Patreon is a platform where patrons can support and engage with creators. We care about your privacy and want to help you understand how we collect, use and share your personal information. This privacy policy applies to patrons and creators, and is part of our terms of use.
This is information that you provide to us through text fields, such as your name, payment information, goals and rewards. The information we collect is different depending on if you are an account holder, become a patron by supporting a creator, or become a creator by creating your own Patreon page.
To create an account on Patreon you have to provide your:
You may also sign up using a Facebook account and email address. We will ask permission to access basic information from that account, such as your name, profile picture, and friend list. You can choose to stop sharing that information with us at any time by removing Patreon’s access to that account.
You also have the option to add more information to your profile, such as a location, social media links and an about section, which we store along with any comments or messages you submit through Patreon.
A patron is someone who financially supports creators through Patreon. To become a patron you have to provide one of our payment processors (Stripe or PayPal) with your payment information. You can see the privacy policy for these payment processors on the PayPal and Stripe sites. They provide us with a token that represents your account, your card’s expiration date, card type and the last four digits of your credit card. If you provide them with a name and email address then they also provide us with that information.
We collect and process information about the creators you support, the level at which you support them, what rewards you receive and how often you support them.
As a patron, if you select a reward tier with a physical reward, then you have to provide your shipping information so the creator can ship you the reward.
A creator is someone who creates a Patreon page requesting financial support from patrons. To become a creator, you must create a page that describes what you are creating, any rewards you are offering and any financial goals you have. We collect and process this information along with any additional information you add to your profile. To receive payments you have to create an account with one of our payment partners: PayPal, Stripe or Payoneer. You must also provide us with additional information for tax purposes. Depending on your location you have to fill out a form with some combination of your:
We collect information automatically as you navigate the site or through our third party analytics providers. We may store usage information such as the type of device you use to access Patreon, your operating system, browser type, IP address, and device ID, the pages you visit or request, links clicked, referring sites, user interactions and your search terms. We also derive your location from your IP address.
Our service does not support Do Not Track requests at this time, which means our third party analytics providers may associate your usage on Patreon with your usage on other sites.
We use third-party advertising cookies to present you with opportunities while on Patreon. We also use retargeting cookies to present you with Patreon advertising on other websites.
We use Google Analytics, Amplitude, and KissInsights analytics cookies to see how you use Patreon so we can improve in a variety of ways. We encourage you to read the Google privacy policy. If you prefer to not have data reported by Google Analytics, you can install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. We also encourage you to read more about Amplitude and their privacy policy, and about KissInsights, their privacy policy and their opt-out instructions.
While we try to keep this list up to date, we often experiment with new third party analytics providers, and this list may not be exhaustive.
We never sell your information to anyone. We use your information to:
If you are a patron, the following information is shared with the creators you support:
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is data that includes a personal identifier like your name, email or address, or data that could reasonably be linked back to you. We will only share this data under the following circumstances:
The following information is publicly accessible:
You can modify or delete certain information associated with your account on the settings pages.
You can remove your public facing information by emailing [email protected] to have your account disabled and removed from public view. When we disable an account we remove your password information and profile image from the database, but if you wish to delete any other information permanently you should change it prior to disabling the account.
Even if an account is disabled, all information may be retained by our analytics providers on their own servers.
You can change which emails you receive through your email settings. While this removes most emails, some service related emails are still sent.
If you download the Patreon App you may also receive notifications on your mobile device. These can be disabled in the App settings.
We are based in the United States. By using our services you consent to the transfer of your personal data to the United States, and to the processing and use of that personal data in the United States. This processing and use is limited to what is described in this privacy policy and the terms of use.
You also recognize that the processing of your personal data in the United States might not provide for an equal level of data protection as is granted in countries within the European Union.
We may use your information to offer you products and services that we think may be of interest to you, unless you have opted out of marketing communications. If you are in the European Economic Area, where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent before sending you any marketing communications. You may object to the use of your data for direct marketing purposes at any time, free of charge, when we collect your personal information and in every marketing communication. We will never provide your information to third parties for marketing purposes without your prior consent.
The security of your personal information is important to us and we follow industry standards to protect it. Full credit card numbers are never accessed by our system, and the most sensitive data we store, such as tax forms, are encrypted to keep them secure.
To further protect your information we suggest using a strong and unique password for your Patreon account. We also offer two-factor authentication as an additional security measure.
Patreon is not directed at children under the age of 13, and they may not create an account or otherwise use Patreon.
We may sometimes make changes to this policy. If we make material changes that adversely affect your rights under this policy, we will let you know by posting an announcement on the site or sending you an email prior to the changes coming into effect. Continuing to use Patreon after a change to this policy means you accept the new policy.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
Effective November 1st, 2016. Last updated on July 25th, 2017