Privacy Policy

1. Introduction and Scope

This Privacy Policy ("Policy") describes how cacao.tax, LLC ("cacao.tax," "we," "us," or "our"), a Texas limited liability company, collects, uses, stores, and discloses personal information in connection with the cacao.tax mobile application (the "App") and the services provided through it (collectively, the "Services").

The App provides ancillary informational and administrative tools in connection with the Texas Sales and Use Tax refund process, including the SEED (Systematic Eligibility & Evaluation Determination) Request service, tax refund status tracking, and, where applicable, the receipt and management of tax refund payments that have been collected by cacao.tax following a completed in-location service. The Services are described in full in the cacao.tax General Service Terms and Conditions and the Mobile App Terms and Conditions, which are incorporated herein by reference.

This Policy applies to all Users of the App, including international travelers who access the Services from outside the United States in connection with Texas Sales and Use Tax matters. cacao.tax's business operations are conducted in the United States and are subject to United States law. If you access the Services from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States.

By downloading, installing, or using the App, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Policy and consent to the information practices described herein. If you do not agree to this Policy, you must not use the App or the Services.

For questions about this Policy or your personal information, please contact us at [email protected].

2. Information We Collect

cacao.tax collects only the categories of personal information that are necessary to provide the Services.

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

Identity and Contact Information:

• Full legal name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Mailing address

Account Credentials:

• Username and password created during account registration

Travel and Eligibility Information:

• Country or jurisdiction of residence
• Travel dates relevant to a SEED Request or tax refund evaluation
• Port of entry or departure information, where relevant to export eligibility

Purchase and Receipt Information:

• Photographs or digital files of purchase receipts submitted through the App, including merchant name, transaction date, items purchased, quantities, and amounts paid in United States Dollars
• Digital receipt data retrieved through secure, delegated account integrations, where you choose to use that feature (see Section 2.3)

Identity Verification Documentation:

• Passport information, including name, passport number, country of issuance, and expiration date, where required for export eligibility assessment or identity verification in connection with tax refund processing
• Copies or photographs of passport pages, where submitted by the User for the above purposes

Payment and Banking Information:

• Bank account or payment routing information provided by the User for the receipt of tax refund payments, where applicable

Profile Information:

• Optional profile photograph, subject to the limited operational license described in the Terms and Conditions

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you use the App, we may collect certain technical information automatically for purposes of App functionality, security, and service improvement:

• Device identifiers (such as device model and operating system version)
• App usage data (such as features accessed and session duration)
• Log data (such as error reports and crash diagnostics)
• IP address, used for general geographic context and security purposes

2.3 Digital Receipt Account Integrations

The App includes a feature allowing Users to submit digital receipts obtained from retailers in connection with SEED Requests or tax refund tracking. To use this feature, Users may connect existing digital retail accounts to the App through secure, OAuth-based delegated authorization integrations, where available, or by uploading digital receipt files directly. Any third-party account connections are made through secure authorization frameworks that permit cacao.tax to retrieve only the specific receipt data necessary to provide the Services, without accessing unrelated account content.

You confirm that you are the rightful owner or an authorized user of any account you connect, and that you have the right to authorize the retrieval of receipt data for the purposes of these Services. Digital receipt data will be handled in the same manner as other receipt information submitted through the App.

2.4 Information We Do Not Collect

cacao.tax does not collect, and this Policy does not authorize the collection of, any of the following:

• Demographic profiling data such as household income, marital status, or education level
• Social media account credentials or social network friend lists
• Shopping list data or product search history unrelated to a SEED Request
• Background or persistent location data
• Browsing history or browser extension data
• Behavioral advertising identifiers, UID2, or equivalent advertising-tech identifiers
• Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) or SNAP benefits information

3. How We Use Your Information

cacao.tax uses personal information solely for the following purposes:

• To create and maintain your account and verify your identity;
• To process and evaluate SEED Requests and deliver informational eligibility evaluations to you;
• To track the status of separately initiated tax refund claims, where applicable;
• To facilitate and administer payments to you in connection with valid tax refunds, where applicable;
• To process and analyze receipt and documentation submissions in connection with the Services;
• To detect and prevent fraud, unauthorized submissions, and abuse of the Services;
• To send transactional communications, including account alerts, SEED Request status updates, security notifications, and tax refund status updates;
• To respond to your support inquiries and requests;
• To comply with applicable legal obligations, including responding to lawful government requests; and
• To maintain, secure, and improve the App and the Services.

cacao.tax does not use your personal information for behavioral advertising, interest-based advertising, targeted marketing, or sale to third parties. cacao.tax does not use your information to build advertising profiles or to engage in cross-context behavioral tracking.

We may use de-identified or aggregated data, which cannot reasonably be linked to any individual, for internal analytics and service improvement purposes.

4. Receipt and Document Processing

Receipts and identity documents submitted through the App may be processed using optical character recognition (OCR) or similar document-processing technology to extract the information necessary to evaluate a SEED Request or support tax refund tracking. This processing may be performed by cacao.tax or by vetted third-party service providers operating under confidentiality obligations.

Receipt scanning and document-processing technology may on occasion misread, misinterpret, or fail to process information accurately. You are responsible for reviewing processed information for accuracy and reporting errors through the in-app correction feature or by contacting [email protected].

Receipts submitted through the App may contain sensitive financial information. cacao.tax does not retain payment card numbers or bank account numbers from receipt images. Where receipt images contain payment card data, such data is not extracted or stored.

Passport information and identity documentation are handled with heightened confidentiality measures, stored securely, and accessed only by personnel with a legitimate operational need. Such documentation is retained only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Policy or as required by applicable law.

5. Device Permissions and Camera Access

The App may request access to your device's camera and photo library in order to allow you to photograph and upload purchase receipts and identity documents. Camera and photo library access are optional. If you deny camera permission, the App will not redirect you to the device Settings app. Instead, the App will display an informational message explaining that the camera feature is unavailable and how you may enable it through Settings at your own option. Denying camera permission will not prevent you from using other features of the App.

Any contextual message that appears in the App before a system permission request is displayed will use neutral button labels such as "Continue" or "Next." The App will not use button labels that direct or pressure a particular permission choice.

Images captured or uploaded through the App are used solely for receipt and document processing in connection with the Services and are not used for any other purpose.

6. When and Why We Share Your Information

cacao.tax does not sell your personal information. cacao.tax does not share your personal information with third parties for advertising, marketing, or commercial purposes unrelated to the Services.

We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

6.1 Service Providers

We engage third-party vendors and service providers to assist in delivering the Services. These may include providers of cloud hosting and storage infrastructure, document processing and OCR services, payment processing, identity verification, fraud detection, customer support platforms, and App analytics. Service providers are permitted to use your information only as necessary to perform services on our behalf and are required to maintain the confidentiality and security of your information.

Current categories of service providers include:

• Cloud infrastructure and hosting providers (for secure storage of App data)
• Payment processors (for receipt and disbursement of tax refund payments, where applicable)
• Document and OCR processing vendors (for receipt and identity document analysis)
• App diagnostics and crash-reporting tools (for App stability and improvement)

6.2 Legal Requirements and Protection

We may disclose your information where required to comply with applicable law, regulation, legal process, or enforceable governmental request; to enforce our Terms and Conditions; to detect, prevent, or address fraud or security issues; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of cacao.tax, our Users, or the public.

6.3 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of the assets of cacao.tax, your personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will provide notice of any such transfer and any material changes to information practices through the App or by email.

6.4 With Your Consent

We may share your information for other purposes where you have provided specific, informed consent.

7. Location Data

The App does not use background location tracking, geofencing, or persistent location monitoring. cacao.tax does not estimate your frequently visited locations, track your movements, or send location-triggered notifications.

IP address information may be collected automatically for general geographic context (such as country-level location) and for security and fraud-prevention purposes. This does not constitute precise location tracking and is not used for advertising or behavioral profiling.

If any future version of the App introduces location-based features, this Policy will be updated accordingly and you will be asked for explicit consent before any such feature is activated.

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

The App is a native iOS mobile application and does not use browser cookies. To the extent cacao.tax operates a web-based interface or website in connection with the Services, limited session-based cookies may be used for authentication and security purposes only. cacao.tax does not use persistent tracking cookies, pixel tags for advertising, or cross-site behavioral tracking technologies on any web interface associated with the Services.

cacao.tax does not participate in online behavioral advertising networks or equivalent ad-tech ecosystems. No advertising SDKs are embedded in the App.

9. Security of Your Information

cacao.tax implements technical, administrative, and physical safeguards designed to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption of personal data in transit using industry-standard TLS protocols;
• Encryption of personal data at rest, including identity documents and financial information;
• Access controls limiting personal data access to personnel with a legitimate operational need;
• Secure account authentication, including password protection and optional multi-factor authentication; and
• Periodic review and assessment of our security practices.

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. While we take reasonable precautions, cacao.tax cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that triggers notification obligations under applicable law, we will notify affected Users and relevant authorities as required.

10. Data Retention

cacao.tax retains personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, to provide the Services, and to comply with applicable legal obligations.

The following general retention guidelines apply:

• Account information is retained for the duration of your active account and for a reasonable period thereafter to comply with legal obligations or resolve disputes.
• Receipt submissions and SEED Request data are retained for the period necessary to complete the evaluation, track the associated refund claim, and satisfy any applicable legal or tax recordkeeping requirements.
• Passport and identity documentation is retained only for the period necessary to complete the identity verification or export eligibility assessment for which it was submitted and is deleted promptly thereafter unless retention is required by law.
• Payment and transaction records may be retained for longer periods as required by applicable financial, tax, or legal recordkeeping obligations.
• Accounts that have been inactive for 730 consecutive days are subject to the inactivity process described in the Terms and Conditions. Account data associated with closed or permanently inactive accounts will be deleted or anonymized within a reasonable period following closure, subject to legal retention requirements.

11. Account Deletion

You may delete your account directly within the App at any time by navigating to Settings > Account > Delete Account. You may also request deletion by contacting cacao.tax at [email protected]. Upon receipt of a verified deletion request through either channel, cacao.tax will delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable period.

Please note that certain information associated with completed tax refund transactions may be subject to mandatory retention periods under applicable federal or state tax recordkeeping requirements and may not be deletable on request. Information required to resolve pending disputes or enforce existing agreements will also be retained for the necessary period.

Temporary deactivation of your account is not the same as account deletion. Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

12. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your state of residence, you may have certain rights with respect to your personal information. cacao.tax will respond to verifiable privacy rights requests from U.S. residents in accordance with applicable law.

12.1 Rights That May Be Available to You

• Right to Know: the right to request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information cacao.tax has collected about you.
• Right to Access: the right to obtain a copy of the personal information cacao.tax holds about you.
• Right to Correction: the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Right to Deletion: the right to request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: cacao.tax does not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes. If this practice changes, you will be notified and provided with a clear opt-out mechanism.

12.2 How to Submit a Request

To exercise any of the above rights, please contact us at [email protected] with your full name, email address associated with your account, and a description of your request. We will verify your identity before processing any request. We aim to respond to verifiable requests within forty-five (45) days, with the possibility of a one-time extension of an additional forty-five (45) days where reasonably necessary.

12.3 Authorized Agents

An authorized agent may submit a privacy rights request on your behalf, provided the agent presents signed written authorization from you or proof of legal authority (such as a power of attorney). We may contact you directly to verify the agent's authority before processing the request.

12.4 Appeals

If we decline to act on your request, you may appeal our decision by emailing [email protected] with "Privacy Rights Appeal" in the subject line. We will respond to your appeal within a reasonable period in accordance with applicable law.

12.5 Non-Discrimination

cacao.tax will not discriminate against you for exercising any privacy rights described in this Policy.

13. Children's Privacy

The Services are intended exclusively for adults eighteen (18) years of age and older. cacao.tax does not knowingly collect, solicit, or maintain personal information from children under the age of thirteen (13). If cacao.tax becomes aware that personal information has been collected from a child under thirteen, such information will be deleted promptly. If you believe that a child under thirteen has provided personal information through the App, please contact us at [email protected].

14. International Travelers

The App is designed, in part, to serve international travelers seeking information about Texas Sales and Use Tax refund eligibility. cacao.tax's business operations, data storage, and data processing are based in the United States, and your personal information will be transferred to and processed in the United States regardless of your location.

If you are located outside the United States, please be aware that United States privacy laws may differ from the laws of your home jurisdiction. By using the Services, you consent to the transfer of your personal information to the United States and its processing in accordance with this Policy.

cacao.tax does not currently offer services within the European Economic Area and does not represent compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If this changes, this Policy will be updated accordingly.

15. European Privacy Rights (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, object to processing, and data portability. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected].

16. Third-Party Services and Links

The App may contain links to or integrations with third-party websites or services not operated or controlled by cacao.tax. This Policy does not apply to third-party services, and cacao.tax is not responsible for the privacy practices of any third party. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you access through the App.

17. Changes to This Policy

cacao.tax may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our Services, information practices, or applicable law. Material changes will be communicated through the App or by email to the address associated with your account at least thirty (30) days before taking effect, where reasonably practicable. The "Effective Date" and "Last Revised" dates at the top of this Policy reflect the most recent revision. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of a revised Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated practices. If you do not agree to a revised Policy, you must discontinue use of the Services.

18. Contact Information

For questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact:

We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within a reasonable timeframe and no later than forty-five (45) days from receipt.