Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18/11/2025

The Honest Version

We take your privacy seriously. This explains what data we collect, why, and what we do with it.

We comply with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Before.Rent helps landlords document properties and share reports with tenants.

Our details:

• Company: Before.Rent
• Email: hello@before.rent

Data Controller:

• For your account data: We are the data controller
• For property photos/reports: Landlords are the data controller (you're using our platform as a processor)

2. What Data We Collect

A. From Landlords

Account information:

• Name
• Email address
• Phone number (if provided)
• Password (handled by Clerk - we never see your password)
• Payment details (processed by Clerk - we don't see your full card number)

Property information:

• Property addresses
• Photos of properties
• Notes and descriptions
• Move-in/out reports
• Property details (bin days, appliance info, etc.)

Usage data (anonymized via Vercel Analytics):

• Pages visited
• Page views and referrers
• General location (country/region)
• Device type and operating system
• Browser type
• This data is anonymized, doesn't use cookies, and cannot track you across different days or websites

B. From Tenants

Access information:

• Name
• Email address
• Phone number (if provided by landlord)

Usage data (anonymized via Vercel Analytics):

• When you view reports
• Pages visited
• Device type and operating system
• Browser type

C. Automatically Collected

Cookies:

• Essential cookies only (make the site work)
• Session data (handled by Clerk for authentication)
• No tracking or analytics cookies

Technical data:

• IP address (for security and authentication purposes)
• Time zone (for displaying correct times)

3. Why We Collect It (Legal Basis)

Under GDPR, we need a legal reason to process your data:

Contract (providing the service):

• Creating your account
• Storing your property reports
• Sharing reports with tenants
• Processing payments
• Providing customer support

Legitimate interests:

• Improving the service (using anonymized analytics)
• Preventing fraud and abuse
• Ensuring platform security
• Sending service updates

Legal obligations:

• Keeping financial records (tax law)
• Responding to legal requests
• Complying with data protection law

Consent:

• When you explicitly agree to something specific

4. How We Use Your Data

To provide the service:

• Store your property documentation
• Let you create and share reports
• Allow tenants to access reports you've shared
• Process your payments
• Send transactional emails (receipts, password resets, etc.)

To improve the service:

• Fix bugs and technical issues
• Understand which features are popular (via anonymized analytics)
• Develop new features based on feedback and usage patterns

To communicate with you:

• Service updates
• Security alerts
• Respond to your questions
• Important account notifications

We do NOT:

• Sell your data
• Share your property photos publicly
• Use your data to train AI models
• Spam you
• Share tenant data with third parties (except as required by law)

5. Who We Share Data With

Service providers we use:

• Hosting: Vercel - hosts the application
• Database: Convex - stores your property data, photos, and reports (SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and GDPR compliant)
• Authentication & Payments: Clerk - handles user authentication and payment processing (they have their own privacy policy)
• Email: Provided by Clerk - sends transactional emails (account verification, password resets, etc.)
• Analytics: Vercel Analytics - tracks anonymized usage data (no cookies, privacy-focused)

We may share data if:

• Required by law (court order, legal obligation)
• To prevent fraud or illegal activity
• To protect our rights or safety
• With your explicit consent

We do NOT:

• Sell data to third parties
• Share with advertisers
• Give access to data brokers

6. Data Shared Between Landlords and Tenants

Important: When a landlord shares a report with a tenant:

Tenants can see:

• Property photos
• Move-in/out documentation
• Property information (bin days, appliance details, etc.)
• Notes added by the landlord

Tenants cannot see:

• Landlord's payment information
• Other properties managed by the landlord
• Reports for other tenants

Landlord responsibility:

• You (the landlord) are responsible for what you share with tenants
• Make sure you have the right to share photos (e.g., don't include photos of neighbors' property)
• Comply with GDPR when processing tenant data
• Don't include unnecessary personal data about tenants

7. Where We Store Your Data

Location:

• Application hosted on Vercel (servers in the UK/EU)
• Database hosted on Convex (runs on AWS in the UK/EU)
• Authentication data stored by Clerk (UK/EU servers)
• We don't transfer data outside the UK/EU except to service providers with adequate protections

Security measures:

• Encrypted data transmission (SSL/TLS)
• Encrypted data storage (256-bit AES encryption at rest)
• Each database is isolated with unique credentials
• Secure backups
• Access controls (only authorized staff can access data)
• Authentication managed by Clerk (industry-standard security)
• Regular security audits and vulnerability scanning

Compliance:

• Convex is SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and GDPR compliant
• Hosted on AWS, which is certified for numerous security standards

However: No system is 100% secure. We do our best, but we can't guarantee absolute security.

8. How Long We Keep Your Data

Active accounts:

• As long as your account is active
• Plus reasonable time for backups

After you cancel:

• 30 days to allow data export
• Then permanently deleted (except where legally required to keep records)

Financial records:

• 6 years (UK tax law requirement)

Legal claims:

• If there's a dispute, we keep relevant data until it's resolved

9. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have the right to:

Access: Request a copy of your data. We'll provide it within 30 days.

Rectification: Correct inaccurate data. You can update most data in your account settings.

Erasure ("right to be forgotten"): Request deletion of your data. We'll comply unless we have a legal reason to keep it.

Restriction: Limit how we process your data in certain circumstances.

Portability: Get your data in a machine-readable format to transfer to another service.

Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or for marketing.

Withdraw consent: If we're processing data based on consent, you can withdraw it anytime.

Complain: Lodge a complaint with the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) if you think we've mishandled your data.

To exercise these rights: Email us at hello@before.rent with your request.

10. Cookies

We use minimal cookies, only what's necessary to make the site work.

Essential cookies:

• Keep you logged in (managed by Clerk)
• Remember your preferences
• Make the site function
• You can't opt out (the site won't work without them)

Analytics:

• We use Vercel Analytics for website monitoring
• No cookies used - Vercel Analytics tracks anonymized data without cookies
• Visitors are identified by a temporary hash that resets daily
• No cross-site tracking or persistent identifiers

We do NOT use:

• Analytics cookies
• Advertising cookies
• Third-party tracking cookies
• Social media cookies

Manage cookies:

• You can clear cookies via your browser settings
• Note: This will log you out and reset preferences

11. Third-Party Links

Our site may link to third-party websites (e.g., deposit protection schemes).

We're not responsible for their privacy practices. Check their privacy policies.

12. Children's Privacy

Before.Rent is not intended for anyone under 18.

We don't knowingly collect data from children. If we discover we have, we'll delete it.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy.

If we do:

• We'll email you if changes are significant
• Updated date at the top of this page
• Continued use means you accept the changes

14. Your Choices

Account deletion:

• Delete your account from account settings
• Or email us to request deletion
• Data deleted within 30 days

Data export:

• Request your data anytime
• We'll provide it in JSON format within 30 days

Service emails:

• We only send essential emails (receipts, security alerts, account updates)
• You cannot opt out of these as they're necessary for the service

15. Contact Us

Questions about privacy?

Email: hello@before.rent

To exercise your rights: Send a written request to the email above. We'll respond within 30 days (or 60 days for complex requests).

To complain: If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, contact the ICO:

ICO (Information Commissioner's Office)
Website: https://ico.org.uk
Helpline: 0303 123 1113

For Landlords: Your Responsibilities

Remember: When you use Before.Rent to share reports with tenants, you're processing their personal data.

You must:

• Have a legal basis for processing tenant data (usually contract)
• Tell tenants how you're using their data
• Only collect data you need
• Keep data secure
• Respond to tenants' data rights requests
• Not share tenant data unnecessarily

We're here to help: Before.Rent provides tools to help you comply, but you're responsible for your use of tenant data.

Written in plain English because privacy policies don't have to be painful to read.