Privacy Policy

Who we are and what this covers

LIC Women Entrepreneurs, Inc. (“LIC WE,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a community based in Long Island City, Queens, New York. This policy explains how we handle personal information through our website, member accounts, directory, Email Updates, and communications with us.

Questions or privacy requests can be sent to info@licwe.org.

Information we collect

• Account information: your sign-in email, account identifier, verification status, and information needed to maintain and secure your session. Our website uses email-link sign-in and does not ask you to create a password.
• Profile information: your member name, business name, category, website or social-profile link, public contact email, optional phone number, description, and optional photo or logo. We also keep your publication choice and records of profile changes or moderation actions.
• Membership information: your selected plan, membership dates, transaction references, amounts, and payment or renewal information needed to administer membership. Stripe handles checkout and card details; our website does not store full payment-card numbers or security codes.
• Communications: your first name and email when you request Email Updates, and information you include in a contact form, email, support request, or other communication. If you provide event-registration details or a business birthday month for a community callout, we use that information for the activity you request.
• Technical information: our hosting, authentication, and other service providers may process IP addresses, browser and device information, request times, and security or diagnostic logs when you use the site.

Please do not include payment-card details, government identifiers, or other sensitive information in your directory profile or contact messages.

How we use information

We use information to provide sign-in and member services; administer membership and billing; save and display the directory information you choose to publish; respond to messages; organize requested events and community activities; send Email Updates you request; and protect the community against misuse, fraud, and security problems.

We also use necessary records to resolve disputes, meet legal obligations, and maintain the website. Joining, sending a contact message, or publishing a listing does not by itself subscribe you to Email Updates.

What becomes public

Your saved profile is a private draft until you choose Publish to directory. Publishing makes your saved name, business name, category, website or social-profile link, description, public contact email, optional phone number, and photo or logo visible to anyone who can access the directory. Choose contact details you are comfortable making public.

Your sign-in email is not published automatically. It becomes public if you also enter it as your profile’s public contact email. We do not publish your billing details or private account identifiers.

While your listing is published, saved edits and image changes appear publicly. LIC WE administrators can edit or take down listings. A listing is hidden when membership is inactive; it can reappear when membership becomes active again unless you have unpublished it or LIC WE has taken it down.

You can unpublish or delete your profile from your profile page. Unpublishing keeps your saved draft. Removal stops display on our directory, but cannot erase copies already downloaded, screenshots, search-engine records, or information other people have retained.

For photos and logos, the website resizes the selected image before uploading and removes embedded image metadata. We store the processed version, rather than your original file.

Sharing and service providers

We use service providers to operate the website and community services:

• Google Firebase provides email-link authentication and account security.
• Cloudflare hosts the website, stores member records and profile images, and supports security and diagnostics.
• Stripe provides checkout, payment processing, and billing management.
• Mailchimp / Intuit provides Email Updates, signup forms, and our hosted contact form and inbox.
• When you register for an event through Luma, it processes registration information and makes relevant attendee details available to event organizers.

Our email provider also handles communications you send to us. These providers handle information needed for their services and may also process information under their own privacy terms. Information may be processed in the United States or other countries where a provider operates.

We will not sell, rent, or share your private member or email-list information with sponsors or other businesses for their own purposes without your specific permission. Membership, Email Updates signup, and directory publication do not by themselves give that permission. This is separate from the provider processing described above and the information you choose to make public.

We may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with legal obligations, respond to valid legal requests, investigate misuse, or protect people’s rights and safety. Access within LIC WE is limited to people who need it for their responsibilities.

Cookies and browser storage

The website uses browser storage to maintain sign-in and remember the email address used for a pending sign-in link. The pending address is removed after successful sign-in or sign-out. Checkout uses a short-lived cookie to confirm the return from Stripe and a checkout cookie lasting up to 30 days to help prevent repeat purchases. If you check out before signing in, we keep the email recorded on your completed Stripe checkout so we can connect your membership after you verify that address.

We do not currently add advertising pixels or Google Analytics to this website. Hosting and authentication providers still process operational information. External pages, including Stripe, Mailchimp, and Luma, may use their own cookies and similar technologies under their policies.

You can clear or block cookies and browser storage in your browser settings. Doing so may sign you out or prevent sign-in and checkout from working.

Email choices

Email Updates are optional. Use the unsubscribe link in an Email Updates message, or email info@licwe.org to ask us to stop them. Where enabled in Mailchimp, delivery, open, and link-click information may be used to understand whether messages reach and interest subscribers.

Unsubscribing from Email Updates does not cancel membership. You may still receive necessary sign-in, billing, security, or service messages. We do not treat a request for a sign-in link as marketing permission.

Retention, deletion, and your choices

We retain information for as long as reasonably needed to provide the services you request, administer membership, keep necessary financial and security records, resolve disputes, and meet legal obligations. Retention depends on the type of information and the reason it is kept; membership expiry does not automatically erase a saved profile.

Delete profile removes your saved profile and its public listing and initiates removal of its stored photo or logo. This does not automatically delete your Firebase sign-in account, cancel a Stripe subscription, erase billing or moderation records, or unsubscribe you from Mailchimp.

To request account closure, access to your information, correction, or broader deletion, email info@licwe.org. We may need to verify your identity. We will respond as required by applicable law and explain any information we need to retain. Your location may give you additional privacy rights.

Deletion from active services may not immediately remove copies from backups, provider systems, or security records. We may retain limited suppression information to honor an unsubscribe request, and moderation records to prevent a removed listing from being republished without authorization.

Security and age requirements

We use access controls and other reasonable safeguards appropriate to the information we handle. No website, storage system, or email service can guarantee complete security. Keep access to your email account secure and do not forward sign-in links.

Membership and directory accounts are for people age 18 or older. The website is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided information, contact info@licwe.org so we can investigate and take appropriate action.

Changes and contact

We may update this policy as our services or practices change. We will update the date above and provide additional notice or seek consent where required. A policy change does not replace your specific permission for sharing private lists with sponsors.

For privacy questions, contact LIC Women Entrepreneurs, Inc., Long Island City, Queens, New York, at info@licwe.org. See our Terms & Conditions for website and membership terms.