Privacy Policy: Gateway America LLC Privacy and Cookies Policy

1. Information We Collect

Account and Contact Information. When you create an account, request a quote, submit a part request, contact us, or sell inventory through our platform, we collect information such as your name, business email address, phone number, company name, job details, and account credentials (passwords are stored in hashed form only).

Business and Transaction Data. We collect and maintain records of your quote requests, orders, bids and offers, payment terms, invoices, shipping and billing addresses, shipment tracking information, and related transaction history.

Files You Upload. If you upload files to the Services — such as inventory lists, bills of materials (BOMs), or purchase order documents — we collect and process the contents of those files, which may include contact details, part and pricing information, and other business data.

Communications. We collect the contents of communications you have with us, including email, phone, portal messaging, and text/SMS messages where you initiate or opt in to such channels, along with related records such as requests and support issues.

Search and Usage Activity. We collect the part numbers and terms you search for, the pages you view, and how you interact with the Services.

Automatically Collected Technical Data. When you use the Services we automatically collect technical information such as your IP address, browser and device type, operating system, and similar identifiers, using cookies and similar technologies described below. We also maintain security and audit logs (which may include IP addresses and account identifiers) for fraud prevention, rate limiting, and system integrity.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use personal data to: (a) provide the Services, including creating and managing your account, processing quote requests, orders, payments, and shipments, and providing customer support; (b) operate our sourcing marketplace, including matching part requests with available inventory and facilitating offers and bids; (c) provide part search, including returning availability from our inventory, partner inventory, and authorized distributors; (d) communicate with you about your account, requests, orders, and the Services, and — if you are an existing customer — about products and services we believe are relevant to your business (you may opt out of these communications at any time); (e) secure the Services, including fraud prevention, abuse detection, rate limiting, and enforcement of our terms; (f) improve and develop the Services, including analyzing usage in aggregate; (g) comply with legal obligations, including maintaining business and financial records; and (h) support business operations and transactions such as audits, financing, or a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case customer information may be transferred as part of the transaction.

3. Vendor Inventory May Be Displayed Publicly

If you upload or submit inventory for sale through the Services, the business information in your listings — such as part numbers, quantities, manufacturers, descriptions, and related attributes — may be displayed publicly on our website, shown in search results to other users, included in pages indexed by search engines, and shared with prospective buyers. Do not include information in inventory listings that you do not want displayed. Personal contact details from your account are not published in listings; buyers are connected through Gateway America.

4. Use of AI Services

Certain features of the Services use third-party artificial intelligence providers. For example, part searches and alternate-part suggestions may send the part numbers or search terms you enter to AI providers (currently OpenAI and Google) to generate results, and uploaded inventory files may be reviewed using AI services (including Anthropic) for formatting and data-quality checks. Data sent to these providers is limited to what is needed to provide the feature and is processed under the providers' API data-use terms. We do not send your account credentials or payment information to AI providers.

5. Who We Share Information With

We do not sell your personal data. We share personal data only with service providers who process it on our behalf to operate the Services, with parties you direct us to share it with, or as required by law. Our service providers fall into the following categories:

Each provider is bound by contract to use personal data only to provide its services to us. We may also disclose information when required by law, legal process, or governmental request, or where reasonably necessary to protect our rights, our users, or the public.

• Business systems providers — customer relationship management, accounting, inventory management, and payment processing
• Hosting and infrastructure providers — application hosting, databases, and file storage
• Communications providers — transactional email, business telephone, SMS/text, and messaging
• AI service providers — automated processing as described in Section 4
• Authorized distributor and market data services — which receive the part numbers you search in order to return availability and pricing
• Shipping carriers and tracking services — to provide shipment status for your orders
• Fraud-prevention and security services — including a third-party bot-protection service, as described in Section 6

6. Cookies and Bot Protection

We use cookies and similar technologies that are essential to the operation of the Services — for example, keeping you signed in, remembering your language preference, and protecting security. We do not use third-party advertising cookies. You can manage or block cookies in your browser settings, but blocking essential cookies may prevent parts of the Services (such as signing in) from working.

The Services are protected by a third-party bot-protection service to prevent abuse.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only as long as needed for the purposes described in this Policy. In particular: files uploaded for inventory processing are automatically deleted from our storage systems within approximately 48 hours after processing; internal processing and job records are routinely purged within approximately 30 days; account, quote, order, and communication records are retained for the duration of our business relationship and for a reasonable period afterward; and transaction and financial records are retained as required by tax and accounting law. When data is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it.

8. Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal data, including encryption of data in transit, role-based access controls, database-level access restrictions, and security audit logging. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security; if we become aware of a breach affecting your personal data, we will notify you as required by applicable law.

9. International Data Transfers

Gateway America is based in the United States and the Services are hosted and processed in the United States. If you use the Services from outside the United States (including the EEA or the United Kingdom), your personal data will be transferred to and processed in the United States. Where required, we and our service providers rely on appropriate safeguards for such transfers, such as standard contractual clauses.

10. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or receive a copy of your personal data, to object to certain processing, and to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@gateway-america.com. We will verify your request and respond within the timeframe required by applicable law. Note that we may need to retain certain information where required by law (for example, records of completed transactions) or for legitimate business purposes such as fraud prevention.

If you are in the EEA or the UK: our legal bases for processing are performance of a contract (providing the Services you request), our legitimate interests (operating, securing, and improving the Services and communicating with business customers), and compliance with legal obligations. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

To opt out of marketing communications, use the unsubscribe link in the message or contact us at info@gateway-america.com. We will continue to send transactional messages about your account and orders.

11. Children

The Services are intended for business use and are not directed to anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version with a new effective date, and for material changes we will provide additional notice through the Services or by email.

13. Contact Us

Gateway America, LLC, 1600 E 8th Ave, Suite A200, Tampa, FL 33605, USA, info@gateway-america.com, +1 813-257-7353 (tel:+18132577353)

Legal Disclaimer

THE SITE/APPLICATIONS AND THEIR CONTENTS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WE EXCLUDE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Except as otherwise required by law, neither Gateway America LLC nor its directors, employees, content providers, affiliates or other representatives will be liable for damages of any kind (including, without limitation, lost profits, direct, indirect, compensatory, consequential, exemplary, special, incidental or punitive damages) arising out of your use of or your inability to use the Site or the contents of the Site whether or not Gateway America LLC has been advised of the possibility of such damages.