Privacy Policy

Open Circle Markets operates The Circle — a curated vendor marketplace connecting Auckland event organisers with food, drinks, experience, and entertainment vendors. Our website is located at thecircle.opencirclemarkets.com (or the domain you are currently visiting).

We are based in Auckland, New Zealand, and operate under New Zealand law, including the Privacy Act 2020. If you have questions about this policy, contact us at support@opencirclemarkets.com.

From event enquiries: When you submit an event enquiry we collect your first and last name, email address, phone number (optional), organisation name (optional), event details (date, location, guest count, occasion, budget), and your preferred vendors.

From vendor applications: When you apply to join our vendor directory we collect your business name, contact name, email, phone number (optional), business category, description, social media handles, and website URL.

From vendor accounts: Vendors who log into the vendor portal provide an email address and password, managed securely through Supabase Auth.

Automatically collected: We collect standard web server logs including IP address, browser type, pages visited, and referring URL. This information is used for security, rate limiting, and diagnosing technical issues. We do not use third-party analytics trackers or advertising pixels.

We use the information you provide to:

• Process and respond to event enquiries
• Send your enquiry details to relevant, available vendors
• Communicate with you about your enquiry or application
• Operate the vendor portal and manage vendor accounts
• Prevent abuse, spam, and fraudulent submissions
• Improve our service based on usage patterns

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your data for advertising profiling or share it with third parties for marketing purposes.

When you submit an event enquiry, your contact details and event requirements are shared with vendors in the relevant categories. This is the core service: connecting event organisers with vendors. By submitting an enquiry you consent to this sharing.

Vendor profile details (name, description, photos, category) are displayed publicly on our website to help event organisers choose the right vendors.

We use the following third-party services to operate The Circle:

• Supabase — database and authentication (data hosted in AWS)
• Resend — transactional email delivery
• Vercel — website hosting

Each of these providers processes data only as necessary to deliver the service and operates under their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review them if you have concerns.

Enquiry data is retained for up to 2 years so we can assist with event follow-up and dispute resolution. Vendor application data is retained indefinitely unless you request deletion. You may request deletion of your data at any time by emailing us.

Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 you have the right to:

• Ask whether we hold personal information about you
• Request access to that information
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Ask us to delete your data (subject to legal retention requirements)

To exercise any of these rights, email support@opencirclemarkets.com with your request. We will respond within 20 working days as required by law.

We use browser local storage (not third-party cookies) to remember your Event Brief while you browse the site. This data never leaves your device and is not sent to our servers until you submit an enquiry.

We use a single HttpOnly session cookie for admin authentication. This cookie is strictly necessary for the admin portal to function and is not used for tracking.

We do not use advertising cookies, analytics cookies, or any third-party tracking scripts.

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including: encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS), HttpOnly session cookies, server-side input validation, rate limiting on all public endpoints, and restricted database access via row-level security policies.

No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. If you believe your data has been compromised, please contact us immediately.

The Circle is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has submitted information to us, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of The Circle after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

For any privacy-related questions or requests:

Open Circle Markets
Auckland, New Zealand
support@opencirclemarkets.com