Effective date: August 11, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Hotshot College collects, uses, discloses, and retains information when you use Hotshot College, Hotshot Shield, Trust ID, HotshotGPT, community, course, commerce, website, and related services (collectively, the “Services”).
1. Information we collect
- Account and identity information: username, name, email, phone number, date of birth for age eligibility, password hash, account type, profile fields, verification status, and account preferences.
- Transportation and Trust ID information: company name, USDOT and docket numbers, authority and status information, addresses and business contacts, fleet and classification data, source payloads, checked-at times, claim status, corrections, accreditation status, and the WordPress user ID linked to an approved claim.
- Insurance and verification information: public filing indicators and, when a workflow is enabled, certificate fields, producer confirmations, vehicle or VIN confirmations with consent, document hashes, provenance, review decisions, and change history. Private documents and sensitive identifiers are access controlled.
- User content: reviews, complaints, replies, evidence, questions, comments, messages, uploaded material, profile content, claim and correction submissions, and appeal statements.
- AI and education activity: HotshotGPT prompts, responses, conversation history, shared chats, notes, reports, course activity, and feedback. Do not submit secrets or personal data that is not needed for your request.
- Search and profile activity: search type, matched Trust ID, and signed-in Trust ID profile views. Privacy-preserving analytics use an HMAC-derived viewer reference and bounded role or section values. The profile analytics system is designed not to store the viewer’s name, email, phone number, raw query, exact public view time, or IP address, and not to disclose viewer identity to a profile owner.
- Voice search: microphone audio you choose to record for transcription. Audio is sent over an encrypted connection to the speech-to-text service and is intended for transient processing, not permanent WordPress media storage. The resulting text becomes your search query.
- Device, usage, and security information: browser and device characteristics, session identifiers, page path without query strings, approximate/coarse location or timezone, timestamps, dwell time, error logs, fraud and security events, consent records, and rate-limit data. Security logs may include IP-derived or account-linked signals when necessary to protect the Services.
- Transactions: products, subscriptions, orders, billing status, payment-method type and processor references. Full payment-card numbers are handled by payment providers rather than stored by Hotshot College.
- Communications: support messages, notification preferences, delivery status, opt-outs, and consent records. Communications credentials are stored encrypted and are not sent to the browser.
2. Where information comes from
Information comes from you; other users; FMCSA and other government or public sources; businesses and their authorized representatives; insurers or producers where authorized; service providers; and your interaction with the Services. A public-source record may exist before its subject creates an account. We record source and freshness information where the product supports it.
3. How we use information
We use information to create and secure accounts; provide search, Trust ID, claims, corrections, evidence, insurance, relationship, community, educational, AI, commerce, website, and support functions; cache and refresh official records; prevent abuse and fraud; enforce policies; diagnose errors; measure aggregate use; send requested or permitted communications; maintain audit trails; comply with law; and improve the Services. Paid status does not determine the outcome of a review, complaint, score, verification, or moderation decision.
4. AI and automated processing
AI may help answer questions, summarize material, transcribe voice, extract fields, detect patterns, or assist reviewers. AI can be wrong. Material moderation, identity, insurance, scoring, employment, or safety outcomes should not be made solely by an AI response. We may send the minimum necessary prompt or content to a configured AI or transcription provider. Do not use the Services to make a legally regulated eligibility decision unless a separate compliant workflow expressly supports that purpose.
5. Profile-view counts and notifications
When a signed-in user views a Trust ID, we may count the event for security, aggregate analytics, and profile-owner notifications. Owners may receive a count or thresholded summary, but not the viewer’s identity, contact details, IP address, raw search, or exact view time. We do not use profile-view counts to change TrustScore. Claimed-owner notifications use the account contact selected in preferences. Outreach to an unclaimed public-source contact is disabled unless Hotshot College confirms the source permits that use and implements required sender identification, postal address, consent or other lawful basis, unsubscribe, and suppression controls.
6. Cookies, local storage, PWA, and push
We use cookies and similar storage for login, security, CSRF protection, session continuity, preferences, shopping, AI history, and performance. The progressive web app may cache approved public assets and pages. Push notifications are used only after device permission and can be disabled in the browser or device settings. Browser microphone permission is requested only when you activate voice input.
7. When we disclose information
We may disclose information to hosting, database, security, analytics, payment, AI, transcription, mapping, email, communications, and support providers that process it for us; to government or official-source systems when a requested workflow requires it; to the public when you submit public content or when a Trust ID field is designated public; to a profile claimant as an aggregate, privacy-thresholded activity summary; in a business transaction; or when reasonably necessary to comply with law, protect rights and safety, investigate fraud, or enforce these policies. We do not disclose profile viewers’ identities to profile owners merely because they viewed a record.
8. Public information
Trust IDs, official-source fields, reviews, complaints, responses, public evidence summaries, questions, and selected profile information may be visible to anyone and indexed by search engines. Private insurance documents, claim proofs, internal moderation material, credentials, raw audit data, and protected personal fields are not intended for public display. Do not post confidential information or personal data that is not necessary.
9. Retention
We retain information for as long as needed for the purposes described above, including account operation, evidence provenance, dispute and correction history, fraud prevention, accounting, security, legal holds, and legal obligations. Retention depends on the category and sensitivity of the information. Guest security activity is generally scheduled for deletion after 90 days unless needed for an active security investigation or legal hold. Transient voice audio is intended to be discarded after transcription. Deletion of an account does not require us to erase public-source records, de-identified aggregates, or records we must preserve, but we will remove or restrict personal information when required by law.
10. Security
We use role and capability checks, authenticated encryption for provider credentials, password hashing, transport encryption, nonces, rate limits, input validation, parameterized data access, audit logs, restricted service accounts, and other safeguards appropriate to the system. No system is completely secure. You are responsible for using a strong unique password and protecting your devices and account.
11. Your choices and rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to know, access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of personal information; limit or object to certain processing; withdraw consent; opt out of marketing; or appeal a privacy decision. You may also claim a Trust ID, submit a correction, respond to a complaint, or use an available appeal process. We may verify your identity and authority before acting. Authorized agents must provide proof of authority. We will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right.
12. Email, text, and telephone communications
Transactional messages may concern account security, purchases, claims, disputes, records you manage, and requested alerts. Marketing messages require the controls applicable to the channel. Commercial email includes accurate sender information, a valid postal address, and an effective unsubscribe mechanism before the unclaimed-profile outreach program can be enabled. Automated marketing texts or calls are not enabled merely because communications credentials are configured; a verified sender, appropriate consent, quiet hours, suppression, and opt-out handling are separate requirements.
13. Children
The Services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly allow registration by anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided personal information, contact us so we can investigate and take appropriate action.
14. United States processing and third-party links
The Services are operated from the United States, and information may be processed where our providers operate. Third-party websites and services have their own privacy practices. Their inclusion in a record or link does not make Hotshot College responsible for those practices.
15. Changes and contact
We may update this policy as the Services and law change. The effective date identifies the latest version, and we will provide additional notice when required. For privacy, access, correction, deletion, or legal requests, contact hotshotcollege@gmail.com. This policy should be reviewed by qualified privacy counsel before broad commercial launch, especially before unclaimed-profile outreach, regulated eligibility uses, or automated telephone and text programs are enabled.