Privacy notice

RenterCheck is operated by Digital Ideation Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 17059030.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, Digital Ideation Ltd is the controller of personal data processed through RenterCheck unless stated otherwise.

Our registered office is 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom.

For privacy enquiries, contact privacy@rentercheck.co.uk.

This Privacy Notice explains what personal information RenterCheck collects, why we use it, who we may share it with, how long we keep it and the rights you have in relation to it.

We aim to collect and retain only the information reasonably necessary to provide and improve RenterCheck.

Depending on how you use RenterCheck, you may provide:

Property-check information

This may include:

• property address;
• postcode;
• proposed monthly rent;
• number of bedrooms; and
• other information entered when requesting a property check.

A property address will not necessarily be personal data by itself, but it may become personal data depending on the circumstances and the information associated with it.

Checks run through an AI assistant

If you use RenterCheck through an AI assistant, such as ChatGPT or Claude, we receive only the postcode, address, rent and number of bedrooms the assistant sends us to run the check. We don’t receive your conversation or any account details. A check of a particular home is saved like one run on our website, so you can open its report; a check of a postcode alone is not saved. Your use of the assistant itself is covered by its provider’s privacy policy.

The RenterCheck browser extension

Our browser extension works on property listing pages on Rightmove, Zoopla, OpenRent and SpareRoom. It reads the listing’s postcode or map location, and its asking rent, from the page you are viewing. It sends only the postcode or map location to RenterCheck, to look up facts about the area, and nothing is saved. It doesn’t read other pages, your browsing history or any account details, and it uses no cookies or tracking. The asking rent stays in your browser unless you choose to run a free check, when it is filled into the form for you. The extension remembers whether you’ve hidden or opened its panel until you close the tab, in your browser only. Your use of the listing site is covered by that site’s own privacy policy.

Email information

If you request early access, contact us or use another email-based feature, we may collect:

• your email address;
• the content of communications you send us; and
• information associated with your request.

Research call information

Some free reports offer Complete RenterCheck free in return for a short call about what you would want from it. If you accept, we collect the email address and mobile number you give and, if you choose to give them, your first name and a good time to call.

Purchase information

If you buy Complete RenterCheck, Stripe collects your payment details on its own payment page. We receive from Stripe:

• your email address;
• the amount you paid and when; and
• Stripe’s reference for the payment.

We also record the confirmation you gave before paying, that you wanted your report straight away, with the time you gave it. We never receive your card details.

Figures you type into a report

A Complete RenterCheck report lets you enter the number of adults who will live there, your income, your take-home pay and amounts you have been asked to pay. These are worked out in your browser. They are not sent to us or saved.

Your workplace postcode

A Complete RenterCheck report can plan your journey to work. You enter your workplace’s postcode, and we use it only to plan that journey while you wait. We don’t save it with your report or record it in our analytics. Where a postcode is on the map is looked up and may be cached, as for any postcode, with no link to you or your report.

Feedback

We may collect feedback you choose to provide, including your reasons for being interested in Complete RenterCheck.

For example, you may tell us that you are interested in:

• checking whether rent is fair;
• checking a landlord or letting agent;
• checking a deposit or upfront payment;
• checking a tenancy agreement; or
• obtaining general reassurance before renting.

Providing this feedback is optional.

When you request a property check, we may obtain information from public-sector, official and other independent sources.

Depending on the service, this may include information relating to:

• energy performance;
• property characteristics;
• Unique Property Reference Numbers;
• recorded property transactions;
• planning and location-based designations;
• planning applications;
• flood risk;
• recorded crime in the area;
• schools, school inspections and exam results;
• stations, bus stops and bus timetables;
• council tax bands;
• homes advertised to rent nearby;
• company information;
• registered ownership;
• property licensing; and
• other information relevant to the property or proposed tenancy.

Sources may include government departments, the police, HM Land Registry, the Valuation Office Agency, Companies House, local authorities and other public-data services, and a commercial property-data provider that supplies some of this information to us.

Some of this information may constitute personal data where it relates to an identifiable individual. For example, a planning application or a licence register can name a person.

Registered ownership may name a company. Where the owner is a private individual, the data we receive does not name them, and a report says only that the owner is a private individual.

When you use RenterCheck, our systems and service providers may process technical information such as:

• IP address;
• browser type;
• device type;
• operating system;
• date and time of access;
• pages viewed;
• referral source;
• approximate location derived from an IP address;
• diagnostic information; and
• security and fraud-prevention information.

We may also use cookies or similar technologies as described in our Cookie Policy.

We may collect information about how people use RenterCheck so that we can understand whether the service works properly and how it can be improved.

This may include events such as:

• visiting a page;
• starting a property check;
• completing a free check;
• viewing information about Complete RenterCheck;
• expressing an intention to purchase Complete RenterCheck;
• paying for Complete RenterCheck;
• submitting an early-access email address; and
• providing optional feedback.

These events are grouped using a random identifier held in your browser only for the lifetime of the tab. It is not derived from your IP address or from anything else about you, and it is discarded when you close the tab. We keep no identifier that lets us recognise you across visits.

We also use Plausible Analytics for aggregated website statistics. Plausible is cookieless, stores nothing on your device, and processes data within the European Union. It receives the page you are on, the site that referred you, your approximate region and your device type — never a property report, an address you have looked up, or anything you type into RenterCheck.

Because none of this requires storing non-essential information on your device, it does not require your consent. Where analytics or similar technologies do require consent under applicable law, we will seek that consent before using them.

Advertising measurement works the same way. We advertise RenterCheck on Google. When you arrive from one of our adverts, Google adds a click reference to the web address, and we record that reference on our own servers. If you later click to buy Complete RenterCheck, we send Google a file reporting that the click with that reference led to that action, with the time and the price shown. We run no Google advertising tag, store no advertising identifier on your device, and send Google nothing you have typed into RenterCheck. Click references are kept for six months. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in knowing whether our advertising is effective; you can object to this at any time using the contact details below.

We aim to avoid placing unnecessary personal information, property-report contents or uploaded-document contents into analytics systems.

Our Cookie Policy contains a full register of every technology in use.

You may choose to upload your tenancy agreement so that it can be checked: as a free scan from a free report, or with the agreement check or Complete RenterCheck.

Tenancy agreements can contain significant amounts of personal information about tenants, landlords, guarantors and other people.

We therefore treat the agreement as a temporary input to the analysis, not a document we keep.

Original agreement

The uploaded agreement will be processed only for the purpose of performing the requested analysis.

We do not store the agreement. It is held in memory only while it is analysed, and is never written to our database or file storage.

Extracted text

We do not keep any text from the agreement. What we save is what we read from it, in our own words: amounts such as the rent and deposit, a company landlord’s name, short summaries of its terms, and clause and page numbers. We keep this for 30 days, so a free scan can be turned into findings, or compared again on an upgrade, without uploading the agreement twice. Findings saved with a paid report are kept with that report.

Data minimisation

The AI service is instructed not to record the names, signatures, email addresses, phone numbers, bank details or dates of birth of individuals, so none of these reach your report. A company landlord’s name is recorded, because it is compared with the registered owner.

Findings

We save the findings with your report, so that you can return to them.

For example, a finding might record that clause 6.2 on page 2 charges a cleaning fee, and suggest a question to ask about it.

Findings describe each term in our own words and do not quote the agreement.

Artificial intelligence providers

Anthropic PBC reads the agreement on our behalf, through its Claude API, as our processor. Anthropic is based in the United States.

Anthropic does not use the agreement to train its models: we have turned off the use of our data for model improvement. It keeps the data from our requests for 30 days, for purposes such as security and preventing misuse, and then deletes it.

We will not intentionally use customer tenancy agreements to train RenterCheck’s own general-purpose artificial-intelligence models.

From time to time we may ask customers for feedback, for example in an interview, a testimonial or a case study. Taking part is up to you, and saying no makes no difference to your report or to any refund.

We use what you tell us to improve RenterCheck and to write content for our website. We only show your name, or anything else that identifies you, next to your contribution if you have agreed to it.

If you ask us to remove your personal details from something we have published, we will do so within 3 working days. Contact privacy@rentercheck.co.uk.

We may process personal information for the following purposes.

Providing RenterCheck

To perform property checks, generate reports, provide tools and respond to requests you make.

Our lawful basis will generally be that processing is necessary to provide a service you have requested or that it is in our legitimate interests to operate RenterCheck.

Where you purchase a service, some processing may be necessary to perform our contract with you.

Selling Complete RenterCheck

To take your payment, supply your report, send your confirmation email and deal with any problem with your purchase.

Our lawful basis is that this is necessary to perform our contract with you.

Checking a tenancy agreement

To compare an agreement you upload with your report. Our lawful basis is that this is necessary to perform our contract with you.

An agreement can include details of other people, such as other tenants or a guarantor. We process these only as far as reading the agreement requires, in our legitimate interests in providing the check you asked for, and we do not keep them.

Operating and securing the website

To maintain our systems, investigate errors, prevent misuse and protect the security of RenterCheck.

Our lawful basis is our legitimate interests in operating a secure and reliable service.

Improving RenterCheck

To understand how the service is used, diagnose problems and improve our products.

Depending on the information and technology involved, we may rely on our legitimate interests or your consent.

Emailing you a report

If you ask us to email you the link to a report, we use your email address to send it. Our lawful basis is that you asked us to.

If you also tick the separate box asking for it, we send you one further email a couple of days later about Complete RenterCheck for that home, unless you have bought it by then. We rely on your consent, and send nothing more. Every email has a link to stop it, or you can email us.

Arranging a research call

If you take the free report in return for a call, we use the details you gave to arrange and hold one call of about 10 minutes, and for nothing else. We rely on your consent, given when you pressed the button, which you can withdraw at any time by emailing us; we then delete your details.

Early-access requests

If you ask us to tell you when Complete RenterCheck becomes available, we will use your email address for that purpose.

Where required, we rely on your consent.

You can ask us to stop contacting you at any time.

Communications

To respond when you contact us.

Our lawful basis will generally be our legitimate interests in responding to enquiries or taking steps at your request.

Legal obligations

We may process information where necessary to comply with applicable legal, regulatory, tax or law-enforcement obligations, including keeping records of sales for tax purposes.

We do not sell your personal information.

We may provide information to organisations that help us operate RenterCheck, such as providers of:

• website hosting and infrastructure;
• databases;
• email delivery;
• payments;
• security;
• analytics;
• error monitoring;
• property and public-data APIs;
• document processing; and
• artificial-intelligence services where relevant.

These organisations may act as processors on our behalf or, in some circumstances, as independent controllers.

We aim to disclose only the information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

We may also disclose information where required by law or where reasonably necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

RenterCheck may use third-party technology providers to host and operate the service.

These may include providers such as Vercel for web hosting and infrastructure, Supabase for database and backend services, and Plausible Analytics for cookieless website statistics.

We also advertise on Google Ads. Google is not a technology provider for the website itself — no Google code runs on RenterCheck — but we do send Google a periodic file reporting which of our advert clicks led to someone clicking to buy Complete RenterCheck, as described under Analytics and product usage. Google acts as an independent controller for that information.

We use Stripe to take payments for Complete RenterCheck. Stripe collects your card and payment details on its own payment page and processes them as an independent controller, under its own privacy notice. We send Stripe the price and a reference to your report. Stripe sends us your email address and whether you paid.

We use Resend, as our processor, to send our emails: your purchase confirmation, report links you ask us to send, and the one reminder you can choose to receive. Resend receives your email address and the email itself, which contains the property’s address and the private link to your report. It does not receive the report, anything you have typed into RenterCheck or your payment details.

We use Anthropic’s Claude API, as our processor, to read tenancy agreements you choose to upload, as described under Tenancy agreements.

To plan your journey to work, we send the centre points of the home’s postcode and your workplace’s postcode to Google’s Routes API (Google Maps Platform), and for journeys within London to Transport for London’s journey planner. We send nothing else about you. Google handles these requests under its Google Maps Platform terms and privacy policy.

A commercial property-data provider supplies rental listings, council tax, broadband, planning, licensing and ownership information for Complete RenterCheck. We send it details of the property, such as its postcode, address reference and number of bedrooms, and never anything about you.

The exact services used may change as RenterCheck develops.

Where a provider processes personal information on our behalf, we take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate data-protection arrangements are in place.

Some of our technology providers may process information outside the United Kingdom.

If you upload a tenancy agreement, it is processed by Anthropic in the United States.

Emails we send you are processed by Resend in the United States.

Journeys to work are planned by Google, which may process the two postcode points outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States.

Where personal data is transferred internationally, we take steps required by UK data protection law to ensure that an appropriate level of protection applies.

Depending on the destination and provider, this may include relying on UK adequacy regulations or appropriate contractual safeguards.

We do not intend to retain personal information for longer than reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

Different information may therefore have different retention periods.

In particular:

Uploaded tenancy agreement

Not stored by us. Held in memory only while it is analysed.

Raw extracted text

Not stored by us.

Generated agreement findings

Kept with your Complete RenterCheck report and deleted with it, 12 months after the purchase.

Property reports

Deleted 12 months after the check was made, so that it can be revisited using its private report link until then. If you bought Complete RenterCheck for it, it is kept until the Complete report is deleted.

Complete RenterCheck reports

Kept for 12 months from the purchase, so that you can return to it, and then deleted. The purchase record itself is kept as described below.

Purchase records

Your email address, the payment details we receive from Stripe and your confirmation before paying. Kept for six years after the end of the financial year in which you bought, as UK tax law requires.

Usage events

The analytics events described under Analytics and product usage. Deleted after 24 months.

Figures you type into a report

Never sent to us, so never kept by us.

Report email requests

Your email address, the report it was for, whether you asked for the further email and when it was sent. Deleted after 90 days.

Research call details

Your email address and anything else you gave for the call. Deleted after 90 days.

Early-access email addresses

Retained until Complete RenterCheck launches and we have contacted you, you unsubscribe or the information is no longer reasonably required.

Customer enquiries

Retained for a reasonable period necessary to deal with the enquiry and maintain appropriate business records.

Security and technical logs

Retained for a limited period appropriate to security, troubleshooting and abuse prevention.

Advertising click references

Deleted after six months. Google accepts a reported conversion for 90 days after the click, and we keep them only long enough to complete and check that reporting.

An automatic job runs every day and deletes information once its retention period has ended. We also review retention periods from time to time and delete or anonymise information that is no longer required.

RenterCheck property reports may be accessible through a unique report URL.

Reports are intended not to be indexed by search engines or publicly listed by RenterCheck.

Anyone who obtains the unique URL may nevertheless be able to access the report.

You should therefore treat a report link appropriately and avoid sharing it with people you do not want to access the report.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect information processed by RenterCheck.

These include measures relating to:

• encrypted network connections;
• access control;
• secure management of credentials;
• restricted administrative access;
• data minimisation;
• separation of development and production environments; and
• monitoring and maintenance of our systems.

No internet service can guarantee absolute security.

RenterCheck is intended for people investigating or entering into rental arrangements and is not designed as a service for children.

If we become aware that personal information has been provided by a child in circumstances where we should not process it, we will take appropriate steps.

Depending on the circumstances, UK data-protection law may give you rights including:

• the right to be informed about how your information is used;
• the right to access personal information we hold about you;
• the right to have inaccurate information corrected;
• the right to request deletion of information in certain circumstances;
• the right to restrict processing in certain circumstances;
• the right to object to certain processing;
• the right to data portability in certain circumstances; and
• rights relating to certain types of automated decision-making.

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

These rights are subject to legal conditions and exceptions.

To exercise a right, contact privacy@rentercheck.co.uk.

To have a report deleted before its retention period ends, email us from the address you used to buy it, or send the report’s link. We will delete the report, including any agreement findings, and confirm when it is done. We act on every request within one month, as the law requires, and usually much sooner.

We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

If you have concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact us first at privacy@rentercheck.co.uk.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data-protection regulator.

Information about making a complaint is available from the ICO.

We may update this Privacy Notice when RenterCheck changes, when we introduce new data sources or features, or when legal requirements change.

The latest version will be published on rentercheck.co.uk and the date at the top of this notice will be updated.

Material changes affecting how we use personal information will be communicated where appropriate.