Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 5, 2026
Last updated: July 5, 2026

Mangrov Alliance, Inc., doing business as The Cut List ("The Cut List," "we," "us," or "our"), operates thecutlist.com (the "Site"). The Cut List is a curated discovery platform. We do the research, narrow the field to three great picks in each category, and point you directly to the brand or business itself. We do not sell products, take bookings, process consumer orders, or provide customer service on behalf of the brands and businesses we feature. Most visitors use The Cut List without creating an account, and we collect only the limited information described below. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

This policy applies to the Site and to related services we operate, including brand and advertiser accounts (the "Builders' Room"). It does not apply to the independent brands and businesses we feature. When you leave the Site and visit a brand's or business's own website, their privacy practices, not ours, apply.

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

Account information. Accounts are currently available only to brands, advertisers, and our staff. General visitors can browse and search The Cut List without creating an account. If you create a brand or advertiser account, for example to claim or manage a listing or to purchase advertising, we collect information such as your name, email address, password, and your business or brand affiliation. When a business claims a listing, we may collect information used to verify your connection to that business, such as confirmation that your email address matches the business's website domain.

Brand and advertiser content. Advertisers and featured brands may submit content to us, such as product photographs, brand descriptions, videos, links, and sponsored story content. This content is intended for publication and is reviewed by our editorial team before it appears on the Site.

Newsletter subscription. If you sign up for our newsletter, we collect your email address so we can send it to you.

Communications. If you contact us, for example at our contact email address, we collect the contents of your message and the contact information you provide so we can respond.

Payment-related information. If you purchase advertising products from us, our payment processor collects your payment information. See Section 6 (Payment Processing). We do not collect or store full payment card numbers ourselves.

Information collected automatically

Usage and device information. Like most websites, we and our service providers automatically collect certain technical information when you visit the Site, such as your IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, referring pages, pages viewed, and the dates and times of your visits. This information is collected through server logs, Google Analytics, and similar technologies and is used to operate, secure, and improve the Site.

Approximate location. The Site is organized around cities. We collect the city you select so we can show you relevant local content, and we may infer an approximate location from your IP address, for example to suggest a default city. We do not collect precise GPS location.

Search activity. When you use the Site's search, we process your search queries in order to return results. See Section 4 (AI and Automated Processing).

Information from other sources

We may receive or use publicly available information about businesses and brands, such as information from their own websites and from public editorial sources, as part of our editorial research. This research is about businesses, not about individual visitors to the Site.

2. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies, browser local storage, and similar technologies for the following purposes:

Essential operation. We use these technologies to keep account holders signed in, to secure sessions, and to make core features of the Site work. These cannot be switched off without breaking parts of the Site.

Preferences. We store settings such as your selected city so the Site remembers your choices between visits.

Analytics. We use Google Analytics, a service provided by Google LLC, to understand how visitors use the Site in the aggregate. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technologies to collect information such as your IP address, device and browser information, and the pages you visit, and processes that information on our behalf on servers that may be located in the United States. You can learn more in Google's privacy policy, and you can opt out of Google Analytics through your browser's cookie controls or Google's Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

No third-party advertising cookies. We do not use third-party advertising networks, and we do not use cookies or trackers to build advertising profiles of you or to follow you across other websites. Advertising on The Cut List, such as promoted options and category sponsorships, is sold directly by us and is shown to everyone viewing the relevant category. It is not targeted using your personal information.

Most browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. Because we do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, browser signals such as Do Not Track and the Global Privacy Control do not trigger additional action from us; there is no sale or sharing to opt out of.

3. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and operate the Site, including showing you the right city's content and returning search results.

• Create and manage brand and advertiser accounts, verify brand claims, and administer the Builders' Room.

• Process advertiser purchases, billing, and related communications.

• Review and publish advertiser and brand content in accordance with our editorial standards.

• Send our newsletter to subscribers who have signed up for it.

• Respond to inquiries and provide support for our own services.

• Monitor, secure, and improve the Site, including debugging, preventing abuse and fraud, and understanding aggregate usage.

• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.

• We do not use your personal information to build advertising profiles, and we do not sell it.

4. AI and Automated Processing

The Cut List uses artificial intelligence tools to support, not replace, our human editorial work. Specifically:

Search assistance. Your search queries may be processed by AI systems to interpret what you are looking for and return better results, for example by matching synonyms and natural-language phrases.

Editorial content. Some content on the Site, such as category descriptions and search synonyms, may be drafted or assisted by AI tools and is subject to human editorial review before publication.

Editorial research. Our internal research tools may use AI to monitor public sources, such as local publications, to surface candidates for our editorial team to evaluate. These tools research businesses; they do not profile Site visitors.

Where AI features involve our service providers, such as Anthropic, those providers process the relevant data to provide the feature to us under contractual restrictions. We do not permit our AI service providers to use your personal information for their own independent purposes.

We do not use automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects about you.

5. How We Share Information

We share personal information only in the following circumstances:

Service providers. We use third-party companies to help us operate the Site, and they process information on our behalf under agreements that restrict their use of it. These currently include our hosting and deployment provider (Replit), database provider (Neon), cloud storage provider (Google Cloud), transactional email provider (Resend), analytics provider (Google LLC, through Google Analytics), map provider (Mapbox, whose map tiles load in your browser when you view a map and which may receive your IP address and related technical information as part of serving the map), AI provider (Anthropic), and payment processor (Stripe) for advertiser purchases.

Legal and safety. We may disclose information if we believe in good faith that disclosure is required by law, or is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of The Cut List, our users, or the public, or to detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues.

Business transfers. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of assets, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to reasonable confidentiality protections. We will take reasonable steps to ensure the successor honors the commitments in this policy or provides notice of material changes.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.

6. Payment Processing

Advertiser payments are processed by a third-party payment processor (Stripe). When you make a purchase, your payment card details are provided directly to the processor, which handles them under its own privacy policy and security standards. We receive confirmation of payment and limited billing information, such as the last digits of a card and billing contact details, needed to manage your account and comply with our financial record-keeping obligations. We do not store full payment card numbers.

7. Marketing Communications

We send transactional emails related to brand and advertiser accounts and purchases, such as brand-claim verifications, invitations, password resets, and billing notices. These are necessary to provide the service and are not marketing.

We publish a free informational newsletter. If you subscribe, we use your email address to send it to you. Every edition includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time; we will honor your request promptly. Unsubscribing from the newsletter does not affect transactional emails related to an account you hold.

We do not send SMS marketing messages.

8. Data Retention

We keep personal information for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy. In general, account information is retained while an account is active and for a reasonable period afterward as needed for our legitimate business purposes, such as record-keeping, billing history, dispute resolution, and legal compliance. Newsletter email addresses are retained until you unsubscribe. Server logs and technical data are retained for shorter periods appropriate to security and operations. When information is no longer needed, we delete it or de-identify it.

9. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information, including encrypted connections, access controls, and periodic security reviews of our code and infrastructure. No website or internet transmission is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Account holders are responsible for keeping their credentials confidential.

10. Your Privacy Choices

Account information. If you hold a brand or advertiser account, you can review and update your information through your account or by contacting us.

Access, correction, and deletion. You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information by emailing us at the address in Section 16. We will respond consistent with applicable law, and we may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

Newsletter. Unsubscribe at any time using the link in any edition.

Cookies and preferences. You can manage cookies through your browser settings, including Google Analytics cookies, and you can change your selected city on the Site at any time.

11. California Privacy Rights

This section applies to California residents to the extent the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended (CCPA/CPRA), applies to us.

Categories of personal information we collect are described in Section 1 and include: identifiers (such as name, email address, and IP address); commercial information for advertisers (such as purchase records for advertising products); internet or other electronic network activity (such as pages viewed and search queries); and approximate geolocation (such as your selected city). We collect this information from you directly, automatically from your device, and from the sources described above, and we use and disclose it for the business purposes described in Sections 3 and 5.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under California law. We have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing the personal information of consumers under 16 years of age. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes requiring a right to limit under California law.

Subject to applicable law, California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose; to request deletion; to request correction; and to not receive discriminatory treatment for exercising these rights. To exercise these rights, contact us as described in Section 16. We will verify your request using information associated with your account or interactions with us. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf; we may require proof of the agent's authorization and verification of your identity.

12. International Visitors (EEA and UK)

The Site is operated from the United States and is directed to United States audiences, beginning with San Diego, California. If you access the Site from the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, please be aware that your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction.

Where GDPR or UK GDPR applies, our legal bases for processing are: performance of a contract (for example, providing brand and advertiser accounts); our legitimate interests (for example, operating, securing, and improving the Site) balanced against your rights; consent, where we ask for it (for example, the newsletter); and compliance with legal obligations. You may have rights to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object to our processing of your personal data, and to data portability, as well as the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. To exercise these rights, contact us as described in Section 16.

13. Children's Privacy

The Site is a general-audience service and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us at the address in Section 16 and we will delete it.

14. Third-Party Links and Services

The Site links out to the websites of the brands and businesses we feature, and it displays content from third-party services such as embedded maps. Those third parties operate under their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for their practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any site you visit after leaving ours.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above, and for material changes we will provide additional notice, such as a notice on the Site. Your continued use of the Site after an update means the updated policy applies to you.

16. Contact Us

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, contact us at:

Email: hello [at] thecutlist [dot] com Mail: Mangrov Alliance, Inc., 1010 Santa Clara Place, San Diego, CA 92109