Homestead Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy explains how Homestead collects, uses, and protects information when you use the mobile app, create an account, join or manage a household, and use related support and account pages on this website.

2. Information We Collect

• Account data: first and last name, email address, and password (stored as a salted hash, never in plain text).
• Household data: household names, membership and roles (owner or member), and pairing codes used to join a household.
• Bill data: bill names, total amounts, due dates, notes, and the per-member split and paid status you and your household members create.
• Chore data: chore titles, notes, due dates, assignment, and completion status you and your household members create.
• Device data: a device identifier, platform (iOS), device name, and last-seen timestamp, used to keep bills and chores in sync across household devices.
• Purchase data: in-app purchase entitlement records (such as the product purchased, transaction identifiers, and purchase status) used to verify the "Unlimited Households" upgrade through the App Store. Payment details such as card numbers are handled entirely by Apple and never reach our servers.
• Support submission data: name, email, subject, and message you submit through the support form.
• Technical data: IP address and user-agent data used for operational and security purposes, such as email verification and password reset requests.

3. How We Use Information

• To create and secure your account, verify your email address, and authenticate sign-in.
• To let you create or join a household and share bills and chores with household members in real time.
• To split bill amounts evenly across household members and track which shares have been marked paid.
• To verify in-app purchases and grant the corresponding entitlements (such as unlimited households).
• To respond to support requests and communicate updates related to your inquiry.
• To maintain platform reliability, service quality, and security monitoring.

4. Sharing With Household Members

Household data is, by design, visible to the members of that household. This includes your name, the bills and chores you add, edit, or complete, your share of each bill and whether it is marked paid, and your role within the household (owner or member). This sharing only happens within households you have joined or created.

5. Sharing and Disclosure With Third Parties

Personal information is not sold. Information may be shared only when required for operations, legal compliance, security, or with trusted service providers assisting with hosting, email delivery, and maintenance. In-app purchases are processed by Apple under Apple's own privacy policy; we receive only the transaction information needed to verify and grant entitlements.

6. Data Retention and Account Deletion

Account and household data is retained for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, it is deactivated immediately and its personal information is anonymized after a short retention window (currently 30 days), kept only as needed for matters such as purchase dispute handling, after which identifying details are scrubbed. Support submissions are retained as needed for request handling and record-keeping, then removed when no longer required.

7. Data Security

Passwords are stored as salted hashes, not in plain text. Reasonable technical and organizational measures are used to protect information from unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. No internet transmission can be guaranteed as fully secure.

8. Children's Privacy

Homestead is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

9. Your Rights

You can update your account details and delete your account directly from the app. Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have additional rights to request access, correction, deletion, or limitation of personal data processing by contacting us through the support page.

10. Contact

For privacy-related questions about Homestead, use the support page: Project Support.