Privacy Policy

Pastry Embassy is a Houston, Texas pastry cafe. We collect only the information reasonably needed to operate the website, answer inquiries, prepare orders, process payments, manage pickup or delivery, protect our business, and comply with law.

This policy applies to information collected through this website, our inquiry forms, email, phone, social messages, Square ordering or invoices, and in-person interactions. It does not replace the privacy policies of Square, Google, delivery partners, map providers, social platforms, or other third-party services you choose to use.

We may collect information you provide directly, information created by your order or inquiry, and limited technical information from your visit.

• Contact information, such as your name, email address, phone number, billing details, delivery address, or event contact.
• Order and inquiry details, such as selected products, quantities, flavors, pickup or delivery timing, event date, serving count, budget range, design notes, allergies you choose to disclose, and special requests.
• Custom cake reference materials, including inspiration photos, screenshots, PDFs, color references, venue notes, or other files you upload or send.
• Payment and transaction records handled through Square, including payment status, invoice status, receipt details, refunds, chargeback records, and order history. We do not receive or store your full payment card number.
• Communications, including emails, text messages, form submissions, phone notes, social media messages, reviews, and customer support records.
• Website and device information, such as IP address, browser type, device type, referring page, pages viewed, approximate location, and server logs.

Please do not submit sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for your order or inquiry. For example, you may tell us about a food allergy so we can discuss whether we can accommodate the request, but you should not send medical records or unrelated private information.

We use customer information to run the business and document our interactions with customers.

• Respond to questions, quote custom cakes, wedding cakes, corporate orders, and catering requests.
• Prepare, confirm, modify, fulfill, cancel, refund, or document orders.
• Send transactional communications, including quotes, invoices, receipts, pickup or delivery updates, and follow-up questions.
• Review custom design references and maintain an order record in case of customer questions, disputes, chargebacks, insurance claims, or legal obligations.
• Improve our website, menu, service, operations, advertising performance, and customer experience.
• Prevent fraud, spam, misuse, unauthorized access, payment abuse, or unsafe orders.
• Comply with tax, accounting, food safety, payment, legal, regulatory, and recordkeeping obligations.

We do not sell customer personal information. We do not use uploaded custom cake photos or private inquiry details for unrelated advertising without permission.

Custom cake, wedding, corporate, events, catering, and contact inquiries may be submitted through forms on this website. Form responses may be stored in Google Sheets, and uploaded files may be stored in Google Drive.

Information in those systems may be reviewed by Pastry Embassy owners, staff, contractors, or advisors who need access to respond to the inquiry, quote the order, prepare the product, support the customer, maintain records, or protect the business. Google also processes information according to Google's own terms and privacy policy.

Online ordering, payment processing, receipts, refunds, and invoices may be handled by Square. When you pay through Square, you provide payment information directly to Square. We receive transaction and fulfillment information needed to operate the order, such as customer name, contact information, order contents, pickup or delivery timing, payment status, refund status, and invoice notes.

Square's terms and privacy notice apply to Square-hosted checkout, payment processing, receipts, invoices, saved payment methods, fraud controls, disputes, and related payment services. We do not control Square's systems.

If pickup, local delivery, courier delivery, maps, directions, or social media features are used, relevant information may be shared with the service needed to complete that function. This may include your name, phone number, delivery address, order contents, pickup or delivery timing, and instructions.

Delivery timing, courier availability, map estimates, and third-party notifications can depend on outside services. Their own terms and privacy practices apply.

We may use Google Analytics 4 and similar basic analytics tools to understand website traffic, page usage, source of visits, and inquiry or order handoff clicks. Analytics may use cookies, device identifiers, or similar technologies depending on your browser and Google's settings.

Analytics helps us understand what pages visitors use, how people find us, and where the website needs improvement. We do not use analytics to collect payment card numbers or private custom cake files.

You can reduce or block analytics through your browser settings, privacy extensions, ad blockers, or Google's opt-out tools. Some browser choices may affect how the site works.

We may send transactional messages about your inquiry, quote, order, invoice, pickup, delivery, refund, or support request. Transactional messages are not promotional marketing.

If we later offer email or SMS marketing, loyalty, gift cards, or promotional campaigns through Square or another provider, those messages will follow the consent and unsubscribe rules for that tool. You can ask us to stop non-transactional marketing messages.

We share information only when reasonably needed for business, legal, or operational purposes.

• Service providers, including Square, Google, Cloudflare (spam and bot protection on our forms), website hosting, analytics, delivery partners, map providers, email or phone providers, and IT support.
• Professional advisors, including accountants, insurers, payment dispute advisors, attorneys, or consultants.
• Business operations recipients, including staff, contractors, decorators, bakers, delivery support, or venue contacts when needed to prepare or fulfill an order.
• Legal, regulatory, safety, or enforcement recipients when required by law, subpoena, court order, payment network rule, tax obligation, food safety issue, fraud investigation, insurance matter, or to protect rights, safety, property, or evidence.
• Successors if the business is sold, reorganized, merged, financed, or transferred, subject to reasonable confidentiality protections.

We do not sell personal information to data brokers.

We keep information for as long as reasonably needed for the purpose collected, including order fulfillment, customer support, accounting, tax records, food safety, payment disputes, insurance, fraud prevention, and legal protection.

Custom cake inquiries, uploaded references, quotes, invoices, and communications may be retained after the event date because they document the agreed design, customer instructions, timing, payment history, and dispute history. If you ask us to delete information, we will consider the request, but we may keep records when needed for legitimate business, legal, tax, safety, fraud, chargeback, insurance, or dispute reasons.

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate for a small food service business. No website, payment platform, email system, form, cloud drive, or internet transmission can be guaranteed to be perfectly secure.

You are responsible for sending accurate contact information, using secure devices, and avoiding the upload of unnecessary sensitive information.

Our website and services are intended for adults or for customers ordering with adult permission. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If a parent or guardian believes a child submitted personal information, please contact us so we can review and remove it where appropriate.

Pastry Embassy is intended for customers in Houston, Harris County, Texas, and nearby areas. Texas privacy law may give certain consumers rights regarding personal data, including access, correction, deletion, portability, and opt-out rights in circumstances where the law applies.

Small businesses are generally treated differently under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, but we still try to honor reasonable privacy requests when we can verify the request and doing so does not conflict with legal, tax, payment, food safety, fraud prevention, chargeback, insurance, or dispute obligations.

You may contact us to ask for access, correction, deletion, or limitation of information we maintain about you. We may need to verify your identity and may decline or limit a request when allowed by law or when the information is needed for a legitimate business or legal reason.

You can also choose not to submit an inquiry, not to upload reference files, not to use Square online ordering, disable cookies in your browser, or contact us by phone for basic questions.

We may update this policy as our website, ordering process, technology, providers, or legal obligations change. The updated version will be posted on this page.

Questions about this Privacy Policy can be sent through the contact page or by contacting Pastry Embassy at the phone, email, or address listed on this website.