Who this policy covers
This Privacy Policy explains how Garage Hero ("Garage Hero," "we," "us") collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information when you use the Garage Hero mobile app, our website at garageheroapp.com, and related services (together, the "Services").
It applies to three groups of people:
- Customers — homeowners and residents who request garage cleanouts.
- Heroes — independent service providers who apply for, accept, and complete jobs.
- Website visitors — anyone browsing garageheroapp.com or requesting a quote.
Heroes are independent contractors, not Garage Hero employees. When a Hero receives your information to perform a job, they are responsible for handling it appropriately, and their own practices are not governed by this policy.
Information we collect
Information you give us
| Category | What it includes | Who provides it |
|---|---|---|
| Account details | Name, email address, phone number, password, and account type (customer, Hero, or administrator). We use your phone number to send job updates by text and so your assigned Hero can reach you about access on the day. | Customers and Heroes |
| Profile details | Profile photo, home or mailing address, city, state, and ZIP code. | Customers and Heroes |
| Job details | Service address, garage size or measured dimensions, service type, preferred date and time, photos of the space, and any notes you write about the job. | Customers |
| Hero application | Business name, short bio, years of experience, service types, and service area. We may also record whether required screening was completed. | Heroes |
| Communications | Messages and bids exchanged in the app, ratings and written reviews, and any email or support request you send us. | Customers and Heroes |
| Item photos | Photos of individual items you choose to upload if you use the item value estimator. | Customers |
| Payment information | Card details are entered directly into a secure payment form operated by Stripe. Garage Hero never receives or stores your full card number, expiry date, or security code — we keep only a transaction reference and the amount. | Customers |
Information collected automatically
- Push notification token. If you allow notifications, we store the anonymous push token your device is issued so we can send you job updates.
- Job and app activity. Job status changes, timestamps, quoted and final prices, and which cleanouts you have requested or completed.
- Basic technical data. Device type, operating system version, and app version — used to deliver the correct app update and to diagnose problems.
- Approximate location. We use the service address you enter to match you with Heroes in your area and to show the job on a map. If you separately grant your device's location permission, the app can show your own position on that map; we do not record or store a background location history.
Garage measurements
When you provide your garage dimensions — by typing them in, or in future versions by scanning the space with a supported iPhone — we store only the resulting numbers: length, width, height, floor area, and a confidence indicator. We do not store 3D models, point clouds, camera frames, or room imagery produced during a scan.
How we use your information
We use personal information only for the purposes below:
- To run the marketplace. Creating your account, matching cleanout requests to Heroes in your area, generating quotes, and tracking jobs from request to completion.
- To process payments. Charging the agreed price when a job is complete, through our payment processor.
- To communicate with you. Sending job confirmations, schedule changes, arrival notices, receipts, and replies to support requests, by push notification, email, or text message.
- To keep the marketplace trustworthy. Reviewing and approving Hero applications, investigating reports of poor service, resolving disputes, and preventing fraud or abuse.
- To improve the Services. Understanding which features are used and fixing bugs and crashes.
- To meet legal obligations. Keeping tax and transaction records and responding to lawful requests.
We do not use your personal information to build advertising profiles, and we do not use it for automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you.
Service providers
These are the third parties that process personal information on our behalf:
| Provider | What it does | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, file storage, and account authentication | All account, profile, job, message, and rating data |
| Stripe | Card payment processing | Card details entered in the payment form, the amount, and a job reference. Stripe acts as an independent controller for fraud prevention; see the Stripe Privacy Policy. |
| Twilio | Text message (SMS) notifications | Your phone number and the content of the message we send |
| Anthropic | Identifying items from a photo in the item value estimator | Only the photo you select. See Section 7. |
| Expo | Push notification delivery and app updates | Your push notification token and basic device and app version information |
| Apple | App distribution and map display | App Store account activity handled by Apple under its own policy; map tiles are requested from Apple Maps |
All of these providers process data in the United States.
Device permissions
The app asks for the permissions below. Each one is optional, each is requested at the moment it is first needed, and you can change your mind at any time in your device settings.
| Permission | Why we ask | If you decline |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | To take photos of your garage or of an individual item | You can still choose existing photos from your library |
| Photo library | To attach photos you have already taken | You can still take a new photo with the camera |
| Notifications | To alert you when a Hero accepts, is on the way, or completes your job | Job status is still visible in the app; you just won't be alerted |
| Location | To show your position on the job tracking map | The map still shows the job address you entered |
We do not access your contacts, calendar, microphone, or health data, and we do not collect location in the background or when the app is closed.
Photo recognition and AI
Garage Hero includes an optional feature that estimates what an item might be worth. If you use it, the single photo you select is sent to Anthropic's API, which returns a likely item name, description, and rough resale value.
- Only the image is sent. Your name, email, address, and account identifier are not included.
- Under Anthropic's commercial terms, the images we send are not used to train their models.
- The feature runs only when you choose to upload an item photo. It is never applied automatically to your garage photos.
- Value estimates are informational only and are not appraisals or offers to purchase.
We do not use artificial intelligence to make decisions about your account, your pricing, or a Hero's eligibility to work.
Tracking and advertising
Garage Hero does not track you across other companies' apps or websites. The app contains no advertising SDKs, no analytics SDKs, and no third-party trackers, so we do not need to show you Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt.
Our website uses no advertising or analytics cookies. We store a single browser preference — your light or dark theme choice — in local storage on your own device. It is never sent to us.
How long we keep data
| Data | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Account and profile information | Until you delete your account |
| Job records, messages, and ratings | Until you delete your account, then anonymized where a record must remain for the other party's history |
| Photos you upload | Until you delete the job or your account |
| Payment and transaction records | Seven years, as required for tax and accounting purposes |
| Support correspondence | Two years after the request is resolved |
Your choices and rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- Access a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct anything that is wrong — most profile fields you can edit yourself in the app.
- Delete your account and associated personal information.
- Export your data in a portable, machine-readable format.
- Opt out of non-essential messages. Turn off push notifications in your device settings, and reply STOP to any text message to stop texts (reply HELP for help). Message and data rates may apply under your carrier plan, and message frequency depends on how many cleanouts you book. We will still send essential in-app and email notices about jobs you have already booked. See Text messages and calls in our Terms for the full terms.
To make a request, email privacy@garageheroapp.com. We will respond within 30 days and will not charge you or degrade your service for exercising these rights.
Deleting your account
You can delete your Garage Hero account and its personal information at any time. The fastest way is from inside the app, under Profile → Settings → Delete Account. You can also request deletion by email.
Deletion removes your profile, contact details, addresses, photos, messages, and push token. Completed transaction records are retained in a de-identified form where we are legally required to keep them, and reviews you left may remain attached to a Hero's rating with your name removed.
US state privacy rights
Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have the rights described in Section 10, including the right to know what we collect, to delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of sale or targeted advertising. Garage Hero does not sell personal information and does not use it for targeted advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of.
You may designate an authorized agent to make a request for you; we will ask for reasonable proof of that authority. If we deny your request you may appeal by replying to our response, and we will review the appeal within 45 days.
For California residents, the categories of personal information we collected in the past 12 months are: identifiers, customer records, commercial information, internet activity, approximate geolocation, and audio/visual information (the photos you upload). We collected them for the business purposes described in Section 3 and disclosed them to the service providers in Section 5.
How we protect data
- Traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted in transit using TLS.
- Data stored with our hosting provider is encrypted at rest.
- Passwords are stored only as salted hashes; nobody at Garage Hero can read your password.
- Card numbers never reach our servers — they go directly to Stripe, which is PCI-DSS Level 1 certified.
- Database access rules restrict each account to its own records, and administrative access is limited to staff who need it.
No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you and the appropriate regulators as required by law.
Children
Garage Hero is intended for adults. The Services are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, email privacy@garageheroapp.com and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the Services change. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If the changes are material, we will give you notice in the app or by email before they take effect. Continuing to use the Services after a change means you accept the updated policy.
Contact us
Questions, requests, or complaints about privacy:
- Privacy: privacy@garageheroapp.com
- General support: support@garageheroapp.com
- Website: garageheroapp.com
Garage Hero, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States.