BidStar Privacy Policy
Last updated: Nov 2, 2026
BidStar is run by Tech Stars University in Duluth, Minnesota. This policy explains what we collect when you use bidstar.us, app.bidstar.us and our emails, and what we do with it. The short version: we collect only what we need to find bids for your shop. We don't sell it, we don't put ads in your bid list, and we don't track you around the internet. Our emails and bidstar.us may name the local businesses that sponsor BidStar; sponsors never get your information.
What we collect
When you use the BidStar app:
- Your email address, so we can send your sign-in link and your bid emails.
- Your shop profile: your company name, trade, town, the kinds of work you do (in your own words), how far you'll travel, and a map point for your town that we look up from its name.
- Your settings: how you want bids sorted, which bids you save to watch, and whether you want our morning email. We record when you turned it on or off, and how you told us.
- Sign-in records: your one-time sign-in link and your sign-in session. We store them in scrambled (hashed) form, so the stored copy can't be used to sign in. A sign-in link works once and expires after 7 days. A session lasts up to 90 days, or until you sign out.
- Messages you send us, by email, by phone or with the feedback box in the app, and our replies.
- Your directory card, if you make one: your company name, the trades and towns you serve, your website and, if you add it, a business phone.
When you visit bidstar.us: we don't ask for anything, and the page has no forms or analytics, and no ads beyond naming our sponsors.
If you use the bid preview, we use your IP address for up to a day to limit how many previews one connection can run. We don't keep the trade, town or miles you pick.
People we write to about BidStar. We find contractors, and local businesses that work with contractors, to tell about BidStar in public bid results, which name the companies that bid on public jobs, and on contractors' own websites. For those companies we keep the company name, its trade and town, the jobs it bid if we found it in bid results, a business email or phone number from a public source, where we found it, and when we wrote. We don't sell this list. If you ask us to stop, we stop, and we keep only a note not to contact you again.
If you have a paid plan, we keep the trades you pick for the permit email and whether you've turned it on.
If you pay, we keep a dated history of your shop's trade and town settings, so we can work out whether a billing period owes you the no-new-bid refund.
What we don't collect: no Social Security or tax numbers, no contacts from your phone, no precise location from your device, and no browsing history from other sites. If you buy a paid plan, our payment processor (Stripe) collects your card details. We never see or store your full card number.
Public permit records we show
Our permit email shows building permits that city governments publish as public records (the app lists which cities): the job address, the type of work, its value and dates, and the name of a business that pulled the permit. We leave out the names of property owners and of people who pull permits, and we remove contact details and name credits from the city's work notes. If a record about your property or business shouldn't appear, email help@techstarsuniversity.com and we'll take it out of future emails within 2 business days.
The company directory
If you have a paid plan, you can make a card for your company. Other shops with a paid plan can find it by trade and town, and see what's on it. Cards aren't public, aren't sold and aren't shown to search engines. Your card stays hidden until you turn it on. You can hide or delete it any time in the app, and it stops showing when your paid plan ends.
We also list construction companies from public bid records and public contractor lists, so the directory isn't empty. Those cards show the company name, trades and towns, the public jobs it bid on, and a website or business phone only where the company itself publishes it. A company can claim its card to fix it or hide it, or ask us to remove it at help@techstarsuniversity.com. We confirm the request comes from the company, take the card down within 2 business days, and keep only a note not to list it again.
Sponsors and passes
Local businesses may sponsor BidStar. We may name them in our emails and on bidstar.us, and they may hand out BidStar passes. Sponsors never see who uses BidStar, what anyone searches, or which bids anyone opens. We tell a sponsor only how many of its passes were used. If you choose to be listed as a Founding Member, we show your company name on bidstar.us, and we take it down whenever you ask.
Cookies
The app sets one cookie, which keeps you signed in. It's not used for ads or tracking. The app also remembers, on your device, which bids you've already seen, so it can mark new ones. That list stays on your device; we never receive it. bidstar.us sets no cookies.
How we use it
- To run BidStar for you: find and sort bids for your shop, and show your saved bids.
- To send the emails you asked for: new bids that fit, and changes to bids you're watching.
- To answer your questions and fix problems.
- To keep BidStar secure and working, and to improve it.
- To follow the law.
Who else handles it
We don't sell your information, and we don't share it for advertising. A few service providers handle it for us, only to run BidStar:
| Provider | What it does for BidStar | What it sees |
|---|---|---|
| Google Cloud (servers in Iowa, USA) | Runs the BidStar app | Everything stored in the app |
| Google Workspace | Our email (help@techstarsuniversity.com) | Emails between us, and your email address |
| Netlify | Hosts bidstar.us | Visitors' IP addresses and browser details, in its server logs |
| U.S. Census Bureau map service | Finds the map point for your town | Only the town name you type, not who you are |
| Stripe (USA) | Takes payments for paid plans | Your name, email, card details and billing address. We may see the card type and last four digits, never the full number. |
We may also share information:
- if the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety or our legal rights;
- with a company that takes over BidStar. It would have to follow this policy, and we'd tell you first.
Where it's kept, and for how long
- Where: in the United States, on our app server in Iowa. Backup copies from the last two days sit on our office computer in Duluth, Minnesota, and are replaced every day.
- How long: we keep your information while you use BidStar. If you ask us to delete it, we delete it within 30 days. That includes the backups, which are replaced daily. If you've paid, we keep billing records (what you paid, when, and any refund) as long as tax law requires. We may keep a record that you asked us to stop emailing you, so we don't email you again.
How we protect it
- Connections to BidStar are encrypted (HTTPS).
- Sign-in links and sessions are stored in scrambled form.
- Only the people who run BidStar, and the tools they use to maintain it, can reach the data.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach ever puts your information at risk, we'll tell you promptly.
Your choices
- See and change your profile any time in the app.
- Ask for a copy of your information, or ask us to correct or delete it: email help@techstarsuniversity.com. We'll answer within 30 days, usually much sooner.
- Stop our emails: reply "stop" to any BidStar email. We stop within 10 business days, usually the same day. You can also turn off the morning email yourself: untick it under "Shop" in the app.
Do Not Track
We don't track you across other websites, so there's nothing for a browser's "Do Not Track" signal to turn off. We treat every visitor the same way. No one else tracks you across sites through BidStar.
Children
BidStar is for businesses and for people 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect information from children.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll email BidStar users, or post a notice in the app, before the change takes effect. The date at the top shows the current version.
Contact
BidStar, 28 West Austin Street, Upper, Duluth, MN 55803 · help@techstarsuniversity.com