Information used in the pilot
We handle the name, email address, account identifiers and verification information used to create and manage your account. Firebase Authentication handles email and password sign-in or sign-in with Google.
We also handle the profile information you enter, such as a homeowner's property type or a contractor's services, work area and biography. When you save a project to your account, the saved information includes the original description, current wording, task details, city or ZIP, attached photos and information linking those items to their saved revision. Saving new wording does not erase the original description or earlier saved revisions.
Google/Firebase provides sign-in, hosting, database and photo storage. Those services process technical information, including IP addresses, browser information and request records, to deliver the service and help protect it from abuse. See Firebase's privacy information.
What other people can see
Your public homeowner display name, optional general city or area, and optional bio are visible to anyone with your profile link. Completing new homeowner setup publishes the public fields shown beside the publication notice. Existing private homeowner accounts are not automatically made public. You can review and edit your public fields in your account; a control to unpublish the profile is not available yet. There is no homeowner search or directory.
Property type, account contact details, private projects and their photos are not included in the public homeowner page. Contractor details stay private until deliberate consent, exact Hometown review and explicit owner publication. Original photos remain private; public pages use derived processed previews. A published contractor page and Contractor Search show only the selected service display name, biography, service categories, general city, one work title, description, category and city, and processed before/after previews. Public pages exclude account contact fields, private account identifiers, original storage paths and review metadata. Synthetic QA portfolios are labelled and excluded from genuine participation and recipients. Hometown review is not credential or job verification. Withdraw public consent or edit the service profile or work to revoke subsequent public reads; private originals and review history remain saved. Already viewed or copied material cannot be recalled. Private information is handled by Hometown's service operators and the providers running the service; it is not displayed to other visitors or contractors through the pilot.
Saving a homeowner project to your account does not publish it. To post supported routine work, review the exact task titles and details, selected photos, general city, area or ZIP and linked public homeowner profile, confirm photo rights and public-sharing consent, then separately choose Post project. The public project page shows those reviewed task titles and details, selected processed photos and general area, and links the homeowner's public display name to their public profile. The public projection excludes the private original-description field, private account address and contact fields, private account identifiers, original photo files and private storage information. The reviewed task wording may repeat words from your original description. The pilot currently supports cabinet hardware adjustment, freestanding furniture assembly and simple surface cleaning; other or hazardous work stays held.
Choosing Withdraw project or saving a changed version of that project revokes subsequent public reads of its former project page and photo URLs. Unsaved edits in the browser do not withdraw a posted project. Other separately saved projects are not withdrawn by that change. Your private saved versions and original photos remain; withdrawal does not delete them or remove your independently public homeowner profile. Changing the public homeowner profile can also invalidate linked project publication. Already viewed, downloaded, copied or shared material cannot be recalled.
Keep exact addresses, access codes, identity documents and other people's private information out of public fields and project photos. A photo can reveal personal information in its visible content even after it has been resized or converted.
Cookies and storage on your device
The pilot uses cookies for sign-in, security and returning you to your work. It uses browser storage for prepared projects, photos and recovery information. Blocking or clearing that storage can interrupt sign-in or remove work saved on the device.
Device drafts have a recovery window of up to seven days after a browser save, when storage is available. Expired drafts are checked and cleaned up when the draft storage is used; the recovery window is not a guarantee that every local copy is erased at an exact time. People with access to a shared device and browser may be able to see its guest draft.
Account saves and removal
On Home, choose Save project and follow the account and ownership confirmations shown. Wait for confirmation that the project is saved to your private account. Signing up or keeping work in browser storage alone does not complete that account save.
Clearing this website's browser storage removes locally retained work; it does not delete original photo files on your device or previously saved account revisions and uploaded photos. Signing out also does not delete those account records. Withdrawing a contractor portfolio draft keeps it in private history.
Account saves are separate from the seven-day device-draft window and are not removed when that window ends. A fixed retention period for account records and uploaded photos has not yet been established. The pilot does not currently provide self-service account or cloud-data deletion. For privacy questions, email support@hometownhandymanhub.com. These limits do not remove any rights you may have under applicable law.
For instructions on the available controls, see Drafts and photos. Earlier pilot services remain separate; signing in to the current site does not migrate or erase records saved on an earlier service.