DS Nexus — Privacy Policy
Last updated October 23, 2026 · Pilot version
DS Nexus is a voice-first app made by Custos Forge, LLC for contractors. It lets you run your business by talking to it — creating customers, jobs, estimates, invoices, and getting paid — instead of typing. This page explains what information the app collects, why, and who it's shared with.
DS Nexus is currently in a limited pilot with a small number of invited testers. If you're one of them: thank you, and please read this in full — a few things here are specific to the pilot stage and will change as the product matures.
What we collect
| Data | What it is & why we collect it |
|---|---|
| Voice audio | When you speak to DS Nexus (after saying "Hey Nexus" or pressing the mic), your recorded speech is sent to cloud speech-recognition services so the app can understand and act on it. Audio is processed to produce a text transcript; we do not use it to train our own models. |
| Business data you enter | Customer names, phone numbers, emails, and addresses; job details; estimates, invoices, and pricing you create through the app. This is your business data, about your own customers — we store it so the app can work, and so you can access it across devices. |
| Payment information | Invoice amounts and payment status. Card details, when a customer pays an invoice, are handled directly by Stripe (see below) — DS Nexus and Custos Forge, LLC never see or store card numbers. |
| Photos | Job-site photos you choose to take or attach through the app's camera feature. |
| Account information | By default your account has no name or email attached to it. If you choose to "secure your data" with an email and password, we store that email so you can recover your account on a new device. |
| Device & diagnostic data | Basic technical information (app version, crash reports, error logs) used only to find and fix problems — never sold or used for advertising. |
| Pilot usage information | During the pilot, DS Nexus collects limited usage information — which screens and features are used, whether voice commands succeed, and the app version — so we can understand how reliable the app is and how it is used. This does not include voice recordings or transcripts of what you say, and it does not include your customers' details (names, phone numbers, emails, addresses) or any amounts. It is kept for 60 days and then deleted automatically. Feedback you choose to send from inside the app is kept like an email to our support address. |
| Lead page chat (optional) | A contractor's request page can offer a chat. If a visitor uses it, we keep what they typed and the assistant's replies, so the chat can continue and the contractor can see what was asked. If the visitor doesn't send a request, the chat is deleted automatically after 30 days. If they send a request, the chat is attached to that request and kept with the contractor's other records. Questions the assistant couldn't answer are shown to the contractor, marked as not verified, and deleted after 30 days. We don't save the visitor's network address with the chat; to limit abuse, we keep only a scrambled code made from it. |
Location (optional). DS Nexus uses your phone's location in two places, both only while the app is open and only with the "while using the app" permission; the app never reads your location in the background. Arrival Mode (off unless you turn it on in Settings) compares your location with the addresses of your open jobs to notice when you have reached one; that comparison happens on your phone and nothing is sent or stored. The time clock records one rounded point (to roughly the nearest city block, never an exact spot or a track) when you clock in and one when you clock out, saved with that time entry in your account so your hours show where the work was; if location is off or you decline the permission, the clock still works and the entry simply says the location was off. To find a job's spot on the map, the job address (not your location) is looked up with your phone's built-in address service. You can turn Arrival Mode off, or remove the permission, at any time.
Crew members (optional). A contractor can invite crew with a code. A crew member's account holds their name, email and role, and shows them only the jobs the contractor puts them on (customer name, address, phone, access notes and the work to do), never prices. The contractor can remove a crew member at any time, and a crew member can leave or delete their own account from the app.
DS Nexus contains no advertising and no ad tracking.
Who we share it with
We use the following outside services to make the app work. Each only receives the specific data it needs to do its job:
- OpenAI and Deepgram — convert your spoken voice into text. OpenAI also provides a backup speaking voice for the app's spoken replies.
- Anthropic (Claude) — the AI model that reads the text of what you said, together with the business details it needs to act on it (for example a customer's name or a dollar amount), and decides what to do. On a contractor's request page, Anthropic also receives what a visitor types in the chat, together with the information that contractor has chosen to publish (for example the services they offer and the areas they work in), so it can pick the right approved answer.
- ElevenLabs — turns the app's written replies into its spoken voice. It receives the text of the reply, which can include a customer's name or an amount.
- LiveKit — carries the live voice connection between your phone and our voice assistant.
- Stripe — processes payments; handles and stores card details directly, under Stripe's own privacy policy.
- Google Firebase — securely stores your account and business data, and hosts the app's backend.
- SendGrid — sends emails you ask the app to send on your behalf (e.g. invoices to your customers).
- Twilio — answers and records business phone calls you route to DS Nexus, and (once enabled) sends and receives text messages on a contractor's behalf. It receives the phone number and the message text.
- Google reCAPTCHA — checks that a chat on a request page is being started by a person and not an automated program. It receives technical information about the visitor's browser under Google's own privacy policy.
We do not sell your data to anyone, and we do not share it for advertising purposes.
Text messages (SMS)
Contractors who use DS Nexus may text their customers through it. When you give a contractor your mobile number and agree to receive texts, the number is used only to send you the messages described when you agreed: appointment reminders, arrival notices, replies to your messages, and payment receipts.
We do not sell, rent, or share your mobile number or text-messaging opt-in data with third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes. Your number is shared only with the text-message provider (Twilio) to deliver the messages.
Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP at any time to opt out, or HELP for help. You can also email support@custosforge.com.
How long we keep it, and deleting your data
We keep your data for as long as your account is active, so the app continues to work correctly. You can delete your account and data yourself in the app (Settings, then Delete account), or by following the steps on our account deletion page. If you can't open the app, email us and we'll delete it within 5 business days.
Security
Your data is stored using Google Firebase's security infrastructure, with access rules that keep each user's business data private to their own account. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable, industry-standard measures to protect your information.
Children's privacy
DS Nexus is a business tool for contractors. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.
Changes to this policy
As DS Nexus moves from pilot to general availability, this policy will be updated to reflect new features. We'll update the date at the top of this page when that happens.