The short version
A plain-English summary. The full policy below is the operative one.
- We collect what we need to answer your call, get a crew to the right address, do the work, and bill for it.
- We do not sell your information, and we never share your phone number or SMS consent with anyone for their marketing.
- Business calls may be recorded, and job sites are always photographed. That is how restoration work gets documented.
- You can opt out of texts by replying STOP, and you can ask us for a copy of your information, a correction, or deletion.
Jump to a section
- Who this policy covers
- What we collect
- Where it comes from
- Why we use it
- Calls and recordings
- Text messaging
- Photos and video
- Cookies and analytics
- Advertising and measurement
- Who we share it with
- What we never do
- How long we keep it
- Security
- Your choices and rights
- Children
- Other sites and links
- Changes and contact
WaterOut Michigan Restoration LLC (“WaterOut,” “we,” “us”) operates wateroutmi.com and provides emergency water mitigation, structural drying, demolition and tear-out, containment and air control, and sewage cleanup across Macomb and Oakland County, Michigan. This policy explains how we handle information about you. Using the site, calling or texting us, or requesting service means you accept it.
Section 01Who this policy covers
This policy covers people who visit our website, call or text our business number, submit a callback form, request an inspection or estimate, or hire us for work at a property. It also covers property owners, occupants, and authorized representatives whose information reaches us in the course of a job.
It does not cover how a third party you separately deal with handles your information, including any carrier, warranty company, landlord, association, lender, or other contractor. Those parties have their own policies.
Section 02What we collect
Information you give us
- Name, phone number including mobile, and email address.
- The property or service address, and how to get in.
- What happened, when it started, and what has been done so far.
- Photos, video, or documents you send us about the damage.
- Scheduling details, access instructions, gate or alarm information you choose to share.
- Billing and payment information, which for card payments is entered into and held by our payment processor rather than by us.
- If you choose to raise it, or if a third party is paying, the details you give us for that purpose, such as a claim or reference number.
- Anything else you write in a message, form, or text.
Information we create while doing the work
- Dated photographs and video of the loss and the work.
- Moisture readings, drying logs, equipment placement records, and monitoring notes.
- Written scopes, estimates, change orders, signed authorizations, and invoices.
- Notes of our calls, texts, and visits.
Information collected automatically on the site
- IP address and the general location it suggests, at city or region level.
- Browser, device type, operating system, and language.
- Pages viewed, time on page, scroll depth, clicks on call and text buttons, and form submissions.
- Referring site or ad, and the date and time of the visit.
- Identifiers set by cookies and similar technologies.
Section 03Where it comes from
Most of it comes straight from you, by phone, text, form, or in person at the property. Some is generated automatically when you use the site. A limited amount can come from other sources, such as an occupant or property manager who calls us on an owner's behalf, a referral partner or lead source who passes on a request you submitted to them, a mapping or address-verification service, or public property records used to confirm an address or ownership.
Section 04Why we use it
| Purpose | What that means in practice |
|---|---|
| Respond and dispatch | Answering your call, confirming the address, routing a crew, calling you back. |
| Perform the work | Inspecting, estimating, scheduling, drying, monitoring, and documenting the job. |
| Communicate | Callbacks, technician-on-the-way updates, monitoring visits, scheduling changes, invoices, and follow-up. |
| Bill and get paid | Producing invoices, processing payment, and collecting unpaid balances. |
| Document and defend | Keeping a complete, dated record of what we saw and did, which protects both of us if the work is ever questioned. |
| Support a third-party payer | If you ask us to, providing our photos, readings, and scope to a party you want to pay for the work. |
| Improve the business | Understanding which pages and channels bring in calls so we spend marketing money sensibly, and improving how the site works. |
| Safety and integrity | Preventing fraud, misuse, and abuse, and protecting our people and equipment. |
| Legal obligations | Tax, accounting, lien, licensing, and record-keeping requirements, and responding to lawful requests. |
We rely on your request for service, our legitimate interest in running and defending the business, your consent where consent is required, and our legal obligations.
Section 05Calls and recordings
Calls to and from our business lines may be monitored or recorded for quality, training, dispatch accuracy, and record-keeping. When water is running into a basement, the details of an intake call matter, and a recording is how we get the address and the scope right.
By calling or texting us, you consent to that recording. If you do not want a call recorded, say so at the start and we will stop. Recordings are stored with our call and messaging providers and are retained as described in Section 12.
Section 06Text messaging
We run a two-way, service-only text messaging program on our business number. You join it by texting or calling us, by giving your mobile number on a form or work authorization, or by giving it to our staff. Message frequency varies with the stage of your job. Message and data rates may apply. Consent is not a condition of purchase.
Reply STOP to opt out at any time, or HELP for help. You can also call or email us to be removed. Full program details are in our SMS Terms & Conditions.
Section 07Photos and video
Restoration is a documented trade. We photograph and record the property, the damage, and the work, before, during, and after, and we keep those records. We may use them for documentation, quality control, training, dispute resolution, and marketing.
We do not publish your name, street address, unit number, or anything else identifying you or the property in marketing material without your separate written permission. You can opt out of marketing use, though not documentation use, by telling us in writing before work starts. Photos you send us are treated the same way.
Section 08Cookies and analytics
The site uses cookies and similar technologies to keep pages working, remember whether you have already seen a prompt, and understand how visitors use the site. Some are session-only and disappear when you close the browser. Others persist until they expire or you clear them.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and you can use browser privacy controls including Global Privacy Control signals. Parts of the site may behave differently if you do. Analytics data is used in aggregate to see which pages and which channels produce calls.
Section 09Advertising and measurement
We advertise locally, and we measure whether those ads produce real calls. To do that, the site may load measurement tags from advertising and analytics platforms that record events such as a page view, a click on a call button, or a form submission, along with the identifiers described in Section 02.
That measurement tells us that a call happened and where it came from. It is not used to build profiles of you for sale, and we do not sell advertising audiences. You can limit ad personalization through your browser settings, your device settings, and the ad-settings controls offered by the major platforms.
Section 10Who we share it with
- Service providers who run our operation — website hosting, phone and text delivery, scheduling and job management, email, payment processing, analytics, and document storage. They may use your information only to provide their service to us.
- Our crew and any subcontractor working your job — the address, access details, scope, and contact information they need to show up and do the work.
- A third-party payer you designate — if you ask us to send our documentation to a party you want to pay for the work, we send it. That is your call, not ours.
- Professional advisors — our accountants, insurers, and attorneys, in confidence, when needed.
- Legal and safety — when required by law, subpoena, or court order, or when reasonably necessary to establish or defend legal claims, enforce our agreements, collect a debt, protect our lien rights, prevent fraud, or protect anyone's safety.
- Business transfer — if the company is sold, merged, or reorganized, customer records may transfer as part of the transaction, subject to this policy.
- With your permission — anything else you specifically authorize.
Section 11What we never do
- We do not sell your personal information.
- We do not rent, sell, or share your phone number, or your consent to be texted, with any third party or affiliate for their marketing.
- We do not sell your job photos, address, or loss details as leads to other contractors.
- We do not publish identifying details about your property in marketing without your written permission.
Section 12How long we keep it
| Type of record | Typical retention |
|---|---|
| Job files: estimates, authorizations, scopes, photos, readings, invoices | Kept for the periods required by tax, accounting, lien, and limitations law, generally several years after completion, and longer where a dispute is open or reasonably anticipated. |
| Call recordings and text threads | Retained while relevant to a job or dispute, then deleted on our providers' ordinary schedules. |
| Inquiries and form submissions that never became a job | A limited period after last contact, then deleted. |
| Opt-out and do-not-contact records | Kept indefinitely, because we need them to keep honoring your opt-out. |
| Aggregated or de-identified analytics | May be kept indefinitely, since it no longer identifies you. |
When we no longer need something, we delete it or de-identify it. We may keep a record of a completed job even after a deletion request where the law requires it or where it is needed to establish or defend a legal claim.
Section 13Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards, including encrypted connections, reputable hosted providers, access limited to people who need it, and device controls on the phones and tablets our crew uses in the field.
Email and text are not secure channels and are not monitored around the clock for emergencies. In an active emergency, call (586) 210-6797. If life or safety is at risk, call 911.
Section 14Your choices and rights
Whatever state you live in, you can ask us to do the following, and we will honor reasonable requests:
- Get a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct information that is wrong or incomplete.
- Delete information, subject to the legal, tax, lien, and dispute exceptions in Section 12.
- Stop texting or emailing you, or stop calling you except about an active job.
- Withdraw consent where our use depends on it.
- Opt out of marketing use of photos of your property.
Send requests to info@wateroutmi.com or call (586) 210-6797. We may need to verify your identity and your connection to the property before we act, and we will respond within a reasonable time. Exercising any of these rights will never change how we treat you as a customer, and we do not discriminate against anyone for making a request.
Residents of states with comprehensive privacy laws may have additional rights, including the right to appeal a refusal. If we deny a request, we will tell you why and how to appeal.
Section 15Children
Our site and services are for adults. We do not direct them to children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If we learn that we have, we delete it. If you believe a child gave us information, contact us and we will take care of it.
Section 16Other sites and links
This site may link to sites we do not control, such as map, review, social, or payment services. We are not responsible for their content, security, or privacy practices, and a link is not an endorsement. Read their policies before you share anything with them.
Section 17Changes, and how to reach us
We may update this policy. The current version is always posted here with the Last Updated date at the top. If we make a material change to how we use information, we will make that clear on this page. Continuing to use the site or our services after an update means you accept the revised policy.
Our services are also governed by our Terms of Service.