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Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 2026-01-22

1. Who We Are

The website address is: https://hamexchange.com.

The site is owned and operated by Excess Noise LLC (Maryland). We provide amateur radio classifieds, directory services, and event ticketing.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information to provide our services, improve user experience, and ensure the integrity of our marketplace.

A. Personal and Account Information

  • Registration Data: For users that register on our website, we store the personal information provided in their user profile (such as name, email, and call sign). All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
  • Transaction Data: If you purchase a paid listing, subscription, or event ticket, we collect data necessary to process the order.

B. Comments and Interaction

  • Comments: When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
  • Gravatar: An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

C. Media and Location Data

  • Image Uploads: If you upload images to the website (e.g., for a Classified listing or Directory entry), you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website. We strongly advise removing GPS data to protect the privacy of your home QTH/station location.

3. Specific Handling of Sensitive Data

A. Payment Information

We do not store full credit card numbers on our servers. All payments are processed by third-party payment gateways. We only retain limited information necessary for accounting (transaction IDs, dates, and amounts).

B. Proof of Ownership Documents

If you submit documentation to “claim” a listing (e.g., a business license or club charter):

  • These documents are used solely to verify your authority to manage the listing.
  • They are stored securely and accessible only to administrators.
  • They are never published publicly.

4. Cookies

A. Login and Preferences

  • If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
  • If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
  • When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

B. Content Editing

  • If you edit or publish an article or listing, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

5. Embedded Content

Articles and listings on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, maps, images). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

6. Who We Share Your Data With

  • Password Resets: If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
  • Event Organizers: If you purchase a ticket, your name and email are shared with the event organizer for entry management.
  • Spam Detection: Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

7. How Long We Retain Your Data

  • Comments: If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
  • User Accounts: For registered users, we retain profile information indefinitely unless the user deletes their account.
  • Claim Documents: Verification documents are retained as long as necessary to resolve ownership disputes or as required by law.

8. What Rights You Have Over Your Data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

9. Contact Information

For privacy-specific concerns:

  • Entity: Excess Noise LLC
  • Email: hamexchange@hamsupport.com