Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information Hometrace collects and how we use it. By using Hometrace, you agree to this policy.

1. Information We Collect

Account details: your name, email address, and phone number when you sign up or accept an invite.
Property information: addresses and appliance details you enter into the platform.
Inspection content: sections, subsections, findings, photos, and any audio you record using Voice AI.
Usage data: log files and device information used to keep the service secure and improve features.
Payment information: handled by Stripe when you purchase a subscription or accept payments through Hometrace. We receive a Stripe customer ID and high-level metadata but not your full card details.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

Provide and maintain the Hometrace service
Send maintenance reminders and other notifications
Process payments and manage subscriptions
Respond to your requests and provide support
Improve the service through aggregated analytics

3. SMS/Text Messaging

We use your phone number to send SMS text message notifications related to your use of Hometrace. These transactional messages may include home inspection appointments, payment confirmations, inspection status updates, and report availability. Message frequency varies based on your activity.

By checking the SMS consent checkbox in the application's notification settings, you consent to receive text messages from Hometrace. You may opt out at any time by replying STOP to unsubscribe. For assistance, reply HELP. Msg & data rates may apply.

No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. We will not sell, rent, or share your mobile phone number, SMS opt-in consent data, or text messaging originator information with any third parties, except service providers who assist in delivering SMS messages (such as Twilio, our SMS platform provider). All categories of information above specifically exclude text messaging opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties for any purpose other than message delivery. Such sharing with service providers is subject to strict confidentiality requirements and solely for the purpose of providing the SMS service.

4. Sharing Your Information

We share information only as needed to operate the service:

Service providers: Stripe (payments and Stripe Connect), Twilio (SMS delivery), Resend (transactional email), Vercel (hosting), Neon and Postgres (database), Amazon Web Services (file storage), and the AI sub-processors described in Section 5 below.
Authorized inspectors, agents, and clients: when you collaborate on a property or deliver a report.
Legal or security reasons: if required by law or to protect Hometrace and its users.

We do not sell your personal information.

5. AI-Powered Features and Sub-Processors

Hometrace includes two AI-powered features that send your data to third-party AI services for processing:

Voice AI transcribes audio you record on the mobile app and parses the resulting text into structured findings, spec values, and notes. See Voice AI for the feature itself.
Photo Analysis AI sends inspection photos to AI vision services to identify defects, code concerns, safety issues, and spec values, returning structured suggestions for your review. See Photo Analysis AI.

Sub-processors

Data sent through these features is processed on our behalf by the following sub-processors:

OpenAI for speech-to-text transcription (Voice AI) and a portion of the photo analysis tasks (Photo Analysis AI).
Anthropic for analysis of transcribed text (Voice AI) and a portion of the photo analysis tasks (Photo Analysis AI).

Photo Analysis AI is split across both providers depending on the analysis task. We may add or change sub-processors over time, and we will update this section accordingly.

What we send and what we don't

For each AI request we send only what's needed for the task:

Voice AI sends the audio you recorded plus the structural context for your current location in the report (template name, area and subsection labels, in-scope spec field labels, and entries from your template's comment library).
Photo Analysis AI sends the photos attached to the section being analyzed, plus the section's structural context (subsection labels, spec field labels, finding type and severity options, and your existing notes for that area).

We do not send your name, email address, account credentials, property addresses, or any client or customer contact information to AI sub-processors.

Retention by sub-processors

Audio recordings, transcripts, and photos sent to OpenAI or Anthropic are used only to fulfill the AI request and are not retained by the sub-processor after processing. We do not authorize either sub-processor to use your data to train their models.

Disabling the AI features

If you'd prefer not to use the AI features for a given inspection, simply don't trigger them: dictation only runs when you tap the microphone, and photo analysis only runs when you start it from the inspection page. There is no automatic AI processing of your data without an action you take.

6. Data Retention and Security

We keep your information while your account is active and for as long as necessary to comply with our legal obligations. We use industry‑standard measures to protect your data, but no method is 100% secure.

7. Administrative Access for Support

Authorized Hometrace staff may temporarily access your account to diagnose issues, respond to support requests, or troubleshoot problems you report. These sessions are:

Restricted: only a limited number of authorized administrators can initiate account access.
Time-limited: sessions expire automatically after a short period of inactivity or a maximum duration.
Logged: every session is recorded, including who initiated it, when it started, and when it ended.

During these sessions, staff can view your account data as you would see it. They cannot modify your password or payment details. This access is used solely for providing customer support and maintaining the service.

8. Your Choices

You can update your profile information or delete your account by contacting support. You may also unsubscribe from marketing or reminder emails at any time using the links in those messages.

9. Children's Privacy

Hometrace is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by email or through the app.

11. Contact Us

For questions about privacy at Hometrace, contact support@hometrace.co.