HomeGuard HomeWarranty, Incorporated and/or any affiliated entities (the “Company” or “we”) has developed this privacy policy out of respect for the privacy of our customers, visitors to our website, job applicants, and independent contractors. This policy describes the personal information we collect, use, and disclose about individual consumers, applicants, and contractors who visit or interact with this website, use our mobile phone application, visit any of our offices, stores, facilities or locations, purchase or inquire about any of our products or services, contract with us to provide services, apply for a position of employment, or otherwise interact or do business with us.
Whenever you visit our website, we will collect some information from you automatically simply by you visiting and navigating through this site, and some voluntarily when you submit information using a form on the website, utilize the Live Chat feature on our website, enroll in or subscribe to our newsletter or marketing communications, request information, or use any of the other interactive portions of our website. Through this website, we will collect information that can identify you and/or your activity.
Additionally, whenever you communicate, interact or do business with us, whether online or at any of our physical locations or facilities, or whether you are contracted to perform services for us or apply for a position of employment, we will be collecting personal information from you or about you in the course of our interaction or dealings with you.
This policy does not apply to our current and former employees and their family members, dependents, and beneficiaries; if you are a California resident who is a current or former employee of the Company or a family member, dependent, or beneficiary of any of our current or former employees, you may request access to our Employee Privacy Policy by sending an email to privacyrequests@hghw.com.
By using the Live Chat feature on either the website or mobile phone application, you consent to our collection and analysis of all personal information provided. On the website, we utilize a vendor called “Pure Chat” and in the mobile application we utilize Google Firebase (“Chat Vendors”), to process, analyze, and store the contents of the chat on our behalf. The Chat Vendors features do not use any chatbot or artificial intelligence technology. Rather, each chat takes place with a live representative of the Company. For more information on how the Chat Vendors may use or disclose your personal information, please review their privacy policy at https://www.ruby.com/privacy/ and https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy respectively. By using these forms and features, you direct the Company to disclose to and share with the Chat Vendors any personal information you provide.
We may collect, and we have in the last 12 months collected, the following categories of personal information about you based on your specific transactions and interactions with us or our website. For each category of information, we identify below the categories of third parties, service providers, and contactors to whom we have disclosed the information in the last 12 months. The examples provided for each category are not intended to be an exhaustive list or an indication of all specific pieces of information we collect from or about you in each category, but rather the examples are to provide you a meaningful understanding of the types of information that may be collected within each category.
Category |
Personal Identifiers |
Examples |
Name, alias, social security number, driver’s license or state identification card number, passport number. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared in Last 12 Months To |
Sold to data analytics vendors and social media platforms
Shared for cross-context behavioral advertising with social media platforms and live chat vendor |
Retention Period |
Duration of our relationship with you plus 6 years
Job Applicants: If you are a job applicant and are hired by the Company, then name will be retained permanently, and the rest will be retained for duration of employment plus 6 years. If you are not hired, this data will be retained for 4 years from when position is filled or the date we receive your information, whichever is longer |
Category |
Contact Information |
Examples |
Home, postal or mailing address, email address, home phone number, cell phone number. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared in Last 12 Months To |
Sold to data analytics vendors and social media platforms Shared for cross-context behavioral advertising with social media platforms |
Retention Period |
Duration of our relationship with you plus 6 years. Job Applicants: If you are a job applicant and are hired by the Company, then name will be retained permanently, and the rest will be retained for duration of employment plus 6 years. If you are not hired, this data will be retained for 4 years from when position is filled or the date we receive your information, whichever is longer |
Category |
Commercial Transactional Data |
Examples |
Information regarding products or services provided, purchasing history, company or business affiliation, role, commercial or residential property information. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
6 years after transaction, unless necessary to maintain for a longer period for product warranty, or OSHA/FDA or other regulatory compliance |
Category |
Internet Network and Computer Activity |
Examples |
Date and time of your visit to this website; webpages visited; links clicked on the website; browser ID; browser type; device ID; operating system; form information downloaded; domain name from which our site was accessed; search history; and cookies; internet or other electronic network activity information related to usage of Company networks, servers, intranet, or shared drives, as well as Company-owned computers and electronic devices, including system and file access logs, security clearance level, browsing history, search history, and usage history. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Sold to data analytics vendors and social media platforms Shared for cross-context behavioral advertising with social media platforms and live chat vendor |
Retention Period |
3 years |
Category |
Geolocation Data |
Examples |
IP address and/or GPS location, latitude & longitude. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Sold to data analytics vendors and social media platforms Shared for cross-context behavioral advertising with social media platforms and live chat vendor |
Retention Period |
4 years |
Category |
Mobile Device Security Information |
Examples |
Information collected when you navigate, access or use any of our websites via mobile device, including device type, software type; data identifying your device if you access our business networks and systems, including cell phone make, model, and serial number, cell phone number, and cell phone provider. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
3 years |
Category |
Online Portal and Mobile App Access and Usage Information |
Examples |
Username and password, account history, usage history, file access logs, security clearance level, and any information submitted through the account, if applicable. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
Username: permanent; Password or security code: while in use plus 2 years; the remainder 3 years |
Category |
Visual, Audio or Video Recordings |
Examples |
Your image when recorded or captured in surveillance camera footage, in Company vehicles, or pictures of you taken on our premises or at our events or that you share with us; audio recordings of calls and virtual meetings as disclosed to you at the time of the call. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
Surveillance video – 60 days; the rest of this category is retained for the duration of our relationship with you plus 6 years |
Category |
Pre-Hire Information |
Examples |
Information gathered on job applicants as part of background screening and reference checks, pre-hire drug test results, information recorded in job interview notes by persons conducting job interviews for the Company, information contained in candidate evaluation records and assessments, information in work product samples you provided, and voluntary disclosures by you. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
If hired, this data will be retained for duration of employment plus 6 years. If not hired, it will be retained for 4 years from when position is filled or the date we receive your information, whichever is longer. |
Category |
Employment and Education History |
Examples |
For independent contractors, information regarding educational history and records of degrees and vocational certifications obtained. Information contained in job applicants’ resumes regarding educational history, information in transcripts or records of degrees, vocational certifications obtained, and information regarding prior job experience, positions held, and when permitted by applicable law your salary history or expectations. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
Duration of our relationship plus 6 years Job Applicants: If hired, this data will be retained for duration of employment plus 6 years. If not hired, it will be retained for 4 years from when position is filled or the date we receive your information, whichever is longer. |
Category |
Professional Related Information |
Examples |
Information on independent contractors contained in tax forms/1099 forms, safety records, licensing and certification records, and performance records, and information related to services provided by independent contractors, including in statements of work; information regarding prior experience, business affiliations and professional memberships. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
Duration of our relationship with you plus 6 years |
Category |
Financial Information |
Examples |
Information contained in invoices billed to the Company and in records of payments made to you by the Company, or other financial account information. Credit card or other payment card account information. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
Duration of current calendar year plus 7 years; Collected but not retained past processing of transaction |
Category |
Pre-Contract Information |
Examples |
For independent contractors, information you provided in your portfolio or proposal for services, information gathered as part of vendor evaluation and reference checks and other assessments of your qualifications to provide services to the Company, information in work product samples you provided, and voluntary disclosures you provided to Company. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
Not Disclosed |
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
Duration of our relationship with you plus 6 years |
Category |
Professional History |
Examples |
For independent contractors, information regarding prior experience, positions held, and names of prior clients to which you provided services. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
Not Disclosed |
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
Duration of our relationship with you plus 6 years |
Category |
Inferences |
Examples |
Based on analysis of your activity on the website, we may develop inferences regarding your preferences. For job applicants, based on analysis of the personal information collected, we may develop inferences regarding job applicants’ predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes for purposes of recruiting and hiring assessments and decisions. |
Disclosed in Last 12 Months To |
|
Sold or Shared In Last 12 Months To |
Not Sold or Shared |
Retention Period |
Duration of our relationship with you plus 6 years. Job Applicants: If hired, this data will be retained for duration of employment plus 6 years. If not hired, it will be retained for 4 years from when position is filled or the date we receive your information, whichever is longer. |
Of the above categories of Personal Information, the following are categories of Sensitive Personal Information the Company may collect from or about consumers, independent contractors, or applicants:
Personal information does not include:
We may disclose your personal information for any one or more of the business purposes identified above.
We do NOT and will not sell or share your personal information in exchange for monetary consideration. However, we may sell or share some of your information to third parties for other valuable consideration, as noted in the table above.
We may sell or share your personal information for the following business purposes:
Other than these exceptions, we do not and will not disclose your personal information to any third party in exchange for monetary or other valuable consideration or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
While we do not sell or share your personal information in exchange for money, we may sell or share your personal information for other valuable consideration. You have the right to tell us NOT to sell or share your personal information. You have the full and free right to opt-out of our disclosure of your personal information to any third parties where the disclosure constitutes “selling” or “sharing” as defined by the California Privacy Rights Act. You may exercise your right to opt-out without fear of discrimination for doing so. To opt-out of our selling or sharing of your information, meaning, we will not disclose your information to third parties for any monetary or other valuable consideration, you can do any of the following:
You can have an authorized agent submit a request on your behalf. To submit an opt-out through use of an authorized agent, you must provide that agent with written permission signed by you to submit an opt-out on your behalf, except when using an opt-out preference signal. The authorized agent may call our toll-free privacy line at (855) 331-1900 to make the opt-out request and for directions for submitting the proof of authorization and the authorized agent’s proof of identification to the Company. We maintain the right to deny any request from an authorized agent that does not submit sufficient proof that they have been authorized by you to act on your behalf. A request to opt-out need not be a verifiable consumer request. However, we may deny a request to opt-out if we have a good faith, reasonable, and documented belief that a request to opt-out is fraudulent. If we deny your request to opt-out, we shall inform you of our decision not to comply and provide an explanation as to why we believe the request is fraudulent. |
Opt-out preference signals provide consumers with a simple and easy-to-use method by which to exercise the right to opt-out of the selling and sharing of their information. Global Privacy Controls (GPC) is a user-enabled opt-out preference signal which can communicate a user’s “Do Not Sell or Share” request on behalf of the person or device. We will process opt-out preferences from GPC signals which are in formats commonly used and recognized by businesses, such as an HTTP field header. We will treat a consumer’s use of GPCs as a valid request to opt-out of the selling and sharing of information for that browser. We currently do not connect browser use to particular consumers and, as such, you will need to use GPCs on all browsers in which you access our website and use our opt-out form to opt-out of offline sales.
Do Not Track (DNT) is a privacy preference that users can set if they do not want web services to collect information about their online activity. We do not respond to DNT signals or other mechanisms (with the exception of GPCs) that provide a choice regarding the collection of personal information about activities over time and across different websites or online services. We encourage users who have DNTs to use GPCs.
We do not and will not use or disclose your sensitive personal information for purposes other than the following:
We will retain each category of personal information in accordance with our established data retention schedule as indicated above. In deciding how long to retain each category of personal information that we collect, we consider many criteria, including, but not limited to: the business purposes for which the Personal Information was collected; relevant federal, state and local recordkeeping laws; applicable statutes of limitations for claims to which the information may be relevant; and legal preservation of evidence obligations.
We apply our data retention procedures on an annual basis to determine if the business purposes for collecting the personal information, and legal reasons for retaining the personal information, have both expired. If so, we will purge the information in a secure manner.
We may use other companies and individuals to perform certain functions on our behalf. Examples include administering e-mail services and running special promotions. Such parties only have access to the personal information needed to perform these functions and may not use or store the information for any other purpose. Subscribers or site visitors will never receive unsolicited e-mail messages from vendors working on our behalf.
In the event we sell or transfer a particular portion of its business assets, information of consumers, contractors and applicants may be one of the business assets transferred as part of the transaction. If substantially all of our assets are acquired, information of consumers, contractors and applicants may be transferred as part of the acquisition.
We may disclose specific personal and/or sensitive personal information based on a good faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to comply with or conform to the law or that such disclosure is necessary to protect our employees or the public.
Cookies are small files that a website may transfer to a user’s computer that reside there for either the duration of the browsing session (session cookies) or on a permanent, until deleted, basis (persistent cookies) that may be used to identify a user, a user’s machine, or a user’s behavior. We make use of cookies under the following circumstances and for the following reasons:
You may delete cookies from your web browser at any time or block cookies on your equipment, but this may affect the functioning of or even block the website. You can prevent saving of cookies (disable and delete them) by changing your browser settings accordingly at any time. It is possible that some functions will not be available on our website when use of cookies is deactivated. Check the settings of your browser. Below you can find some guidance:
Our website contains links to other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. To help ensure the protection of your privacy, we recommend that you review the Privacy Policy of any site you visit via a link from our website.
The personal data record created through your registration with our website can only be accessed with the unique password associated with that record. To protect the integrity of the information contained in this record, you should not disclose or otherwise reveal your password to third parties.
We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16 years of age.
The protection of the information that we collect about visitors to this website is of the utmost importance to us and we take every reasonable measure to ensure that protection, including:
We do not target, market to, or offer our products or services to consumers outside of the United States. You agree not to submit your personally identifiable information through the website if you reside outside the United States.
This section of the Privacy Policy applies only to California residents who are natural persons. If you are a California resident, you have the following rights pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):
You can submit any of the above types of consumer requests through any of the 3 options below:
How We Will Verify That it is Really You Submitting the Request
If you are a California resident, when you submit a Right to Know, Right to Access, Right to Delete, or Right to Correct request through one of the methods provided above, we will ask you to provide some information in order to verify your identity and respond to your request. Specifically, we will ask you to verify information that can be used to link your identity to particular records in our possession, which depends on the nature of your relationship and interaction with us. For example, we may need you to provide your name, email, phone number, IP address, browser ID, amount of your last purchase with the business, and/or date of your last transaction with the business.
Responding to Your Right to Know, Right to Access, Right to Delete, and Right to Correct Requests
Upon receiving a verifiable request from a California resident, we will confirm receipt of the request no later than 10 business days after receiving it. We endeavor to respond to a verifiable request within forty-five (45) calendar days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to an additional 45 calendar days, or 90 calendar days total from the date we receive your request), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. We will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable.
We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.
For a request to correct inaccurate personal information, we will accept, review, and consider any documentation that you provide, and we may require that you provide documentation to rebut our own documentation that the personal information is accurate. You should make a good-faith effort to provide us with all necessarily information at the time that you make the request to correct. We may deny a request to correct if we have a good-faith, reasonable, and documented belief that a request to correct is fraudulent or abusive. If we deny your request to correct, we shall inform you of our decision not to comply and provide an explanation as to why we believe the request is fraudulent.
Responding to Your Request to Opt-Out of the Selling or Sharing of Your Personal Information
We will act upon a consumer request to opt-out within fifteen (15) days of its receipt. We will notify all third parties to whom we have sold or shared personal information of your request and instruct them to comply with the request within the same time frame. We will notify you when this has been completed by mail or electronically, at your option.
A request to opt-out need not be a verifiable consumer request. However, we may deny a request to opt-out if we have a good faith, reasonable, and documented belief that a request to opt-out is fraudulent. If we deny your request to opt-out, we shall inform you of our decision not to comply and provide an explanation as to why we believe the request is fraudulent.
If You Have an Authorized Agent:
If you are a California resident, you can authorize someone else as an authorized agent who can submit a request on your behalf. To do so, you must either (a) execute a valid, verifiable, and notarized power of attorney or (b) provide other written, signed authorization that we can then verify. When we receive a request submitted on your behalf by an authorized agent who does not have a power of attorney, that person will be asked to provide written proof that they have your permission to act on your behalf, and we will also contact you and ask you for information to verify your own identity directly with us and not through your authorized agent. We may deny a request from an authorized agent if the agent does not provide your signed permission demonstrating that they have been authorized by you to act on your behalf.
Other California Privacy Rights
The California Civil Code permits California Residents with whom we have an established business relationship to request that we provide you with a list of certain categories of personal information that we have disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year. To make such a request, please send an email to privacyrequests@hghw.com, or write to us at the address listed below. Please mention that you are making a “California Shine the Light” inquiry.
By using this website, you consent to all terms and conditions expressed in this Privacy Policy.
As our services evolve and we perceive the need or desirability of using information collected in other ways, we may from time to time amend this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to check our website frequently to see the current Privacy Policy in effect and any changes that may have been made to them. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will post the revised Privacy Policy and the revised effective date on this website. Please check back here periodically or contact us at the address listed at the end of this Privacy Policy.
This policy is in a form that is accessible to consumers with disabilities.
This website is owned and operated by HomeGuard HomeWarranty, Incorporated. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacyrequests@hghw.com or call (855) 331-1900.
**This policy was last updated January 5, 2024.