Privacy policy

Updated March 2026

Microfactory, Inc., (owner and operator of the SourdoughSidekick.com website and the FirstBuild brand, hereafter “FirstBuild”, “we” or “us”) values the privacy of the visitors, consumers, and others (known collectively or individually as “Users”) who use the SourdoughSidekick.com website (the “Website”). This Privacy Statement details important information regarding the use and disclosure of User information collected on the Website. Your use of the Website and any information you provide on the Website remains subject to the terms of this Privacy Statement and the Website’s Terms of Use. This Privacy Statement applies only to this Website and your interactions with FirstBuild related to this site and products sold on the site. While other websites may be displayed as links from within the Website, those sites are owned and operated by others and they may have different privacy policies. When linking from the Website to other websites, we urge you to review the privacy policies of those sites.

1. Personal Information We Collect or Process

We ask you to provide personal information when using the Website, as described below. We collect and use some information listed below because we are either legally required to do so or because we need it to provide the services offered on and provided by this Website (the “Services”) to you. In such cases, if you do not provide the information that we ask for, we may not be able to provide you with the Services.

  • ONLINE PURCHASES
    When you purchase a product from us, we collect directly from you identifiers (full name), contact information (address, phone number, and email address), product/purchase information (model number, serial number, and purchase date), and payment information (credit card information and name on credit card). We use your identifiers, contact information, and payment information to facilitate the sale and delivery of our products to you, process returns, and provide service and safety notices. We share your identifiers, contact information, and payment information with our third-party fulfillment providers so that they can assist us in processing your transaction and delivering your order to you. We use identifiers, contact information, and product/purchase information to send you marketing communications that we feel may be of interest to you based on your marketing preferences.

  • CUSTOMER SERVICE
    When you use our online services to make a consumer service inquiry, schedule a discussion, input your information in a chat, ask questions in an online forum, or email us, we collect directly from you identifiers (name) and contact information (telephone number and email address). We also collect directly from you any product/purchase information (model and/or serial number of your product, date of purchase, date of shipping), payment information (credit card information and name on credit card), and service information (nature of your issue or question) that you choose to provide. We use this information to respond to your request for product service, address your questions and comments, ship or deliver product, issue invoices, process returns, and provide you service and safety bulletins. We also use this information to evaluate and improve our business (including developing new products and services and analyzing our existing products and services). We will share this information with our third-party customer service partners so that they can assist us in responding to you and to administer service requests.

  • PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES
    When you choose to participate in our online promotional activities (discounts, contests, and other similar promotions) we collect directly from you identifiers (full name) and contact information (address, phone number, email address). We use this information to administer the promotional activity that you are participating in. If necessary for the promotional activity, we also collect your product/purchase information (model and/or serial number of your product, date of purchase, and date of shipping). We use this information to confirm that you qualify to take part in a specific promotional activity (e.g., when a promotional activity is available only for users of certain products or services or residents of certain states). If we have a sponsor for a specific promotion or if we utilize a third party to administer the promotion or to deliver the prize, we share your personal information with them. Some of these activities have additional rules containing information about how we use and disclose your personal information. These additional rules will be specified at the time of collection.

  • SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
    If you interact with us through social networking websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok, we access such personal information as permitted in accordance with your social media platform privacy settings. We use this information to personalize your online experience, provide exclusive content, and send you marketing communications that we feel may be of interest to you based on your marketing preferences on those social networking websites. We share this information with service providers that assist with the activities described above.

  • SURVEYS AND PRODUCT REVIEWS
    We use your identifiers (name) and contact information (email address) to send optional online surveys to assess user experience with our products and services. If you agree to participate in an online survey or poll we collect information about you, such as preferences, activities, attitudes, and interests. We use your survey responses for testing, research, analysis, product development, and to improve our products and services. We follow up with some survey respondents to discuss issues related to their responses. If we use a third-party service provider to administer the survey, collect results, or distribute prizes, the third party will have access to your information. We don’t otherwise share this information. After you purchase a product, we use your contact information to send you an email asking if you would like to post a review on our website. We respond to some posted reviews, but unless you so request will not otherwise use your contact information in relation to reviews.

  • LOCATION INFORMATION
    We collect your location information (zip code) when you search for products on our webpages or apps. This information permits us to determine whether a particular product is available for delivery in your geographic area. FirstBuild does not store or use this information other than to make this determination and does not share it with third parties.

  • DEVICE INFORMATION
    When you interact with the Website, we collect device information as described in the Cookie Notice below.

2. General Use of Personal Information

In addition to the specific uses disclosed above, we may use the personal information collected about you on an as-needed basis for the following purposes:

  • To conduct investigations and comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements and our Services' terms of use.
  • To ensure the safety of our network services and information resources.
  • As required for tax, financial accounting, and transactional purposes.
  • Using identifiers and product/purchase information, we infer new information from data we collect to generate information about your likely preferences or other characteristics (“inferences”). We do not use sensitive identifiers to make inferences about you
  • Using identifiers, product/purchase information, and service information, we conduct research and analytics designed to understand our customers and improve and grow our business, products, services, and customer experience.
  • Using identifiers, contact information, product/purchase information, and service information, we communicate with you to provide technical or administrative support.
  • To prevent, investigate, and defend against fraud or unlawful or criminal activity, access to, or use of personal data and our data systems.

3. Children's Privacy

The Website is not directed to children under the age of sixteen and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of sixteen on the site. If we become aware that we have inadvertently received Personal Information from a visitor under the age of sixteen on the site, we will delete the information from our records.

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We do not rent, sell, or share your information with other people or non-affiliated companies except to operate the Website, provide services you’ve requested, when we have your permission, or as follows:

We provide the information to trusted partners who work on behalf of or with us under confidentiality agreements. These companies may use your information to help us deliver product you have purchased, operate crowdfunds, operate the Website and to communicate with you about offers from FirstBuild and our marketing partners. These trusted partners are not permitted to use this information for any other purposes.

FirstBuild is a wholly owned subsidiary of Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. d/b/a GE Appliances (“GEA”). We may share Users’ information with GEA. Any use of your information by GEA is governed by GEA’s Privacy Statement (https://www.geappliances.com/privacy/privacy_policy.htm).

We will share your information if we have a good faith belief that sharing such information is reasonably necessary to (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request (including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements), (b) exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims, (c) enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations thereof, (d) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or (e) protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of FirstBuild, its Users or the public as required or permitted by law.

We will share Users’ information if FirstBuild is acquired by or merged with another company or if the product line is acquired by another company. In this event, we will notify active known Users of such acquisition or merger.

5. Choices about Your Data

We provide a variety of ways for you to control the personal data about you we hold, including choices about how we use that information. In certain jurisdictions, these controls and choices are rights under applicable law.

  • Email, telephone, and direct mail: You can stop receiving promotional emails from us by following the “unsubscribe” instructions provided in the emails. You can opt-out of all marketing communications on a going-forward by emailing help@FirstBuild.com.
  • Location and device permissions: You can control location tracking by adjusting your location services options on the “Settings” page on your device. We may continue to approximate your location based on your IP address when you access the services through a computer or device. If you would like to update your device content access permissions, you can do so in the “Settings” of your device.
  • Third-party tracking and interest-based advertising. We participate in interest-based advertising and may use third-party advertising companies to serve you targeted advertisements based on your browsing history. These activities are enabled by cookies and other trackers on our Services. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. You can choose to disable cookies via either our cookie banner or the “Cookie Settings” link at the bottom of our websites and “SDK Preferences” tab in the settings of our apps. You can also go to your browser settings to learn how to delete or reject cookies. If you choose to delete or reject cookies, this could affect certain features and capabilities of our Services. If you (a) change computers, devices, or browsers or (b) use multiple computers, devices, or browsers, you may need to repeat any steps you have taken to reject or block cookies for each new computer, device, or browser. If you choose to delete cookies, any settings or preferences controlled by those cookies may be deleted and may need to be recreated.

    We, or our third-party partners, may link your various devices so that content you see on one device can result in relevant advertising on another device. We may share a common account identifier (such as a hashed email address or user ID) or work with third-party partners who use tracking technologies or statistical modeling tools to determine if two or more devices are linked to a single user or household. We, and our partners, can use this cross-device linkage to serve interest-based advertising and other personalized content to you across your devices (including to improve your user experience), to perform analytics, and to measure the performance of our advertising campaigns.

    For more information read our Cookie Notice section below.

  • Global Privacy Control. Some browsers and browser extensions support the Global Privacy Control (“GPC”) that can send a signal to the websites you visit indicating your choice to opt out from certain types of data processing, including data sales. When we receive such a signal from you, we will respect your choices indicated by a GPC setting as required by applicable law.
  • Do Not Track. Some browsers include a “Do Not Track” (“DNT”) setting that can send a signal to the websites you visit indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. Unlike the GPC described above, there is not a common understanding of how to interpret the DNT signal. Consequently, our websites do not respond to browser DNT signals. You can instead use the range of other tools to control data collection and use, including the cookie and advertising controls described above.

We do our best to comply promptly with your requests. You may continue to receive marketing communications for a short period after the date you submit your request. Your opt out won’t prohibit us from sending you important service-related communications, such as account verification, transactional communications, changes/updates to features of the Services, and technical and safety notices.

6. COOKIE NOTICE:
Use of Cookies and Similar Technologies

When you visit or interact with our sites, services, applications, tools or messaging (our “online services”), we or our authorized service providers may use cookies, web beacons, software development kits, and other similar technologies for storing information to help provide you with a better, faster, and safer experience and for advertising purposes.  In this Cookie Notice, we use the term “cookies” to refer to all of the technologies noted above.

This Cookie Notice is designed to help you understand more about these technologies and our use of them on our sites and in our services, applications, and tools. Below is a summary of a few key things you should know about our use of such technologies.

What cookies do we use and why?

We use cookies (technologies that are essentially small data files placed on your computer, tablet, mobile phone, or other device that allow us to record certain pieces of information whenever you visit or interact with our sites, services, applications, messaging, and tools) we may classify them into the following categories:

“Essential” cookies are necessary for our online services to operate and are always enabled.

“Functional” cookies allow us to offer you enhanced functionality when accessing or using our sites, services, applications, or tools. This may include identifying you when you sign into our sites or keeping track of your specified preferences, interests, or past items viewed so that we may enhance the presentation of content on our sites.

“Advertising” cookies and other technologies may be used by us or by third parties to deliver content, including ads relevant to your interests, on our sites or on third party sites.  This includes using technologies to understand the usefulness to you of the advertisements and content that have been delivered to you, such as whether you have clicked on an advertisement. We may use cookies and web beacons (also known as pixel tags) to determine which users have come to the Website after viewing an advertisement we have served on such third-party websites. We also work with such third parties to collect data so that we can determine the effectiveness of our ads and serve ads targeted to your interests. The use of web beacons does not provide us with any personal information and we do not use this technology to access your personal information. It is used only to compile aggregated data about users who visit the Website and to gauge the effectiveness of our ads. Web beacons do not place information on your device but may work in conjunction with cookies to monitor activity. You cannot remove or block web beacons, but you can remove or block cookies with which they work to block the collection of information about your user activity.  

We also include “Performance” or “Analytics” cookies as part of the “Advertising” cookies category.  These cookies allow gathering of information to help us understand how effective our content is, what interests our users have, and to improve how our online services work. In addition, we use web beacons, tracking pixels and similar services to understand more about the visitors to the Website, and to count visitor numbers and performance cookies to track how many individual users access the Website and how often. This information is used for statistical purposes and to improve how the Website works and it is not our intention to use such information to personally identify any user. 

Please see the Cookie Settings link for more detailed information on the cookies we use on the online services you are using. The Cookie Settings link may be located in the page footer or via the menu bar or application settings.

What cookies do we use and why?

Any personal information that we collect and store through use of these technologies for categories 2 through 4 above is based on a conspicuous disclosure on our online services (and, consistent with applicable law, your consent) during your first visit.  You can control and manage cookies in various ways. Please bear in mind that removing or blocking cookies can impact your user experience and parts of the online services may no longer be fully accessible.

If you do not accept the use of these cookies or wish to change your cookie preferences, please click the applicable Cookie Settings link on the online services you are using. You may also be able to change your browser settings to manage and control cookies; you can find detailed information on how to do so at https://www.aboutcookies.org/.

Accepting or declining cookies is limited to the online service you are using and will not be reflected on other web browsers, or on other sites, or on pages that may be hyperlinked from the Website. For more information on cookies used by other sites and pages, please refer to the specific Cookie Settings link located on those sites, if available.

Email Communications

We may also use tracking technologies to determine whether you have read, clicked on, or forwarded certain email communications we send to you so that we can make our communications more helpful and interesting. If you do not wish us to confirm whether you have opened, clicked on, or forwarded our communications, you will need to unsubscribe, as it is not possible for us to send these emails without tracking enabled. Registered subscribers can update their communication preferences at any time by contacting us at help@FirstBuild.com, or you can unsubscribe following the instructions in the individual email communications you receive from us.

We may modify or amend this Cookie Notice from time to time at our discretion. When we make changes to this notice, we will amend the revision date at the top of this page, and such modified or amended Cookie Notice shall be effective as to you and your information as of that revision date. We encourage you to periodically review this Cookie Notice to be informed about how we are using cookies.

7. Additional U.S. State Privacy Provisions

These Additional U.S. State Privacy Disclosures supplement the above information by providing supplemental information about our personal data processing practices relating to individual residents of the States of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Unless otherwise expressly stated, all terms defined in our Privacy Notice retain the same meaning in these Disclosures.

(a) SENSITIVE PERSONAL DATA

As noted above, the following personal data elements we collect may be classified as “sensitive data” under certain privacy laws:

  • Commercial information, including credit/debit card number plus expiration date and security code (CVV), and financial transaction data;

We use this sensitive information as described in the Information We Collect and General Use of Personal Information sections above, to provide you products, services, and information, to enter into and perform a contract with you, to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, to protect the life or physical safety of you or others, or as otherwise permissible for our internal business purposes consistent with applicable laws.

We do not sell your sensitive information, and we do not process or otherwise share sensitive information for the purpose of profiling or targeted advertising.

(b) DEIDENTIFIED INFORMATION

We may at times receive or process personal data to create de-identified data that can no longer reasonably be used to infer information about, or otherwise be linked to, a particular individual or household. Where we maintain deidentified data, we will keep and use the data in de-identified form and not attempt to re-identify the data except as required or permitted by law.

(c) YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

Depending on your state of residency and subject to certain legal limitations and exceptions, you may be able to exercise the following rights:

  • Right To Know. The right to confirm whether we are processing your personal data and, under some state laws, to obtain certain personalized details about the personal data about you that we have collected, used, disclosed, shared, and/or sold.
  • Right to Access & Portability. The right to obtain access to the personal data about you we have collected and the right to obtain a copy of the personal data in a portable and, to the extent technically feasible, readily usable format that allows you to transmit the data to another entity without hindrance.
  • Right to Correction. You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information that we collect or maintain. This right is subject to our confirmation that the information is inaccurate.
  • Right to Deletion. You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data that we collect or maintain. We may need to keep certain information. For example, we may need to retain your information if you have an active warranty on a GE Appliances product, to facilitate a product recall, to complete an open transaction, to provide a good or service requested by you, to provide a good or service, or for internal purposes as reasonably anticipated within the context of our business relationship, and as described in the General Use of Personal Information section above.
  • Right to Opt-Out of Sales or Sharing of Personal Data. To the extent FirstBuild “sells” your personal data (as defined under applicable law), you may opt out of that sale on a go-forward basis at any time. You may also have the right to opt out of the “sharing” of your personal data with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes or for targeted advertising purposes.
  • Right To Opt Out of Automated Decision-Making. Depending on your state of residence, you may have the right to opt out of having businesses make automated decisions about you through use of your personal data. FirstBuild does not engage in automated decision-making that is subject to this right.

    You will not receive discriminatory treatment by us for the exercise of your privacy rights.

(d) SUBMITTING PRIVACY RIGHTS REQUESTS

To submit a request to exercise one of the privacy rights identified above, please: 

  • Email help@firstbuild.com; or

  • Call us toll-free at 1-833-524-9055.

We may need to verify your identity before processing your request. We will do so by emailing the address you provide us to requests necessary information from you, and that matches our records, and wait for your response. After receiving your response, we will investigate whether we possess information that permits us to make a three-point match - identifiers (full name), contact information (phone, address, email) - with the information you provide in your request. In some instances, we may ask for additional information. This is how we verify your identity before complying. For requests to opt out of sales, sharing, or marketing communications, we require only an email address. In certain circumstances, we may decline a request to exercise the rights described above, particularly where we are unable to verify your identity or locate your information in our systems. We will use provided personal data only to review and comply with the request.

To Exercise Your Right to Opt Out of Personal Data Sales or Sharing

We respect your preference that we not sell or share your personal data with third parties that are not our service providers. To the extent we “sell” or “share” your personal data (as defined under applicable law), you may opt out of such “selling” or “sharing” of your data. To opt out of the sale or sharing of your cookie data for data analytics or targeted advertising by using our cookie preference tools, which you can access via the Cookie Settings link on our webpages and apps or by enabling the Global Privacy Control on your browser. Depending on your state of residence, you may be able opt out of targeted advertising based on information not collected by cookies or other trackers by submitting a request to help@FirstBuild.com.

(e) AUTHORIZED AGENTS

In certain circumstances you are permitted to designate an authorized agent to exercise your privacy rights using the methods designated above. Please provide the agent with written permission, signed by you, authorizing the agent to submit the request on your behalf. The agent must submit that written permission along with the request. Depending on the evidence provided and your state of residence, we may still need to reach out to you to confirm that the authorized agent has permission to act on your behalf and to verify our identity in connection with the request.

(f) APPEALING RIGHTS DECISIONS

Depending on your state of residence, you may be able to appeal to us if we refuse to take action on your exercise of certain choices described above. All appeal requests should be submitted via help@FirstBuild.com.

California-Specific Provisions

Notice at Collection. At or before the time of collection, you have a right to receive notice of our practices, including the categories of personal information and sensitive personal information to be collected, the purposes for which such information is collected or used, whether such information is sold or shared, and how long such information is retained. You can find those details in this Privacy Statement by clicking the above links.

Right to opt out of sale or sharing of personal information. To the extent we “sell” or “share” information with third parties (as those terms are defined under California law) you have a right at any time to opt out on a going-forward basis. Please refer to the section titled To Exercise Your Right To Opt Out of Personal Data Sales or Sharing for more information. You may opt out of the sale or sharing of your cookie data for data analytics or targeted advertising by using our cookie preference tools, which you can access via the Cookie Settings link on our webpages and apps or by enabling the Global Privacy Control on your browser.

Right to limit use of sensitive personal information. You have the right to limit our use of your sensitive personal information for any purposes other than to provide the goods and services you request or as otherwise permitted by law. Sensitive information includes Social Security number, driver’s license number, biometric information, precise geolocation, and racial and ethnic origin. FirstBuild collects and uses your sensitive personal information only as described above.

Program’s terms and conditions, promotional emails, or text messages, as well as by contacting us using the information in the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Statement.

“Shine the Light”. California residents that have an established business relationship with us have rights to know how their personal data is disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes under California’s “Shine the Light” law, or the right to opt out of such practices (Civ. Code §1798.83). You can opt out at any time on a going-forward basis by emailing help@FirstBuild.com.

How We Protect Personal Information

We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect against unauthorized disclosure, use, alteration or destruction of the information you provide on the Website.

We limit access to information about you to employees, contractors, and agents who we reasonably believe need to access your information to operate the Website, provide services to you, or to perform their jobs. We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information we process is accurate, complete, and current, but we depend on our Users to update or correct their information whenever necessary.

8. How Long We Retain Personal Information

We keep your personal information for as long as needed or as permitted by applicable law in light of the purpose(s) for which it was obtained. The criteria used to determine our retention periods include (i) to execute transactions with you (such as completing your purchase), (ii) for as long as we have an ongoing relationship with you (such as maintaining your online account or sending you a newsletter); (iii) as required by a legal obligation to which we are subject; or (iv) as is advisable in light of our legal position (such as in regard of applicable statutes of limitations, litigation, or regulatory investigations).

9. International Users

FirstBuild’s offices are located in the United States of America. If you are a User accessing the Website from outside the United States, please be advised that your information may be processed in and transferred to the United States (or globally as needed for the purposes specified in this notice). By your continued use of the Website, you consent to the transfer, collection, processing and storage of information to and in the United States or such country of transfer and recognize that these laws may not be equivalent to those in your country of residence.  We do not ship the Sourdough Sidekick product outside the United States.

10. Updates to Our Privacy Statement

This Privacy Statement may be updated periodically. We will post a prominent notice on this web site to notify you of any significant changes to our Privacy Statement and indicate at the top of the Privacy Statement when it was most recently updated.

11. Contact Information

Please feel free to direct any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Statement or FirstBuild’s data practices by contacting us as follows:

Emailing us at help@FirstBuild.com
Writing us at: FirstBuild 333 E Brandeis Ave Louisville, KY 40208