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LienChecker

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: September 8, 2026

At LienChecker, privacy is not an afterthought — it is a core design principle. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and why you can trust that your sensitive construction documents never leave our processing pipeline.

Zero Document Data Retention — Our Core Commitment

Documents you upload to LienChecker are never written to disk, never stored in a database, and never logged in any persistent storage. They exist only in RAM for the duration of a single HTTP request and are garbage-collected immediately upon response. We cannot recover, replay, or re-inspect any document after the audit is returned to you.

Technical Architecture: How In-Memory Processing Works

  1. 1Your browser sends a multipart/form-data POST request containing the two documents over HTTPS.
  2. 2The Next.js API route reads each file into a JavaScript ArrayBuffer — a temporary in-memory byte array.
  3. 3The buffer is Base64-encoded and sent to the Google Gemini API as an inlineData payload — no file upload to cloud storage.
  4. 4Gemini returns the structured JSON audit result. The in-memory buffers are immediately eligible for garbage collection.
  5. 5The JSON result is returned to your browser. No document bytes, file names, or content are written anywhere on our infrastructure.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the minimum information necessary to operate the Service:

  • Account Information: Email address, name, and hashed password (if you create an account directly), or OAuth identity tokens (if you sign in with Google or another provider).
  • Billing Information: Stripe customer ID, subscription status, and plan type. We never see or store your full card number — that data is managed exclusively by Stripe.
  • Usage Metadata: Audit credit consumption counts, timestamps of audit requests (not document content), and error logs necessary to diagnose service failures.
  • Technical Data: IP address (for abuse prevention), browser type, and Next.js request headers.

We do NOT collect, store, or log the content of any invoice or lien waiver document you upload.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use collected information solely to:

  • Authenticate you and manage your account and subscription.
  • Process payments through Stripe.
  • Track audit credit consumption for 5-Audit Pass holders.
  • Detect and prevent fraud and abuse.
  • Communicate service updates, billing notices, and support responses.
  • Improve the reliability and performance of the Service (aggregated, anonymized metrics only).

We do not sell your data, share it with advertisers, or use it for targeted advertising.

3. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services. Each processes data under their own privacy policies:

  • Google Gemini API (Google LLC): Your document content is sent to Gemini as an in-request payload for AI analysis. Google's enterprise API terms govern this data. Per Google's API data policies, data submitted via the API is not used to train Google's models by default. See Google AI Terms for details.
  • Stripe, Inc.: Payment processing. Stripe handles all card data under PCI-DSS compliance. See Stripe's Privacy Policy.
  • Hosting Infrastructure (Vercel): Our application runs on Vercel's serverless edge infrastructure. Vercel may collect standard server logs (IP, timestamp, status codes) for operational purposes.

4. Cookies

We use only the minimum cookies necessary to operate the Service:

  • Session cookies: To maintain your authenticated session. These expire when you close your browser or log out.
  • Stripe cookies: Stripe may set cookies during the payment checkout flow. These are governed by Stripe's policy.

We do not use third-party analytics cookies (e.g., Google Analytics) or advertising/tracking pixels.

5. Data Security

All data in transit is encrypted with TLS 1.2 or higher. Account passwords are stored using bcrypt with a minimum cost factor of 12. We implement role-based access controls and conduct regular dependency audits. Despite these measures, no system is perfectly secure; use strong, unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication when available.

6. Data Retention

Account and billing records are retained for the duration of your active account plus 7 years, as required for financial record-keeping and tax compliance.

Document data (invoice content, waiver content): retained for 0 seconds beyond the HTTP request. Never stored.

If you delete your account, your personal data will be erased within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or port your personal data, or to object to or restrict certain processing. To exercise these rights, email us at support@lienchecker.co. We will respond within 30 days.

California residents: For CCPA requests, please use the same contact address. EU/UK residents: We process your data under the lawful basis of contract performance and legitimate interests.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. Material changes will be communicated via email at least 14 days before taking effect. The "Effective Date" at the top of this page reflects the date of the most recent revision.

9. Contact

Questions or concerns? Contact our privacy team at support@lienchecker.co.