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.
Some listings on The Front Porch weren't created by the operator. We sometimes publish basic information about porch shops we found in public places — Google Maps profiles, public Instagram, microbakery directories, and similar public sources — to help neighbors discover them. These appear as "unclaimed" listings until the operator claims them.
What may appear on an unclaimed listing: shop name, the source we found it from, a photo from that public source, any public Instagram handle, any public website or online-store link, a general neighborhood (we don't show a street pin until you claim the listing), and — when a neighbor with an account told us about the porch — that neighbor's first name as a credit ("Added by Sarah"), never their last name. If this is your porch shop, you can claim it (it becomes a regular listing you control) or you can ask us to remove it. Either path is free and takes a minute.
You can browse The Front Porch without an account. If you want to do more — tell us about as many porches as you know about, or (soon) follow porches and get an email when they open — you can create a free account. That account stores your email address, your first and last name, and optionally your city (so we can suggest porches near you) — and your login state. Nothing else.
If you buy one of our home-bakery guides, the answers you fill in as you go (your “workbook”) save in your browser on that device, and — if you’re signed in — to your account, so they’re still there if you switch phones. Only you see your own workbook answers.
We may use de-identified, aggregated data from the guides and tools — never tied to you by name — to understand what’s helping and make them better. We don’t sell it or share it.
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 porch shop depends on the kind of shop. The two postures are different on purpose.
Kid stands — we lean toward privacy by default:
Important.A kid stand's page is link-only (never in our directory, map, or search). Even so, anything a parent chooses to put on it — a first name, a photo, a goal, an approximate location — is visible to anyone they share the link with. We default to privacy (link-only, first names only, approximate location, photo opt-in), but parents decide what to share and who to share it with, and are responsible for that choice.
Adult porch shops (cottage bakery / maker / garden / other) — we publish what makes you findable:
A kid stand's page is shared by link. It's never listed in our directory, on the map, in our site search, or in our sitemap, it asks search engines not to index it, and the link itself is private and unguessable — so a stranger has no way to stumble onto it. The page opens only for someone who already has the link, which means you decide who sees it by deciding who you send it to.
Your call, your responsibility.A kid stand page is built to be private-by-default, but it is still a real page on the internet. Whatever you choose to put on it — a first name, a photo, a goal, the address — and whoever you choose to share the link with are decisions you make as the parent or guardian, and you're responsible for them. Share the link with people you trust, and tell us if you ever want the page or anything on it taken down.
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-shop resource.
We use a small number of trusted services to actually make the site work. None of them get your data for their own marketing.
The Front Porch is operated from and for the United States. We don't intentionally direct services to users outside the US. If you're visiting from elsewhere, the site is provided as-is and US laws govern.
Porch shops stay until you delete them. Your account, profiles, and shop history stay until you delete them. Unconfirmed registration drafts are deleted automatically after 24 hours.
We email you for things tied to your account or your porch shop — confirming a registration, password reset / magic-link sign-in, and telling you when a listing has been approved or needs changes. We don't send marketing email and we don't share your email with anyone.
We use standard Supabase auth tokens to keep you signed in if you have an account. No advertising cookies, no analytics that profile you.
You can edit or delete any porch shop, 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 — we aim to respond within 45 days, which lines up with what Utah and California consumer-privacy laws expect.
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.