Privacy and terms

This page covers what What Started collects and the terms for using it. It is written to be read, not to trip anyone up. If something here is unclear, write to support@whatstarted.com.

What Started is run by Conperio Technology Solutions ("we"). By creating an account or using the service, you agree to the terms below.

Privacy

What we collect

• Your account: your email address and a password. The password is stored by our login provider as a one-way hash; we never see it.
• Your team: email addresses of people you invite, and each person's role.
• Your plant's data: the plant name and time zone, machines, areas, shift schedules, reason codes, and everything machines and people send in:
  • status changes, stops, and the operator name and notes typed at a QR sticker
  • cycle counts, scrap and metrics
• Keys and tokens: API keys, ping tokens and pairing codes are stored only as hashes. We can check them, but can't read them back.
• An audit log of changes made in your plant (who changed what, and when), which your admins can see.
• Billing: if you subscribe, Stripe handles your card. We keep the Stripe customer and subscription IDs, the plan and the number of machines, never card numbers.
• Technical logs: our hosting provider records requests, including IP addresses, for a short time to run and protect the service. Our own logs leave out tokens, keys, passwords and request bodies.

What we don't do

• No advertising, no tracking pixels, no analytics services, and we don't sell or rent data.
• The only cookies are the ones that keep you signed in.

Who processes it for us

Service	What for	Where
Supabase	Database, sign-in and file downloads	USA
Vercel	Hosting the website and app	USA
Stripe	Payments, for paid plans only	USA
Resend	Sending email: sign-up confirmations, invites, alerts	USA

Each only gets what it needs to do its job.

How we use it

We use your data to run the service for you: show the board, send the alerts you set up, work out reports and bill paid plans. We read a customer's data only:

• to support that customer;
• to fix a problem;
• when the law requires it.

Every time our staff open a plant's data, it is recorded.

The What Started Agent

The agent runs on your PC and only makes outgoing requests to What Started. It sends a machine's heartbeat and a device name, platform and version so you can tell your devices apart. Its ping token is kept on that PC, protected by Windows.

How long we keep it

• Account and plant data: while your account is open.
• Machine history: at least as long as your plan's history period. Older history may be deleted.
• When you close your account: write to us and we delete your plant's data within 30 days. Backup copies expire on their own schedule after that.

Your choices

• Get your data: you can export it at any time as CSV, or through the read API on paid plans.
• Correct it: you can correct most of it in Settings.
• Delete it or ask about it: write to support@whatstarted.com to have your data deleted, or to ask what we hold about you.

What Started is meant for businesses and adults. It is not for children under 16.

Terms

Your account

• Keep your password, API keys and ping tokens private; anyone holding them can act as you.
• Owners and admins are responsible for who they invite and what their team does in the plant.

Your data stays yours

You own what you and your machines send in. You give us permission to store and process it only to run What Started for you. You can take it out at any time.

Fair use

Don't use What Started to:

• break the law;
• send pings or API calls faster than your plan allows, or try to get round its limits;
• try to reach other customers' data;
• disrupt the service for others.

We may slow or block traffic that does this.

Not a safety system

What Started reports what machines and people tell it, as well as it can. Alerts can be late or missed (a network outage, an email filter, a machine that stops sending). Do not use it for safety, life-critical or emergency alarms, or as the only way you learn that something has gone wrong.

Plans and billing

• The free plan is free, with the limits shown on the pricing page.
• Paid plans are billed monthly in advance per active machine, through Stripe, and renew each month until you cancel. Adding or archiving machines changes the bill, and Stripe prorates the difference.
• You can cancel at any time in the app. The plan runs to the end of the month already paid, and there are no refunds for part months.
• Prices and plan limits can change. We will give paying customers at least 30 days' notice by email before a change affects them.

Changes and ending

We may change these terms. We will post the new version here with a new date, and email account owners about important changes.

You can stop using What Started at any time. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms or doesn't pay. Unless the account was closed for abuse, we will give you a chance to export your data first.

The service is provided as is

We work to keep What Started available and correct, but we don't promise it will be uninterrupted or error free. To the extent the law allows:

• we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost production, lost profit or lost data;
• our total liability is limited to what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim.

Law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana.

Contact

Conperio Technology Solutions, support@whatstarted.com.