Privacy & Data Security

1Introduction

Bates Estates LLC ("Bates Estates," "we," "us") operates the admin console, the operator mobile app, and the network of estate sale intake websites listed under Settings → Websites. This policy explains what information those systems collect and how we use it.

2Information We Collect

• Contact & account information — name, email address, phone number, and a securely hashed password for anyone with a console or mobile app login.
• Lead & estate details — property address, estate description, and scheduling details submitted through one of our intake websites or entered by staff on a caller's behalf.
• Job & commission records — assignment history, sale stage, and commission calculations tied to a closed sale.
• Device & usage data — IP address, device type, app version, and basic usage activity, collected automatically to keep the service secure and working correctly.
• Job photos & documents — photos you take or select, and documents you upload (such as inventory photos, contracts, or appraisals), are stored on our servers so you and your team can manage the job.
• Device identifier — when you enable push notifications, your device is assigned a token used to deliver alerts to that device.

3Cookies & Tracking

We use a small number of cookies to run the console. All of them are functional — none are used for advertising.

We do not currently use third-party advertising or analytics cookies. If that changes, this page will be updated first.

4How We Use Information

• Route and respond to leads submitted through our websites
• Schedule and manage walkthroughs and sales
• Calculate and pay operator commissions
• Secure accounts and detect suspicious sign-in activity
• Improve the console and our intake websites

5How We Protect Your Information

• Traffic to the console and our APIs is encrypted in transit over HTTPS; in production, HTTP Strict Transport Security is enforced.
• Passwords are never stored in plain text.
• Sign-in cookies are marked HttpOnly and Secure, so they cannot be read by page scripts or sent over an unencrypted connection.
• Each intake website authenticates with its own unique API key rather than a shared secret, so one compromised site cannot be used to reach another.
• Operators sign in to the mobile app with their own account; access is limited to the leads and jobs assigned to them.
• Repeated password-reset attempts are automatically rate-limited.

6Sharing With Third Parties

We share information only as needed to run the platform — for example, with the providers we use to deliver email and SMS notifications, or when required by law. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

Push notifications & service providers

We use Google Firebase Cloud Messaging to deliver push notifications. This involves sharing a device token with Google, used only to deliver notifications to your device. We also use the providers described above to send email and SMS notifications. Every provider we share data with is contractually required to protect it to a standard at least as strict as this policy. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your data for cross-app or cross-site tracking.

7Data Retention

We keep lead, job, and commission records for as long as an account is active and as needed to meet our legal, tax, and accounting obligations. You can ask us to delete an account that is no longer needed by contacting us below.

8Your Rights & Choices

• Ask to access or correct the information tied to your account by contacting your Bates Estates administrator or emailing us.
• Ask to have your account and its associated data deleted, subject to records we're required to keep.
• Update your password at any time from Settings.

Consent Revocation

You can turn off camera, photo library, or notification access at any time in your device's Settings app. Turning off a permission may limit related features (for example, you won't be able to attach new photos), but the rest of the app will keep working.

9Children's Privacy

The console and mobile app are business tools for our staff and operators. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

10Changes to This Policy

When this policy changes, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and post the new version here.