, and the sensitive operations — analytics, payments, moderation — are written and sealed by our server rather than left open to the public. Passwords are hashed by our authentication provider, and payment card data lives with Stripe, never with us. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable, current measures to keep your information safe, and we keep that posture under review.
We keep your account information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we remove your profile and the content tied to it, except where we're required to keep certain records — for instance, completed orders and payment records that we need for accounting, tax, and legal reasons. Light, non-identifying visit analytics may be retained to understand long-term trends, but as explained above, those records aren't tied to your identity.
You can view and update most of your information any time from your account settings. You can also ask us to:
To make any of these requests, email info@thepaintedworld.com from the address on your account, and we'll take care of it. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws such as the California or other state privacy laws, or — if you reach us from abroad — laws like the GDPR. We honor those rights, and we will never charge you or treat you differently for exercising them.
The Painted World is intended for adults. You must be 18 or older to create an account or use the site. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us information, please contact us and we'll remove it.
TPW is based and hosted in the United States. If you use the site from another country, you understand that your information will be processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those where you live.
Member profiles may link to outside websites and social media. We don't control those sites and aren't responsible for their privacy practices. When you follow a link off TPW, the other site's policy applies.
As TPW grows, this policy may change. When it does, we'll update the date at the top, and for significant changes we'll give members reasonable notice — through the site or by email. Continuing to use TPW after a change means you accept the updated policy.
Questions, requests, or concerns about your privacy? Email info@thepaintedworld.com. It reaches Sandra directly.