The Front Porch is a directory of homemade things you can pick up from neighbors' front porches. Because some of those listings are run by kids, we take privacy seriously and explain what we do — and don't — collect.
A parent or guardian creates the account for any stand run by a child. Adult sellers (cottage bakers, makers, gardens, and other porch shops) create their own account directly. We don't collect data directly from kids; everything about a child is provided by their parent or guardian.
We never ask for last names, addresses, school names, social media handles, or any other identifying information about a child.
What's visible on a listing depends on the kind of shop. The two postures are different on purpose.
Kid stands — we err on the side of privacy:
Adult porch shops (cottage bakery / maker / garden / other) — we publish what makes you findable:
When you list a cottage bakery you affirm that you follow your state's cottage food law. When you list as a maker or garden you affirm your goods are handmade or grown by you. We don't verify permits or licenses — that's your responsibility, and it keeps us out of your way. If you have specific questions about your state's rules, talk to a local food-safety or small-business resource.
Dated event listings drop out of public discovery the day after the event. Always-on shop listings stay until you delete them. Your account, profiles, and listing history stay until you delete them. Unconfirmed registration drafts are deleted automatically after 24 hours.
We email you for sign-in (magic links), to confirm registrations, to send reminders about your upcoming events, and to notify you when a guestbook entry is posted. Buyers who tap "I'll try to come" on an event can opt into a one-time reminder email. We don't send marketing email and we don't share your email with anyone.
We use a single browser cookie to remember if you've already tapped "I'll try to come" on a listing (so the count doesn't double-count you), and standard auth tokens to keep you signed in. No advertising cookies, no analytics that profile you.
You can edit or delete any listing, kid profile, or your whole account from your dashboard. If you'd like a copy of everything we have on you, or want help deleting something, email us.
If we change this policy in a meaningful way we'll email you and post a notice on the home page. Small clarifications go in here without a notice.
Email: hello@thefrontporch.store. Real humans read every message.