Privacy Policy

NorthStar is a one-person business run by Edward Dumitrache, based in Germantown, Maryland. This page explains what information we collect, why, and what we do with it. It is written to be read.

1. What we collect

When you fill in the form on this website: your name, business name, trade, town, phone number, email address, and anything you type in the message box.

When you become a client and fill in your intake form: your business details, services, service areas, hours, licence number if you give us one, where you want leads sent, and the photos you upload.

When you pay: your payment is handled entirely by Stripe. We never see or store your card number. We receive a record that you paid, your name, email and billing address.

What we do not collect: we do not run analytics, advertising pixels, or third-party tracking on this website, and we do not set cookies for tracking. There is no login and no profile.

2. Why we collect it

• To reply to you and quote for your work.
• To build, launch, and maintain your website.
• To send the leads your website generates to you.
• To take payment and issue invoices and receipts.

We do not use your information for anything else, and we do not make automated decisions about you.

3. Who else sees it

Only the services we need to run the business. Each one sees only what it needs:

• Netlify — hosts this website and receives form submissions.
• Railway — hosts our internal system, where your intake details and photos are stored.
• Stripe — handles payments, invoices, and receipts.
• Google (Gmail) — our email, so anything you email us sits there.

We never sell your information, and we never share it with other contractors, marketers, or lead-buying services.

4. Your photos

Photos you send us are used to build and maintain your website. With your permission we may also show your finished website as an example of our work, which means the photos on it are visible in our portfolio. If you would rather we did not, tell us and we will not.

5. How long we keep it

• Enquiries that do not become clients: up to two years, then deleted.
• Client information and photos: for as long as you are a client, and for 90 days after your plan ends.
• Payment and invoice records: kept as long as tax law requires, which is currently seven years.

6. What you can ask us to do

At any time you can ask us to show you what we hold about you, correct anything that is wrong, delete your information, or send you a copy of your photos and written content. Email us and we will do it within 30 days, free of charge. The only thing we cannot delete early is payment records we are legally required to keep.

7. Keeping it safe

Your information is held on password-protected systems, and everything travels over an encrypted connection. Intake links are private and unguessable, but they are not password-protected — treat yours like a private link and do not post it publicly. No system is perfect, and we will not pretend otherwise; if something goes wrong that affects your information, we will tell you.

8. Children

This is a service for businesses. It is not intended for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect information about children.

9. Changes

If we change how we handle your information we will update this page and change the date at the top. If it is a significant change and you are a client, we will email you.

10. Contact

Questions, or want your information removed? Email northstardesigns88@gmail.com and it comes straight to Edward.