Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

LeadTorch (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the website lead-torch.com (the “Site”) and provides marketing services to home services businesses. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you visit our Site, submit a form, book a call, receive an email from us, or otherwise interact with us.

This policy also describes how we collect and use publicly available business information as part of our outreach process. If you received an email from us before visiting this Site, the section titled “Information We Collect from Public Sources” explains how we obtained your information and how to opt out.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following ways:

Information you provide directly

When you fill out a contact form, book a strategy call, or otherwise communicate with us, we may collect:

• Your name
• Your business name
• Your phone number
• Your email address
• Your city and state
• Your trade or industry
• Any additional information you choose to provide in form fields or during calls

Information collected automatically

When you visit our Site, we automatically collect certain technical information through cookies and similar technologies, including:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Pages visited and time spent on each page
• Referring website or source
• Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)
• Approximate geographic location (derived from IP address)

Information we collect from public sources

As part of our outreach process, we collect publicly available business information from sources including:

• Google Maps and Google Business Profiles
• Public business directories and listings
• Publicly accessible business websites
• Business data platforms such as Apollo.io

The types of business information we collect from these sources include:

• Business name
• Business owner or contact name (when publicly listed)
• Business email address (when publicly listed)
• Business phone number (when publicly listed)
• Business physical address
• Business website URL
• Industry or trade category
• Online review ratings and counts
• General assessment of the business's online presence (website quality, search visibility, social media activity)

We collect this information to evaluate whether a business may benefit from our services and, in some cases, to build a demonstration preview website showing how the business's online presence could be improved. This preview is created using publicly available information only and is used solely for demonstration purposes during outreach.

We do not collect personal (non-business) information from public sources. We do not collect information about consumers, employees, or individuals who are not business owners or designated business contacts.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To evaluate whether a business may benefit from our marketing services, based on publicly available information about their online presence
• To create demonstration preview websites showing how a business's online presence could be improved, using publicly available business information
• To contact business owners via email to share the preview we built for their business
• To respond to your inquiries and contact form submissions
• To schedule and conduct strategy calls
• To prepare materials related to your business for strategy calls
• To send you information about our services that you have requested
• To analyze Site traffic and usage patterns to improve our Site
• To monitor and prevent spam, fraud, and abuse
• To comply with legal obligations

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making or profiling.

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may collect or process your information:

Apollo.io

We use Apollo.io to access publicly available business contact information for outreach purposes. Apollo.io aggregates business data from public sources including business directories, company websites, and public filings. Apollo.io's use of your data is governed by their privacy policy: https://www.apollo.io/privacy

Instantly.ai

We use Instantly.ai to send outreach emails. When we contact you via email, your email address and interaction data (such as whether the email was opened) are processed through Instantly.ai. Instantly.ai's use of your data is governed by their privacy policy: https://instantly.ai/privacy

Calendly

We use Calendly to schedule strategy calls. When you book a call through our Site, Calendly collects your name, email address, and any information you provide during scheduling. Calendly's use of your data is governed by their privacy policy: https://calendly.com/privacy

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use our Site. Google Analytics collects information such as pages visited, time on site, traffic source, device type, and approximate location. This data is aggregated and does not personally identify you. Google's use of this data is governed by their privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

WordPress and SiteGround

Our Site is built on WordPress and hosted by SiteGround. SiteGround may collect server logs including IP addresses and access times as part of standard web hosting operations. SiteGround's privacy policy: https://www.siteground.com/privacy.htm

WP Mail SMTP / Email Provider

We use an email service to send form notification emails and auto-response emails. Your name and email address are processed through this service solely for the purpose of delivering these communications.

Wordfence

We use Wordfence for website security. Wordfence may collect IP addresses and login attempt data to protect our Site from unauthorized access. Wordfence's privacy policy: https://www.wordfence.com/privacy-policy/

5. Cookies

Our Site uses cookies and similar tracking technologies. Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website.

Cookies we use:

Managing cookies: You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of certain features on our Site, including the Calendly scheduling widget. Most browsers allow you to:

• View what cookies are stored and delete them individually
• Block third-party cookies
• Block all cookies
• Delete all cookies when you close your browser

6. Email Communications and CAN-SPAM Compliance

We comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. We send two types of email communications:

Outreach emails

We may send you an unsolicited email introducing our services and sharing a demonstration preview website we built for your business. These outreach emails are commercial messages sent to publicly available business email addresses. They are not based on any prior relationship or opt-in.

Transactional emails

If you submit a contact form or book a call, we may send you emails related to your inquiry. These transactional emails are necessary to fulfill your request and are not marketing communications.

Our CAN-SPAM commitments apply to all emails we send:

• We will not use false or misleading header information. Our “From” name and email address will accurately identify LeadTorch.
• We will not use deceptive subject lines. Subject lines will accurately reflect the content of the email.
• We will identify the message as an advertisement when applicable.
• We will include our physical mailing address in every commercial email.
• We will honor opt-out and unsubscribe requests within 10 business days.
• We will not require you to pay a fee, provide information beyond your email address, or take any steps other than sending a reply email or visiting a single web page to opt out.
• We will not email you again after you opt out. Your email address will be added to our permanent suppression list.

To opt out of email communications: Click the “unsubscribe” link included at the bottom of any email from us, reply to any email with “unsubscribe” or “stop,” or email us at the address listed in Section 10 with the subject line “Unsubscribe.” One request is all it takes. You will not hear from us again.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy:

• Prospecting data (public source business information): If you do not respond to our outreach or opt out, your business information is deleted within 90 days of our last outreach attempt. If you opt out, your email address is retained on our permanent suppression list to ensure we do not contact you again; all other information is deleted within 30 days.
• Demonstration preview websites: If you do not become a client, your preview website is taken offline and deleted within 90 days of our last outreach attempt. If you request removal at any time, the preview is taken offline and deleted within 7 days.
• Contact form submissions: Retained for up to 24 months after your last interaction with us, then deleted.
• Calendly booking data: Retained according to Calendly's data retention policies. We retain our own records of bookings for up to 24 months.
• Analytics data: Google Analytics data is retained for 14 months (the default GA4 retention period).
• Email communications: Retained for up to 24 months after your last interaction, then deleted.
• Server logs: Retained by SiteGround according to their standard retention policies, typically up to 12 months.

If you request deletion of your data (see Section 9), we will delete your personal information within 30 days, except where we are required by law to retain it.

8. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• SSL/TLS encryption on all pages of our Site
• Firewall protection via Wordfence
• Restricted access to personal information on a need-to-know basis
• Regular security monitoring and updates

However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information.

9. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Source disclosure: You may ask how we obtained your information. If we collected your business information from public sources, we will tell you which sources we used.
• Correction: You may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Deletion: You may request that we delete your personal information.
• Preview removal: If we built a demonstration preview website featuring your business, you may request that it be taken offline and deleted. We will comply within 7 days.
• Opt-out: You may opt out of marketing and outreach communications at any time. One request is sufficient — you will be added to our permanent suppression list.
• Portability: You may request a copy of your data in a commonly used, machine-readable format.

For California residents (CCPA): You have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion of your personal information, and opt out of the sale of your personal information. We do not sell personal information.

For residents of the European Economic Area (GDPR): If applicable, you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, object to processing, and data portability. Our legal basis for processing your information is: consent (when you submit a form or book a call), legitimate interest (for analytics, site improvement, and business-to-business outreach using publicly available business information), and contractual necessity (when you become a client). You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interest at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the information in Section 10.

10. Contact Information

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise your data rights, or need to make a data-related request, contact us at:

LeadTorch
Email: [privacy@lead-torch.com]
Mailing address: [Physical mailing address]

We will respond to all data requests within 30 days.

11. Children's Privacy

Our Site and services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 18, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

If we make material changes that significantly affect how we handle your personal information, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you (for example, by posting a notice on our Site).

13. Third-Party Links

Our Site may contain links to third-party websites or services that are not operated by us. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.