Privacy policy
We detect waste. Not people.
Aerbits builds aerial evidence systems that help public works departments find and clean up illegal dumping. Our services are designed around a single principle: detect waste objects on public property — not identify individuals.
Effective date: September 19, 2026 · Applies to aerbits.com and services operated by Aerbits Inc.
Aerbits is not a surveillance system. We do not use facial recognition, do not read license plates, do not track people, and do not record audio. Imagery is captured from public rights of way at altitudes where identifying individuals is not a design goal, and any incidentally captured private detail is redacted before retention.
What we collect
When we fly a survey for a client, we collect only what is needed to detect and document illegal dumping on public property:
- Aerial still imagery of public rights of way, taken from an aircraft or drone
- GPS coordinates of detected waste locations
- Timestamps indicating when imagery was captured
- Waste classifications generated by our AI models (e.g., appliances, furniture, construction debris, hazardous material)
- Detection confidence scores and flight metadata used for quality control
What we do not collect
- No facial recognition or biometric data — our detection models are trained exclusively on waste objects and have no capability to identify people
- No license plate reading — vehicle identification is not performed and is disabled
- No people tracking — no pedestrian detection, movement tracking, or behavior analysis
- No audio recording — imagery only
- No private property targeting — surveys are geofenced to public rights of way and designated public areas
- No personally identifying information (PII) — we do not collect names, addresses, contact details, or other personal information unless you contact us directly (see Contact below)
How we use data
Imagery and detection data are used solely for the services our clients hire us to perform:
- Identify and locate illegal dumping so crews are dispatched to real, verified piles
- Verify and correct work orders — closing "ghost" reports where no dumping exists and confirming cleanups
- Document cleanup outcomes with before/after evidence
- Support trend and hotspot analysis so resources go where dumping is worst
- Generate aggregate, non-identifying reports for clients and the public
We do not sell data. We do not share imagery for advertising, marketing, or any commercial purpose. We do not provide data to law enforcement.
Data retention
Retention periods are deliberately short and are built around the operational purpose of the data:
| Data type | Retention | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Unredacted original imagery | Deleted within 7 days | Used only for AI processing and quality assurance, then permanently deleted from all storage media, including backups. Deletions are logged and certified. |
| Redacted imagery and cropped detection images | Up to 6 months | Redacted automatically (typically within 24 hours of capture) to remove faces, plates, and other identifying details. Retained for trend analysis, reporting, and before/after verification. |
| Detection metadata (location, class, timestamp) | Up to 6 months | No imagery attached. |
| Aggregated / anonymized statistics | Indefinite | Totals and categories only — no imagery or location-level detail tied to individuals. |
Our clients may have their own retention schedules or public records obligations. We honor documented deletion certifications and provide notices to clients when scheduled deletions are completed.
Access and sharing
Who can access imagery
- Original (unredacted) imagery is restricted to the pilot in command and authorized flight/visual-observer roles for the client's designated point of contact — no one else
- Processed, redacted, trash-only imagery is available to the client's authorized staff with a specific operational need (e.g., public works directors, cleanup coordinators)
- Aerbits operators access data only for system administration, quality control, and compliance
Sharing commitments
- No third-party sharing without the client's written approval, and never for purposes outside illegal-dumping remediation
- Client data isolation — imagery collected for one jurisdiction is never used for another client, jurisdiction, or as training content
- Public records — data in our clients' custody may be subject to public records laws; we cooperate with lawful requests and consult with the client's legal office
- No sale of data, imagery, or detections to any third party
Security and data protection
- Private infrastructure — imagery is processed on Aerbits-controlled servers running our own AI models; we do not send imagery to third-party cloud AI services
- Encryption — data encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3)
- Automated redaction — identifying details are stripped from imagery before anything is retained or shared
- Geofencing — flight targeting is confined to public areas designated by the client
- Access logging — all access to client data is logged and available for audit
- Incident response — unauthorized-disclosure procedures include client notification, containment, and a written incident report
Compliance
Our practices are designed to comply with applicable privacy law, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California's biometric privacy law (SB-1001). Because we do not collect personal information or biometric data through our aerial services, there is generally no personal information about you to access, correct, or delete. Where a client's use policy imposes additional obligations (for example, municipal surveillance-ordinance requirements such as a privacy advisory commission review), we meet those requirements in our contracts and operations.
Your choices
- Location exclusion — property owners in a surveyed area can request that a specific location be excluded from targeted analysis or reporting where feasible
- Correction — if a detection at a location you own is incorrect, we will investigate and correct the classification
- Deletion requests — we honor documented requests to delete data we are not legally obligated to retain
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as our services evolve. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date above and, where practical, notify clients. Continued use of our services after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact
Questions, privacy concerns, or requests related to this policy should be directed to:
Aerbits Inc.
Contact: Brian Johnson, President
Email: brian@aerbits.com
Phone: +1 (415) 310-4985