Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Stello (“we,” “us,” “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects information when you use our service. Stello is operated from the United States. For any questions about this policy, contact support@usestello.com.

This policy applies to two groups of people:

• Account holders: small business owners who sign up for a Stello account and use the service to request reviews from their customers.
• Recipients: the customers of an account holder, who receive an SMS asking about their experience and may visit a Stello feedback page to leave a rating or comment.

1. Information We Collect

From account holders

• Account information: Email address, name (if provided), and authentication credentials (managed by Supabase). If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from Google.
• Business profile: Business name, service type, and Google review URL.
• Billing information: If you upgrade to Pro, your payment information is collected and processed directly by Stripe. We receive only the last four digits of your card, your billing email, and your Stripe customer ID.
• Usage data: Information about how you use the service, including review requests sent, plan limit usage, and basic error logs.

From recipients

• Contact details provided by the account holder: Name, phone number, and (optionally) email address.
• Service information provided by the account holder: A short description of the service performed.
• Sentiment rating: If you visit a feedback page and tap a rating, we record your selection (positive, neutral, or negative).
• Feedback text: If you submit private feedback through a Stello feedback page, we record the text you wrote.

IP address and browser user agent at consent capture: when an account holder captures a customer's consent to receive SMS, we record the account holder's IP address and browser user agent alongside a copy of the disclosure text they read and the version of that disclosure. This is a legal-compliance audit record under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 CFR §64.1200) and is not used for tracking, analytics, or profiling. We do not collect device fingerprints, precise geolocation, or browsing history.

Phone-number hashes in server logs: to correlate STOP and HELP events across the businesses that share our sending number, we log a one-way SHA-256 hash of the recipient phone number in our server logs. The raw phone number is never written to logs.

Device push tokens: if an account holder installs the Stello mobile app and grants notification permissions, we store an opaque device push token (issued by Apple Push Notification service or Firebase Cloud Messaging) so we can notify them when a customer rates a review request. The token is not personally identifying and is deleted when the account holder uninstalls the app or revokes notification permission.

2. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the service.
• Generate personalized SMS message text using OpenAI's API (see Sub-Processors below). Stello does not generate or pre-draft customer review text — every review posted to Google is written by the customer in their own words.
• Send the SMS via Twilio.
• Process payments and manage subscriptions via Stripe.
• Send transactional emails such as login links and billing receipts.
• Respond to support requests.
• Detect, investigate, and prevent abuse, fraud, or violations of our Terms.
• Comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell personal information. We do not use your data or your customers' data to train AI models. We do not run third-party advertising or behavioral tracking on Stello.

3. Sub-Processors

Stello uses the following sub-processors to operate the service. Each is bound by their own privacy commitments and (where applicable) data processing agreements with us. OpenAI's API does not use submitted data to train models.

If you sign in with Google, Google acts as an identity provider for that authentication step only; no customer data is shared with Google.

4. Data Retention

• Account information: retained while your account is active. We delete account records on your written request to support@usestello.com; otherwise records are retained for up to seven (7) years for legal and tax reasons.
• Customer Data (review requests, sentiment, feedback text): retained while your account is active and deleted on your written request.
• SMS consent audit records (PEWC captures, STOP and HELP events, disclosure versions): retained for at least four (4) years from the date of capture. This is the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act statute of limitations (28 U.S.C. §1658). These records are the legal evidence of a consumer's consent and cannot be deleted on request.
• Billing records: retained by Stripe and by us for up to seven (7) years for tax and accounting purposes.
• Error logs: retained by Sentry for approximately thirty (30) days.

5. How We Share Information

We share information only as described in this policy:

• With sub-processors as listed in Section 3, only as needed to operate the service.
• With your account holder if you are a recipient. Sentiment ratings and feedback you submit through a Stello feedback page are visible to the account holder who sent you the request, so they can act on your feedback.
• To comply with the law when required by valid legal process, court order, or government request.
• To protect rights and safety if necessary to enforce our Terms, prevent fraud, or protect the safety of users.
• In a business transfer: if Stello is acquired, merged, or sold, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will provide notice if this happens.

6. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: you can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: you can correct inaccurate information, either through your account settings or by contacting us.
• Deletion: you can request deletion of your personal information. We will honor your request unless we are required to retain it for legal or accounting reasons.
• Portability: you can request a machine-readable export of your data.
• Objection: you can object to certain uses of your information.
• Withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@usestello.com. We will respond within thirty (30) days.

Residents of California (CCPA), Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Utah (UCPA), and the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland (GDPR) have additional rights under their respective laws. You can exercise those rights by contacting us at the same email address.

7. Security

We protect your information with industry-standard security practices, including encryption in transit (HTTPS) and at rest, role-based access controls, and database row-level security. No system is perfectly secure; if you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately at support@usestello.com.

8. International Data Transfers

Stello is operated from the United States. If you access the service from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States. By using the service, you consent to this transfer.

9. Children's Privacy

Stello is not intended for use by children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at support@usestello.com and we will delete it.

10. Cookies

Stello uses only essential cookies required for authentication (session cookies set by Supabase) and basic security. We do not use cookies for advertising, analytics, or cross-site tracking.

11. HIPAA and Protected Health Information

Stello is not a HIPAA Business Associate and does not support the processing of Protected Health Information (PHI). If you are a HIPAA Covered Entity (for example, a dental practice, medical office, mental health provider, chiropractor, or other healthcare provider), you may use Stello only if the information you submit (customer names, phone numbers, and service descriptions) does not, individually or in combination, constitute PHI under 45 CFR §160.103. We have not signed a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with any customer. Submitting PHI to Stello without a BAA would place a Covered Entity in breach of HIPAA and is prohibited under our Terms of Service.

If you are a healthcare provider and need a HIPAA-ready review tool, contact us at support@usestello.com before signing up so we can discuss whether a future enterprise tier with executed BAAs would meet your needs.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or by posting a notice in the service. Your continued use of the service after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact

Questions about this policy or how we handle your information? Email us at support@usestello.com.