Privacy Policy

Introduction

Scott’s Services (the “Site”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and share personal information when you visit ScottsServicesAL.com or use our services. It also describes your rights regarding your personal data and how you can contact us about privacy concerns. By using our Site, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

What Personal Data We Collect and Why

We collect different types of information from visitors and users for various purposes, as detailed below:

• Comments: When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form (such as name, email address, and the comment itself), and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized hash of your email address may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you have an avatar associated with it; the Gravatar service’s privacy policy is available on Automattic’s website. After your comment is approved, your profile picture (if you have one through Gravatar) becomes visible to the public alongside your comment.
• Media: If you upload images to the Site (for example, via a comment, contact form, or within a customer portal/gallery), you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS coordinates). Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the site. In other words, any personal location information in your uploaded photos could be accessed by others, so please use caution when uploading images.
• Contact and Quote Forms: When you contact us through our Elementor-powered contact or quote request forms, we collect the personal information you provide. This may include your name, email address, phone number, and the details of your project or inquiry – for example, the description of the work you need, your preferences, and any photos or documents you choose to upload. We collect this information so that we can respond to your request, provide a quote or consultation, and communicate with you about your project. Information submitted through these forms is sent to us via email (and may be stored in our website’s database) so our team can follow up with you. We do not use information you submit in contact or quote forms for marketing purposes unless you have explicitly consented to such use.
• Customer Portal & Project Gallery (Optional): If you choose to register for our customer portal or project gallery to view project status updates, we will collect information to create and manage your account. This includes your name, email address, and a username/password. Within the portal, you may also upload content such as images or comments related to your project. We collect and use this data to personalize your experience, allow you to view and track progress on your projects, and facilitate communication between you and our team. Content you upload in the portal (e.g. project photos or updates) is private to you and our authorized staff. Please refrain from uploading sensitive personal information that is not necessary for the project. The portal is optional – if you do not create an account, this data will not be collected.
• Newsletter Subscription: If you sign up to receive our newsletter or updates, we collect your email address (and possibly your name, if provided) in order to send you the newsletter. We use a third-party email service (such as Mailchimp or MailPoet) to manage our email list and distribute our newsletter. This means your email address (and any other information you provided for the newsletter) will be stored on that service’s platform for the purpose of email delivery. We collect this information only with your consent (when you subscribe) and use it to send you periodic updates or marketing emails about Scott’s Services. You can opt out of these emails at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in the footer of our emails or by contacting us, and you will not receive further newsletters from us. (Please note that our newsletter service provider may employ cookies or tracking pixels in the emails to track open rates or link clicks; this is common to improve the content of our newsletters, but you can disable images in your email if you wish to avoid this tracking.)
• Cookies: Our website uses cookies (small text files stored on your device) for various essential functions and to enhance your experience.
  • Comment Cookies: If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies on your device. This is for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These commenter cookies will last for one year.
  • Login Cookies: If our site offers login functionality (for example, for the customer portal), and you visit the login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This temporary cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser. When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and screen display preferences. Login cookies typically last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me” at login, your login will persist for about two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed from your browser.
  • Publication Cookies: If you have the ability to edit or publish content on the site (for example, if you are a contributing author or admin on our WordPress site), an additional cookie will be saved in your browser when you publish or update an article. This cookie includes no personal data; it simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited and it expires after 1 day. (This cookie would not apply to most visitors, only to site editors.)
    These cookies are strictly functional, and we do not use cookies for third-party analytics or advertising without consent. Besides these, we may also use cookies to remember your preferences (for instance, if you dismiss a notification or accept our cookie banner, so you won’t see it repeatedly).
• Embedded Content from Other Websites: Pages on this site may include embedded content (for example, videos, images, maps, or articles hosted on other sites). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if you visited the other website directly. For example, we might embed a YouTube video or a Google Map on one of our pages. These external sites may collect data about you through the embedded content, use their own cookies, or embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that content. If you are logged in to those external services (such as YouTube, Facebook, etc.), they may track your interaction with the embedded content (for instance, YouTube could record that you watched a video on our page while logged into your Google account). We do not control the data collected by embedded third-party providers, and it is subject to the privacy policy of the respective provider.
• Social Media Integrations: Our Site may include features that integrate with social media platforms, such as Facebook or Nextdoor. This could include “Like”/“Share” buttons, or links to our profiles/pages on those platforms. If you interact with these features (for example, by clicking a Facebook share button or visiting our Nextdoor link), those platforms may collect certain information from you. This can include your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and possibly set cookies to enable the feature to function properly. If you are logged into that social media account, the platform might associate your interaction with your profile. For example, clicking a Facebook “Like” button may post content to your Facebook profile, and Facebook could record that action. Similarly, if you arrive at our Site via a social media referral or advertisement, those platforms might track that you visited us. Any data collected by these third-party social platforms is processed under their own privacy policies, not ours. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of Facebook, Nextdoor, and any other social platforms you use to understand how they handle your information.
• Spam Detection and Security Plugins: We use tools and plugins to protect our website from spam and malicious activity. For instance, if you leave a comment or fill out a form on our Site, your submission may be automatically scanned by an anti-spam service (such as Akismet) to filter out spam content. This means that certain information (like your IP address, comment content, and provided name/email) might be sent to the spam detection service’s servers and analyzed for spam characteristics. This process helps keep our Site safe and running smoothly. Similarly, we may use security plugins that monitor login attempts or user actions to prevent unauthorized access, which could involve logging IP addresses or device information for security audit purposes. These measures are in place to protect both you and us from fraud and abuse.

How We Use Your Information

We use the collected personal data for the following purposes:

• To Provide Services and Respond to Inquiries: We process your information to respond to your requests – for example, if you ask for a quote or submit a question, we use your provided details to communicate with you and provide the information or services you requested. This includes using contact information to get in touch and any project details to prepare an accurate quote or plan.
• To Manage Customer Accounts and Projects: If you create a customer portal account or engage our services, we use your data to set up and maintain your account, authenticate you upon login, and enable you to view project updates or galleries. We also use your submitted project information (including images and status updates) to coordinate and document the progress of your project.
• To Send Newsletters and Updates: With your consent, we use your email address to send you our newsletter or marketing communications that you have signed up for. We may occasionally send announcements about new services, special offers, or other updates. (You can opt out at any time, as noted above.)
• To Improve Our Website and Services: We may use aggregated and anonymized information about how users interact with our Site to improve the user experience and our offerings. For example, we might review how many people use a particular form or page to make sure it’s functioning properly. If we use analytics tools (such as Google Analytics), we would use the data to understand website traffic and page usage. (If any analytics cookies are in use, they would be disclosed in our Cookies section above – as of now, we primarily use cookies for essential functionality.)
• To Maintain Security and Prevent Fraud: We use data (like IP addresses, browser info, and usage logs) to protect the security of our Site, our users, and our business. This includes detecting and blocking spam or malicious comments (via spam detection services), preventing unauthorized access (monitoring login attempts), and protecting against other security threats. If necessary, we may also use information to investigate and mitigate fraudulent or illegal activities on the Site.
• To Comply with Legal Obligations: In certain cases, we may need to use or retain your information to comply with laws and regulations – for example, maintaining transaction records for tax purposes, or responding to lawful requests by public authorities.

We will not use your personal data for any purposes other than those described above without first obtaining your consent, unless otherwise required or permitted by law.

Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. However, we do share your data with certain third parties in order to operate our website and provide our services, as described here:

• Service Providers and Partners: We may share information with third-party vendors and service providers who help us run our website and business. This includes, for example, our web hosting provider (who inevitably processes all data on our site on its servers), email service providers (who facilitate sending of emails or newsletters), IT support services, or analytics providers. These third parties are given access only to the information necessary to perform their specific services, and they are required to handle your data securely and confidentially. For instance, if our site is hosted by a third-party hosting company, any data you submit to the site will be stored on their servers; similarly, if we use a form plugin that stores submissions in the cloud, those submissions are processed by that plugin’s services. All such providers are expected to have their own privacy safeguards.
• Email Newsletter Service: If you subscribe to our newsletter, your email (and name, if provided) will be shared with the third-party email platform we use (e.g., Mailchimp or MailPoet) so that we can send you emails. That provider will store your information on our behalf and help us manage the mailing list. They are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes beyond providing the mailing service. (Please refer to the email service’s own privacy policy for details on how they handle subscriber data.)
• Payment Processing: [Note: If your site processes payments or invoices online, include details. If not, you can omit this bullet.] If you make a payment through our site (for example, paying an invoice or deposit online), your payment details will be processed by a secure third-party payment processor (such as PayPal or Stripe). We do not store your full credit card information on our servers. The payment processor will handle your financial information in accordance with their privacy policy.
• Spam Detection Service: As noted, visitor comments or messages may be run through an automated spam detection service. For example, we use the Akismet service (provided by Automattic) for comment spam filtering – this means that when you leave a comment, information like your name, email, IP address, and comment text may be sent to Automattic’s servers to check if it’s spam. Automattic will process that information in line with their privacy policy to provide the spam protection service.
• User Password Resets: If you have an account on our Site and request a password reset, the reset email will include your IP address. (This is a built-in security feature of our system to help account owners recognize if a password reset request is legitimate.) In such a case, your IP address is essentially shared with the recipient of the reset email (which is typically your own email, but keep in mind if you use a work email, your employer might have access to that email). This IP-inclusion is only used for security and fraud prevention.
• Legal and Safety Disclosures: We may disclose personal information if we believe in good faith that such action is necessary to (a) comply with a legal obligation, subpoena, or request from governmental authorities; (b) protect and defend our rights or property, or the safety of our clients and others; (c) investigate and address violations of our Terms of Service or other agreements; or (d) prevent illegal activity, fraud, or misuse of our Site. This kind of sharing would occur only in strictly necessary circumstances.
• Business Transfers: In the unlikely event that Scott’s Services is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, or if we decide to reorganize our business, user information (including personal data) could be transferred to the new owners or partners involved in the transaction. If that happens, we will ensure that your data remains subject to confidentiality commitments and will notify you (for example, via a notice on our Site) of any change in data handling.
• With Your Consent: Other than the cases above, we will share your personal data with third parties only if you give us explicit permission to do so. For example, if you ask us to refer you to a third-party partner or if you agree to let us share your testimonial on our site or social media (in which case we might post your name or photo with your consent).

Again, we do not sell or rent your personal information to marketers or unrelated third parties. Any third parties we engage are solely to support our service delivery to you.

Data Retention: How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Different types of data may be kept for different lengths of time:

• Comments: If you leave a comment on our site, the comment and its metadata are stored indefinitely. We keep comments long-term so that we can recognize and approve follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them for moderation, and to maintain the historical record of conversations on our site.
• User Accounts (Customer Portal): For users who register on our website (such as for a customer portal or gallery), we store the personal information provided in their user profile indefinitely, until you delete your account or ask us to delete it. All users with accounts can log in and see, edit, or delete their own personal information at any time (except usernames, which may be fixed). Website administrators can also see and edit that information. If you wish to deactivate your portal account, you can do so through the account settings if available or by contacting us to request deletion.
• Contact/Quote Submissions: Information you submit through contact or quote request forms will be retained for a period that allows us to effectively respond and follow up on your request. We generally keep contact form entries for approximately 6 to 12 months. If you become a client or engage our services as a result of your inquiry, we may retain your information as part of our customer records (e.g., within project files or email correspondence) for the duration of our business relationship and for a reasonable period thereafter. If you do not become a customer, we will typically delete or anonymize your inquiry information after it is no longer needed (usually within a year).
• Project Gallery Data: If you use the customer project gallery/portal, any content (including images and updates) related to your projects will be retained as long as your account remains active and as long as the project is ongoing. We may archive project data once a project is completed. If you remove an image or update from the portal or request its deletion, we will make sure it is no longer visible in the portal; however, some data might persist in backups for a short period (see below on backups).
• Newsletter Subscription: We retain your email address and subscription preferences for as long as you remain subscribed to our newsletter. If you unsubscribe or opt-out, we may keep your email on a “do not contact” list (suppression list) to ensure we honor your opt-out request in the future, or we may delete it entirely from our active mailing list. In any case, if you unsubscribe, you will no longer receive communications from us via that newsletter.
• Cookies: Cookies set on your device have their own retention durations as described in the Cookies section. For example, comment cookies last one year, login cookies last two days (or two weeks if “Remember Me” is used), etc. These are automatically managed by your browser. You can clear cookies at any time via your browser settings, which will remove those stored on your device.
• Server Logs and Security Records: Our web server may automatically log certain information (such as IP addresses, access times, and pages visited). These server logs, as well as security logs from plugins (if any), are generally retained for a short period (typically a few weeks to a few months) for the purposes of monitoring and ensuring the performance and security of the Site. Unless required for investigation of security incidents, these logs are periodically rotated and old entries are deleted.
• Legal Record Keeping: We may keep certain information for longer periods if necessary to comply with legal obligations or for legitimate business purposes. For instance, records of transactions, invoices, or communications might be retained for several years as required by tax law or for dispute resolution. If any data is subject to a legal hold (e.g., relating to an ongoing dispute), we will retain it until the hold is lifted.

After the applicable retention period, or upon your request (where applicable), we will either delete your personal data or anonymize it (so it can no longer be associated with you), unless we are required to keep it longer by law. Please note that due to technical constraints, residual copies might remain in our backup systems for a short time, but if so, they will be protected and eventually overwritten or deleted in the normal backup cycle.

Your Rights Regarding Your Data

You have certain rights concerning your personal data that we hold. These rights may vary depending on your location and the applicable data protection laws, but we strive to honor the following general rights for all users:

• Access and Portability: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. If you have an account on our Site or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. This is often called a data subject access request. We will provide this information in a common format (e.g., CSV or PDF).
• Correction (Rectification): If any of your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to correct it. For example, if you have a user account, you can update most information directly in your profile settings. Otherwise, contact us and we will update our records.
• Deletion (Right to be Forgotten): You have the right to request that we erase the personal data we hold about you. If you have an account or have left comments, you can ask us to delete your data from our systems. We will honor such requests to the extent required by law. Please note that this right is not absolute – we cannot delete information that we are required to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes. For example, we might need to retain records of transactions or certain communications to comply with laws or legitimate business needs. If that’s the case, we will let you know.
• Withdrawal of Consent: If we are processing your personal data based on your consent (for example, sending newsletters or marketing emails), you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. The easiest way to do so for newsletters is to click the “unsubscribe” link in any email, or you can contact us directly to be removed from our mailing list. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal.
• Objection to Processing: You may have the right to object to certain processing of your data, such as for direct marketing purposes or when we conduct processing based on legitimate interests. In such cases, we will stop processing the data for that purpose upon your request, unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue (in accordance with applicable law).
• Data Portability: In certain circumstances, you can request to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and have the right to transmit that data to another controller. This typically applies to data processed by automated means with your consent or in the performance of a contract. If applicable, we will provide the data in a portable format or transmit it directly if technically feasible.
• Non-Discrimination: If you choose to exercise any of your rights, we will not treat you differently or deny you service as a result. For example, if you opt out of marketing emails, we will still provide our core services to you if you are a customer.
• Additional Rights for EEA/UK/Certain Regions: If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with comprehensive data protection laws, you may have additional rights under those laws (such as the right to restrict processing of your data or to lodge a complaint with a Data Protection Authority). We extend the core rights listed above to all users, but will also accommodate any additional legal rights as applicable. For instance, EEA/UK users have the right to lodge a complaint with their supervisory authority if they believe their data has been handled improperly.

To exercise any of your rights, please contact us (see the Contact Us section below). For security, we may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests (for example, by asking you to confirm some information we already have on file, or to log in to your account). We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable law (typically within 30 days). There is no fee for making a request, unless it is excessive or repetitive, in which case we will inform you of any cost before proceeding.

How We Protect Your Data

We take the security of your personal information seriously. Scott’s Services implements reasonable technical and organizational measures to safeguard your data from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption: Our website is secured via SSL/TLS encryption (HTTPS). This means that any data you transmit to us through forms (such as contact or login forms) is encrypted in transit, making it much harder for anyone to intercept or read.
• Access Controls: Personal data is accessible only to those who need it. For example, customer portal information and form submissions are accessible to our team members who require that information to perform their duties (such as preparing your quote or managing your project). We protect administrative access to the website and backend with strong passwords and, where possible, two-factor authentication.
• Secure Hosting: Our site is hosted with reputable hosting providers that employ their own robust security measures (firewalls, monitoring, etc.). We keep our website software (including WordPress and plugins like Elementor) up-to-date to patch security vulnerabilities.
• Limited Data Collection: We only collect data that we actually need to provide our services to you. By minimizing what we store, we reduce the risk associated with any potential data incident.
• Monitoring and Auditing: We utilize security plugins and monitoring tools to alert us of any suspicious activities (like multiple failed logins or strange comment activity) so we can respond promptly. In the unlikely event of a data breach, we have a procedure in place to contain the breach and inform affected users and authorities as required by law.

Despite our efforts, no website or internet transmission is completely secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee absolute security of your information. However, we continually review and enhance our security practices to protect your privacy. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure (for example, if you suspect that your account has been compromised), please contact us immediately so we can assist.

Third-Party Websites and Links

Our Site may contain links to external websites or services that are not operated by us. For example, we might link to our social media pages (like Facebook or Nextdoor) or reference other resources. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third-party’s site. Please note that we have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites or services. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of every site you visit. This Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected by Scott’s Services on our own Site.

Children’s Privacy

Our services and website are not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13 years of age. If you are under 13, please do not submit any personal information through our Site or service. In the event we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 13 without proper consent, we will take steps to delete that information as soon as possible. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe your child may have provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we can promptly investigate and address the issue. (For teens between 13 and 18: if you use our Site, please do so only with the involvement of a parent or guardian.)

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update or revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. When we make changes, we will post the updated policy on this page and update the “Last Updated” date at the bottom of this policy. If the changes are significant, we may also provide a more prominent notice (such as adding a notice on our homepage or emailing subscribers, if appropriate). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information. Your continued use of the Site after any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes acceptance of those changes.

Last Updated: May 20, 2025

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us. We take privacy inquiries seriously and will respond as promptly as possible.

Contact Information for Privacy Inquiries:
Email: contact@scottsservices.com
Phone: [XXX-XXX-XXXX]

We value your privacy and trust. If you have any concerns about your data or this policy, don’t hesitate to reach out so we can assist you.