Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 2026

What we store

Home Data Book stores the household information you enter: home details, rooms, items, maintenance tasks, and documents. If you upload photos or files, those are stored securely on our server and served only to your authenticated account.

How it is used

Your data is used solely to provide the Home Data Book service to you. We do not sell, share, or disclose your data to third parties. We do not use your data for advertising.

Photo Assist

When you use Photo Assist, the photos you upload are sent to our configured AI provider for analysis. Drafts and their AI suggestions are stored privately. Photos for items you save become private attachments. Drafts that you skip, or that remain unreviewed for 7 days, are automatically deleted.

Home sharing

You can invite another person to collaborate on a specific home by sharing an invitation link. Once they accept, they can view and edit that home's rooms, items, documents, attachments, maintenance tasks, and shopping details. Collaborators cannot access any other homes in your account. You can remove a collaborator at any time from the home's Sharing section. Collaborators' names and email addresses are stored only to identify them within the shared home and are never disclosed to third parties.

Activity log

Each home maintains a recent activity feed visible to the owner and all current collaborators. It records actions such as adding rooms, items, documents, attachments, and maintenance tasks, as well as recall checks and sharing changes. The log stores each actor's display name at the time of the action and a plain description — it does not store serial numbers, file storage paths, or document URLs. Collaborators who are removed from a home immediately lose access to its activity log.

Home Guide

The Home Guide page assembles information already stored in your home — rooms, items, documents, and maintenance tasks — into a single read-focused view. It is visible only to the home owner and current collaborators. Serial numbers are never shown in the guide. Private file storage paths are not exposed. Collaborators who are removed from a home immediately lose access to its guide.

Emergency Info

The Emergency Info section stores sensitive household details such as utility shutoff locations, Wi-Fi credentials, alarm codes, and emergency contacts. This information is visible only to the home owner and current collaborators. It is never included in the activity log — when Emergency Info is updated, only the action "updated emergency info" is recorded, without any field values. Emergency Info is not indexed by Smart Search. It is included in your JSON data export so you retain a copy of your own data. Collaborators who are removed from a home immediately lose access to its Emergency Info.

Camera barcode scanning

Camera scanning runs entirely in your browser. No video, image data, or frames are sent to our servers. Only the detected barcode digits are submitted — and only after you choose to continue. The camera stream stops as soon as a barcode is detected, when you tap Stop, after 30 seconds of inactivity, or when you navigate away. Camera scanning uses your device's native browser API; no third-party library is loaded for this feature.

Barcode lookup

When you use barcode lookup and a provider is configured, the canonical barcode digits are sent to the third-party product database (UPCitemdb). No personally identifying information is included — the request contains only the barcode and the required API credentials. The response may be cached internally for up to seven days to reduce repeat lookups. A sanitized subset of the response (product name, brand, model, category, and dimensions) may be stored alongside your item record. Raw API responses, pricing data, and retailer offer links are never stored. If no provider is configured, barcode entry works in manual mode with no outbound network requests.

Recall checks

When you request a recall check, your item's brand and model number are sent to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) public API. No personally identifying information is included in that request. Results are stored in your account so you can review them later.

Maintenance reminder emails

If you have maintenance tasks that are overdue or due within the next seven days, Home Data Book may send you a daily digest email. The email lists affected tasks grouped by home and includes tasks from homes you own and homes shared with you. It does not include sensitive item details such as serial numbers, file storage paths, or document URLs. You can disable reminder emails at any time from the Settings page. If the reminder command runs more than once in a day, only one email is sent per user.

Uploaded files

Photos and documents you upload are stored in a private directory on our server. They are never publicly accessible by URL — they are served only to your authenticated session. Deleting an item or your account permanently removes the associated files from our server.

Vendor & contractor directory

The Vendor & Contractor Directory lets you store contact information for service providers, contractors, and preferred stores associated with a home — such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, websites, and notes. This information is entered at the home owner's or collaborator's request and may include third-party contact details. Vendor records are visible only to the home owner and current collaborators. Vendors are included in Smart Search but results show only the vendor name, category, and home name — phone, email, website, and notes are never surfaced in search snippets. The activity log records when a vendor is added, updated, moved to Recently Deleted, restored, or permanently deleted; it records the vendor name and category only — phone, email, website, and notes are never included in activity log metadata. Collaborators who are removed from a home immediately lose access to its vendor directory. Vendors you soft-delete appear in Recently Deleted and can be restored or permanently removed by the home owner. Vendor data is included in your JSON data export.

Handoff notes

Handoff notes may contain sensitive household access information such as Wi-Fi passwords, door codes, alarm instructions, lockbox combinations, pet care details, and checkout instructions. Handoff notes are private and authenticated — only authorized members of a home (the owner and current collaborators) can view them. There are no public links or guest portals; access requires a logged-in account with an active home membership. Smart Search includes handoff notes in results but displays only the note title and audience — the contents of individual note fields (Wi-Fi, access, parking, appliances, etc.) are never shown in search result snippets. The activity log records when a handoff note is created, updated, moved to Recently Deleted, restored, or permanently deleted; it records the note title and audience only — no note field contents are ever included in activity log metadata. Handoff notes appear in Recently Deleted and can be restored or permanently removed by the home owner. Handoff note data is included in your JSON data export.

Data retention

Your data is retained as long as your account exists. You can export your data as JSON or permanently delete your account (and all associated data) at any time from the Settings page.

Cookies and sessions

We use a single session cookie to keep you logged in. No third-party tracking or analytics cookies are used.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email us at hello@homedatabook.com.