Privacy Policy

About this Policy and who we are

VIO CHIMNEY (“VIO CHIMNEY,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the website viochimney.com, together with its landing pages, service request forms, telephone lines, and messaging programs (collectively, the “Platform”). This Privacy Policy describes the personal information we collect through the Platform, how we use it, when and with whom we share it, how long we keep it, and the privacy rights available to you under applicable United States state privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CCPA/CPRA”).

VIO CHIMNEY is a national home-services brand and referral platform. We connect homeowner service requests with vetted, independent local service professionals (“Service Professionals”) who perform the on-site work; the referral, matching, and related support we provide through the Platform are the “Services.” We do not ourselves perform chimney sweeping, inspection, repair, or related on-site work. Our Lead & Referral Disclosure explains that relationship in detail. When your request is shared with a matched Service Professional, that business is an independent controller of the information it receives, and its own privacy practices govern its subsequent handling of your information.

This Policy should be read together with our Cookie Policy, our SMS & Communications Consent disclosure, and our Terms of Use, each of which is available on the Platform. By using the Platform, you acknowledge the practices described in this Policy. If you do not agree with them, please do not use the Platform.

Personal information we collect

The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with the Platform. The categories below describe what we collect in plain language; they also correspond to the categories of personal information enumerated in the CCPA/CPRA (identifiers; internet or other electronic network activity; approximate geolocation; audio information; commercial information; and inferences).

Contact identifiers. Your name, telephone number, email address, and service address or ZIP code, and similar identifiers you provide when you submit a service request, call a telephone number listed on the Platform, or otherwise contact us.

Service request details. Information you choose to provide about your home and the work you need — for example, property type, chimney or fireplace type, a description of the issue, photos you upload, preferred contact windows, and scheduling preferences.

Marketing attribution data. The campaign, source, medium, and keyword parameters attached to the link you used to reach the Platform (such as UTM tags and advertising click identifiers), the landing page on which you arrived, and the referring website or advertisement.

Device and usage data. Browser type and version, operating system, device type, screen characteristics, language settings, the pages you view, the links and buttons you interact with, form interactions, and associated date and time stamps, collected automatically as you browse.

IP-derived data. Your Internet Protocol (IP) address and the approximate, city-level location derived from it. We do not collect precise GPS geolocation through the Platform.

Cookies and similar technologies. Identifiers and preferences stored through cookies, browser localStorage (including your consent choice, which is stored on your device under the vio-cookie-consent key), pixels, and similar technologies, as described in our Cookie Policy.

Communications records. Emails, text messages, form submissions, and records of telephone calls with us, including call recordings where permitted by applicable law and disclosed at or near the start of the call.

Inferences. Limited inferences drawn from the information above, such as the service categories and geographic market likely relevant to your request.

What we do not collect. We do not collect payment card numbers and do not process payments through the Platform; payment for on-site work occurs directly between you and your Service Professional. Please do not submit Social Security numbers, government identifiers, health information, financial account credentials, or other sensitive personal information through our forms — we do not request that information and do not intentionally collect it.

Sources of personal information

We collect personal information (1) directly from you, when you complete a form, call, text, or email us; (2) automatically from your device, through cookies and similar technologies as described in our Cookie Policy; (3) from our vendors, such as analytics providers, call-tracking providers, and communications platforms acting on our behalf; (4) from advertising partners, in the form of campaign and attribution data associated with your visit; and (5) from Service Professionals, in the form of status updates about your request (for example, whether you were contacted or whether an estimate was provided or accepted).

How we use personal information

To provide the Services. We use your contact identifiers and service request details to receive, route, and match your request with a Service Professional serving your area, to share your request with the matched Service Professional so it can contact you, and to support you through the process.

To communicate with you. We use your contact information to send request confirmations, matching and scheduling updates, follow-ups about your request, and responses to your inquiries, and — only with the consent described in our SMS & Communications Consent disclosure — marketing communications.

To operate, maintain, and improve the Platform. We use device, usage, and IP-derived data to keep the Platform secure and functional, debug and fix issues, understand how pages are used, and improve content and user experience.

To measure marketing. We use attribution data in aggregate to understand which pages, campaigns, and cities generate service requests and to measure and improve our advertising.

To protect the Platform and others. We use personal information to detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent submissions, abuse, security incidents, and activity that violates our Terms of Use.

To comply with law. We use personal information to comply with applicable legal obligations, respond to lawful requests from public authorities, and establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Aggregated and de-identified data. We may aggregate or de-identify personal information so it can no longer reasonably be linked to you and use that data for any lawful purpose. Where we rely on de-identified data, we commit to maintaining it in de-identified form and not attempting to re-identify it, except as permitted by law to test the effectiveness of de-identification.

How we share personal information

With your matched Service Professional. When you submit a service request, we share the information reasonably needed to fulfill it — typically your name, contact details, service address or ZIP code, and request details — with the Service Professional matched to your request so it can contact you and prepare an estimate. Service Professionals are independent businesses; our network agreements require them to use referred information to serve your request and prohibit use of your information for unrelated marketing without your consent, but their handling of your information is governed by their own privacy practices.

With vendors that support the Platform. We share personal information with service providers and processors performing services on our behalf, such as website hosting and infrastructure, analytics, email and SMS delivery, call tracking and call recording, customer relationship and lead management, security and fraud prevention, and professional advisors (lawyers, accountants, insurers). These vendors are bound by contract to process personal information only for our purposes and to protect it.

For legal reasons and safety. We may disclose personal information if we believe in good faith that disclosure is required by law, subpoena, or other legal process; is necessary to enforce our Terms of Use or other agreements; or is appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of VIO CHIMNEY, our users, Service Professionals, or the public.

In business transfers. If VIO CHIMNEY is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of all or part of its business or assets, personal information may be disclosed to the parties involved and transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this Policy or successor terms with materially comparable protections.

With your direction or consent. We share personal information for other purposes when you direct us to or otherwise consent.

Text messaging opt-in data. Mobile opt-in data and consent for text messaging are not shared with or sold to third parties or affiliates for their own marketing or promotional purposes.

No sale of personal information; your advertising choices

We do not sell personal information in exchange for money, and we do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16 years of age. However, the CCPA/CPRA defines “sale” and “sharing” broadly: if you allow marketing cookies, the transmission of identifiers to advertising partners for cross-context behavioral advertising could be treated as a “sale” or “sharing” under those definitions.

You can opt out of any such sale or sharing at any time by choosing Reject Non-Essential on our cookie banner, by updating your choices through the cookie preferences controls described in our Cookie Policy, by browsing with a legally recognized opt-out preference signal such as Global Privacy Control enabled, or by emailing legal@viochimney.com with the subject line “Do Not Sell or Share.” Opting out does not affect your ability to request service.

Cookies, Do Not Track, and Global Privacy Control

Our Cookie Policy describes the categories of cookies and similar technologies used on the Platform, what each category does, and how consent works. Non-essential analytics, marketing, and personalization technologies load only after you accept them through our consent banner.

Because there is no uniform industry standard for legacy browser “Do Not Track” signals, the Platform does not respond to them. We do, however, honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal: where required by applicable law, a GPC-enabled browser is treated as a valid request to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for that browser.

Data retention

We retain personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. In general, service request records are retained for the life of the request plus a period necessary for operational, accounting, audit, quality, and dispute-resolution purposes; call recordings are retained for shorter periods consistent with our quality-assurance schedule; and attribution and analytics data is retained in aggregate form.

In deciding how long to keep personal information, we consider the nature and sensitivity of the information, the purposes for which we process it, applicable legal, tax, and accounting obligations, statutes of limitations, and the existence of actual or anticipated disputes. When retention is no longer necessary, we delete or de-identify the information.

How we protect personal information

We maintain administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information, including encryption of data in transit (TLS), role-based access controls under which Service Professionals can access only the requests assigned to them, least-privilege access for personnel, vendor due diligence and contractual safeguards, and logging and monitoring of administrative access.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a breach of security affecting your personal information occurs, we will notify you and the appropriate regulators as required by applicable law.

Children's privacy

The Platform is intended for adults arranging home services. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us personal information, contact legal@viochimney.com and we will delete it as required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

As noted above, we do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16 years of age.

Your state privacy rights

Depending on where you live, state privacy laws — including those of California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and Utah, and other states with comprehensive consumer privacy laws — give you some or all of the following rights, subject to legal conditions and exceptions.

Right to know and access. You may request confirmation of whether we process your personal information and access to it, including (in California) the categories of personal information collected, the categories of sources, the business purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties to whom personal information is disclosed — all of which are described in this Policy.

Right to portability. You may request a copy of personal information you provided to us in a portable and, where feasible, readily usable format.

Right to correct. You may request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.

Right to delete. You may request that we delete personal information we collected from you, subject to exceptions (for example, where retention is required to complete a transaction you requested, for security, or to comply with law).

Right to opt out. You may opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, of targeted advertising, and of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects. We do not use personal information for such profiling.

Right to limit sensitive personal information. California residents may limit certain uses of sensitive personal information. We do not collect sensitive personal information through the Platform except incidentally, and we do not use or disclose it to infer characteristics.

Right to non-discrimination. We will not deny you the Services, charge you different prices, or provide a different level of service because you exercised a privacy right.

California “Shine the Light.” California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents to request certain information about disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. We do not disclose personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes without your consent.

How to exercise your rights; verification and appeals

To exercise any privacy right, email legal@viochimney.com with the subject line “Privacy Rights Request,” and include your state of residence, the right you wish to exercise, and the name, email address, and phone number you used with the Platform. You may also use any other contact method listed on the Platform.

Verification. Before acting on a request, we must verify your identity to a degree of certainty appropriate to the request, typically by matching the information you provide against our records; we may request additional information solely for verification. You may designate an authorized agent to act for you where permitted by law; we will require proof of the agent's authority and may still require you to verify your identity directly.

Timing and appeals. We will respond within the time required by applicable law (generally 45 days, extendable once where permitted with notice to you). We do not charge a fee to process rights requests unless the law allows it for excessive or repetitive requests. If we decline all or part of your request, we will explain why; residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and certain other states may appeal a refusal by replying to our decision with the subject line “Privacy Appeal,” and, if the appeal is denied, may contact their state Attorney General.

Third-party websites and services

The Platform may link to websites and services we do not operate, including the websites of Service Professionals and third-party review platforms. This Policy does not apply to those third parties, and we are not responsible for their content or privacy practices. Review the privacy policies of any third-party site you visit.

Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, or legal requirements. When we do, we will revise the Last updated date above; if changes are material, we will provide more prominent notice on the Platform. Your continued use of the Platform after an update means the revised Policy applies to you going forward.

How to contact us

Questions, concerns, or requests about this Policy or our privacy practices may be directed to VIO CHIMNEY at legal@viochimney.com. Please include “Privacy” in the subject line so we can route your message quickly.