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Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 18, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information TVO Media LLC (“Rent a Backyard,” “we,” “us”) collects on www.rentthebackyard.com (the “Site”), how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. We are the business responsible for your information. If you have a question, email us at rentthebackyard[at]gmail[dot]com.

The short version: the Site is a free directory of prefab and tiny homes. There are no user accounts and no purchases on the Site. We collect what you send us by email (to reply to you), and we and Google use cookies for analytics and advertising. We do not sell or share the information you send us by email. You can turn off personalized ads at any time with the Your Privacy Choices link at the bottom of every page, and we honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us. When you email us (for example, with a question or to list your company’s homes), we receive your email address, your name, and anything else you choose to include, such as a phone number or a description of your company. Please do not send us sensitive information such as Social Security, driver’s license, or bank account numbers.

Information collected automatically. When you visit the Site, we and our service providers automatically collect:

  • Device and connection information: IP address, browser type, operating system, device type, and language.
  • Usage information: pages you view, links you click, the page that referred you, and the date and time of your visit.
  • Approximate location (city, state, or country) derived from your IP address. We do not collect precise geolocation.
  • Cookie and similar identifiers, and information about the ads you see and click (see Section 4).

We do not collect payment information, account passwords, or information about health, race, religion, sexual orientation, or other sensitive characteristics.

2. How we use information

  • To reply to your message and to review and publish listings that companies submit.
  • To operate, maintain, and secure the Site, and to prevent spam, fraud, and abuse.
  • To understand how visitors use the Site so we can improve it (analytics).
  • To show advertising, including personalized advertising where you have not opted out or where you have consented (see Section 4).
  • To comply with the law and to enforce our Terms & Conditions.

We do not use the information you send us for marketing emails, and we do not send newsletters. We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

3. Who we share information with

  • Service providers that run the Site for us under contract and may use the information only to provide their services: Vercel (website hosting and server logs), and Google (Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Gmail, which we use to receive your emails).
  • Advertising partners: Google AdSense and the third-party ad vendors Google works with receive cookie identifiers, device information, IP address, and browsing activity on the Site to show and measure ads. See Section 4 and Section 6.
  • Legal and safety: when the law requires it, or to protect our rights, our visitors, or the public.
  • Business transfer: if the Site or our company is sold or merged, information may transfer to the new owner, who must honor this Privacy Policy.

We do not sell, rent, or share your name, email address, phone number, or messages with home builders, manufacturers, or any other company.

4. Cookies, analytics, and advertising

Cookies are small files stored by your browser. We use:

  • Strictly necessary storage: to remember your privacy choices (browser local storage, “consentMode”) and to keep the Site secure. These cannot be turned off.
  • Analytics cookies from Google Analytics (for example, _ga and _ga_*, which last up to 2 years). They tell us which pages are popular and how visitors use the Site. Google Analytics data is retained for 14 months.
  • Advertising cookies from Google AdSense and its partners (for example, __gads, __gpi, and __eoi, which last up to 13 months, plus cookies on Google’s own domains), and Google’s consent tool (FCCDCF, FCNEC), which stores your consent choice.

Required Google disclosures. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this Site and other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this Site and/or other sites on the internet. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings, and you can opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising at www.aboutads.info (or www.youronlinechoices.eu in Europe). Learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services. You can also block Google Analytics with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

How we ask for your choice depends on where you are:

  • European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland: analytics and advertising cookies stay off until you consent through Google’s consent message. If you do not consent, you may still see ads that are not personalized.
  • California: analytics and advertising cookies stay off until you click “Accept all” or turn them on in “Customize.” Until then you may still see ads that are not personalized.
  • Everywhere else: analytics and advertising cookies are on by default, and you can turn them off at any time.

You can change your choice at any time with the Your Privacy Choices link at the bottom of every page. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings.

Global Privacy Control. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we treat it as a request to opt out of the sale and sharing of your personal information and of targeted advertising for that browser: we turn off personalized ads and ad data sharing, and our privacy banner confirms this.

Do Not Track. There is no common standard for “Do Not Track” browser signals, so we do not respond to them. We do honor GPC as described above. Third parties, such as Google, may collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites when you use the Site.

5. Affiliate links

Some links on the Site (for example, links to Truoba house plans) are affiliate links. If you click one, the other company may set its own cookies to record that you came from our Site so that we can earn a commission. Their privacy policies apply to their websites.

6. “Sale,” “sharing,” and targeted advertising

We do not sell personal information for money. However, letting Google and its ad partners use cookies to show personalized ads may be called a “sale,” “sharing,” or “targeted advertising” under some U.S. state laws (including California and Connecticut). In the past 12 months, the categories of personal information involved were identifiers (cookie IDs and IP address), internet or network activity (pages viewed and ad interactions), and approximate location inferred from IP address. They were disclosed to Google and its advertising partners.

To opt out, use the Your Privacy Choices link at the bottom of any page and turn off “Personalized ads / sale or sharing,” or turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser. Because there are no accounts, your choice applies to the browser and device you use. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16.

7. How long we keep information

  • Emails and listing submissions: up to 24 months after our last contact with you, unless we need them longer to publish your listing or for legal reasons.
  • Google Analytics data: 14 months.
  • Server logs: kept by our hosting provider for a short period for security and troubleshooting.
  • Cookies: see Section 4.

8. Security

We use reasonable safeguards, such as encrypted (HTTPS) connections, bot protection, and restricted access to our email inbox. No system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live (for example, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and other states with consumer privacy laws), you may have the right to:

  • Know or access the personal information we have about you, and get a copy in a portable format.
  • Correct inaccurate personal information.
  • Delete your personal information.
  • Opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information and of targeted advertising (see Section 6).
  • Not be discriminated against for using these rights. We will never charge you more or provide a different service because you used a privacy right.

We give these rights to all U.S. visitors, whether or not your state’s law requires it. To make a request, email rentthebackyard[at]gmail[dot]com with the subject “Privacy Request” and tell us what you want us to do. Because there are no accounts, we will match your request to the email address you used to contact us, and we may ask for more information to verify your identity. We reply within 45 days (we may extend this once by 45 more days when the law allows, and we will tell you if we do). You can use an authorized agent; we may ask the agent for proof of your permission.

Appeals. If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision with the subject “Privacy Appeal.” We will respond within the time the law requires (usually 45 to 60 days). If you are not satisfied, you can contact your state Attorney General.

California. This policy is our notice at collection under the California Consumer Privacy Act and our privacy policy under the California Online Privacy Protection Act. The categories of personal information we collect, their sources, our purposes, the recipients, and our retention periods are described in Sections 1 to 7. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information. Under California’s “Shine the Light” law, we do not share personal information with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.

Nevada. We do not sell “covered information” as defined in Nevada law. You can still send an opt-out request to rentthebackyard[at]gmail[dot]com and we will record it and reply within 60 days.

10. Visitors from outside the United States

The Site is operated from the United States and intended for U.S. visitors. If you visit from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, TVO Media LLC is the controller of your personal information. Our legal bases are: your consent (for analytics and advertising cookies, which you can withdraw at any time with Your Privacy Choices); our legitimate interests (keeping the Site secure and replying to messages you send us); and legal obligations. You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to the processing of your personal information, to data portability, and to complain to your local data protection authority. Your information is processed in the United States; our service providers protect transfers with safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

11. Children

The Site is intended for adults and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, and we do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email us and we will delete it.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. We will post the new version on this page and change the effective date at the top. If we make a material change to how we use personal information, we will make the change clear on this page before it takes effect.

13. Contact us

TVO Media LLC
Email: rentthebackyard[at]gmail[dot]com