Privacy policy

Who this covers

Sellers and their team members who have a Mercat account, and the customers of those shops whose details a shop keeps in Mercat.

Each shop decides what it records about its own customers. Mercat stores and processes that data for the shop, to run the service.

What we collect

• Your account: name, email, password (stored only as a secure hash) and, if you sign in with Google, the link to your Google account.
• Shop data your team enters: products, stock, orders, customers (names, phone numbers, addresses), deliveries and payments.
• Instagram and Messenger, only when a shop connects its Facebook Page: the Page name and ID, the linked Instagram account and username, an access token for the Page (stored encrypted), the messages and files exchanged with customers (from the last 30 days at connection, then as they arrive), and each customer’s name, username, profile picture and the ID Instagram or Messenger gives them.
• Technical data: sign-in times, IP address and browser, used to keep accounts secure.

How we use it

To run Mercat for your shop: show your Instagram and Messenger conversations in one inbox, let your team reply, link chats to customers and orders, and tell the right person when a message arrives.

Also to secure accounts, bill subscriptions and answer support requests.

We do not sell personal data, use it for advertising, or use data from Instagram or Messenger for anything other than providing the inbox to the shop that connected it.

Who we share it with

• Meta (Instagram and Facebook), to receive messages and send the replies your team writes.
• The providers that run Mercat for us: Hetzner (servers), Cloudflare (file storage and network) and Resend (email). They process data only on our instructions.
• Authorities, when the law requires it.

How long we keep it

• While the shop uses Mercat.
• When a shop disconnects its Page, we delete the access token at once and stop receiving its messages. Past conversations stay readable in the shop until they are deleted.
• When a shop owner erases a customer, that customer’s conversations and files are deleted.
• When a shop closes, it is read-only for 30 days and then all its data is permanently deleted. We keep only its subscription invoices and payments (for our accounting) and a minimal record: shop name, handle, dates and reason for closing.
• Accounts that never verify their email are deleted after 30 days.

Your choices

You can ask us to see, correct or delete your data. If you messaged a shop that uses Mercat, you can ask that shop, or write to us and we will help. Step-by-step instructions are on our data deletion page.

Security

Connections use HTTPS, Page tokens are encrypted, and each team member sees only what their role allows.

Changes

When this policy changes, we publish the new version here with its date. Important changes are also shown in the app.

Contact us

Questions about your data, or a request to see, fix or delete it: support@mercatjo.com