Effective date: November 3, 2026
This policy explains what personal information ValidShip handles, why, who sees it, how long we keep it, and what you can ask us to do with it. It covers our website, the ValidShip app, and the pages we send to people who report a missing package.
Who we are
ValidShip is run by ValidShip LLC, a Pennsylvania limited liability company. Online stores hire us to review lost-package claims: when a customer says an order never arrived, we look at the delivery evidence, sometimes ask the customer for their side, and tell the store what we found.
We handle personal information in two different roles.
- For stores. When a store sends us a claim, we work on its behalf. The store decides what happens with the refund and is responsible for the information it shares with us. Under California law we are the store's "service provider"; under other state laws we are its "processor." If you reported a missing package, this is the role that applies to you, and the store's own privacy policy applies too.
- For ourselves. We decide how to use the information of people who visit our website, ask us for a review, or sign in to the ValidShip app as a store's employee or as our staff.
What we collect and why
We only use this information to run the reviews, keep accounts secure, and talk to the people involved. We don't use it for advertising.
| What | Examples | Where it comes from | Why we use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order and delivery details | Order number, order value, carrier, tracking number, delivery photo, delivery location | The store, the carrier | To check whether the package was delivered where it should have been |
| Customer contact details | Name, email, shipping address | The store | To review the claim, spot repeat claims at one address, and email the customer when the store asks us to |
| What the customer tells us | Their written account, their police report, and any porch footage they upload | The customer | To understand what happened |
| Identity check result | Whether the check passed (and if not, Stripe's reason, such as an expired ID), the name on the ID | Stripe, which runs the ID check | To confirm the claim came from the person on the order. We never receive ID images, ID numbers, or anything else from the ID |
| Our findings | Outcome, notes, the summary we write for the store | Our reviewers | To give the store a recommendation |
| Account details | Name, work email, password (stored only as a hash), role, sign-in records including IP address and browser | You, when you accept an invitation or sign in | To let store employees and our staff sign in, and to keep accounts secure |
| Review requests | Work email, company name | You, through the form on our website | To reply to you |
| Emails | Messages you send us and our replies | You | To answer you |
| Technical data | IP address, browser, pages requested, error reports | Your browser, our hosting provider | To run the site, fix problems, and stop abuse |
We don't collect government ID numbers, ID images, or biometric data. During an identity check, Stripe collects photos of the ID directly from the customer, under its own privacy policy. If we ever handle information that state law treats as sensitive, we only use it to review the claim it came with.
Who we share it with
We don't sell personal information, and we don't share it for targeted advertising. We haven't done either in the past 12 months.
- The store the claim belongs to. It gets our finding, the summary we write for it, and the delivery photos. It doesn't get a customer's uploads or our internal notes. If identity checks are on, it learns whether the name matched, not anything else from the ID.
- Companies that run parts of ValidShip for us, under contracts that limit them to that work:
| Company | What they do for us |
|---|---|
| Vercel | Hosts the website and app |
| Neon | Database |
| Cloudflare (R2) | Stores uploaded files |
| Resend | Sends invitation and claim emails |
| Zoho | Our email inbox |
| Sentry | Error reports, so we can fix bugs |
| Stripe, Inc. (Stripe Identity) | Identity checks |
Stripe runs the identity check on its own pages. It uses what the customer gives it to verify their identity for us and, under Stripe's privacy policy, for its own fraud prevention.
- When the law requires it, for example a valid subpoena, or to protect someone's safety.
- If ValidShip is sold or merged, the buyer would have to keep the promises in this policy.
How long we keep it
We delete things on a schedule. Most of it happens automatically every day.
| Information | Deleted |
|---|---|
| Porch footage and police reports | 90 days after the review closes, or 180 days after upload if the review is still open |
| Files uploaded for a report that was never sent | 24 hours after upload |
| Customer name, email, address, written account, identity check name, notes, and summaries | 24 months after the review closes. We keep the order number, value, and outcome without anything that identifies the customer |
| Identity check data held by Stripe | We ask Stripe to delete it when we remove the customer's details: after 24 months, or sooner on request |
| One-time claim links | 30 days after they're used or expire |
| Accounts | Within 30 days after the store asks us to close the account |
| Review requests and emails | 24 months after our last contact |
| Server logs and error reports | Within 90 days |
A store can ask us to delete a customer's information sooner, and we will.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you can ask us to:
- tell you what personal information we have about you, and give you a copy;
- correct it if it's wrong;
- delete it.
California and several other states also give you the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your information, or its use for targeted advertising. We don't do any of those, so there's nothing to opt out of.
If you reported a missing package, the store decides what happens to your information, so the quickest route is to ask the store. You can also write to us, and we'll pass your request to the store and help it answer.
If you completed an identity check, Stripe also holds the ID details you gave it. We ask Stripe to delete them when we delete your information, and you can also ask Stripe directly at privacy@stripe.com.
Everyone else can write to youssef@validship.com. We'll confirm we got your request within 10 business days and answer within 45 days. If we need longer, we'll tell you why. To protect you, we may ask you to confirm details only you would know before we hand over or delete anything. You can have someone else make the request for you if you give them written permission.
We won't treat you differently for using any of these rights.
Cookies
We use one kind of cookie: the one that keeps you signed in to the ValidShip app. The website has no analytics or advertising cookies, and the customer claim page sets none. Stripe's identity check runs on Stripe's own site, under Stripe's cookie policy. Because we don't track you, we don't respond differently to "Do Not Track" or Global Privacy Control signals; there's nothing for them to switch off.
Security
Everything travels over HTTPS and is encrypted where it's stored. Store employees only see their own store's claims. Our staff must use two-factor sign-in, and repeated wrong passwords are blocked for a while. Customer uploads are visible only to our reviewers, and we log when a sensitive file is opened. Claim links work once and expire after 14 days. Error reports have customer details removed before they leave our app. No system is perfect, and if something goes wrong we'll tell the affected stores and people as the law requires.
Children
ValidShip is a service for businesses. It isn't meant for anyone under 16, and we don't knowingly collect information about children.
Where your information is kept
On servers in the United States.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If the change is significant, we'll tell the stores we work with before it takes effect.
Contact
ValidShip LLC · youssef@validship.com