The short version.

No pixels, no ad networks, and analytics only if you allow it. We collect what we need to run the product, we don't sell any of it, and you can delete your account whenever you want. To answer you, Cal sends your questions to the AI providers named below. The rest is just sentences.

What we collect

• The signup form. Your email address, the time you request access, and whether you choose optional product updates. The signup form also sends its source identifier and any campaign source, medium and campaign name in the page link; we store these with the request. Account-access emails do not require marketing permission. If you use a form that asks for your name, brokerage or role, we also collect the details you submit.
• Homebuyer contact requests. The contact details and scenario you choose to submit, such as location, household income, purchase plans, programs of interest and notes. We record the form source and your contact-consent wording, version, time and IP address. These requests are separate from a professional Cal account.
• Your account. Your name, email, brokerage, and role. If you use Sign in with Apple, Apple gives us your name and either your email or the private relay address Apple creates for you.
• Sign-in events. A short-lived sign-in link or a passkey, and a session token so we don't ask you to sign in twice.
• What you ask and give Cal. Your questions and Cal's answers; text and documents you paste or upload, such as AUS findings and Loan Estimates; property addresses you look up; and the scenarios, packages, contacts, and notes you save. Loan documents can include your borrower's information.
• Usage records. Which tools you use and how much AI processing each request took, so we can run plans and budgets. When you're signed in, Cal also records which features you open and for how long, on our own servers, to improve the product; it never includes what you type, we keep it 90 days, and we never share it.
• Server logs. Standard web stuff (IP, path, timestamp) kept for about two weeks for security and abuse-blocking. Then they're rotated out.

In the Cal app for iPhone and iPad, voice dictation is transcribed on your device. The audio isn't sent to us.

Analytics, only if you allow it

On the public askcal.io marketing pages we ask whether we may count your visit with Google Analytics. Nothing from Google loads until you say yes. If you allow it, Google Analytics sets its own cookies and receives the page you viewed, the page that sent you, your browser and device type, and an approximate location from your IP address. We use it to see which pages help loan officers and which campaigns bring them. Advertising features, ad personalization, and Google signals are turned off.

It never runs inside the Cal app, on the sign-in page, or on any page where you enter borrower or loan information. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we never ask and never load it. You can change your answer any time: Analytics choices.

What we don't collect

• No Facebook pixel, no ad networks, no Hotjar, no Segment, no third-party heatmap.
• No cookies on the marketing pages unless you allow analytics above.
• No tracking across other sites, and we don't sell or share what analytics tells us. Signup source and campaign fields describe the link and form used for your request; they do not give us your browsing history.

How we use it

To run Cal: answer your questions, run the tools you open, manage your plan, and keep the service secure. To check that Cal's answers are right, Chris reads a daily email of the previous day's questions and answers, along with the email address of each account that asked. We don't use your data for advertising.

Where it lives

The marketing site is on Hostinger shared hosting. The API and database run on a Hostinger virtual private server in the United States. Every request to askcal.io passes through Cloudflare, which delivers and protects the site. Backups: nightly copies on the server, kept for 14 to 30 days, and a continuous copy in Cloudflare's R2 storage, which encrypts what it stores, with about 30 days of history.

Payments

Paid subscriptions are processed by Stripe. When you subscribe, your card details go directly to Stripe and are handled under Stripe's own privacy policy. Cal never sees or stores your full card number. What we keep on our side is the Stripe customer and subscription identifier, your plan, and your billing status, which is what lets us know whether your account is active. If you have no paid subscription, none of this applies to you.

Who we share it with

We don't sell your data, and we don't share it with advertisers, data brokers or "lead enrichment" tools. We do not share a professional account's borrower files, contacts or research with other loan officers. A homebuyer who explicitly requests contact or an introduction uses the separate process below. We use these service providers to run Cal, and each one gets only what its job needs:

• Anthropic (Claude) writes Cal's answers. It receives your question, the context Cal adds to it (such as earlier messages and any text or document you've given Cal), and the guideline passages Cal found.
• OpenAI turns the text of your question into a search vector so Cal can find the right guideline sections.
• RentCast provides property value estimates. It receives the property address you look up.
• Stripe handles billing, as described above.
• Resend delivers our email, including sign-in links, requested-contact notifications and the daily answer review. It receives the email address and the message.
• Twilio delivers SMS alerts to platform administrators, as described below.
• Sentry receives error reports from our servers so we can fix bugs. Fields named like email, phone, SSN, date of birth, account numbers, passwords, and tokens are removed before a report is sent.
• Google Analytics, only if you allow it on the marketing pages, as described above.
• Cloudflare and Hostinger host and deliver the site and the API, and store the backups, as described above.
• Apple, if you use Sign in with Apple, tells us your name and email. We don't send Apple anything about how you use Cal.

The only other exception is a lawful court order, in which case we'll tell you unless legally barred from doing so.

When you request a loan officer

Submitting a homebuyer contact form sends the details you enter to Cal's operator inbox for review and follow-up. If Cal coordinates an introduction you requested, the contact and scenario details you submit are shared with the licensed loan officer handling that inquiry. A partner-branded form may route the request to that partner's designated loan officer, with a copy to Cal for support. This does not give another loan officer access to a professional Cal account or its saved work.

The request is for a response about your inquiry, not a subscription to marketing. Phone contact is optional: our consumer forms ask for a separate, unchecked permission before sending a phone number. Leave the number blank for email-only follow-up. We retain the submitted consent record with the request. To ask who is handling an inquiry, or to withdraw a contact request, email chris@askcal.io.

SMS communications

Cal's operational SMS alerts go to platform administrators who have explicitly added their mobile number to the platform's admin settings. These alerts are used for operational alerts: new user signup notifications, customer lead capture alerts, automated software quality eval notifications, and system health alerts. They are separate from any call or text a loan officer makes in response to a homebuyer's contact request and phone permission. Cal does not enroll a homebuyer in administrator alerts by collecting a phone number.

• Frequency. Variable. Most days zero. A typical week might see 5–25 messages, scaling with platform activity. Capped at 20 per minute by the platform itself.
• Administrator numbers. We do not sell or rent these numbers or use them for advertising. Twilio and the relevant carriers process them to deliver the operational alerts. Homebuyer phone details follow the separate requested-contact process above.
• Carrier costs. Message and data rates may apply, depending on your wireless plan. Cal does not charge for SMS.
• Opt out anytime. Reply STOP to any message to opt out (also accepted: UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT). You can also remove your phone number directly in the platform admin settings.
• Help. Reply HELP for assistance, or email chris@askcal.io.
• Carriers and providers. SMS is delivered through Twilio (our messaging provider). US carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and resellers) are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Deleting your account

In the Cal app for iPhone and iPad: Account, then Delete account, below Sign out. Anywhere else, email chris@askcal.io with "delete my account" in the subject. When an account is deleted:

• Right away. Any paid subscription is cancelled, you're signed out on every device, and your sign-in links, passkeys, API keys, Apple sign-in link, and saved memory are deleted.
• Erased. The text of your conversations with Cal, and the name and email on your account.
• Kept, locked. Records a mortgage business may be required to keep, such as the scenarios, packages, contacts, and documents you saved, and billing and security history. They stay stored but are no longer attached to an account anyone can sign in to.
• Copies elsewhere. Backups age out on the schedule above, within about 30 days. Daily review emails and error reports already sent aren't recalled, and the providers above keep request data under their own retention terms.

If your account owns a brokerage that still has other members, or is linked to a Cal staff login, the app asks you to email us instead.

How long we keep it

• Signup and homebuyer contact requests: kept so we can provide access or follow up on your request. Email us to request deletion. A loan officer who receives a requested introduction handles their copy under their own privacy and recordkeeping obligations.
• Active accounts: kept while you're a customer.
• Cancelled plans and unused accounts: kept until the account is deleted, by you in the app or by us when you ask. Nothing deletes accounts on a timer.
• Server logs: about two weeks. Backups: about 30 days.

Your rights

California (CCPA/CPRA) and EU (GDPR) folks: you have the right to ask what we have on you, ask for a copy, and ask us to delete it. Email chris@askcal.io with "privacy request" in the subject and Chris will handle it himself, usually within 72 hours, never more than 30 days. You can also delete your account yourself in the app, as described above.

Children

Cal's professional workspace is for mortgage professionals. Public assistance information and contact forms are for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that materially affects you, we'll email every account before the change takes effect. Cosmetic edits (spelling, a clearer sentence) we just push.