Privacy Policy

1. What we collect

ServiceOutcome collects:

Account information you provide: email, name, phone number, date of birth, city, state.
Profile information you choose to share: bio, avatar, location, languages spoken.
For providers: business name, trade, self-reported license number, service area, listings.
Project information: descriptions of work needed, photos you upload.
Quote and review activity: amounts, ratings, comments.
Technical data: IP address, browser type, device information.

1A. SMS / text messages

ServiceOutcome sends SMS messages only for the following transactional purposes:

Account verification: a one-time 6-digit code at signup, and again on sensitive actions (password change, admin operations).
Quote + project notifications: alerts when you receive a quote, when a counterparty accepts your offer, or when a scheduled service appointment is approaching.
Account security: notification of new sign-in from an unrecognized device, if you opt in.

ServiceOutcome does not send marketing or promotional SMS. We do not share phone numbers with advertisers, lead resellers, or any third party other than the SMS infrastructure provider (Twilio) required to deliver these messages.

Message and data rates may apply per your mobile carrier agreement. You consent to SMS by checking the SMS-consent box at signup. You may opt out at any time by replying STOP to any message; this immediately halts all SMS to that number (you will still receive in-app and email notifications). Reply HELP for support contact information.

If you opt out of SMS after signup, you may be unable to complete certain identity-verification flows that require a one-time code. Contact information@serviceoutcome.com if you need an alternative verification path.

1B. AI and automated systems

ServiceOutcomeuses AI assistants on the following surfaces, in compliance with California SB-1001 (the "bot disclosure" law):

Chat onboarding at /start — collects what you need (service, location, timing, budget, email) and routes you to signup. The chat clearly indicates it's an automated assistant.
FAQ chatbot at /help — answers common questions about how ServiceOutcomeworks. Self-identifies as an AI assistant and provides a "Talk to a human" link at all times.
Future: AI receptionist on inbound toll-free line (planned, not yet active) will handle FAQ in voice + escalate complex calls to a human. The AI will self-identify on its first utterance.

These AI assistants are powered by third-party large language models (currently Google Gemini). Your conversation contents are sent to those providers for processing under their respective privacy policies; we do not authorize them to use the content for training their models.

ServiceOutcome never uses AI to make binding decisions about your account, payments, eligibility, or pricing exceptions without a human in the loop. Any AI-suggested action that affects you materially is reviewed by a person before taking effect.

You can always reach a human by:

Emailing information@serviceoutcome.com
Replying "human" or "talk to a person" in any chat
Once provisioned: saying "talk to a human" or pressing 0 on the toll-free line

For more detail about which surfaces use AI and which don't, see our dedicated AI disclosure page.

2. Anonymity in matchmaking

By design, consumers and providers do not see each other's real identities, names, or contact information until a Platform Agreement is reached (both parties click agree to begin contract after Budget and Schedule pillars are matched). We surface only the information necessary for matching: business name, location, ratings, and listings on the provider side; first name and project description on the consumer side. Identity is revealed only at the Platform Agreement event. See How agreement vs contract works for the full four-stage flow.

3. How we use your information

To operate the platform and match consumers with providers.
To send transactional notifications (quote received, Platform Agreement reached, etc.).
To detect fraud, spam, and policy violations through automated and manual review.
To improve product quality and develop new features.
To comply with legal obligations.

4. Who we share with

ServiceOutcome shares information with:

Service providers we use to operate the platform (hosting, email delivery, payment processing for future subscription billing).
Counterparties you choose to connect with: when a Platform Agreement is reached, identifying information is revealed to that specific counterparty (and only them) so the two of you can talk directly. Anything beyond that is between you and them, off-platform.
Authorities, when required by valid legal process.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your data with advertisers.

5. Content moderation

User-generated content is screened by automated moderation tools, which may inspect text and images you submit. Flagged content may be reviewed by ServiceOutcome staff. Moderation events are logged for audit purposes.

6. Your choices

You can edit your profile information at any time from your account settings.
You can deactivate your listings without deleting your account.
You can request account deletion by contacting support; soft-deletion preserves your transactional history for fraud prevention and audit, but identifying details will be removed from public surfaces.

7. Retention

Account data is retained while your account is active and for a reasonable period after closure to support fraud prevention, audit obligations, and legal claims.

8. Children

ServiceOutcome is not intended for users under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a minor, we will delete it.

9. Changes

ServiceOutcome may revise this policy. Material changes will be notified via email and require fresh agreement at next sign-in.

10. Contact

Questions about your data: support is reachable through the account email associated with your registration, or by emailing legal@serviceoutcome.com for formal privacy requests.

11. Rights for California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)

ServiceOutcome is headquartered in California and serves California residents. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) gives California residents specific rights regarding their personal information. ServiceOutcome honors these rights irrespective of whether the CCPA technically applies to our current revenue level — as a matter of policy.

Your California rights:

Right to Know. You may request a copy of the personal information ServiceOutcome holds about you, the categories of information collected, the sources, the purposes for collection, and the third parties with whom we share it. We will respond within 45 days (extendable once by another 45 days if necessary with notice).
Right to Delete. You may request deletion of the personal information ServiceOutcome holds about you, subject to legal-retention exceptions (e.g., financial records, dispute records, fraud-prevention records — see §12 below). We will confirm receipt within 10 days and complete deletion within 45 days.
Right to Correct. You may request correction of inaccurate personal information. Most fields are user-editable in your account settings; for fields that are not, contact legal@serviceoutcome.com.
Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing. ServiceOutcome does not sell your personal information and does not share it with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising. There is therefore no opt-out flow because there is nothing to opt out of. We will update this section if our practices ever change.
Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information. ServiceOutcome does not use sensitive personal information (precise geolocation, race, health, biometric, etc.) for purposes other than what is necessary to operate the platform.
Right to Non-Discrimination. ServiceOutcome will not deny service, charge different prices, or provide a different level of service because you exercise any California privacy right.
Right to Designate an Authorized Agent. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We require written authorization signed by you and verification of the agent's identity.

How to exercise these rights: email legal@serviceoutcome.com from the email address associated with your account, or submit a request via your account settings. We may ask you to verify your identity by confirming account-specific details (e.g., a recent project ID, last sign-in date) before disclosing personal information or executing a deletion.

Annual disclosures. In the prior 12 months, ServiceOutcome has collected the categories of personal information described in §1 above; collected from the sources described in §1; used it for the purposes described in §3; and shared it with the recipients described in §4. We have not sold or shared personal information for cross- context behavioral advertising.

12. Data Retention

ServiceOutcome retains personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy or as required by law. Specific retention windows:

Active account data (profile, listings, projects, quotes, messages, reviews) — retained while your account is active and for up to 24 months after account closure for fraud prevention, dispute resolution, and audit obligations. After 24 months, identifying details (name, email, phone, address) are removed; aggregated or anonymized statistics may be retained indefinitely for product improvement.
Financial records (subscription payments, payouts, tax-reportable transactions) — retained for 7 years per IRS / CA FTB record-retention requirements.
Dispute or moderation records (reports, admin notes, suspensions) — retained for 5 years from resolution for fraud prevention and recurring-bad-actor detection.
Authentication records (login timestamps, IP addresses) — retained for 90 days for security investigation.
Communication logs (transactional emails + SMS) — retained for 2 years for audit + dispute resolution.
AI chat transcripts (current /help bot MVP does not persist; future versions may persist for 90 days for quality and abuse monitoring).
Any optional link a party chooses to share — if a party pastes their own link, that link (a pointer only) is retained for the life of the platform record; ServiceOutcome does not store, route, or have access to any document or its contents.

Where law requires longer retention (e.g., legal hold, regulatory investigation), ServiceOutcome will retain the relevant data for the required period.

13. Account Deletion Request

You may request deletion of your account and associated personal information at any time. The process:

Email legal@serviceoutcome.com from the email address associated with your account with subject line Delete my account.
ServiceOutcome will confirm receipt within 10 business days and ask for verification (e.g., confirm a recent project ID or last sign-in date) if necessary.
Upon verified request, ServiceOutcome will complete deletion within 30 days: identifying personal information removed from public surfaces; account marked closed; profile no longer searchable.
Certain data is retained per §12 (Data Retention) — e.g., financial records for 7 years for tax obligations, dispute records for 5 years. This residual data is segregated from public surfaces and used only for the limited purposes stated.
You will receive an email confirmation when deletion is complete.

Effect on counterparties: if you have active projects with other users, your name may already be visible to those specific counterparties (per the identity- reveal flow described in §2). Deletion removes you from public surfaces but does not retroactively erase you from counterparty records of completed transactions.

Alternative for providers: if you wish to stop receiving quote requests but preserve historical account data for tax/audit purposes, you may deactivate your listings without deleting your account from your listing dashboard.