Privacy Policy
HandyInTown is operated by Handwired LLC, a Connecticut limited liability company. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights under Connecticut law.
1. Data We Collect
From residents (people looking for services)
- Visitor ID — assigned automatically on your first visit via a browser cookie. Contains no personal information.
- Chat session content — your conversations with the assistant, logged to improve matching accuracy.
- First name and phone number — collected before your first inquiry is sent. Phone is your primary identifier on the platform.
- Town and zip code — used to match you with nearby providers.
- Email address — optional, collected only if you want reminder emails. Never required.
- Inquiry content — the details of your service request, shared only with providers you choose to contact.
From providers (businesses listed on the platform)
- Name, company name, phone number, email
- License number and expiry date (optional — required only for Verified badge)
- Service type and service area (zip codes)
- Rating and review history
- Payment information — processed by Stripe. HandyInTown never stores payment card data.
Seeded provider data
Our initial directory is seeded from publicly posted community sources (Facebook groups, Nextdoor, local blogs). We use only information already publicly available. Providers can claim, update, or request removal of their listing at any time.
2. How We Use Your Data
- Matching — connecting residents with relevant local providers
- Communications — SMS confirmations, rating reminders, lead notifications
- Platform improvement — understanding which service categories have demand gaps
- Safety — detecting and preventing fraudulent reviews or no-show patterns
- Legal compliance — maintaining records required by Connecticut law
3. Who We Share Data With
- Matched providers — your name, town, and job description are shared when you send an inquiry. Your full phone number is shared only after a provider accepts.
- Stripe — for provider credit purchases. We never see or store card data.
- SendGrid — for optional email notifications. We do not use email for advertising.
- Azure Communication Services — for SMS delivery.
We do not sell your data to third parties. Ever.
4. How Long We Keep Your Data
- Chat sessions: 2 years
- Resident contact info: until deletion request processed
- Provider records: until removal request processed (some records retained for legal compliance)
- Ratings and reviews: retained even after provider removal for historical accuracy
- Support tickets: 3 years
Your Rights Under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA)
If you are a Connecticut resident, you have the right to:
- Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Deletion — request that we delete your personal data
- Correction — request that we correct inaccurate data
- Opt out of sale — we do not sell personal data, so this right is automatically satisfied
- Portability — request your data in a portable format
To exercise any of these rights, use the Contact Us form and select "Right to be forgotten — data deletion request." We will respond within 5 business days.
5. Cookies
We use two cookies:
hit.visitor— a random identifier assigned on your first visit. Used for anonymous session tracking. No personal data. Expires in 1 year.hit.auth— set only for providers and operators after sign-in. Contains your role and account ID. Expires in 90 days.
We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies.
6. Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 via Google Tag Manager to understand platform usage (page views, funnel completion, feature adoption). GA4 data is aggregated and does not identify individual users. You can opt out using the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
7. Provider Listing Requests
Providers whose information was seeded from public sources may request removal of their listing at any time via the Contact Us form. We process removal requests within 5 business days.
8. Contact
Privacy questions: handyintown.com/contact
Handwired LLC, Connecticut