Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This Policy explains how GroundBid collects, uses, discloses, retains, and protects personal information when people use our websites, marketplace, administrative support, and AI-assisted phone or messaging services. It does not govern a Provider's independent handling of information after receiving it for a job.

2. Information We Collect

Depending on how you use GroundBid, we collect: account and contact details; home, business, service, and job locations; job descriptions, bids, messages, reviews, photos, videos, and completion evidence; license, insurance, business, and provider-verification information; government identification and selfie/liveness submissions where identity verification is enabled; payment, payout, transaction, dispute, and tax-reporting metadata; support and AI-concierge interactions, which may include call or message metadata and disclosed recordings or transcripts; consent and policy-version records; and device, security, log, and optional analytics data.

Stripe processes payment credentials and connected-account information. GroundBid does not intentionally store full card numbers. When Persona verification is enabled, Persona processes the identity document and selfie/liveness information submitted to its service; GroundBid receives the inquiry status and limited verification evidence or metadata. GroundBid may also receive Provider documents through its staff-review upload process. Verification documents are never public.

3. Sources

We receive information directly from users; from the other party to a job; from identity, payment, communications, hosting, analytics, mapping, fraud-prevention, licensing, and insurance sources; and from public agencies or official credential databases. We may derive status, eligibility, risk, and operational records from those sources. Automated checks support staff decisions but do not by themselves guarantee Provider approval or work quality.

4. How We Use Information

We use information to create and secure accounts; verify email, phone, identity, licenses, insurance, and payout eligibility; publish and match jobs; administer bids, job agreements, messages, funding, release, refunds, disputes, and payouts; provide customer support and AI-concierge responses; detect fraud and abuse; comply with tax, payment, reporting, and legal obligations; maintain audit and consent evidence; improve accessibility and reliability; and, only with the required choice, measure limited site usage.

5. When We Disclose Information

We disclose the minimum information needed to eligible marketplace participants and reveal more precise job and party information only as workflow and safety require. We disclose information to service providers and processors that support GroundBid, including Cloudflare (hosting, databases, storage, security, and email), Stripe (payments, Connect onboarding, payouts, disputes, and tax-related services), Persona when enabled (identity verification), Twilio and LiveKit (phone and voice services), OpenAI or another configured model provider (AI-assisted responses subject to GroundBid's tool restrictions), and mapping, geocoding, licensing, insurance, and communications providers. We may also disclose information in a business transaction; at a user's direction; to protect rights, safety, and platform integrity; or when lawfully required.

GroundBid does not sell personal information for money and does not use personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. If our practices change, we will update this Policy and provide any choices required by law.

6. Retention

We retain information for the shortest period reasonably necessary for the purpose collected, taking account of active accounts and jobs, payment and tax obligations, licensing and verification refresh cycles, fraud prevention, disputes, legal claims, audit integrity, backups, and applicable law. Identity and credential evidence receives restricted access and is deleted or de-identified when no longer needed, subject to legal holds and documented retention requirements. Because different records have different obligations, this Policy does not promise one deletion period for every category. Persona and other processors may retain information under their own disclosed schedules and GroundBid's contracts with them.

7. Privacy Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may request access, confirmation, correction, deletion, or a portable copy of covered personal information; appeal a denied request; limit or withdraw consent for certain processing; or opt out of sale, sharing, targeted advertising, or certain profiling where those activities apply. GroundBid will not discriminate against you for exercising a right. We verify requests proportionately and may retain information when an exception applies, including security, transaction, tax, dispute, and legal-record needs. An authorized agent may submit a request where permitted, subject to authorization and identity checks.

Submit a request to privacy@groundbid.app. If we deny a request, reply with “Privacy appeal” and the request reference. GroundBid honors Global Privacy Control for optional analytics choices as described below. We do not currently offer a separate opt-out link for sale or sharing because GroundBid does not engage in those activities.

8. Optional Usage Analytics

GroundBid analytics is off until you choose to allow it. If allowed, we collect limited events such as pages viewed, signup starts, calls-to-action selected, and job-draft starts. Public analytics events do not include names, contact details, account or session tokens, job or provider identifiers, precise addresses, messages, verification documents, or payment information. Marketing and advertising personalization remain disabled.

You can change your decision at any time using the Privacy choices control shown on GroundBid pages. Choosing “No thanks,” withdrawing consent, or enabling Global Privacy Control prevents optional analytics events and removes the browser’s GroundBid analytics identifier.

9. Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed for the sensitivity of the information, including encrypted connections, restricted administrative access, service-to-service authorization, audit records, and payment processing through Stripe. No system is completely secure; users should protect credentials and promptly report suspected misuse.

10. Children and Eligibility

GroundBid is not directed to children and accounts are limited to people at least 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children through account registration. Contact us if you believe a child provided information.

11. U.S. Processing and Transfers

GroundBid is operated in the United States. Our providers may process information in the United States and other locations where they operate, subject to contractual, security, and legal safeguards appropriate to the service.

12. Policy Changes

We may update this Policy prospectively. Material changes will be identified by a new version and date, communicated as required, and may require renewed affirmative acceptance when they materially affect the agreement made at signup.

13. Contact

Questions, requests, and appeals may be sent to privacy@groundbid.app.