This policy explains what information BidProof collects when you use our website and our bid review service, what we do with it, and what you can ask us to do about it.
A solar bid is a personal document. It carries your name, your address, your utility usage, and often your financing terms. We ask you to hand that to a company you met minutes ago. The least we owe you in return is a clear account of where it goes.
By using our website or sending us information, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use our services.
The short version
This summary is here to save you time. The sections below are the actual policy.
We collect what we need to run your review and operate the website. We do not sell your information. We do not share it for advertising. We never send your name, your bid, or your report to an installer, a sales representative, or a lender. We delete the documents you upload after 30 days. You can ask us what we hold, ask for a copy, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it.
Who we are
BidProof gives homeowners an independent second opinion on a residential solar bid. You send us the bid or contract you received from a solar provider, we check it against independent data, and we send you a written report with a PASS, REVISE, or FLAG verdict.
We are not a solar installer or contractor. We are not a lead generation company or a marketplace. We are not a legal or financial advisor. We are paid by you and by no one else.
What we collect
Information reaches us three ways: you give it to us, our website collects it automatically, or we pull it from public sources to run your review.
What you give us
Account information. What you provide if you create an account with us.
The documents you send us. This is the substance of the review. A solar proposal or contract typically contains:
- Your full name, and the name of a co-signer or spouse if one is on the contract.
- Your home address, which for a financed system is also the property securing the loan.
- Your email address and phone number.
- Your signature, physical or electronic, sometimes with a timestamp or IP metadata from an e-signing platform.
- Financing details: type and terms, loan amount, interest rate, term length, monthly payment, down payment and payment method, lender name and sometimes a loan or account number, and credit-decision references such as an approved amount or a credit tier tied to a soft or hard credit pull.
- Utility and property details: your utility provider and rate plan, your utility account number if a bill or interconnection form is bundled in, and your estimated or actual energy usage.
- Incidental details that ride along in the documents: the sales representative’s name and sometimes a license or ID number, and document metadata, which can include embedded location data if you upload a photo rather than a clean PDF.
Two things we do not want. A Social Security number or a bank account number occasionally appears in a bundled financing addendum or an autopay setup page. We do not need either one to run a review. If you see one in your documents, black it out before you send them. If you black out something we do need, we will tell you and ask.
The report we deliver to you. Our analysis of the bid you sent, which contains the findings and the underlying figures.
What our website collects automatically
- Device and browser information: device type, operating system, browser type, and screen resolution.
- Usage information: pages you visit, links you click, time on page, and how you move through the site.
- Network information: your IP address, general geographic location, and internet service provider.
- Cookies and similar technologies: we use cookies, pixels, and similar tools to operate the site, remember your preferences, and understand how visitors use it. You can manage cookie preferences in your browser settings.
What we pull from other sources
To check a bid, we draw on public and licensed reference data: solar production models, utility rate data, approved-equipment lists, and published finance benchmarks. That data is about equipment, rates, and locations. It is not about you.
We do not buy personal information about you from data brokers.
What we use it for
- Running your review: reading the bid, running the checks, preparing your report, and delivering it to you.
- Talking with you: answering your questions, sending service updates, and helping when something goes wrong.
- Improving the service: understanding how the website and the review process are used so we can make them better.
- Keeping things secure: protecting the website and the service from fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access.
- Meeting legal obligations: complying with applicable law, regulation, and legal process.
- Marketing, with your consent: sending you news about our services or the solar industry. You can opt out at any time, and opting out changes nothing about the service you receive.
We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.
Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not send your name, your bid, or your report to solar installers, sales representatives, or lenders.
That last one is the point of the company, not a policy concession. If you want to share your report with your solar provider, that is your call to make and yours to act on.
We share information in these limited circumstances:
- Service providers. Companies that help us operate: website hosting, payment processing, email delivery, and analytics. They are contractually required to use your information only to perform services for us, and to protect it under this policy.
- Legal requirements. Where required by law, regulation, legal process, or an enforceable government request.
- Safety and rights. Where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the safety, rights, or property of BidProof, the people who use it, or the public.
- Business transfers. If BidProof is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may transfer as part of it. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
Sensitive information
Some of what a bid contains falls into categories that state law treats as sensitive, such as precise geolocation derived from your property address, or account login credentials. We use sensitive personal information only as needed to run your review and for the purposes described in this policy, and never beyond that.
We never see or hold your credit card or payment details. You give those directly to a third-party payment processor, subject to its own privacy policy.
How long we keep it
We keep personal information only as long as reasonably necessary to run the service, meet legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. When we no longer need it, we securely delete or de-identify it.
- The documents you upload: deleted 30 days after you submit them.
- Your report: kept for seven years after delivery so you can retrieve it, unless you ask us to delete it sooner. Your report contains figures drawn from your bid, so this is worth knowing.
- Account information: kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period after.
- Automatically collected information: kept for up to 24 months.
- Reference data used in your review: kept until we deliver the report that relies on it.
- Messages between us: kept as long as needed to resolve your question and for a reasonable period after.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have specific rights over your personal information under state privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, the Colorado Privacy Act, the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, and similar laws elsewhere. Those rights may include:
- Knowing what we hold: what we have collected about you, where it came from, why we collected it, and who we have shared it with.
- Getting a copy: the specific personal information we hold about you.
- Deleting it: asking us to delete what we collected from you, subject to exceptions the law allows.
- Correcting it: asking us to fix information that is wrong.
- Opting out: of the sale of your personal information or its sharing for targeted advertising. As stated above, we do neither.
- Taking it with you: receiving your information in a portable, readily usable format, where applicable.
- Limiting sensitive information: directing us to use sensitive personal information only as necessary to provide the service, where applicable.
How to exercise them
Contact us using the details at the end of this policy. We will verify your identity by matching what you give us against what we already hold, then respond within the timeframes the law requires, generally 45 days, with extensions where permitted.
You can name an authorized agent to make a request for you. We may ask the agent for proof of authorization and may still verify your identity directly.
No penalty for asking
We will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right. We will not deny you service, charge you a different price, or give you a lesser version of the review because you asked.
Universal opt-out signals
We honor browser-based opt-out preference signals, including Global Privacy Control, as valid requests to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, as required by applicable state law.
Children
Our services are not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe we have collected information from a child under 16, contact us and we will delete it promptly.
Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These include encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, secure storage, and regular security assessments.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we will not claim otherwise. We cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. When we do, we will update the date at the top. If the changes are material, we will post a prominent notice on our website or email you, if we have your address, before they take effect.
Contact us
If you have questions, want to exercise a privacy right, or have a concern about how we handle your information:
BidProof
Attn: Privacy Inquiries
3940-7 Broad Street, PMB 121
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Email: support@bidproof.com