Privacy Policy

1 Introduction

Bright Neighbors is a free community utility built for Hawaii homeowners who want honest, data-driven insight into solar pricing. Our platform provides access to 68,000+ solar installation records sourced from Honolulu building permits, allowing homeowners to compare their quotes against real neighborhood data, understand local pricing norms, and make informed decisions without relying on installer-supplied estimates alone.

Bright Neighbors is operated by Bright Neighbors, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. This Privacy Policy describes what information we collect from you when you use Bright Neighbors, how we use and protect that information, when and how we may share it, and what rights you have over your data.

By using Bright Neighbors, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform. If you have questions, contact us at privacy@sunledger.polsia.app.

2 Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of information when you use Bright Neighbors:

Quote submission data. When you submit a solar quote for community benchmarking, we collect the details you provide, which may include: system size (kW), total system cost, cost per watt, installer name, neighborhood or ZIP code, financing type (cash, loan, lease, PPA), equipment details (panel make/model, inverter type, battery), and the date of your quote or installation.

Installer reviews and ratings. If you submit a review or rating for a solar installer, we collect the review content, rating score, and any other details you choose to include.

Account information. Bright Neighbors uses magic-link authentication. We collect only your email address to create and manage your account. We do not collect or store passwords.

Anonymous usage analytics. We collect anonymized data about how users interact with the platform, including page views, feature usage, session duration, and navigation patterns. This data is used to improve the product and is not linked to your identity.

Optional PDF uploads. If you choose to upload a solar quote proposal in PDF format, we store that file securely and associated it with your account. Uploading a PDF is entirely optional.

Technical data. We collect limited technical information for security and fraud prevention purposes, including your IP address (stored in hashed, non-reversible form), a browser fingerprint (also hashed), and session cookies required for authentication and platform function.

3 How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Community benchmarks and data visualizations. Submitted quote data is anonymized and aggregated to produce neighborhood-level $/watt benchmarks, installation cost distributions, and community maps. Your individual data is never displayed publicly with your identity attached.
• Platform operation. We use your account information to authenticate you, manage your session, store your submissions, and provide access to your account history.
• Transactional communications. We send magic-link login emails and account activity notifications required for you to use the platform. These are not marketing emails and cannot be opted out of while you have an active account.
• Product improvement. Anonymous usage analytics help us understand which features are valuable, where users encounter friction, and how to prioritize development.
• Research and reporting. Aggregated, anonymized data may be used in public reports, blog posts, and research about Hawaii solar market trends.
• Third-party data sharing (with your explicit consent only). In the future, Bright Neighbors may offer you the option to share your contact information or quote details with solar-related organizations. We will only share your personally identifiable information with these parties when you have given explicit, per-instance consent at the point of data collection. See Section 4 for the full details of how this consent works.

4 Data Sharing and Sale — Express Consent Required

No sale of PII without consent. Bright Neighbors does not and will not sell, rent, or transfer your personally identifiable information — including your name, email address, phone number, or any other information that could be used to identify you individually — to any third party without your explicit consent. This prohibition applies regardless of whether such a sale would be financially beneficial to Bright Neighbors.

Types of third parties we may share with (only upon consent). If you choose to share your information, potential recipients may include: solar installation companies operating in Hawaii; solar and home improvement financing companies; residential energy service providers; and home energy efficiency companies. We will clearly identify the specific recipient(s) at the time we ask for your consent.

Consent is per-instance and specific. Each potential sharing event requires a fresh, affirmative consent. This means: a separate checkbox or toggle presented to you at the specific point of collection, identifying the category or identity of the third party you are sharing with, the type of data being shared, and the purpose of that sharing. You will not be defaulted into sharing — the default is always no sharing. A single consent given at account creation does not cover future sharing events.

Withdrawing consent. You may withdraw your consent for any specific third-party data sharing at any time by emailing privacy@sunledger.polsia.app or through the consent management section of your account settings. Withdrawal of consent is prospective — it does not retroactively require us to retrieve data already transferred to a third party prior to your withdrawal, but we will not make any further transfers of your data to that party after receiving your withdrawal.

Service providers. We work with a small number of third-party service providers who process data on our behalf (for example, cloud hosting, transactional email delivery, and analytics infrastructure). These providers access your data only to the extent necessary to perform their contracted services, are bound by confidentiality obligations, and are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes. These service providers are not "third parties" for the purpose of the consent requirements described above — they are extensions of our data processing infrastructure.

Aggregate and anonymized data. Aggregate, de-identified data that contains no personally identifiable information may be shared with research partners, published publicly, or disclosed in reports without per-instance consent. See Section 5 for the definition of "anonymized" and how this data is used.

Legal disclosures. We may disclose information if required to do so by law, court order, or valid legal process. We will make reasonable efforts to notify you of such requests where permitted by law.

5 Anonymized and Aggregate Data

Bright Neighbors's core value proposition is a community database of real solar pricing. This requires us to collect individual quote submissions and transform them into community-level data. This section explains how we do that and what rights we retain over anonymized data.

What "anonymized" means. For purposes of this policy, data is "anonymized" when it has been processed such that it does not contain — and cannot reasonably be used to reconstruct — your name, email address, physical address, phone number, or any other information that could be used to identify you as an individual. Anonymized data may include system size, cost per watt, neighborhood (not street address), installer name, financing type, and equipment details — presented in aggregate, not attributed to any specific person.

How we use anonymized data. We aggregate anonymized quote data to produce: community maps and neighborhood-level cost charts; $/watt benchmark comparisons by area, system size, and installer; research and reporting on Hawaii solar market trends; marketing materials showing aggregate pricing trends (e.g., "the average Honolulu 8 kW system cost $X/watt in Q1 2026"); and public datasets shared with energy researchers and journalists.

This right survives account deletion. When you delete your account, we will delete your personally identifiable information as described in Section 7. However, your contribution to aggregate statistics and anonymized community data is retained permanently. If your quote submission has already been incorporated into a neighborhood benchmark, deleting your account does not alter or remove that aggregate data point. Because the aggregate data contains no information traceable to you individually, this retention does not constitute continued processing of your personal data.

6 Cookies and Tracking

Bright Neighbors uses a limited set of cookies and tracking mechanisms, all of which are described below. We do not use third-party advertising cookies or cross-site tracking pixels.

• Session cookies (required). We use session cookies to maintain your login state and protect your account. These cookies are required for the platform to function. If you disable them, you will not be able to log in.
• A/B testing cookies. We assign you to a test variant via a first-party cookie (e.g., sl_ab_hero) to measure which versions of features perform best. These cookies do not collect personally identifiable information — they store only a randomly assigned variant letter (A, B, or C). This allows us to compare feature performance across user groups without identifying individuals.
• Analytics cookies and local storage. We use first-party analytics to understand how users interact with Bright Neighbors. This includes recording a session identifier stored in local storage, page view events, and feature interaction events. This data is anonymized and aggregated. We do not use Google Analytics or other third-party analytics services that collect data for their own purposes.
• No cross-site advertising cookies. Bright Neighbors does not serve advertising and does not use any advertising network, retargeting, or behavioral tracking cookies. No third party drops cookies on Bright Neighbors pages for advertising or cross-site tracking purposes.

7 Data Retention

We retain different categories of data for different periods based on their nature and purpose:

• Account data (email address, submitted quotes, uploaded PDFs). Retained until you request deletion of your account. Upon a verified deletion request, we will delete your email address and any personal data linked to your account within 30 days.
• Anonymized and aggregate data. Retained indefinitely. Once your individual data contributions have been de-identified and incorporated into aggregate statistics, the resulting anonymized data is no longer your personal data and is retained as part of the community dataset.
• Magic link tokens. Login tokens sent via email are automatically invalidated and deleted after 24 hours, or upon first use, whichever comes first. They are single-use and time-limited.
• Anonymous analytics events. Anonymous usage events (page views, feature interactions, session data) are retained for 2 years and then automatically purged.
• Hashed IP addresses and browser fingerprints. Retained for up to 90 days for fraud prevention and security purposes, then deleted.

8 Permit Data

A significant portion of Bright Neighbors's dataset is derived from solar installation permit records obtained from the City & County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting. These records are public records under Hawaii state law and Honolulu municipal regulations.

Because this data is sourced from public government records — not from you personally — it is not subject to individual deletion requests. If your installation appears in the public permit record, that information exists as a matter of public record independent of Bright Neighbors. Bright Neighbors's display of that public record data is a lawful exercise of access to public information.

If you believe there is an error in permit data displayed on Bright Neighbors, please contact us at privacy@sunledger.polsia.app and we will review the record. For corrections to the underlying permit record itself, you must contact the City & County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting directly.

9 Your Rights

You have the following rights with respect to your personal data held by Bright Neighbors:

• Right to access. You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. We will provide this in a commonly used, machine-readable format within 30 days of a verified request.
• Right to deletion. You may request deletion of your account and the personally identifiable information associated with it. We will process verified deletion requests within 30 days. Note that anonymized data already incorporated into aggregate statistics is not subject to deletion, as described in Section 5.
• Right to withdraw consent. If you have consented to sharing your data with a specific third party, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal is prospective — it applies to future sharing and does not require retrieval of data already shared prior to withdrawal.
• Right to opt out of marketing. If we send you marketing communications (separate from transactional login emails), you may opt out at any time via the unsubscribe link in the email or by contacting us directly.
• Right to correction. If you believe personal data we hold about you is inaccurate, you may request a correction.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@sunledger.polsia.app with a description of your request. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing the request. We do not charge a fee for reasonable data rights requests.

10 Security

We implement the following technical and organizational measures to protect your data:

• Encryption in transit. All data transmitted between your browser and Bright Neighbors's servers is encrypted using HTTPS/TLS. We do not serve content over unencrypted HTTP.
• Encryption at rest. Sensitive tokens and credentials (such as any OAuth tokens used in service integrations) are encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM encryption.
• Parameterized database queries. All database operations use parameterized statements to prevent SQL injection attacks. We do not construct raw SQL queries from user-supplied input.
• Hashed identifiers. IP addresses and browser fingerprints are stored in hashed, non-reversible form. We cannot reconstruct the original IP address from the stored hash.
• Access controls. Access to production data is restricted to authorized personnel with a documented need and is subject to access logging and review.

No security system is perfect. While we take these precautions seriously, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized parties will never access your data. In the event of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify affected users as required by applicable law.

11 Children's Privacy

Bright Neighbors is not directed at children under the age of 13 and is designed for adult homeowners researching solar installations. We do not knowingly collect, solicit, or maintain personal information from any person under the age of 13.

If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete that information promptly. If you believe we may have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us at privacy@sunledger.polsia.app.

12 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, applicable law, or platform features. When we make changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.

If we make material changes to how we collect, use, or share your personal data — particularly changes that affect your rights or the consent model described in Section 4 — we will notify you by sending an email to the address associated with your account prior to those changes taking effect.

Your continued use of Bright Neighbors after the effective date of an updated Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to a material change, you may delete your account before the change takes effect.

13 Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us:

• Privacy inquiries: privacy@sunledger.polsia.app
• Mailing address: Bright Neighbors, Honolulu, Hawaii

We aim to respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 5 business days.