Privacy Policy

01 Who We Are

InvestGaryIndiana.com ("IGI," "we," "us") is operated by Steel City Realty, a licensed real estate brokerage based in Gary, Indiana. Our platform provides real estate investment data, AI-powered deal analysis, and tools for investors in the Gary, Indiana market.

This Privacy Policy applies to all visitors, subscribers, and users of investgaryindiana.com, including users of the Property Analyzer, Tax Sale Navigator, IGI Exclusive Listings, Vendor Marketplace, and all other platform features.

02 Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

• Name and email address when you subscribe or contact us
• Property address and details when you use the Property Analyzer
• Seller information (name, phone, email, property details) when submitting an IGI Exclusive listing
• Vendor business information when applying for the vendor directory
• Your access code when activating the Tax Sale Navigator standalone purchase
• Support inquiries and correspondence with our team

Information collected automatically

• Browser type, operating system, and device type
• IP address and approximate geographic location (city level)
• Pages visited, features used, and session duration
• Referring URL — how you found us
• Subscription and feature unlock status stored locally in your browser

Information from third parties

• Stripe — transaction status, subscription state, and checkout email only. We never receive your card number, CVV, or billing address.
• NIRA MLS — listing data via the MLS Grid RESO API under a licensed data agreement.
• Anthropic (Claude AI) — property analysis prompts are sent to Claude's API. Queries are not used to train AI models per Anthropic's API policy.

03 How We Use Your Information

• Create and manage your subscription account and purchased features
• Process payments securely through Stripe
• Email you your Tax Sale Navigator access code after a standalone purchase
• Send deal alerts, market updates, and product announcements (opt out any time)
• Coordinate Steel City Builders contractor bid visits for seller listing submissions
• Improve the platform based on aggregated, anonymized usage patterns
• Comply with applicable laws and prevent fraud

04 Payment Processing

When you complete a purchase, Stripe provides us only with your checkout email, transaction status, subscription renewal dates, and a customer reference ID — no payment details.

Stripe is PCI-DSS Level 1 certified — the highest standard for payment security. Stripe's privacy practices are available at stripe.com/privacy.

05 Cookies & Local Storage

IGI uses browser storage — not advertising cookies — to maintain your subscription state and platform preferences locally on your device.

• localStorage — stores your subscription status and permanent feature unlock state. Persists until you clear browser data or we issue a reset.
• sessionStorage — stores Tax Sale Navigator access for standalone purchasers only. Clears automatically when your browser tab closes — you re-enter your access code each session.

We do not use third-party advertising cookies, tracking pixels, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or behavioral advertising technology of any kind. Any analytics we collect are aggregated and anonymized.

06 Data Sharing

We share your information only in these limited circumstances:

• Stripe — to process payments and manage subscriptions
• Anthropic — property addresses and analysis prompts are sent to Claude AI's API to generate deal analysis results
• Steel City Builders — seller contact info and property address when coordinating contractor bid visits for IGI Exclusive listings, with your explicit consent at submission
• IGI Partner Agents — your contact info is shared with a specific agent only if you request a referral and select that agent
• Legal compliance — if required by valid law, court order, or to protect the safety of users

07 Data Retention

• Subscriber account data: retained while active and for 90 days after cancellation
• Seller listing submissions: retained for 2 years for transaction records
• Support correspondence: retained for 1 year
• Payment records: retained as required by Stripe's terms and applicable tax law (typically 7 years)
• Property analysis queries: not retained — results are generated and displayed only, not logged to our systems

To request deletion of your data, email privacy@investgaryindiana.com. We will respond within 30 days.

08 Your Rights

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Correction — request correction of inaccurate data
• Deletion — request deletion of your data, subject to legal retention obligations
• Opt-out — unsubscribe from marketing emails any time via the unsubscribe link in any email we send
• Portability — request your data in a machine-readable format

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@investgaryindiana.com with your request and the email address on your account.

09 Children's Privacy

IGI is a professional real estate investment platform intended for adults 18 years of age and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a minor, please contact privacy@investgaryindiana.com immediately and we will delete it promptly.

10 Security

• HTTPS encryption for all data in transit
• Payment processing through Stripe's PCI-DSS Level 1 certified infrastructure
• Access codes stored as hashed values only — never in plaintext
• Subscription state stored client-side in your browser — not on a central database accessible to others

11 Policy Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. When we make material changes, we update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes affecting your rights, we notify active subscribers by email at least 14 days before the changes take effect.

Continued use of the platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12 Contact Us

For privacy questions, data requests, or concerns: