This policy explains what information the TechKnow application collects, why it is collected, who it is shared with, and how you can access or delete it.
TechKnow is operated by DOC Maintenance LLC, doing business as
DOC Services ("DOC," "we," "us"), a commercial equipment maintenance
company based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, United States. This policy covers the TechKnow
Android application (com.docservices.techknow), the TechKnow installable web app,
and the TechKnow website at
wa-doc-techlibrary.azurewebsites.net, together the "App."
TechKnow is a private workforce tool, not a consumer app. It is available only to authorized DOC Services field technicians, staff, and approved partner personnel who sign in with a company-issued account. There is no public sign-up. We do not use TechKnow to build advertising profiles, and we do not sell personal information.
Its sole purpose is technical support for DOC technicians performing equipment service and repair. Customers and members of the public do not interact with TechKnow in either direction — it accepts no input from them and returns no output to them. The only people whose personal information it handles are DOC's own authorized personnel.
Contents
- Who can use TechKnow
- Information we collect
- What we do not collect
- How we use information
- Camera and photos
- Voice input
- AI processing
- Who we share information with
- Where data is stored and how it is protected
- How long we keep data
- Your choices, access, and data deletion
- Cookies and on-device storage
- Children
- Changes to this policy
- Contact us
1. Who can use TechKnow
Access requires signing in with an account issued by DOC Services or an approved affiliate:
- Field technicians sign in with their work Google account
(
@doctechs.com). - Staff and administrators sign in with their Microsoft work account
(
@docservices.comor@ballymore.com).
Sign-in is handled by Google and Microsoft. We never see, receive, or store your password. We receive only the identity information described below. Accounts outside the approved domains are rejected at sign-in.
TechKnow is installed and used on company-owned phones, tablets, and equipment only. It is not distributed for personal devices, and it is deployed to managed company devices through your organization's device management rather than by individual download.
Because TechKnow accounts and devices are issued and administered by your employer, your employer's own workplace and acceptable-use policies also apply to your use of the App.
2. Information we collect
| Category | What it includes | Why we collect it |
|---|---|---|
| Account identity | Your work email address, your display name, and the verified domain of your account, as provided by Google or Microsoft at sign-in. | To confirm you are authorized to use the App, to show you your own work assignments, and to keep an audit trail of activity. |
| Questions and answers | The questions you type or dictate into the App, and the answers the App returns. | To answer your question, to cache common answers so the App is faster and cheaper to run, and to find and fix wrong or incomplete answers. |
| Feedback | Thumbs up / thumbs down ratings, any category or comment you add, and—on a thumbs down only—a copy of that conversation. | So a human can review the specific exchange that went wrong and correct the underlying content. |
| Photos you take | Equipment data-plate, nameplate, and battery photos you capture or upload. See section 5. | To read the make, model, and serial number off the equipment so you do not have to type them, and to attach a visual record to the work order. |
| Work and equipment records | Work order numbers, customer site, equipment make/model/serial, parts, service history, and which technician is assigned. Drawn from DOC's own business systems. | To assemble the job briefing and equipment history you see for your assigned work. |
| Usage and diagnostics | Session identifier, app version, timestamps, which features and search tools were used, and error/exception logs. | To keep the App working, diagnose failures, measure adoption, and control operating cost. |
| Technical connection data | IP address, browser or device user-agent string, and similar data recorded automatically by our hosting platform. | Standard web server logging, security monitoring, and abuse prevention. |
Most of what passes through TechKnow is equipment and work-order information, not personal information. The personal information involved is primarily your work identity and the record of your own activity in the App.
3. What we do not collect
TechKnow does not collect, request, or use:
- Precise or background location. The App does not request GPS or location permission and does not track where your device is.
- Contacts, calendar, call logs, SMS, photos already in your gallery, or files outside of an image you deliberately choose to submit.
- Advertising identifiers. There is no advertising in TechKnow, and no third-party advertising or marketing SDK is embedded in it.
- Third-party analytics or tracking SDKs. No Google Analytics, no Firebase Analytics, no social media pixels, no cross-site or cross-app trackers.
- Passwords or payment information. Authentication is delegated to Google and Microsoft, and the App does not process payments.
- Special-category personal data such as health, biometric, racial or ethnic, religious, or union-membership information.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
4. How we use information
We use the information above only to:
- Verify that you are authorized to use the App, and keep unauthorized accounts out.
- Answer your equipment, parts, and troubleshooting questions and show you the correct manual, diagram, or procedure.
- Assemble the job briefings, equipment history, and parts information for your assigned work orders.
- Read equipment data plates from photos you submit so identifiers are captured accurately.
- Operate, secure, monitor, debug, and improve the App, including reviewing feedback to correct wrong answers.
- Produce internal, aggregated reporting on adoption, answer quality, and operating cost.
- Meet our legal, regulatory, and recordkeeping obligations.
No automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects are made about you by this App. TechKnow is a reference and assistance tool. It does not decide pay, discipline, employment status, or performance ratings.
5. Camera and photos
TechKnow can use your device camera only when you actively start a photo capture inside the App (for example, to scan an equipment data plate or a battery label). Your device will ask for camera permission the first time, and you can deny or later revoke it in your device settings. The App does not run the camera in the background and never captures images without you initiating it.
What happens to a photo you submit:
- It is sent over an encrypted connection to our servers and to our AI processor (see section 7) to read the text on the plate or label.
- Nameplate and asset-identification photos are processed and discarded— we keep the extracted make, model, and serial text, not the image.
- Battery inspection photos are stored in our private Azure storage and linked to the work order, because the visual condition of a battery is part of the service record. These are stored in a non-public container and are reachable only through short-lived, access-controlled links.
Please photograph equipment only. Do not photograph people, documents containing personal information, or anything unrelated to the equipment being serviced.
6. Voice input
TechKnow offers an optional voice input button so you can ask a question hands-free. This uses the speech recognition built into your browser or device, not a recording made by us. Your device asks for microphone permission the first time, and you can revoke it at any time in your device settings.
We do not receive or store audio. We receive only the text your device transcribed, which is then treated exactly like a typed question. Depending on your device and browser (for example, Chrome on Android), the speech-to-text step itself may be performed by your device's operating system or browser vendor under their own privacy policy.
7. AI processing
TechKnow's answers are generated using large language models provided by Anthropic, PBC through the Anthropic API. When you ask a question, the relevant content is sent to Anthropic for processing. That content can include your question, the conversation so far, the relevant work order and equipment context, excerpts from our technical document library, and any photo you submitted.
We use Anthropic's commercial API as a service provider. Under Anthropic's commercial terms, inputs and outputs sent through the API are not used to train their models. Anthropic processes this data on our behalf and under contract.
AI-generated answers can be incomplete or wrong. TechKnow is a reference aid, and technicians remain responsible for following the applicable manual, safety procedure, and their training. Use the thumbs-down button to report a bad answer.
8. Who we share information with
We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not disclose it for advertising. We share it only with the following categories of recipients:
| Recipient | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Cloud hosting, database, file storage, and Microsoft sign-in | All App data at rest and in transit through Azure; sign-in identity for staff accounts. |
| Anthropic, PBC | AI processing (see section 7) | Question text, conversation context, relevant document and work order content, and submitted photos. |
| Sign-in for field technician accounts; Google Play distribution of the Android app | Sign-in identity for @doctechs.com accounts. Google does not receive your
App activity or content from us. |
|
| Google Fonts | Web font delivery | Your IP address and browser user-agent, as an unavoidable part of your browser requesting a font file. No App content is sent. |
| DOC Services and affiliates | Internal operations, supervision, and support | Authorized DOC and Ballymore administrators can view App activity, feedback, and work records as part of running the service. |
We may also disclose information if required by law, valid legal process, or a government request, or where necessary to protect our rights, safety, property, or to investigate fraud or a security incident. If DOC is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, information may transfer as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.
9. Where data is stored and how it is protected
TechKnow runs on Microsoft Azure in the United States (East US region). Data is stored in Azure App Service, Azure SQL Database, and Azure Blob Storage under accounts controlled by DOC.
Safeguards in place include:
- Encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) for all connections to the App.
- Encryption at rest for Azure SQL Database and Blob Storage.
- Mandatory single sign-on with an approved company account; a domain allow-list enforced independently on our servers; and an additional verified-domain check for field technician accounts.
- Non-public file storage. Document and photo links are generated as short-lived, access-controlled URLs rather than open public links.
- Administrative functions restricted to a small set of DOC and Ballymore administrators.
No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a breach affecting your personal information, we will notify affected users and any required authorities as the law requires.
If you access the App from outside the United States, understand that your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States.
10. How long we keep data
- Account identity and activity logs — for as long as your account is active, and afterward as needed for security, audit, and legal recordkeeping.
- Questions, answers, and cached answers — retained to operate and improve the service; cached answers are refreshed or evicted on an ongoing basis.
- Feedback and thumbs-down conversations — retained until the underlying content problem is reviewed and resolved, and afterward for quality trend analysis.
- Nameplate / asset-identification photos — not retained; processed and discarded.
- Battery inspection photos and work-order records — retained with the service record for the life of the customer and equipment relationship, per DOC's business recordkeeping requirements.
- Server and diagnostic logs — retained on a short rolling basis under Azure platform logging.
When information is no longer needed for these purposes, we delete it or aggregate it so it no longer identifies you.
11. Your choices, access, and data deletion
You can:
- Revoke camera or microphone permission in your device settings. The App keeps working; those specific features stop.
- Clear locally stored App data on your device by signing out, or by clearing the app's storage in Android Settings, or clearing site data in your browser.
- Note for company-owned devices: because TechKnow runs on managed company hardware, some of these settings — including whether the App can be uninstalled and whether certain permissions can be changed — may be controlled by DOC's device management rather than by you. Your IT administrator can tell you what applies to your device.
- Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Request correction of information that is inaccurate.
- Request deletion of your personal information, as described below.
Account and data deletion
TechKnow accounts are company-issued, so there is no in-app self-service delete. To request deletion of your TechKnow account and the personal information associated with it, email privacy@docservices.com from your work address with the subject "TechKnow data deletion request."
- We acknowledge requests within 5 business days and complete verified requests within 30 days.
- Deletion removes your account access, your stored questions and answers, your feedback entries, and your activity records.
- Some information must be retained where the law requires it, or where it forms part of a customer service record—for example, the equipment service history and battery inspection record attached to a completed work order. Those records document work performed for a customer on a machine, and are kept as business records. Where we must retain something, we will tell you what and why.
- When your employment or authorization ends, your access is revoked by your administrator.
California privacy rights
If you are a California resident, you have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), including the rights to know what personal information we hold about you, to access it, to correct it, to request its deletion, and not to be treated differently for exercising those rights. These rights cover employee and job-applicant information, not only consumer information. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under California law. To exercise any right, contact us at the address in section 15.
12. Cookies and on-device storage
TechKnow uses cookies and browser storage only for functionality. There are no advertising or tracking cookies.
- Session cookie — issued after sign-in to keep you signed in (currently up to 3 days) so you are not re-prompted on every screen.
- On-device storage (
localStorage) — keeps your conversation thread identifier, your active work order, recently viewed job briefings for offline access, your dark-mode preference, and which sign-in provider you last used. This stays on your device. - Service worker cache — stores app files and recently viewed content so TechKnow keeps working in areas with poor connectivity, which is a core requirement in the field.
13. Children
TechKnow is a workplace tool intended solely for adult employees and authorized personnel. It is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have collected such information, we will delete it.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the App changes. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how we handle your personal information, we will provide a more prominent notice, such as an in-app notice. Continued use of the App after an update means you accept the revised policy.
15. Contact us
Questions, requests, or complaints about this policy or your information:
DOC Maintenance LLC (d/b/a DOC Services)
Privacy inquiries:
privacy@docservices.com
Web: www.docservices.com
DOC Maintenance LLC
3695 Centre Circle
Fort Mill, SC 29715
United States
We respond to privacy inquiries within 30 days.