Privacy Policy

1. Overview

This Privacy Policy explains how StormAdvocate.org (“StormAdvocate,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, shares, sells, and protects information about identifiable individuals (“Personal Information”) through the StormAdvocate.org website and related services (collectively, the “Site”).

The Site is an informational resource center for homeowners and others affected by storm damage. It is operated in the United States and intended for use by adults located in the United States.

By accessing or using the Site, or by submitting Personal Information to us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, you must not use the Site.

2. Scope and Agreement

This Privacy Policy applies to:

• Personal Information collected directly from you via the Site (including forms, chat, and interactive tools);
• Personal Information you provide by phone, SMS/MMS, or email using the contact information we publish;
• Personal Information we receive from third parties, such as marketing partners, data providers, or Service Providers (defined below).

This Policy does not apply to how independent third-party service providers (such as attorneys, public adjusters, contractors, inspectors, engineers, or others) use your information once we have shared it with them. Their handling of your information is governed by their own privacy policies and agreements with you.

By using the Site, you consent to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.

3. What Is Personal Information?

“Personal Information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, or can reasonably be associated with a particular individual or household.

Depending on how you use the Site, we may collect Personal Information such as your name, contact details, property-related details, information about storm damage or insurance claims, and your interactions with the Site and our communications.

4. Personal Information We Collect

The categories of Personal Information we may collect include:

1. Identifiers and Contact Information
   • Name;
   • Email address;
   • Telephone number(s), including mobile numbers;
   • City, state, and general location;
   • IP address and other online identifiers.
2. Property and Storm-Damage Information
   • Property type and characteristics;
   • Approximate property location;
   • Storm type (e.g., hail, wind, hurricane);
   • Dates or approximate dates of storms or events;
   • High-level information about damage, claims, repairs, denials, or disputes with insurers.
3. Communications and Interaction Information
   • The content of messages you send via forms, chatbots, SMS, email, or phone;
   • Call logs and, where permitted by law and with appropriate notice, call recordings;
   • SMS/MMS message content, including your replies (e.g., STOP, HELP);
   • Notes our team may create summarizing interactions.
4. Technical and Usage Information
   • Device type and operating system;
   • Browser type and settings;
   • Pages viewed, time on page, and clickstream data;
   • Referring URLs, advertising or campaign identifiers;
   • Cookies, pixels, tags, and similar tracking technologies.
5. Inferences and Profiles
   • Inferences drawn from the information above about your interests, potential eligibility for certain services, or likelihood of needing specific types of assistance;
   • Preferred communication channels and general engagement patterns.
6. Potentially Sensitive Information
   • In some cases, you may choose to provide details that could be considered sensitive under certain state laws, such as:
     • Information about injuries, health concerns related to storm conditions (e.g., mold, structural safety);
     • Financial stress or hardship connected to storm damage or insurance disputes.
   • We do not intentionally seek detailed medical records or financial account information, but you may choose to share such information in your own words.

5. How We Collect Personal Information

We collect Personal Information in several ways:

1. Directly from You
   • When you fill out forms on the Site;
   • When you communicate with us via email, phone, or text;
   • When you use our chat or conversational AI features;
   • When you respond to any surveys or feedback requests.
2. Automatically Through the Site
   • Using cookies and similar technologies to track usage and improve the Site;
   • Logging technical information about your device, browser, and interactions.
3. From Third Parties
   • Marketing, advertising, or lead-generation partners;
   • Data providers who help us verify or enrich information (e.g., matching a property address to public records);
   • Service Providers who may inform us if they were able to contact you, if you engaged their services, or if certain eligibility criteria were met.

Where required by law, we will provide appropriate notices and obtain any consent needed before collecting or using Personal Information in specific ways.

6. How We Use Personal Information

We may use Personal Information for the following purposes:

1. Operating and Improving the Site
   • Operating, maintaining, and improving the Site and its features;
   • Personalizing Content and user experience;
   • Debugging, troubleshooting, and protecting the Site from abuse.
2. Responding to Your Requests
   • Reviewing information you submit;
   • Responding to your questions, resource requests, or requests for contact;
   • Providing storm-damage and insurance-related informational resources.
3. Matching and Referrals
   • Evaluating your information to determine whether you may be a good fit for certain third-party service providers such as attorneys, public adjusters, inspectors, contractors, engineers, or other professionals (collectively, “Service Providers”);
   • Sharing your information with one or more Service Providers who may contact you to discuss services or evaluations related to storm damage, insurance claims, inspections, or repairs.
4. Communications and Marketing
   • Sending you emails, calls, and texts related to storm-damage resources, updates, or information relevant to your inquiry;
   • Sending you marketing or promotional communications, where permitted by law and where you have provided any necessary consent;
   • Using automated technologies, including autodialers, prerecorded or artificial voices, conversational AI, SMS/MMS, and automated email systems to contact you where legally permitted and consented.
5. Analytics and Advertising
   • Analyzing how users interact with the Site to improve content, usability, and performance;
   • Measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns;
   • Working with advertising and analytics partners to show or measure ads, including interest-based or targeted advertising.
6. Compliance, Safety, and Legal
   • Complying with legal obligations and responding to lawful requests (for example, subpoenas, court orders, or law enforcement requests);
   • Protecting our rights, property, and the safety of our users or others;
   • Detecting, investigating, and preventing fraud, abuse, or security incidents.
7. Business Operations
   • Maintaining business records and managing internal reporting;
   • Evaluating or conducting a potential sale, merger, restructuring, or similar corporate transaction;
   • Any other purpose disclosed to you at the time of collection or with your consent.

7. How We Share and “Sell” Personal Information

7.1 Sharing Personal Information

We may share Personal Information with:

1. Service Providers and Professional Partners
   • Attorneys and law firms;
   • Public adjusters and insurance-claim professionals;
   • Property inspectors, contractors, remediation and repair companies;
   • Other professionals who may be able to assist with storm damage, claims, or property-related issues.
2. Vendors and Operational Service Providers
   • Website hosting providers and infrastructure vendors;
   • Analytics and advertising platforms;
   • Email, SMS, call, and marketing automation providers;
   • Customer support and call-center providers;
   • IT, security, and other operational vendors that help us run the Site and our business.
3. Affiliates and Business Partners
   • Companies under common ownership or control;
   • Business partners involved in jointly developed or marketed services.
4. Legal and Compliance
   • When required by law, regulation, or legal process;
   • In response to lawful requests from public authorities;
   • To protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you, or others.
5. Business Transfers
   • In connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, financing, restructuring, bankruptcy, or similar event, Personal Information may be transferred as part of the transaction.

7.2 “Selling” and “Sharing” Personal Information

Some U.S. state privacy laws define “sell” or “share” Personal Information broadly to include disclosing it to third parties in exchange for money or other valuable consideration, or for certain types of targeted advertising.

Consistent with those definitions, we may be deemed to “sell” or “share” Personal Information when we:

• Provide or transfer your information to Service Providers (such as attorneys, public adjusters, or contractors) who may contact you about their services and from whom we may receive fees, referral payments, or other compensation;
• Provide or make available certain identifiers and usage data to advertising, analytics, or lead-generation partners to measure or improve campaigns or to display targeted ads.

The categories of Personal Information that we may sell or share include:

• Identifiers and contact information (for example, name, address, phone number, email, IP address);
• Property and storm-damage information;
• Internet or other electronic network activity information (for example, browsing or interaction data);
• Limited inferences drawn from the above.

You may have the right in some states to opt out of such “selling” or “sharing” (see Section 11 below).

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We, and third parties acting on our behalf, may use cookies, web beacons, pixels, tags, scripts, and similar technologies (“Cookies”) to:

• Recognize you when you return to the Site;
• Store your preferences and settings;
• Analyze Site usage and performance;
• Deliver or measure advertising and marketing campaigns.

You can typically configure your browser to reject or disable cookies, but doing so may impact certain Site features. Some third-party analytics and advertising providers offer their own mechanisms to opt out of tracking or targeted ads.

Interest-Based Advertising and Third-Party Opt-Outs

We may partner with third-party advertising and analytics companies that collect information about your use of the Site over time and across other websites and applications to serve you interest-based or targeted advertisements. To learn more or opt out of certain online behavioral advertising, you can visit:

• Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA):
  • General opt-out: http://optout.aboutads.info/
  • Mobile “AppChoices”: https://youradchoices.com/appchoices
• Network Advertising Initiative (NAI):
  • http://optout.networkadvertising.org/

(These tools are provided by third parties; we do not control them and cannot guarantee their effectiveness.)

Other Tracking Technologies

We may also use tools that help us understand how users interact with the Site—such as session replays, heatmaps, and scroll tracking—to improve user experience and identify issues. These tools may collect information such as clicks, movements, and basic technical details, but are not intended to capture sensitive fields like payment data (which we currently do not collect through the Site).

9. Data Retention

We retain Personal Information for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• Fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy;
• Comply with legal, regulatory, or contractual requirements;
• Maintain business records, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

When Personal Information is no longer needed for these purposes, we will take reasonable steps to de-identify or securely delete it, consistent with applicable law and our internal policies.

10. Data Security

We implement reasonable physical, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect Personal Information against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, or access.

These measures may include:

• Limiting access to Personal Information to personnel who need it to perform their job duties;
• Using technical safeguards such as encryption in transit (for example, HTTPS/SSL) and other security controls;
• Periodically reviewing and updating our security practices.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You use the Site and provide Personal Information at your own risk.

Please note that email transmissions over the Internet may not be encrypted. You should not include sensitive information in unencrypted email messages you send to us.

11. Your Privacy Choices and Rights

Depending on where you reside and applicable law, you may have some or all of the rights described below in connection with your Personal Information:

1. Access / Request to Know
   • Request confirmation as to whether we process your Personal Information;
   • Request access to and a copy of the Personal Information we hold about you, in a reasonably portable format where required by law.
2. Request to Delete
   • Request deletion of your Personal Information, subject to legal exceptions (for example, where we must keep certain data to comply with law or protect our rights).
3. Request to Correct
   • Request correction of inaccurate Personal Information we hold about you.
4. Request to Opt Out of “Sale” or “Sharing” and Targeted Advertising
   • Request that we do not sell or share your Personal Information with third parties for certain purposes, including some forms of targeted advertising.
5. Limit Certain Uses of Sensitive Personal Information (where applicable)
   • In some states, request that we limit the use or disclosure of certain “sensitive” categories of Personal Information.

To exercise any of these rights, you may contact us at:

• Email: Info@StormAdvocate.org
• Phone: +1 844-784-0123

We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request, which may require you to provide certain information. You may also designate an authorized agent to submit some requests on your behalf, where allowed by law, subject to verification requirements.

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights, consistent with applicable law.

12. Marketing Communications and TCPA Consent

You can control certain communications as follows:

• Email marketing:
  • Click the “unsubscribe” link in any marketing email or contact us at Info@StormAdvocate.org.
• Text messages (SMS/MMS):
  • Reply “STOP” to opt out of marketing texts from us, or contact us at Info@StormAdvocate.org or +1 844-784-0123.
• Phone calls:
  • Inform our representative during a call that you do not wish to receive future marketing calls, or contact us as above.

Even if you opt out of marketing communications, we may still send non-marketing messages as permitted by law (for example, responses to your inquiries, transactional messages related to your existing requests, or important notices about changes to our Terms or this Privacy Policy).

For more detail on telemarketing and automated communications, please also review our Terms of Use.

13. Children’s Privacy

The Site is intended for adults and is not directed to children under 18 years of age.

We do not knowingly collect Personal Information online from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Information from a child under 13 in violation of applicable law, we will take reasonable steps to delete that information as soon as practicable.

If you believe we may have collected information from a child inappropriately, please contact us at Info@StormAdvocate.org or +1 844-784-0123.

If you are between 13 and 18 years old, you should use the Site only with the involvement of a parent or guardian.

14. International Users

The Site is intended for users located in the United States. If you access the Site from outside the United States, you understand that your Personal Information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States and other countries, which may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

By using the Site, you consent to these transfers and processing.

15. Links to Other Sites

The Site may contain links to third-party websites that are not owned or controlled by StormAdvocate.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Site and to read the privacy policies of each and every website that collects Personal Information.

This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected by StormAdvocate through the Site and related channels described in this Policy.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Effective Date” at the top of this page.

If we make material changes in how we collect, use, or share your Personal Information, we may also provide additional notice, such as by posting a prominent notice on the Site or, when appropriate, sending an email to an address we have on file.

Your continued use of the Site after any changes become effective means you accept the updated Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the changes, you should stop using the Site.

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

• Email: Info@StormAdvocate.org
• Phone: +1 844-784-0123