Privacy Policy
Last updated November 1, 2026
The short version. We collect what a solar estimate needs: an address and your electricity use. A bill you upload is read once for its figures and the image is discarded, never stored. Only if you ask licensed installers to contact you do we collect your name, mobile number and email.
When you ask for quotes, we provide your request to licensed solar installers that serve your address, and they pay us for it. Montana law calls that a sale of personal data, so we say it plainly. We never sell or share your information with anyone else, and we do not run targeted advertising.
You can opt out, see, correct or delete your information at any time on Your Privacy Rights, or by emailing mtsolarestimate@gmail.com.
Montana Solar Estimate (“we”, “us”) runs this website. We are an independent Montana business. We are not a solar installer, a utility, a lender or a government agency. This policy explains what we collect, why, who receives it, how long we keep it, and the choices you have. It applies to everyone who uses the site, wherever they live.
What we collect, and why
We collect only what each step needs, and nothing before you give it.
1. The address you enter
We turn the address into map coordinates using the U.S. Census Bureau geocoder and Google, and use them to find the electric utility serving the property, its roof, and its public parcel record. We never ask your browser or phone for your location, and we do not collect GPS data.
2. Your electricity use
Either a figure you type (a monthly bill in dollars or kilowatt-hours, and the month), or a photo or PDF of a utility bill you choose to upload. If you upload a bill, an AI model (Claude, from Anthropic) reads the utility name, service address, billing period, kilowatt-hours used, amount due, rate schedule, and the usage-history chart if the bill shows one. We keep only those figures. The image itself is never stored: it is read once and discarded, so the account number and name printed on it never enter our systems. Figures read from a bill you do not submit with a request are deleted within about a day.
3. Property details
Property type (home, ranch or farm, business, other), whether you own it, heating fuel, roof age, your timeline and whether you are interested in a battery, as you answer them.
4. Public parcel records
We look up the property in Montana’s public cadastral (parcel) database to confirm the property type and whether the owner of record’s mailing address matches the property. If you give us your name, our server compares your last name with the owner of record and keeps only the result (match, no match or unknown). We never store, display or share the owner’s name.
5. Roof and map data from Google
Google’s Solar API tells us the roof planes, their direction, pitch and sun exposure, and the date of the satellite imagery; the Maps Static API supplies the satellite picture; the Places API suggests addresses as you type. The address and coordinates are sent to Google for this. We use Google’s data only to prepare your estimate and keep it only as part of your saved estimate; we keep no separate copy for more than 30 days. This site includes Google Maps features and content, and your use of them is subject to the Google Maps End User Additional Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy.
6. Contact details, only if you ask for quotes
Your first and last name, mobile number and email address.
7. Verification and consent records
When you ask for quotes we text a one-time code to your mobile number, through Twilio, to confirm the number is yours. We record the exact consent wording you saw and its version, the time you checked the box, the IP address and browser identifier the request came from, and, when our consent-certificate service (ActiveProspect TrustedForm) is active, a certificate recording your interaction with the form. Federal telemarketing rules require us to keep these records for five years.
8. Technical data
The IP address and browser identifier of the device that submits a request or a privacy request; a random session identifier and any campaign codes carried on the link you arrived from (for example utm_source or gclid), which your browser holds in session storage until you close the tab; and a log of which steps of the estimate you completed. When our bot check (Cloudflare Turnstile) is active, it reads signals such as your IP address and browser headers solely to tell people from bots. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party analytics on this site.
How we use it
- To build your estimate and the PDF you can download.
- To confirm your mobile number and record your consent.
- To send your request to licensed installers that serve your address, if you ask for that.
- To text or email you about your own estimate or request (for example, a link to your estimate, or a reply to a privacy request). We do not send marketing newsletters.
- To detect duplicate requests, bots and fraud, and to honor STOP, opt-out and do-not-call requests.
- To keep the records the law requires and to respond to your privacy requests.
- To improve our estimate model, using aggregated figures that cannot identify you.
We do not use your information for targeted advertising, we do not profile you for automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects, and we do not sell it to data brokers.
We sell your contact request to installers. Here is exactly what that means.
Nothing is shared with any installer until you check the consent box and confirm your mobile number with the one-time code. When you do, we provide your name, mobile number, email, property address, property details, your estimate, and the figures we read from your bill to licensed solar installers that serve your address. They pay us for that introduction. Because money changes hands, the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act treats this as a sale of personal data, and we disclose it as one.
What we do not do: we do not send your request to anyone other than those installers, and we do not sell or share it with data brokers, marketers, lenders or anyone else. Our agreement with each installer forbids reselling or sharing your information and requires the installer to stop contacting you when you ask. Each installer is an independent business and handles your information under its own privacy practices once it receives it.
For the record the law asks for: the categories of personal data we sell are identifiers and contact details, property and energy-use details (including figures read from your bill), and your estimate. The category of third party we sell to is licensed solar installers serving your address. You can opt out at any time; see Your choices and rights.
Service providers that handle data for us
These companies process information on our instructions to run the site. They may not use it for their own purposes.
| Provider | What it does | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Vercel | Hosts the website (United States) | Request logs, including IP addresses |
| Supabase | Database and file storage (United States), encrypted at rest and in transit | Everything we store |
| Google Maps Platform | Address suggestions, roof data, satellite imagery | The address and coordinates (Google Privacy Policy) |
| Anthropic | Reads uploaded bills with the Claude model | The bill image, only while it is being read. Anthropic does not use it to train its models and deletes it from its systems within 30 days; we never store it at all. |
| Twilio | Sends the one-time verification code | Your mobile number and the code |
| U.S. Census Bureau geocoder and Montana State Library cadastral service | Public services that turn an address into coordinates and a parcel record | The address or coordinates |
| Cloudflare Turnstile, ActiveProspect TrustedForm (when active) | Bot check; consent certificate | Browser signals; a record of your interaction with the contact form |
We may also disclose information when the law requires it, to protect our rights or safety or yours, or to a successor if our business is sold, in which case this policy continues to apply.
Cookies, session storage and Global Privacy Control
We set no advertising or tracking cookies. Your browser’s session storage holds a random session identifier and the campaign codes from the link you arrived on; both disappear when you close the tab. We honor the Global Privacy Control browser signal: it is an opt-out of targeted advertising and of sale, we do neither except the one sale you ask for, and if your browser sends the signal the contact step tells you so and asks you to confirm that specific request by checking the box.
How long we keep it
- The image of a bill you upload: never stored; it is discarded as soon as it has been read.
- Figures read from a bill you do not submit with a request: deleted within about a day.
- Figures read from a bill you submit: kept with your request on the five-year schedule below.
- Your request, estimate, consent record and delivery log: five years from your request, the period federal telemarketing rules require for consent records, then deleted or de-identified.
- Google roof and map data: no separate copy beyond 30 days; only what is in your saved estimate.
- An estimate you run without asking for quotes: the address, usage and results are saved so you can download the PDF; they contain no name or contact details and are deleted or de-identified on the same five-year schedule.
- Opt-out and do-not-contact entries: kept indefinitely, because they are how we keep from contacting you again.
- Privacy requests and our responses: five years.
Your choices and rights
Montana residents have these rights under the Montana Consumer Data Privacy Act. We extend them to everyone.
- Opt out of the sale of your personal data. We stop providing your information to installers, we tell every installer that already received your request that you have opted out, and we add your number to our do-not-contact list.
- Confirm and access. Learn whether we hold personal data about you and get a copy.
- Correct inaccurate information.
- Delete your personal data. We keep only what the law requires us to keep (your consent record, and the do-not-contact entry that prevents further contact).
- Portability. Receive your data in a usable format.
- Opt out of targeted advertising and of profiling for decisions with legal or similar effects. We do neither, so there is nothing to opt out of; the right exists all the same.
How to exercise them. Use the form on Your Privacy Rights (no account is needed), email mtsolarestimate@gmail.com, or reply STOP to any text from us. STOP ends our texts and puts your number on our do-not-contact list; to stop an installer’s texts, reply STOP to that installer, or tell us and we will pass your request to every installer that received it. You may revoke consent by any reasonable means, and we honor revocations within ten business days.
Timing and verification. We respond within 45 days, and may extend once by a further 45 days when reasonably necessary, telling you why within the first 45. Requests are free once in any 12-month period. We may ask you to confirm a request from the email address or mobile number it concerns. We do not require verification for an opt-out, but may decline one we reasonably and in good faith believe is fraudulent, and will tell you if we do. An authorized agent may act for you; we may ask for proof of the authorization.
Appeals. If we decline a request, you may appeal using the same form (choose “Appeal”) or by email. We answer appeals in writing within 60 days. If we deny your appeal, you may contact the Montana Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Protection.
We will never discriminate against you for exercising a right.
Security and breaches
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access is limited to the people who need it to run the service, and API keys and the database are held on access-controlled infrastructure. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your unencrypted personal information, we will notify you without unreasonable delay, as Montana’s data-breach law (MCA 30-14-1704) requires, and notify the Montana Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Protection at the same time.
Minors
This site is for adults who own or are responsible for a property. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18, and we never sell a minor’s data. If you believe a minor has submitted a request, email mtsolarestimate@gmail.com and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will update the date at the top and, for anyone whose information we already hold, notify them by email or text and give them a reasonable opportunity to withdraw consent before we use their information in a materially different way. Smaller edits are posted here with a new date.
Contact
Montana Solar Estimate: mtsolarestimate@gmail.com. We read every message, and privacy requests are logged with a deadline the day they arrive.