Lone Star Observatories, LLC ("LSO", "we", "us", or "our") operates a family of products and services including lonestarobservatories.com, telescope.repair, BortleBug, and ScopeHound. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use any LSO product or service (collectively, the "Services"). Please read it carefully. By using the Services you consent to the practices described below.
If you do not agree with the terms of this policy, please discontinue use of the Services.
1. Information We Collect
1.1 Information You Provide Directly
- Account and contact information — name, email address, and any other details you supply when creating an account, submitting a contact form, or booking a service.
- Telescope repair submissions — when you submit a scope for service at telescope.repair, we collect the scope's make, model, description of the issue, and shipping address. We do not retain payment card numbers; payments are processed by our third-party payment processor.
- User-generated content — notes, observations, imaging sessions, or other content you create or upload within BortleBug.
- Communications — emails, support requests, or other messages you send us.
1.2 Information Collected Automatically
- Log data — IP address, browser type and version, pages visited, referring URL, and timestamp.
- Device information — operating system, screen resolution, and device identifiers (where applicable).
- Usage analytics — aggregate, anonymised data about how the Services are used. We do not use third-party behavioural tracking cookies.
1.3 Information From Third Parties
If you sign in via a third-party identity provider (e.g. Apple, Google), we receive your name and email address as authorised by that provider's scope. We do not receive your password.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- Provide, operate, and improve the Services.
- Process service requests, bookings, and payments.
- Respond to your enquiries and provide customer support.
- Send transactional communications (booking confirmations, shipping updates, service completion notices).
- Send optional product and service announcements — you may opt out at any time.
- Detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, or security incidents.
- Comply with applicable laws and legal obligations.
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.
3. How We Share Your Information
3.1 Service Providers
We share information with trusted service providers who assist in operating the Services under confidentiality obligations. These include:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) — cloud hosting, storage, and content delivery.
- Stripe — payment processing for telescope.repair services. Stripe's privacy policy governs their handling of payment information.
- Transactional email provider — delivery of booking confirmations and service updates.
3.2 Legal Requirements
We may disclose your information if required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of LSO, our users, or the public.
3.3 Business Transfers
In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email or a prominent notice on the Services prior to the transfer if a different privacy policy will apply.
4. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Services. We will delete or anonymise your information upon written request unless we are required to retain it for legal, regulatory, or legitimate business purposes (e.g. warranty records, tax obligations).
5. Data Security
We implement industry-standard technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including TLS encryption in transit, encrypted storage at rest, and access controls limiting who within LSO can access personal data. No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
6. Your Rights and Choices
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correction — request that inaccurate information be corrected.
- Deletion — request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal retention obligations.
- Objection / restriction — object to or request restriction of certain processing activities.
- Portability — where technically feasible, request your data in a machine-readable format.
- Marketing opt-out — unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time via the link in any email or by contacting us directly.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@lonestarobservatories.com. We will respond within 30 days.
7. Cookies
We use strictly necessary cookies to operate authentication sessions and maintain your preferences. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. You may configure your browser to refuse cookies, but doing so may affect functionality.
8. Children's Privacy
The Services are not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it promptly.
9. Links to Third-Party Sites
The Services may contain links to third-party websites (e.g. eBay listing URLs surfaced by ScopeHound). This Privacy Policy does not apply to those sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, by sending an email notification. Continued use of the Services after the effective date of any change constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
11. Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:
Lone Star Observatories, LLC
Email: privacy@lonestarobservatories.com
Texas, United States