Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Hometown Handywomen LLC (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the Hometown Handywomen marketplace platform (the “Platform”), which connects clients with independent handywomen. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and share it, and the choices you have. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use the Platform.

2. Information We Collect

2a. Information you give us

• Account information: name, email address, mobile number, password (stored only in scrambled form), service address or zip code, and home type.
• Booking details: the service you need, descriptions and photos of the job, preferred times, access notes (pets, parking, stairs), and supply lists and budgets.
• Messages: messages sent through the Platform. Phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles typed into messages are automatically hidden before the message is saved or delivered.
• Safety Meet & Greet decisions: whether each person chose “I’m comfortable” or “I’d prefer a different match,” and any optional private note. These are seen only by Hometown Handywomen.
• Reviews and surveys: ratings and reviews, and a short private survey a handywoman may answer about a job.
• Safety reports you send us.
• Payment information: card details are collected and stored by Stripe, our payment processor. We never store your full card number.

2b. Additional information from handywomen

• Application and profile: skills, experience, service area (shown to clients as a town or region only), bio, profile photo, photos of past work, hourly rate, and Shadow a Pro preference.
• Personality and values assessment answers and scores.
• References: the names, email addresses and relationship of the references she provides, and their ratings.
• Background check: run by a consumer reporting agency only with her written consent. She gives sensitive details such as her Social Security number directly to that agency; we do not receive or store it. We receive the result.
• Insurance: details and certificates of her own general liability policy (insurer, policy number, limits, dates).
• Signed agreements: the version she signed, her typed name, the date and time, and the IP address used.
• Safety contact: the name and mobile number of a person she chooses, used only for her safety.
• Payout information: bank details are collected and stored by Stripe.

2c. Information collected automatically

• Device and usage information: IP address, browser and device type, and the pages and features you use, so we can keep the Platform working and secure.
• Location: we do not track anyone’s location. A handywoman’s location is never shown to clients. The Safety Meet & Greet video call never asks your browser for location.
• Photos: profile and work photos you upload are shown to clients; please avoid photos that show your house number, street or license plate.
• Calendar (optional): if a handywoman connects her calendar, we see only when she is busy or free, never what her appointments are.
• Cookies: we use the cookies needed to keep you signed in and keep the Platform secure, plus Google Analytics cookies on public pages (see “Analytics” below). We do not use advertising cookies.

2d. Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how people use our public pages and booking request pages, in aggregate (for example, which pages are visited most). Google Analytics uses cookies to do this. We do not send your name, email address, phone number, address or account ID to Google Analytics, and we do not load it on admin pages, Safety Meet & Greet pages, or for signed-in handywomen. You can opt out by installing Google’s browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout, or by blocking cookies in your browser settings.

3. The Safety Meet & Greet

The Safety Meet & Greet is a short video call inside the Platform.

• Calls are never recorded. We keep only when the call was scheduled, when it started and ended, and each person’s decision.
• First names only. You join the video call with your first name only. No email address or account details are shared with the other person.
• Phone numbers stay private. Neither person sees the other’s phone number or email address.
• Private video routing. Video calls run through our video provider’s servers rather than connecting the two devices directly, so neither person can see the other’s internet address. Each call room can be joined only by the two people booked for it, only around the scheduled time, and is deleted when the call ends.
• Background blur is on by default for handywomen.

4. How We Use Your Information

• Create and manage accounts.
• Match clients with handywomen and schedule Safety Meet & Greet calls.
• Process bookings, payments, tips and payouts.
• Verify each handywoman’s own insurance before her first job and before every booking, and keep proof that we checked.
• Run background checks and reference checks for handywomen, with consent.
• Send booking confirmations, reminders, receipts and review requests.
• Keep the Platform safe: respond to safety reports, prevent fraud and abuse, and make sure a client and handywoman who chose not to work together are never matched again.
• Provide support and improve the Platform.
• Send marketing emails only with your consent; you can unsubscribe at any time.
• Comply with the law.

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information.

5a. Between clients and handywomen

Clients see a handywoman’s first name and last initial, photo, service area (as a town or region), ratings and reviews. Once a booking is confirmed, the handywoman sees the client’s first name and the service address for the job. Phone numbers and email addresses are not shared between users.

5b. Service providers

We share information only as needed with companies that help us run the Platform:

• Vercel (hosting) and Neon (database).
• Resend (email delivery).
• Stripe (payments, payouts and, if used, identity verification).
• LiveKit (Safety Meet & Greet video calls).
• Twilio (text messages, when we switch them on).
• Google Analytics (aggregate site traffic): page visits and general device information only; no names, emails, phone numbers, addresses or account IDs.
• Checkr or a similar consumer reporting agency (background checks).
• Amazon Web Services (secure storage of documents such as insurance certificates).
• Sentry (error reports that help us fix problems).
• Calendar providers (Google, Microsoft, Apple), only if a handywoman connects her calendar.
• Our own insurance company and professional advisors (such as lawyers and accountants) when needed.

5c. Legal requirements and safety

We may share information if the law requires it, or to protect the safety of a client, a handywoman or anyone else, or to investigate fraud.

5d. Business transfers

If Hometown Handywomen LLC is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, your information may be transferred. We will tell you by email or on the Platform.

5a. Text Messages

We only text people who have opted in to text messages, either when creating an account or later in their profile. Opting in is optional and is never required to use the Platform. Our texts are about your bookings, appointment and Safety Meet & Greet reminders, and safety check-ins. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP at any time to opt out, or HELP for help. You can also turn texts off in your profile.

Your mobile number and your text message opt-in consent are not sold or shared with third parties for marketing purposes. We share your number only with Twilio, our text message provider, so that it can deliver the messages you asked for.

6. How Long We Keep Information

We keep your information while your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your information within 90 days, except:

• Insurance records, certificates and signed agreements are kept for at least 3 years after a handywoman stops using the Platform, as our insurance requires.
• Background check records are kept as the law requires.
• Booking, payment and tax records are kept as long as accounting and tax law requires.
• Records that two people chose not to be matched again, and safety reports, are kept to protect users.

7. Security

We use reasonable safeguards, including encrypted connections, scrambled passwords, encrypted storage for identity and insurance documents, access limited to people who need it, and logs of administrative actions. No system is perfectly secure. If a data breach affects your personal information, we will notify you as required by New York and Connecticut law.

8. Your Rights and Choices

• Access and correction: view and update most of your information in your account settings.
• Deletion: ask us to delete your account at hello@hometownhandywomen.com. We will respond within 30 days, subject to the records we must keep (Section 6).
• Copy of your data: ask us for a copy in a common electronic format.
• Marketing: unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time. Booking and payment messages continue while your account is active.
• Connecticut residents: under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, you can access, correct, delete and get a copy of your personal data, and opt out of targeted advertising (we do not do targeted advertising).
• Background checks: handywomen have rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and, in New York City, the Fair Chance Act, including notice and a chance to respond before any decision based on a report.

9. Third-Party Links

The Platform links to other websites, including our Trusted Partners. Their privacy practices are their own.

10. Children

The Platform is for people 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18, and we delete it if we learn we have.

11. Changes to This Policy

We will email registered users about material changes and post the updated policy here with a new “Last Updated” date.

12. Contact Us

Hometown Handywomen LLC
Cold Spring, New York
Email: hello@hometownhandywomen.com