Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Blue Collar Social (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the platform at www.bluecollar.social — a professional network connecting skilled tradespeople, companies, and homeowners across the United States. If you have questions about this policy, contact us at contact@bluecollar.social.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

When you create an account or use our services, we may collect:

• Account data: Full name, email address, password (hashed), and account type (tradesperson, company, or homeowner)
• Profile data: Location, bio, headline, phone number, profile photo, hourly rate, trade, years of experience, skills, services, website, and availability
• Homeowner-specific data: Property type, ownership status, year built, square footage, and number of bedrooms
• Content you create: Posts, comments, job listings, project details, bids, messages, and reviews
• Verification data: Identity verification documents uploaded for the $5 transaction verification badge
• Referral data: If you were referred by another user, we store that association to credit them with a ranking boost

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Usage data: Pages visited, features used, and interactions on the platform, collected via Google Analytics 4 and Vercel Analytics
• Device data: Browser type, operating system, and IP address (standard web server logs and analytics)
• Session data: Authentication tokens stored as secure cookies with a 30-day lifespan
• Push notification tokens: If you opt in to browser notifications, we store your browser’s push subscription endpoint

2.3 Directory Listings (Google Places Data)

Some profiles in our directory were imported from publicly available Google Places data. These include the business name, trade category, location, phone number, and ratings. If you are the business owner, you can claim your listing through our verification flow, at which point the listing becomes your managed profile.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To create and manage your account
• To display your profile in search results and the directory
• To facilitate connections, messaging, job applications, and project collaboration between users
• To send transactional emails (email verification, claim confirmations)
• To send SMS verification codes when you claim a business listing
• To process payments for the transaction verification badge via Stripe
• To send browser push notifications if you have opted in
• To compute your ranking score based on profile completeness, reviews, activity, and referrals
• To detect and prevent spam, abuse, and fraudulent activity
• To improve the platform through aggregated analytics

4. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share data with third parties only as described below:

We may also disclose your information if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights and safety of our users or the public.

5. Public Information

By default, the following profile information is publicly visible and may be indexed by search engines:

• Name, trade, location, bio, headline, profile photo
• Skills, services, years of experience, hourly rate
• Reviews received (rating and text)
• Posts you create on the feed
• Job listings you post

Your email address, phone number, and homeowner-specific property details are never displayed publicly. They are only accessible to you when logged in to your own account.

6. Cookies and Tracking

We use the following cookies and local storage mechanisms:

• Authentication cookie: A secure, HTTP-only JWT token that keeps you logged in for up to 30 days
• CSRF token: A security token to prevent cross-site request forgery
• Google Analytics cookies: Used to track usage patterns. You can opt out via browser extensions such as the Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on

We do not use advertising cookies or sell data to advertisers.

7. Data Retention

• Account data: Retained for as long as your account is active. You may delete your account at any time by contacting us
• Email verification tokens: Expire after 24 hours
• SMS claim codes: Expire after 10 minutes
• Messages: Retained until you or the other party deletes the conversation
• Analytics data: Governed by Google Analytics’ retention settings (default 14 months)
• Payment records: Stripe session and payment intent IDs are retained for accounting and dispute resolution purposes in accordance with applicable law

8. Your Rights and Choices

You have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Correction: Update your profile information at any time via /profile/edit
• Deletion: Request deletion of your account and associated data by emailing contact@bluecollar.social
• Push notifications: Opt out at any time via your browser settings
• Analytics opt-out: Use browser extensions to block Google Analytics tracking

We will respond to data requests within 30 days.

9. Children’s Privacy

Blue Collar Social is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

10. Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including password hashing (bcrypt), HTTPS-only connections, HTTP-only authentication cookies, CSRF protection, per-IP rate limiting on sensitive endpoints, and Cloudflare Turnstile bot protection on registration forms. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

For any privacy-related questions, requests, or concerns, please contact us at: