Privacy Policy

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect information you voluntarily provide when using our platform:

• Account Information: When you sign up via Google or Microsoft authentication, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from your authentication provider;
• Profile Information: For landlords, this includes business name (DBA), phone number, and business details;
• Review Content: The text, ratings, and any other content you include in reviews;
• Verification Documents: Lease agreements, proof of tenancy, or property ownership documents you submit for verification purposes;
• College Email: Your educational institution email address when you opt to verify your college status;
• Communications: Messages you send to us, dispute submissions, and customer support inquiries.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you access our platform, we automatically collect:

• Device Information: Device type, operating system, browser type, screen resolution, and unique device identifiers;
• Log Data: IP address, access times, pages viewed, links clicked, and the page you visited before our platform;
• Location Data: Approximate geographic location based on IP address;
• Usage Data: How you interact with our platform, including search queries, filters used, and properties viewed;
• Cookie Data: Information collected through cookies, pixels, and similar technologies (see Section 3).

1.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information from:

• Authentication Providers: Google and Microsoft provide basic profile information when you authenticate;
• Property Data Services: We may obtain property information from public records and real estate data providers;
• Analytics Partners: Aggregated and demographic data from analytics services;
• Other Users: When someone mentions you in a review or dispute.

3.1 Platform Operations

• Create and manage your account;
• Process and display your reviews;
• Verify your identity, college enrollment, or tenancy;
• Process dispute submissions and resolutions;
• Enable landlords to respond to reviews and manage their profiles;
• Match properties with landlord claims.

3.2 Communications

• Send account-related notifications (verification codes, dispute updates, etc.);
• Notify you of new reviews on properties you've reviewed or landlords you follow;
• Respond to your inquiries and support requests;
• Send marketing communications (with your consent, see Section 6).

3.3 Platform Improvement

• Analyze usage patterns to improve user experience;
• Develop new features and services;
• Conduct research and analytics;
• Test and troubleshoot new products and features.

3.4 Safety & Legal Compliance

• Detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, and security issues;
• Enforce our Terms of Service and community guidelines;
• Verify content authenticity and combat fake reviews;
• Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests;
• Protect the rights, property, and safety of our users and the public.

5.1 What We Use Google Analytics For

We use Google Analytics to:

• Understand how users find and navigate our platform;
• Measure the effectiveness of our content and features;
• Identify popular pages and features;
• Detect technical issues affecting user experience;
• Analyze demographic and interest data (in aggregate);
• Measure conversion rates for key actions.

5.2 Data Collected by Google Analytics

Google Analytics collects:

• Pages visited and time spent on each page;
• Your approximate geographic location (city/region level);
• Device and browser information;
• Traffic source (how you arrived at our site);
• Interactions with site elements.

5.3 Google Analytics and Your Privacy

We have configured Google Analytics with the following privacy protections:

• IP anonymization is enabled (your full IP address is not stored);
• Data sharing with Google is limited;
• User-ID tracking is used to understand cross-device usage (for logged-in users only);
• We do not enable Google Signals for advertising purposes.

5.4 Opting Out of Google Analytics

You can opt out of Google Analytics by:

• Installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on;
• Using browser privacy settings to block analytics cookies;
• Enabling private/incognito browsing mode.

6.1 Types of Marketing Communications

With your consent, we may send you:

• Email Newsletters: Updates about new features, platform news, and rental market insights;
• Promotional Emails: Special offers, surveys, and promotional content;
• Personalized Recommendations: Property and landlord recommendations based on your search history;
• Partner Communications: Information about services from our carefully selected partners (with separate consent).

6.2 Advertising

We may display advertisements on our platform and use your information to show you relevant ads:

• On-Platform Ads: Advertisements displayed within Judge My Landlord;
• Retargeting: We may work with advertising partners to show you ads on other websites based on your visit to our platform;
• Interest-Based Advertising: Ads based on your browsing behavior and interests.

6.3 Your Marketing Choices

You can control marketing communications by:

• Email Preferences: Click the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email;
• Account Settings: Update your communication preferences in your account settings;
• Ad Preferences: Use industry opt-out tools like the Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out;
• Browser Settings: Block third-party cookies to limit retargeting.

Note: Even if you opt out of marketing communications, we will still send you transactional messages related to your account (verification codes, dispute notifications, etc.).

7.1 Public Information

The following information is publicly visible on the platform:

• Review content and ratings;
• Your display name (first name and last initial, unless you choose to display more);
• Verification badges (College Verified, Lease Verified);
• Your review history;
• For landlords: business name, contact information you choose to display, and response content.

7.2 Sharing with Service Providers

We share information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf:

• Payment Processing (Stripe): Processes payments for premium features and subscriptions;
• Email Services (Brevo): Sends transactional and marketing emails;
• Security & CDN (Cloudflare): Provides security, performance, and file storage;
• Analytics (Google Analytics): Helps us understand platform usage;
• Cloud Hosting: Data storage and server infrastructure;
• Content Moderation: Automated content review services.

These providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and use it only for the purposes we specify. See Section 14 for detailed information about each provider.

7.3 Legal Disclosures

We may disclose your information when required by law or when we believe disclosure is necessary to:

• Comply with a legal obligation, court order, or legal process;
• Protect and defend our rights or property;
• Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the platform;
• Protect the personal safety of users or the public;
• Protect against legal liability.

7.4 Business Transfers

If Judge My Landlord is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information.

7.5 With Your Consent

We may share your information for other purposes with your explicit consent.

8.1 Active Accounts

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services.

8.2 Deleted Accounts

When you delete your account:

• Your personal identifying information is removed within 30 days;
• Reviews you submitted may remain on the platform in anonymized form to preserve the historical record;
• Backup copies may persist for up to 90 days;
• Information required for legal compliance may be retained longer.

8.3 Verification Documents

Sensitive documents (lease agreements, property ownership proof) are:

• Encrypted at rest and in transit;
• Retained only for the duration necessary to verify claims;
• Permanently deleted after verification or dispute resolution is complete, unless required for ongoing legal matters.

8.4 Legal Requirements

We may retain information for longer periods when required by law, for legitimate business purposes, or to resolve disputes.

9.1 Security Measures

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information:

• Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit (TLS/SSL) and sensitive data is encrypted at rest;
• Access Controls: Strict access controls limit who can access personal data;
• Secure Infrastructure: We use reputable cloud providers with SOC 2 compliance;
• Regular Audits: We conduct regular security assessments;
• Employee Training: Our team receives privacy and security training.

9.2 Your Responsibilities

You can help protect your data by:

• Using strong, unique passwords for your authentication provider;
• Enabling two-factor authentication on your Google or Microsoft account;
• Logging out of shared devices;
• Being cautious about the information you share in reviews.

9.3 Breach Notification

In the event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and relevant authorities as required by applicable law.

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@judgemylandlord.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days (or as required by applicable law).

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

11.1 Right to Know

You have the right to request disclosure of:

• Categories of personal information collected;
• Specific pieces of personal information collected;
• Categories of sources from which information was collected;
• Business purposes for collecting or selling information;
• Categories of third parties with whom information is shared.

11.2 Right to Delete

You may request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.

11.3 Right to Opt-Out of Sale

We do not "sell" personal information as defined by the CCPA. However, if this changes, we will provide a "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" link.

11.4 Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.

11.5 "Shine the Light" Law

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents to request information about disclosure of personal information to third parties for direct marketing. Contact us at the address below to make such a request.

Judge My Landlord is not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at privacy@judgemylandlord.com.

If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 18, we will take steps to delete that information as quickly as possible.

Judge My Landlord is based in the United States. If you access our platform from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers maintain facilities.

By using our platform, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States and other countries, which may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we rely on:

• Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission;
• Your explicit consent where applicable;
• Necessity for contract performance.

Our platform integrates with various third-party service providers to deliver our services. This section details each provider and how they may process your data.

14.1 Payment Processing - Stripe

We use Stripe to process all payments on our platform. When you make a payment:

• Your payment card details are sent directly to Stripe and never touch our servers;
• Stripe collects your name, email, billing address, and payment method details;
• Stripe may use your data for fraud prevention and to comply with financial regulations;
• We receive only transaction confirmations and limited billing information from Stripe.

Stripe Privacy Policy | Stripe Terms of Service

14.2 Email Services - Brevo

We use Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) to send emails. Brevo processes:

• Your email address and name;
• Email interaction data (opens, clicks) to improve our communications;
• Email preferences and unsubscribe requests.

Types of emails sent through Brevo:

• Account verification and security emails;
• Notifications about reviews, disputes, and platform activity;
• Marketing newsletters (only with your consent);
• Password reset and account recovery emails.

Brevo Privacy Policy

14.3 Security & Infrastructure - Cloudflare

We use Cloudflare, Inc. for security and performance. Cloudflare may collect:

• Your IP address (for security and routing purposes);
• Browser and device information;
• Request headers and cookies for security analysis;
• Bot detection and challenge completion data (Turnstile).

Cloudflare services we use:

• CDN: Caches and delivers content faster globally;
• DDoS Protection: Protects against malicious traffic;
• Turnstile: Bot detection without intrusive CAPTCHAs;
• R2 Storage: Stores user-uploaded files (documents, images);
• WAF: Web Application Firewall to block attacks.

Cloudflare Privacy Policy

14.4 Authentication Providers

When you sign in with Google or Microsoft, their respective privacy policies govern how they handle your information:

• Google Privacy Policy
• Microsoft Privacy Statement

14.5 Analytics - Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how users interact with our platform. See Section 5 for detailed information about data collection and your opt-out options.

Google Privacy Policy

14.6 Maps and Location Services

We use Mapbox for map functionality. Their privacy policy governs their data practices:

• Mapbox Privacy Policy

14.7 Data Processing Agreements

We maintain Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) with all major third-party providers to ensure they:

• Process your data only as instructed by us;
• Implement appropriate security measures;
• Notify us of any data breaches;
• Delete or return your data upon termination of services.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by:

• Posting a prominent notice on our platform;
• Sending an email to registered users;
• Updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of the platform after changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

We aim to respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 30 days.