1. Scope and who we are
This Privacy Policy applies to the Data Center Bid Exchange website, memberships, information requests, Vendor Passports, procurement tools, communications, and related services (collectively, the “Services”). Data Center Bid Exchange LLC, doing business as Data Center Bid Exchange (“DCBX,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), is responsible for the information described in this policy.
This policy does not govern a third party’s independent services or websites, even when linked or integrated with DCBX.
2. Information we collect
Depending on how you use the Services, we may collect:
- Contact and account information: name, work email, company, title, telephone number, account identifier, email-confirmation status, and authentication details. For DCBE email-and-password accounts, passwords are stored as one-way hashes, and we use time-limited verification links, recovery links, and session records to secure access.
- Membership and transaction information: selected plan, price, billing interval, add-ons, subscription status, renewal date, Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, billing email, company, and transaction status. Stripe processes payment-card and billing-address information; DCBX does not receive or store full payment-card numbers.
- Vendor Passport information: company identity, location, website, business structure, designations, trades, capabilities, service territory, workforce capacity, mobilization, project size, licenses, certifications, safety metrics, OSHA citation response, insurance and bonding information, experience, references, document links, attestations, and verification status.
- Requests and communications: project or market, requested trades, deadline, source links, research scope, messages, support inquiries, and any other content you choose to submit.
- Research and source information: business information, project information, public records, news, citations, source URLs, research summaries, confidence indicators, and review decisions.
- Device and service information: IP address, browser and device data, request time, pages or features used, error and security logs, and similar technical information generated when the Services are delivered.
- Device-stored preferences: opportunity watchlist selections saved in your browser’s local storage.
Enter your DCBE password only in the account signup, sign-in, or password-reset fields. Do not send passwords in contact messages or other forms. Please do not submit bank credentials, Social Security numbers, tax identification numbers, protected health information, or other sensitive personal information that a form does not request.
3. Where information comes from
We collect information directly from you; from the organization you represent; from Stripe when a checkout or subscription event occurs; from our member authentication provider when you sign in; from public records, project pages, company websites, news sources, and other publicly available material; and from service providers that help us operate, secure, or support the Services.
If you submit information about another person, such as a client reference or safety contact, you represent that you have authority or permission to do so and have provided any notice required by law.
4. How we use information
We use information to:
- provide, personalize, maintain, and secure the Services;
- create and manage memberships, entitlements, billing, renewals, and customer support;
- receive, price, fulfill, and communicate about information requests and custom research;
- review, verify, score, publish, and update Vendor Passports and procurement intelligence;
- match a sign-in or form submission to an active membership;
- send transactional messages, receipts, service notices, and responses;
- detect fraud, spam, abuse, security threats, and violations of our terms;
- debug, analyze, and improve functionality, quality, accessibility, and reliability;
- comply with law, enforce agreements, establish or defend legal claims, and protect users and third parties; and
- create aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify an individual.
5. How we disclose information
We disclose information only as reasonably necessary for the purposes described above, including to:
- Payment providers. Stripe processes checkout, recurring billing, receipts, fraud controls, and the billing portal.
- Form and notification providers. Formspree receives copies of contact, information-request, and Vendor Passport notifications so our team can respond.
- Account email providers. When DCBE email-and-password accounts are enabled, our transactional email provider, Resend, delivers email-confirmation and password-reset links. These messages contain the recipient email address and a time-limited account link.
- Authentication and research providers. OpenAI supports the existing member sign-in during the transition to DCBE accounts and may support authorized vendor-research workflows. Vendor research may send relevant business-profile fields—not payment-card data—to an automated research service.
- Analytics providers. Google Analytics helps us understand visits and successful actions such as searches, form submissions, and checkout activity. We do not send form contents, names, email addresses, or typed vendor-search text to Google Analytics.
- Infrastructure and security providers. Service providers, including Cloudflare, host, transmit, protect, monitor, and maintain the Services.
- Authorized procurement users. Eligible buyers, members, or staff may receive selected vendor-profile and intelligence information as described below.
- Professional advisers and authorities. We may disclose information to lawyers, accountants, insurers, auditors, regulators, courts, law enforcement, or other parties when reasonably necessary to comply with law or protect rights and safety.
- Business transfers. Information may be reviewed or transferred in connection with financing, reorganization, merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or a similar transaction, subject to appropriate safeguards.
Service providers may process information under their own terms and privacy notices where they act independently.
6. Vendor profiles, references, and automated research
A Vendor Passport is designed to make selected business qualifications available to authorized procurement users. We may display the vendor’s company name, operating name, website, headquarters, service territory, capabilities, trades, workforce capacity, mobilization, selected safety or readiness indicators, experience summary, verification status, scorecard, and supporting-source information.
We do not intend to display a vendor contact’s personal email or telephone number in the searchable profile unless the vendor separately authorizes it. References and document links are used for review and verification and are not intended for general public display.
DCBX may supplement submitted information with public or licensed sources and may use automated or artificial-intelligence-assisted tools to find, organize, or summarize business information. Automated output can be incomplete or inaccurate; DCBX may require human review before a material finding changes a published score. Vendors may request correction or review through the Contact page.
7. Cookies, authentication, and local storage
DCBX and the providers that deliver sign-in, security, hosting, payments, and analytics may use cookies or similar technologies to authenticate users, maintain sessions, prevent fraud, balance traffic, remember settings, complete transactions, count visits, and measure how people use important site features.
Google Analytics records site usage and successful actions using limited technical and interaction data, such as the page used, browser or device information, approximate location, event name, selected plan, transaction identifier, and transaction value. DCBX does not intentionally send names, email addresses, form contents, payment-card data, or typed vendor-search text through these analytics events. You can limit cookies through your browser settings or use Google’s Analytics opt-out tools.
The opportunity board uses browser local storage to remember watchlist selections on that device. You can remove those selections through the interface or by clearing site data in your browser. We do not currently use third-party advertising pixels or cross-site behavioral advertising trackers on the DCBX website. Third-party pages such as Stripe Checkout may use technologies described in their own privacy notices.
8. Sale, targeted advertising, and profiling
DCBX does not sell personal information for money. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral or targeted advertising, and we do not use personal information to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects through solely automated profiling.
Making vendor business qualifications available to authorized procurement users is part of the Vendor Passport service requested by the vendor; it is not a sale of personal information.
9. Retention and security
We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Services, maintain business and transaction records, fulfill the purpose for which it was collected, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, prevent fraud, and meet legal, tax, accounting, or security obligations. Retention periods vary by record type and may continue after a membership ends. We may retain aggregated or de-identified information where permitted by law.
We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect information. No storage or transmission system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Notify us through the Contact page if you believe information or an account has been compromised.
10. Your choices and privacy rights
Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have the right to request access to, correction of, deletion of, or a portable copy of certain personal information; to confirm whether we process it; to opt out of certain sales, targeted advertising, or qualifying profiling; and to appeal a denied request.
Submit a request through the Contact page and identify it as “Privacy Request.” We may ask for information reasonably necessary to verify your identity and authority. An authorized agent may submit a request where permitted by law, but we may require proof of authorization. To appeal a decision, submit “Privacy Appeal” through the same page and explain the basis for the appeal.
Because DCBX does not currently sell personal information or use it for targeted advertising, no opt-out action is required for those activities. You may update payment details and manage a subscription through the Stripe billing portal. You may also ask us to correct a Vendor Passport or stop displaying eligible profile information, subject to contractual, legal, backup, and recordkeeping needs.
11. Children and U.S. operations
The Services are business-to-business offerings intended for adults and are not directed to children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child provided information, contact us so we can investigate and delete it when appropriate.
DCBX is based in Virginia, United States, and information may be processed and stored in the United States or other locations where our service providers operate. If you use the Services from another jurisdiction, you understand that its data-protection laws may differ from those in your location.
12. Changes and contact
We may update this policy to reflect changes in the Services, our practices, or law. We will post the revised policy and update the effective date. If a change is material, we will provide additional notice when reasonably appropriate.
For privacy questions or requests, use our Contact page and select “Privacy request.” Please do not include sensitive information that is not necessary for us to understand and verify the request.