HullGrade — Privacy Policy

HullGrade LLC | Version 2026-08-17 | Effective August 17, 2026

This policy explains what information HullGrade LLC ("we," "us," "HullGrade") collects when you use our website, applications, and related services (the "Services"), how we use and share it, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to Account Owners, Invited Users, Submitters using an upload portal, prospective buyers using listing pages, and visitors. Our Terms of Service govern your use of the Services.

1. Information We Collect

Account information — name, email address, password (stored hashed), and, for paid plans, billing details handled by our payment processor.
Vessel information — vessel name, hull identification number, type, year, make, model, engine and generator details and hour readings, location (city/state), photos, and specifications.
Documents and content you provide — invoices, receipts, owner's manuals, spec sheets, photos, and other files you upload (in their original form, including any personal information they contain); maintenance records, tasks, schedules, and checklists; equipment and systems data; vendor and service-provider contact details you add; and listing content you publish.
AI assistant conversations — the messages and files you exchange with our assistants, and the questions prospective buyers ask on public listings. Assistant conversations may be retained briefly and deleted on a schedule unless you choose to save them.
Activity logs — a log of actions taken in an account (for example, records created or edited), visible to other users who share access to the relevant vessel.
Usage and device data — IP address, browser type, pages viewed, and similar log data collected automatically for security and operations.
Cookies — we use essential cookies only (session and security cookies needed to sign you in and protect forms). We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

We may also create preview vessel profiles from publicly available information, such as public for-sale listings, and may contact the vessel's owner or seller to offer access. If you don't want a preview profile of your vessel, email info@hullgrade.com and we will delete it.

2. How We Use Information

We use information to provide and operate the Services: storing and organizing maintenance history; extracting data from documents you submit; researching and suggesting equipment and maintenance schedules; generating estimated vessel values; powering the AI assistants; retrieving manuals or documents from sources you direct us to; sending service emails and reminders you've enabled; hosting listings and buyer inquiries; and processing vessel transfers you initiate. We also use it to provide support you request, to secure the Services and prevent abuse, to debug problems, and to comply with law. We do not use your content to build advertising profiles.

3. AI Processing

Many features are powered by third-party artificial-intelligence providers, currently including Anthropic's Claude API. When you use those features, the relevant content — documents, manuals, vessel information, and assistant messages, in their original form — is sent to the AI provider to generate the result. Under the provider's commercial API terms, this data is not used to train their models; the provider may temporarily retain it for security and abuse monitoring under its own policies. Some features may instead run on AI models operating on infrastructure we control. Where the Services attempt to identify and remove personal information (for example, before showing maintenance history to a prospective buyer), that redaction is best-effort and not guaranteed. Buttons that send a document to the AI provider (such as studying an uploaded manual) say so where they appear.

4. Who We Share Information With

Service providers acting for us — cloud hosting (Render, United States), file storage (Cloudflare R2, private with expiring signed links), AI processing (Anthropic), message queueing (Upstash), error monitoring (Sentry, configured to exclude personal data from reports), email delivery providers, and payment processors for paid plans. Each processes data only to provide its service to us.
People you choose — Invited Users you grant access to a vessel; Submitters you give an upload-portal link; the recipient of a vessel transfer you initiate (per the transfer option you select); and, if you publish a listing, the listing content and the maintenance information you choose to show are visible to the public and to prospective buyers' assistant questions.
Legal and safety — where required by law or valid legal process, or to protect the Services, our users, or others.
Business transfers — in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, subject to this policy.

We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

5. Retention and Deletion

We retain your information while your account is active. When you delete a record, attachment, or other content, it is permanently removed from our active database and is not recoverable. When you close your account, all associated content is permanently deleted except limited records (such as billing records) we must keep by law. Unsaved assistant conversations are deleted on a rolling schedule. In a vessel transfer, content excluded by the transfer option you select is permanently deleted when the transfer completes.

6. Security

We use industry-standard safeguards: encryption in transit, private file storage accessible only through expiring signed links, hashed passwords, and access controls. HullGrade personnel do not view individual user content except to provide support you request, investigate security incidents or abuse, debug a problem, or as required by law. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live (including the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and California), you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to not be discriminated against for exercising those rights. You can delete most content directly in the Services, or contact info@hullgrade.com to exercise any right; we will verify your request and respond within the time required by law. If you are in a jurisdiction with a supervisory authority, you may also lodge a complaint with it. Where our processing relies on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

8. International Transfers

We are based in the United States and store data on servers in the United States. Where data is transferred from jurisdictions with data-transfer requirements, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms.

9. Children

The Services are for adults and require users to be at least 18. They are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact info@hullgrade.com and we will delete it.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy by posting the revised version here with a new effective date and, for material changes, notifying you by email or in the Services. Your continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.