Legal
Privacy Policy
What we collect when you use Hotend Labs, what happens to the models you upload, and who else sees any of it. We do not sell your personal information.
01
Scope
This policy covers hotendlabs.com, the customer dashboard, the operator tools, and the emails we send about your orders. It applies to customers ordering prints and to print shop operators on the network.
02
What we collect
- Account details — name, email, password hash, and for operators, business name, machine and material inventory, and payout details.
- Order details — the models you upload, the material, color and quality you chose, quantities, prices, timestamps, and the shipping address.
- Payment information — handled by Stripe. We receive a confirmation, the last four digits and the card brand. We never see or store your full card number.
- Usage data — pages viewed, actions taken, device and browser type, approximate location from IP address, and error logs.
- Support messages — whatever you send us, including photos of a print that came out wrong.
03
How we use it
To quote your job, route it to a suitable operator, take payment, ship the part, and support you afterwards. Beyond that: to detect fraud and abuse, to meet legal and tax obligations, to keep the service running and diagnose failures, and to improve how the platform works.
We send you transactional email about your orders and account. Marketing email, if we ever send it, is opt-in and every message has an unsubscribe link.
04
Your model files
Kept so you can reorder. Deleted whenever you ask.
Uploaded models are stored with a third-party cloud storage provider under our account, encrypted at rest. We keep them indefinitely so you can reorder a part without re-uploading it. You can delete any model from your dashboard, or email privacy@hotendlabs.com and we will delete it for you.
Operators browsing the open job pool see a preview render of the part along with its dimensions, material and quality — not the source file. The full file becomes available to an operator only once they claim the job, and only for producing that job.
We do not use your models to train machine learning models, and we do not sell, license or publish them.
05
Who else sees your information
We share only what each party needs to do its job:
- Print shop operators — the model file for a claimed job, the print settings, and the shipping name and address so they can send the part.
- Stripe — payment processing and payouts.
- Cloud file storage — hosting for uploaded models and preview renders.
- Email delivery provider — sending order and account email.
- Analytics provider — aggregate usage measurement on our own properties.
- Shipping carriers — the recipient's name, address and contact details for delivery and tracking.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect our rights or someone's safety, or as part of a merger or sale of the business — in which case we will say so before your information moves.
06
We do not sell or share your personal information
No sale, no cross-context advertising. Ever.
Hotend Labs does not sell personal information, and does not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under California law. We have not done so in the preceding twelve months, including for anyone we know to be under 16.
07
Cookies and analytics
We use cookies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, and measure how the site is used. Blocking cookies in your browser will break sign-in and the quote flow. Our analytics is limited to our own properties; we do not run advertising trackers.
08
How long we keep things
Account and order records are kept while your account is open and afterwards as long as we need them for tax, accounting and dispute purposes — typically seven years for transaction records. Model files are kept until you delete them or close your account. Support messages are kept for three years. Backups age out on a rolling schedule.
09
Security
Traffic is encrypted in transit and files are encrypted at rest. Access to customer data is limited to staff who need it, and operator access to a model file is scoped to the job they claimed. No system is perfect; if a breach affects your information we will notify you as the law requires.
10
Your choices and rights
Wherever you live in the US, you can ask us to:
- Tell you what personal information we hold about you and where it came from.
- Give you a copy of it in a portable format.
- Correct anything inaccurate.
- Delete your information and your uploaded models, subject to records we are legally required to keep.
- Limit how we use sensitive information.
Email privacy@hotendlabs.com and we will verify your request through your account email and respond within 45 days. An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf with written permission. We will never charge you a different price or degrade your service for exercising these rights.
11
California residents
Under the CCPA as amended by the CPRA, California residents have the rights listed above, plus the right to know the categories of personal information collected, the purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties it is disclosed to — all set out in sections 02 and 05.
The categories we collect are identifiers, commercial information, internet activity, geolocation inferred from IP, and the contents of files and messages you send us. We collect them for the business purposes described above, and we do not sell or share them.
If we deny a request you may appeal by replying to our response; we will explain the reason in writing.
12
Children
Hotend Labs is not for anyone under 13. Users between 13 and 18 need a parent or guardian's consent, and that adult can contact us at privacy@hotendlabs.com to review or delete the account's information. If we learn we have collected information from a child under 13 we delete it.
13
Changes to this policy
When this policy changes we update the effective date above, and for material changes we email account holders before the change takes effect.
14
Contact
HotendLabs LLC
Michigan, USA
Mailing address: [to be added]
privacy@hotendlabs.com
For the rules governing orders and prints, see the Terms of Service.