Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-08-18 Effective date: 2026-08-06

This Privacy Policy explains how HandymanNow ("HandymanNow," "we," "us," or "our"), located at an address available upon request via Contact Support, collects, uses, discloses, and protects information in connection with the HandymanNow mobile application and related services (together, the "App"). It applies to Customers, Handymen, and anyone else who creates an account or otherwise uses the App.

By creating an account or otherwise using the App, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the App. This Policy is incorporated into, and should be read together with, our Terms of Service and, where applicable, our Customer Terms, Independent Handyman Agreement, Cancellation Policy, Safety Policy, Community Guidelines, and Cookie Policy.

This policy also covers HandymanNow accounts created on the HandymanNow pages at thehandymansflive.com. When you sign up there we also record that you confirmed your email address (or signed in with Google) and, for handymen, your mobile number; the page you signed up on; a one-way scrambled value of your IP address used to stop abuse; and, if you agree to lead texts, the consent wording and when you agreed. Handymen who agree to lead texts are added to our lead-offer list, as described in the Lead Texts Terms. Texts are covered by the Text Message Terms. California residents can use the rights described in the The Handyman SF Privacy Policy, including the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, by emailing sfthehandyman@gmail.com.

1. Scope of This Policy

This Policy covers information we collect through the App itself (the Customer and Handyman mobile experience, and our administrative web panel used by our team). It does not cover the practices of third parties we don't control, including a handyman's or customer's own conduct outside the App, or websites/services we merely link to.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

Account information: full name, email address, phone number, password (stored in hashed form by our authentication provider, never in plain text by us), and role selection (Customer and/or Handyman).
Profile information: a profile photo you choose to upload, and — for handymen — biography, years of experience, services offered, skills, service radius/area, availability, portfolio/work photos, and any licensing/insurance documents submitted for approval.
Job information: service category, job description, urgency, requested/preferred timing, photos attached to a request or a job (including before/after work photos), and the address associated with a job.
Saved addresses: any address you save to your account for faster future requests.
Communications: the content of messages you send through in-app chat related to a job or to Support, and any reports, disputes, or reviews you submit.
Support and feedback: anything you submit through Contact Support, Report a Problem, Report an Issue, or an in-app satisfaction survey, including any photos attached to a report.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

Location information: your device's precise or approximate location while you use location-dependent features of the App (see Section 4, "Location Information," for the specific rules that apply before and after a job relationship exists).
Device and usage information: device type, operating system, app version, IP address, general usage patterns within the App (such as which screens are used), and diagnostic/crash information, collected to keep the App reliable and secure.
Push notification tokens: a device-specific identifier used solely to deliver notifications to your device.

2.3 Information From Third Parties

If you choose to sign in using Google Sign-In, we receive the basic profile information (such as name and email) that Google shares with us based on your Google account settings and your consent at the time of sign-in.
We do not currently purchase or receive information about you from data brokers or advertising networks.

2.4 Payment Information (Handymen)

HandymanNow uses Stripe (Stripe, Inc.) to provide payment-method setup and payment processing functionality in the App. This applies to handymen only — customers are not asked for payment information anywhere in the App.

What Stripe handles, not us. When a handyman adds a payment method, the card or wallet details are entered into Stripe's own payment sheet and are submitted directly to Stripe. HandymanNow never receives or stores full card numbers, expiry dates, or CVC/security codes. Google Pay may be offered as a payment method inside that Stripe sheet, depending on your device and Google account.

What we send to Stripe. The handyman's name and email address, and an internal account identifier, so that Stripe can create and identify the corresponding customer record.

What we store. Only the identifiers and status information needed to operate the account and the lead features:

the Stripe customer identifier associated with the account;
the payment-method status (not added, pending, active, or failed);
a Stripe-provided card fingerprint — a stable identifier that Stripe derives per physical card. It is not the card number, cannot be reversed into one, and cannot be used to charge a card. We use it for a single purpose: detecting the same card being used to claim the free-lead allowance on more than one handyman account;
counts relating to a handyman's free-lead allowance and leads received.

Handymen are charged real amounts for leads beyond their free allowance. Adding a payment method itself uses a Stripe SetupIntent, which stores the method and authorises $0; the charge happens later, when a paid lead is unlocked. We keep a record of each lead fee charged, and retain billing records for as long as tax and accounting obligations require. Stripe sends payment receipts directly to your email address, on its own behalf.

Customers are never charged by HandymanNow, and HandymanNow does not collect commissions or process payment for the work performed between a customer and a handyman.

Stripe processes the personal and payment-related information it receives under its own privacy practices. See Stripe's privacy policy at <https://stripe.com/privacy>.

3. How We Use Information

We use the information described above to:

Operate the marketplace: create and manage accounts, match customer requests with eligible handymen, process job acceptance, and track and synchronize job status across Customer, Handyman, and Admin views.
Enable communication: power in-app chat, calling features, and system-generated notifications about your requests, jobs, and messages.
Maintain safety and trust: review reports and disputes, investigate suspected fraud or policy violations, verify handyman applications, and take enforcement action (warnings, restrictions, suspension, or removal) where appropriate.
Operate and improve the App: diagnose and fix technical issues, understand aggregate usage patterns, and run periodic optional in-app satisfaction surveys.
Communicate with you: respond to support requests, and send you service-related notices (which are not marketing and cannot be turned off, as distinct from optional notification categories you can control in Notification Preferences).
Comply with law: meet legal, regulatory, tax, and record-keeping obligations, and respond to lawful requests from public authorities.

We do not use your information to serve third-party advertising, and we do not sell your personal information.

4. Location Information

Location is central to how the App works, so we want to be specific about exactly how it's used at each stage:

Before any job relationship exists: when a customer browses the map, a nearby handyman's position shown to that customer is intentionally approximate, not their exact live GPS position or exact registered base address — a deliberate, permanent privacy protection (not a bug or a temporary limitation) adopted specifically to prevent a customer from being able to track a specific handyman's exact real-time location before any job connects the two of you. The real distance and any ETA shown to the customer remain accurate; only the drawn map pin position is adjusted.
Once a job is accepted: the assigned handyman's exact live location becomes visible to the assigned customer (and to authorized administrative staff for support/safety purposes) for the duration of that specific job, most intensively while the handyman's status is "on the way," to support live tracking and arrival estimation.
While a handyman is travelling to a job: with the handyman's explicit permission, HandymanNow collects the handyman's location continuously while they are on the way, including when the app is in the background or the device screen is off. This is what allows the assigned customer to see live location and arrival progress. Collection in the background stops as soon as the handyman arrives, the job leaves the travelling state or is cancelled, or the handyman goes offline. Customers' locations are never collected in the background.
After a job is completed: live location sharing for that job ends. We do not continue to share either party's real-time location with the other after the job relationship ends.
Location is never visible to any customer or handyman other than the specific counterparty on a specific job, and is never used for advertising or sold to third parties.

5. How We Disclose Information

We disclose information only as described below. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

To the other party on a job: a handyman assigned to your job can see the job address, job details, and (per Section 4) your live location while the job is active. A customer can see their assigned handyman's profile information, approval/rating status, and live location while the job is active.
To our service providers: we use third-party vendors who process information on our behalf and under our instructions, strictly to help us provide the App, including:
our backend database, authentication, and file storage provider;
mapping, geocoding, and directions providers, to show maps and estimate routes/ETAs;
push notification delivery services;
Stripe, for payment-method setup and payment processing functionality (handymen only) — see Section 2.4;
Google, if you use Google Sign-In.

These providers are authorized to use your information only as necessary to provide their service to us, not for their own independent purposes.

For legal reasons: we may disclose information if required to do so by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.
In a business transfer: if HandymanNow is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to standard confidentiality protections.
With your consent: for any other purpose disclosed to you at the time of collection, with your consent.

6. Your Choices and Rights

Access and correction: you can view and edit most of your profile information directly within the App at any time.
Notification preferences: you can control which optional notification categories you receive from Profile → Notification Preferences.
Location permissions: you can control location access for the App at the operating-system level at any time; note that core features (finding nearby handymen, live tracking) will not function correctly without it.
Account deletion: you can delete your account at any time from Profile → Delete Account, provided you have no unresolved active job. Deleting your account deactivates it and stops further processing of your information for active-marketplace purposes; certain records (such as job history relevant to a past dispute, or records required for legal/tax compliance) may be retained as described in Section 7.
Depending on your location, applicable law may give you additional rights, such as the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, the right to request correction or deletion, the right to object to or restrict certain processing, and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. You can exercise these rights by contacting us through Contact Support; we will respond within the time required by applicable law.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as your account is active and as reasonably necessary to provide the App. After account deletion, we may retain certain information where required for legitimate business purposes, including:

resolving disputes, investigating reports, or enforcing our agreements;
complying with legal, tax, or regulatory recordkeeping obligations; and
maintaining the integrity and safety history of the platform (for example, retaining a record that a specific device or identity was previously suspended, to prevent evasion via a new account).

Where retained after deletion, information is kept only as long as reasonably necessary for these purposes and is not used for active marketplace matching or communications.

8. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information, including encryption of data in transit, role-based access controls, and row-level database security restricting each account to its own data. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you and any applicable authority as required by law.

9. International Data Transfers

Our service providers may process and store information in countries other than your own. Where required by applicable law, we take steps intended to ensure information transferred internationally receives an adequate level of protection.

10. Children's Privacy

The App is not directed to, and is not intended for use by, anyone under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have collected personal information from someone under 18, we will take steps to delete it.

11. Third-Party Links and Services

The App may reference or link to third-party services (for example, opening your device's default phone dialer or maps application). This Policy does not apply to those third-party services, and we encourage you to review their own privacy policies.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time as the App, our practices, or legal requirements change. We will update the "Last updated" date above, and where a change is material, we will provide additional notice (such as an in-app notification) before it takes effect. Your continued use of the App after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.

13. Contact Us

Questions, requests, or complaints about this Policy or our data practices can be sent through the App's Contact Support feature, or by writing to:

HandymanNow an address available upon request via Contact Support support@handymannow.com https://homeimprove6565-wq.github.io/handymannow-legal/