Privacy Policy

Information we collect

We may collect information you voluntarily provide, including your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, bidding and purchase history, payment and transaction details, communications with our staff, and cookie or local-storage identifiers.

We may also automatically collect limited technical information such as IP address, browser type, and device information for security, analytics, and site functionality.

How we use your information

We use personal information to:

• Register bidders, review bidder requests, and process bids.
• Facilitate auctions, Warehouse purchases, payments, pickup, and release.
• Send auction updates, invoices, order confirmations, and service messages.
• Respond to inquiries and provide customer service.
• Prevent fraud, protect auction integrity, and comply with legal requirements.
• Operate and improve our website and services.

Sharing of information

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We may share information with trusted service providers that help operate our business, including payment, identity-verification, messaging, hosting, analytics, and fraud-prevention providers; when required by law or a lawful request; or when necessary to protect Austin Auction Gallery, our clients, or others.

Payments and transactions

Payment information for online Warehouse purchases is processed by Stripe. Austin Auction Gallery does not receive or store your complete payment-card number through our Stripe Checkout flow. Stripe processes payment and transaction data under its own privacy and security practices.

SMS verification and telephone bidding

If you use telephone bidding or another service that requires phone verification, we may use a provider such as Twilio to send a one-time code by SMS or voice. Your number is used to deliver the code and confirm your identity. Message and data rates may apply. Verification codes expire, and we do not use a verification number for marketing texts unless you separately opt in.

Text-message consignment inquiries

When you voluntarily text Austin Auction Gallery photos or information about property you may wish to consign, you request and consent to one-to-one SMS or MMS responses about that inquiry. Message frequency varies with the conversation, and message and data rates may apply.

We use this number for transactional consignment conversations, not recurring promotional messages. We do not sell, rent, or share mobile numbers or SMS opt-in consent with third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes.

Cookies and tracking technologies

Our website may use cookies, local storage, or similar technologies to provide site and cart functionality, remember preferences, analyze traffic, measure advertising conversions, and improve the visitor experience. Where required, non-essential technologies are subject to your consent choices. You can also control cookies through your browser, though some features may then work differently.

We use PostHog for website traffic, conversion analytics, heatmaps, and privacy-masked session recordings. PostHog is configured to exclude forms, mask every input and recorded text field, and avoid sending customer form contents in our custom events. We also use Microsoft Clarity for privacy-masked session recordings, heatmaps, and interaction analytics while we compare the two services. Sensitive form areas are excluded from capture and input values are masked.

We use the Google Ads tag to attribute completed consignment inquiries and Warehouse purchases to our advertising. We send the conversion type, a non-customer identifier used to prevent duplicate counting, and, for a purchase, the order value and currency. We do not send form contents, contact information, or payment-card data to Google Ads; advertising personalization and customer-provided advertising data remain disabled.

In the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland, Google Ads, PostHog, and non-essential analytics storage are enabled only after you allow optional cookies; without consent, Clarity operates in a limited cookieless mode. In other regions, these technologies may be enabled by default, and you can decline them below at any time. We honor a prior decline, browser Do Not Track, and Global Privacy Control automatically.

Fraud prevention and device signals

To protect auction integrity and prevent fraudulent registrations and transactions, we use fraud-prevention tools, including MaxMind minFraud Device Tracking, for certain bidder-approval and bid-limit requests. These tools may process IP address, browser and device attributes, and cookie or local-storage identifiers to identify signals such as proxy or VPN use, unusual device activity, or repeated activity across accounts.

We use these signals as one part of a fraud-risk review and do not rely on them as the sole basis for a decision. Relevant information may be processed by MaxMind as a service provider solely to provide fraud-prevention services.

Data security and retention

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures designed to protect personal information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or disclosure. No system can be guaranteed completely secure. We retain information as reasonably necessary for the purposes described here, our operational records, dispute resolution, and legal or regulatory obligations.

Your choices

You may ask to access your personal information, correct inaccurate or incomplete information, opt out of non-essential communications, or ask questions about our data practices. We may need to verify your identity before completing a request.

Third-party links

Our site links to auction platforms, shippers, and other third-party websites. Their privacy practices are governed by their own notices, and Austin Auction Gallery is not responsible for their content or practices.

Your privacy choices

You can allow or decline behavioral analytics and tell us not to sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising at any time. These choices apply right away, and we also honor the Global Privacy Control signal automatically if your browser sends one.

California privacy rights

If you are a California resident, applicable law may give you rights to know the categories or specific pieces of personal information collected about you; request deletion or correction; limit certain use of sensitive information where applicable; opt out of sale or sharing; and exercise those rights without discrimination.

During the preceding twelve months, we may have collected identifiers, commercial and transaction information, Internet or electronic-activity information, and customer-service communications for the purposes described in this policy. Austin Auction Gallery does not sell personal information and does not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

You or an authorized agent may submit a verifiable request using the contact information below. Legal and operational exceptions may apply.

European privacy rights

If you are in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, applicable law may provide rights of access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, portability, and withdrawal of consent. We process information as necessary to perform a contract, comply with legal obligations, with consent where required, or for legitimate business interests that do not override your rights.

Austin Auction Gallery is based in the United States. Information may be transferred to and processed in the United States or another jurisdiction where our service providers operate. We take reasonable steps to use appropriate safeguards where required.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as our services or legal obligations change. The current version and effective date will be posted on this page.

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