Houseroom
Track my schools

Privacy policy

Last updated: 8 October 2026

Who we are

Houseroom is a trading name of PurpleRain Technologies Inc, a corporation incorporated in Delaware, USA. For the purposes of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are the data controller for personal data you give us through this site and the Houseroom service.

For any privacy question, contact us at support@houseroom.uk.

What we collect

  • Account data — your email or phone number, and any name or postcode you choose to give us.
  • Family profile — children's first names, ages, target entry points, and priorities you enter to power matching and alerts.
  • Application tracker data — the schools you save, applications you record, deadlines you set, and notes you make.
  • Bookings — open days, tours, clubs and camps you book through Houseroom. When you're signed in and follow a Book or Apply link to a school's or provider's own website, we note which listing it was, the website's address and when, so it can appear in My bookings; nothing you enter on their site reaches us. Whether you mark it booked is kept only on your account.
  • Usage data — basic, aggregated analytics about which pages are viewed, so we can improve the product.
  • Communications — emails, WhatsApp or SMS messages sent through the service, and replies.

Why we collect it

  • To run your account and the shortlist, tracker, and alerts you sign up for (contractual basis).
  • To send the deadline alerts you've explicitly opted into (consent).
  • To improve the product and fix bugs (legitimate interest).
  • To meet our legal obligations.

What we don't do

  • We don't sell your data to schools, advertisers, or third parties. Ever.
  • We don't share your application tracker with the schools you've applied to.
  • We don't run third-party advertising on Houseroom.

Children's data

Houseroom accounts are for adults: you must be 18 or over to register. To power matching, shortlisting, and deadline alerts, the family profile you create can include information about your child — typically a first name, age or year group, target entry points, and the priorities you choose. You provide this as the parent or guardian, and we process it to deliver the service you have asked for.

We follow the ICO's Age Appropriate Design Code (the Children's Code): we collect only what the matching and tracking features need, we do not use children's data for advertising or for profiling beyond generating your shortlist, and we never sell it. Please add only details that genuinely help your research, and avoid sensitive information such as medical, SEND, or safeguarding details unless it is necessary. Where you do choose to share special-category information, we rely on your explicit consent and you can remove it at any time.

Sub-processors we use

  • Supabase — database and authentication (UK region).
  • Vercel — hosting, plus cookieless page-view and page-speed analytics that store nothing on your device.
  • PostHog (EU) — product analytics and error tracking; cookieless unless you accept analytics cookies, in which case also session replays with form entries hidden (see our cookie notice).
  • Resend — transactional email delivery.
  • Anthropic — the AI model behind the Houseroom assistant, on the website and on WhatsApp. It processes your messages, and any letter, photo or PDF you send it to read, in order to write a reply. Anthropic does not use this data to train its models.
  • Telnyx — our WhatsApp messaging provider. It carries messages between you and Houseroom on WhatsApp, and turns voice notes into text (speech-to-text) so the assistant can answer them. Houseroom does not keep the audio.
  • Meta (WhatsApp) — if you message Houseroom on WhatsApp, WhatsApp also handles those messages under its own terms and privacy policy.
  • SMS provider — text-message alerts you have opted into.

All sub-processors are bound by a data-processing agreement and handle UK / EU personal data under appropriate safeguards.

International transfers

Most of your data stays in the UK — our database and authentication run in Supabase's UK region. Some sub-processors are based in the United States, including our hosting (Vercel), the AI assistant (Anthropic) and our WhatsApp messaging provider (Telnyx). Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, or on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses together with the UK Addendum, so your data keeps an equivalent level of protection. Ask us using the contact details above for detail on any specific transfer.

How long we keep it

Account and tracker data: while your account is active, plus 30 days after deletion. Communications: up to 24 months for support and audit. Analytics: aggregated and retained indefinitely; raw event data is retained for 12 months.

  • Assistant conversations from a linked account (the website assistant, or WhatsApp once you connect it to your Houseroom account): kept until you delete them or your account, and in any case deleted 24 months after your last message.
  • WhatsApp conversations that aren't linked to an account: the messages, the assistant's notes and your number are deleted 30 days after your last message. If you replied STOP, we keep a record of your number and the opt-out so that we never message you again.
  • Letters, photos and PDFs you send the assistant: the file itself is never stored. We keep only the dates and details read from it, with the conversation.
  • Voice notes: the audio is turned into text and then discarded; only the text is kept, with the conversation.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, correct, export, restrict, object to, or delete your data, and to withdraw consent for marketing or alerts at any time. The quickest route is our data requests page, or email support@houseroom.uk. We respond within one month. You can also lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

Matching and the AI assistant

Our shortlist matching and Fit Score are tools to support your own research; they do not make any decision that has a legal or similarly significant effect on you, and you stay in control of what you do with the results.

The Houseroom assistant (on the website and on WhatsApp) sends your message to Anthropic, together with the Houseroom school information needed to answer it. If you are signed in, or have connected WhatsApp to your Houseroom account, it also uses what is on your account (for example the schools you track, your deadlines and your children's first names and year groups) so it can answer about your own plans, and it only changes anything on your account after you say yes.

The assistant keeps a short memory so it doesn't have to ask you the same things twice: a brief summary of earlier messages and a few notes, such as the schools and entry year you are looking at. For a WhatsApp number that isn't linked to an account, this memory is deleted 30 days after your last message; for a linked account it is kept until you delete it or your account, and no longer than 24 months after your last message. You can ask the assistant to forget it at any time, or ask us using the contact details above.

Cookies

We use a small number of strictly-necessary cookies for sign-in and security, and we do not use cookies for advertising or cross-site tracking. Our full cookie notice explains exactly what we set and how to control it.

Changes

We'll update this page when our practices change and bump the "Last updated" date at the top. Material changes are also announced by email to current members.

Contact

support@houseroom.uk