Privacy Policy
Last updated: May 3, 2026
Operator: [Legal entity name to be confirmed], doing business as The Dwelling Index.
The Dwelling Index (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates dwellingindex.com (the “Site”). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, when we share it, and the choices and rights available to you. It applies to information collected on the Site and does not apply to third-party sites or services we may link to.
Information We Collect
Information collected automatically
When you visit the Site, we and our service providers may automatically collect information about your device and how you interact with the Site, including:
- Pages viewed and time spent on pages
- Referral source, such as a search engine or referring website
- Browser type, device type, and operating system
- Approximate location derived from IP-based signals (city- or region-level)
- On-site interaction data such as clicks, scrolling, page behavior, heatmaps, and (when you have consented) session-replay recordings
We use Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity for these purposes. They run only after you grant analytics consent and never run on the legal, contact, email-gate, or report pages described in the “What is always off” section of our Privacy Choices page.
Information you provide voluntarily
We may collect information you choose to provide to us, such as when you contact us, submit a form, or request a report:
- First name and email address
- ZIP code, city, or state
- Property type
- Estimated home value or value range
- Mortgage balance or balance range
- Estimated equity range
- Budget range and project timeline
- Preferred ADU type and planning goals
- The contents of any message you send us
How We Use Information
- Operate, maintain, and improve the Site
- Deliver the tools, reports, or resources you request
- Respond to questions, feedback, or correction requests
- Understand how visitors use our content (only with consent)
- Monitor performance, troubleshoot issues, and protect the Site from misuse
- Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms
We do not use information collected on the Site for cross-context behavioral advertising, profiling for legal or similarly significant decisions, or automated decision-making.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
We use first-party cookies and local storage that are strictly necessary for site functionality (for example, remembering in-progress answers in the ADU Feasibility Engine).
With your consent, we also load Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity, which set their own cookies for analytics and session-replay purposes. You can grant or withdraw consent anytime from Privacy Choices.
If you click an affiliate link and visit a partner’s site, the partner may use its own cookies. Those technologies are governed by the partner’s privacy practices, not this policy.
Third-Party Services
We rely on the following service providers to help operate the Site. They process information on our behalf under contractual terms.
Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC)
Aggregate website analytics. Loaded only after you grant analytics consent.
Microsoft Clarity (Microsoft Corporation)
Heatmaps and session replay. Loaded only after you grant analytics consent and never on legal, contact, or PII-collecting pages.
Vercel Inc.
Website hosting and infrastructure (necessary).
How We Share Information
We do not sell your personal information for money.
Some U.S. state privacy laws define “sharing” or “targeted advertising” broadly enough to include the transfer of identifiers to common analytics providers. To eliminate any ambiguity: when you decline analytics, we do not load Google Analytics 4 or Microsoft Clarity, and no identifiers are transferred to them from your visit.
We may otherwise share information:
- With service providers that help us operate the Site, analytics, forms, infrastructure, or related services, under contracts that limit their use of the information
- With affiliate platforms or partners when you click an affiliate link or submit information through a partner-related experience
- When required by law, legal process, or a valid governmental request
- When reasonably necessary to protect the rights, safety, security, or integrity of The Dwelling Index, our users, or others
- In connection with a business transfer, merger, acquisition, or similar transaction, if one ever occurs (we will notify you and post a notice on the Site)
We do not share personal information with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.
Analytics and Session Replay
When you grant analytics consent, Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity may collect information about page interactions, device characteristics, browser details, and approximate location. Microsoft Clarity may also record session-replay video of how you interact with our pages.
We never load these tools on the Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, Affiliate Disclosure, Accessibility, Privacy Choices, Contact, Corrections, ADU Feasibility Engine email-gate, or Report pages, regardless of consent state.
You can withdraw consent anytime at Privacy Choices. You can also use Google’s opt-out add-on or your browser’s tracking-protection settings.
Affiliate Links
Some pages contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and take a qualifying action, we may earn a referral commission. See our Affiliate Disclosure for details.
Affiliate partners may collect information through their own sites, forms, cookies, or tracking technologies after you leave the Site or interact with their embedded experiences. Their handling of information is governed by their privacy policies and terms.
Data Retention
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. The default retention periods are:
| Category | Retention |
|---|---|
| First name and email submitted via the email gate | Up to 36 months from collection or last interaction, whichever is later, then deletion or aggregation |
| Feasibility Engine answers (property type, value range, equity range, timeline, preferences) | Up to 36 months from collection or last interaction |
| Contact-form messages and responses | Up to 24 months from the last reply |
| Server logs (IP addresses, request metadata) | Up to 90 days for security and debugging |
| Google Analytics 4 event data | 14 months (provider default) |
| Microsoft Clarity recordings and heatmaps | Up to 13 months (provider default) |
We may retain information longer where required by law, for dispute resolution, or to enforce our agreements.
Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- Confirm whether we are processing your personal information
- Access a copy of personal information we hold about you (data portability)
- Correct inaccurate personal information
- Request deletion of personal information, subject to applicable exceptions
- Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising
- Opt out of certain profiling decisions
- Limit our use of sensitive personal information
- Appeal a decision we make about your request
To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@dwellingindex.com with the subject line “Privacy Request,” or visit Privacy Choices. We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests. You may designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf with written proof of authorization. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.
California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)
If you are a California resident, this section provides additional disclosures required by the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act.
Categories of personal information
In the past 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information:
| Category | Examples | Sources | Purposes | Disclosed to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Identifiers | Email address; first name; IP address; device identifiers | Directly from you; automatically from your device | Delivering requested resources; responding to inquiries; site analytics | Service providers (analytics, hosting, email infrastructure) |
| F. Internet or other electronic network activity | Pages viewed; clicks; scroll depth; referral source; session-replay recordings (when consented) | Automatically via cookies and first-party scripts | Site performance, content quality, debugging | Google Analytics 4; Microsoft Clarity (only with your consent) |
| G. Geolocation data | City- or region-level location inferred from IP (all visitors). Approximate latitude/longitude returned by the address-autocomplete service when you complete the Feasibility Engine — see the Sensitive Personal Information section for the precise-geolocation disclosure and deletion path. | Automatically (from IP); directly from you (Feasibility Engine address) | Surfacing state-relevant content and analytics; routing your ADU report to the correct state and local jurisdiction | Service providers |
| K. Inferences drawn from other personal information | Estimated home value range; estimated equity range; project timeline; preferred ADU type — only when you submit them in the Feasibility Engine | Directly from you (slider inputs) | Generating your personalized ADU Opportunity Report | Not shared for cross-context behavioral advertising |
Sale or sharing of personal information
We do not sell personal information for monetary consideration. When you grant analytics consent, the operation of Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity may be considered “sharing” for cross-context behavioral advertising under the CPRA. You can opt out of that sharing anytime at Privacy Choices, and we honor the Global Privacy Control signal automatically.
How to exercise your California rights
California residents may submit access, deletion, correction, know, and limit-use-of-SPI requests by emailing privacy@dwellingindex.com. Authorized agents must submit written proof of authorization and we will verify your identity. We will respond within 45 days, with one 45-day extension where reasonably necessary.
Other U.S. State Privacy Rights
Residents of certain other U.S. states have additional rights under their state privacy laws. We use the same privacy email address and the same Privacy Choices page to handle these requests for every state.
Virginia (VCDPA)
Right to access, correct, delete, data portability, opt out of targeted advertising/sale/profiling, and appeal.
Colorado (CPA)
Same core rights as Virginia, plus the right to opt out via a universal opt-out mechanism (we honor GPC).
Connecticut (CTDPA)
Same core rights as Virginia, plus universal opt-out mechanism honored.
Texas (TDPSA)
Right to access, correct, delete, data portability, and opt out of targeted advertising/sale/profiling. Universal opt-out mechanism honored.
Utah (UCPA)
Right to access, delete, data portability, and opt out of targeted advertising/sale of personal data.
Oregon, Montana, Iowa, Tennessee, Indiana, Delaware, New Hampshire, New Jersey
Substantially similar rights apply; we honor them on the same basis.
Global Privacy Control (GPC)
We honor the Global Privacy Control signal as a valid opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. When your browser sends a GPC signal, we do not load Google Analytics 4 or Microsoft Clarity, and the consent banner is not shown. You do not need to take any additional action.
We do not currently respond to legacy “Do Not Track” browser signals because there is not a universal standard for interpreting them; GPC is the modern, standardized replacement.
Sensitive Personal Information
With one narrow exception described below, we do not knowingly collect “sensitive personal information” as defined under the CPRA or other state privacy laws (for example: government identifiers, financial account credentials, race or ethnicity, religion, union membership, contents of mail/email/text messages, genetic data, biometric data, health data, or information about sex life or sexual orientation).
Precise geolocation. When you complete the ADU Feasibility Engine and select your property address, we receive the approximate latitude/longitude returned by the address-autocomplete service for that address. This may meet the CPRA definition of “precise geolocation” (more specific than a radius of 1,850 feet). We use this only to identify the U.S. state and local jurisdiction whose ADU rules should apply to your report, and we do not use it to infer characteristics about you or to build a location profile. You can decline by not completing the Feasibility Engine, and you can request deletion of any latitude/longitude we have stored by emailing privacy@dwellingindex.com.
If you voluntarily submit any other sensitive information to us through a free-text field, we will treat it with the same protections as other personal information and you may request deletion at any time.
Children
The Site is intended for adults considering an ADU project. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact privacy@dwellingindex.com and we will delete it.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top and, where appropriate, provide a more prominent notice on the Site.
How to Contact Us
For privacy questions, requests, or complaints:
- Email: privacy@dwellingindex.com
- Operator: [Legal entity name to be confirmed]
- Mailing address: [Street address to be confirmed], [City], [State] [ZIP], United States
Related pages: Terms of Use · Affiliate Disclosure · Privacy Choices · Accessibility · Contact