West End POS
Privacy policy
Effective September 27, 2026
This policy explains what information West End Systems ("we") handles through westendsystems.com and the West End POS software, why, and who helps us. We don't sell personal information and we don't use it for advertising.
Two kinds of information
- About businesses that use West End POS and their staff. We decide how this is used, as described here.
- About a store's own customers (the people who shop at the store). The store decides what to keep and how to use it; we store and process it on the store's behalf. If you're a store's customer, contact the store first about your information; we'll help them respond.
What we collect
- Account and business details: names, email addresses and phone numbers of owners and staff; the business's name, address, legal name, EIN and sales tax permit number. Staff PINs and passwords are stored only in a scrambled (hashed) form we can't read back.
- What the store records in the software: inventory and photos; sales, returns, layaways, repairs and orders; customers' names, contact details, addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, ring sizes, preferences, purchase history, and their choices about email and texts; for purchases from the public, the seller's details and ID number, shown in full only to staff the store allows.
- Messages: emails and texts the store sends, customers' replies to the store's texting number, and whether a marketing email was opened or a link in it was clicked.
- Billing: handled by Stripe. We keep the card brand and last 4 digits, never the full number. Card payments at the register go through the store's own Square account; card numbers never reach us.
- Security and support: sign-in activity and IP addresses (to stop password guessing), an activity log of changes, error reports, and what you send us in Help requests, including screenshots.
- Our website uses no analytics or advertising cookies. Our hosting keeps standard server logs.
How we use it
To run the service for the store; to keep it secure; to bill the business; to answer support requests; to send the emails and texts the store asks us to send; to fix problems; and to meet legal obligations.
Who helps us run the service
- Render hosts the apps and database (United States).
- Amazon Web Services stores photos and backups, sends email (SES) and texts (End User Messaging), and delivers notices about them, in the Ohio (us-east-2) region.
- Cloudflare carries traffic to our hosting.
- Stripe handles what businesses pay us.
- Square processes a store's card payments, when the store connects its own Square account.
- Sentry receives error reports (we remove one-time sign-in links from them).
- Better Stack checks that the service is up (no personal information).
- Phone carriers and The Campaign Registry receive the store's business details when a store registers to send texts.
Each receives only what it needs to do its job. We may also share information if the law requires it, or with a buyer if West End Systems is ever sold, under this policy.
Text messages
Stores that turn on texting send from their own registered number. Message frequency varies; message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to stop texts from that store, or HELP for help. Mobile numbers and texting consent are never shared with third parties or affiliates for their marketing.
Marketing emails from a store include an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing works right away. When an address bounces or someone marks an email as spam, the store stops emailing that address.
How long we keep it
While the business's account is open. After an account closes, we keep its data so the business can come back, and delete it within 30 days of a written request, apart from what the law requires us to keep (like invoices). Backups are deleted after 30 days.
Security
Data travels encrypted, and stored files are encrypted. Each business's data is kept separate from every other business's. Passwords and PINs are hashed, sign-ins are protected against guessing, secrets are sealed, and our own staff sign in with a second factor. Keys given to our providers can reach only what they need.
Your choices and rights
Owners can download their business's data at any time. You can ask us to see, correct or delete information about you by writing to support@westendsystems.com; a store's customers should ask the store. Depending on where you live, you may have other rights under your state's privacy law, and we'll honor them.
Children
The service is for businesses and isn't directed at children under 13.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll post the new version here and email account owners before it takes effect.
Contact
West End Systems · support@westendsystems.com