HomeCalc

Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 1, 2026 · Last updated: June 1, 2026

1. Introduction

HomeCalc ("we," "our," or "us") operates the website at home-cost-calc.com (the "Site"). This Privacy Policy explains what information is collected when you visit the Site, how that information is used, who it is shared with, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to visitors from anywhere in the world, including the European Union, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the state of California.

HomeCalc provides free residential real-estate and home-improvement calculators plus reference articles. Every calculation runs entirely inside your browser — nothing you type into a calculator ever leaves your device or is transmitted to our servers. By using the Site, you agree to the collection and use of information consistent with this policy.

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly: None. HomeCalc has no accounts, forms, newsletters, or sign-ups. Values entered into calculators are held in your browser's memory only for the duration of your session and are never transmitted to us.

Server logs: Our hosting provider (Cloudflare Pages) automatically records standard web-server access logs: the requesting IP address, user-agent string, referring URL, requested URL, response status code, and timestamp. These logs are used for security, abuse prevention, and aggregate traffic measurement, and are retained by Cloudflare in accordance with its own policies.

Local browser storage: HomeCalc may store your cookie-consent choice in your browser's localStorage under the key homecalc_consent. This value never leaves your device. In the future, we may add an optional feature to remember your last calculator inputs across sessions; when we do, we will update this policy and gate the feature behind your consent.

3. Third-Party Advertising (Google AdSense)

HomeCalc uses Google AdSense to display advertisements. When you consent to advertising cookies, the following Google-required disclosures apply:

  • Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to our website or other websites.
  • Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
  • Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings.
  • Alternatively, users may opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.

Google may use the DART cookie to serve ads based on a user's visit to the Site and to other sites on the Internet. You can review Google's advertising practices and cookie usage at policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

If you decline advertising cookies (via our consent banner or your browser settings), Google may still serve non-personalized contextual ads that use limited data (such as coarse geography and current page content) rather than a personalized profile.

In addition to Google's own controls, you can opt out of interest-based advertising by many third-party vendors at once at the NAI opt-out page (US), YourAdChoices.com (DAA program, US), and the Your Online Choices portal (EDAA, EU). These opt-outs are stored as cookies on your device, so clearing your browser cookies will require you to opt out again.

4. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your web browser. HomeCalc uses cookies in three categories:

  • Strictly necessary: Required for the Site to function. These include Cloudflare's security cookies and our own single cookie-consent record. These cannot be turned off.
  • Functional (currently unused): Reserved for future features such as remembering saved scenarios. When enabled, these cookies would only be set with your consent.
  • Advertising: Set by Google AdSense to deliver, measure, and (when consented) personalize ads. Includes the DART cookie and other Google ad-tech identifiers.

You can manage your cookie preferences at any time via the Manage cookie preferences link in our footer.

Below is a summary of the cookies you may encounter while using HomeCalc:

  • Cloudflare __cf_bm (strictly necessary, ~30 minutes) — bot-management token set by our CDN to distinguish humans from automated traffic.
  • HomeCalc homecalc_consent (strictly necessary, up to 12 months) — a localStorage record of your own consent choices; never transmitted to us.
  • Google AdSense __gads, __gpi, IDE, NID, DSID (advertising, up to 13 months) — set by Google to deliver, frequency-cap, measure, and (with consent) personalize ads. Full descriptions are available in Google's AdSense cookies documentation.

Your browser also gives you granular tools to block or delete cookies at any time. Blocking all cookies may reduce the functionality of many websites — for HomeCalc specifically, blocking cookies will not affect calculator functionality but will disable personalized advertising.

5. How We Use Information

Information covered by this policy is used to:

  • Provide, maintain, and improve the Site;
  • Enable Google AdSense to serve, measure, and (with consent) personalize ads;
  • Detect, prevent, and investigate security incidents, abuse, or fraud;
  • Comply with applicable legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share personal information with third parties for their independent marketing purposes.

6. Legal Basis (GDPR / UK GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, our legal basis for processing depends on the purpose:

  • Legitimate interest — for operating and securing the Site, including standard server logs.
  • Consent — for advertising cookies and any future non-essential functional cookies. Consent is collected via our banner and can be withdrawn at any time.

7. Your Rights

GDPR / UK GDPR / Swiss residents: you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing of, object to processing of, and receive a portable copy of your personal data, and to withdraw consent at any time. Because HomeCalc does not collect first-party personal data from calculator use, most of these rights are exercised at the third-party level (e.g., through Google's controls linked above). If you have interacted with the Site in a way that we have personally identifiable information about (for example, a support message sent via a linked email address), you may contact us to exercise these rights.

California residents (CCPA / CPRA): you have the right to know what personal information is collected, disclosed, or sold; the right to delete personal information; the right to correct inaccurate information; and the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. HomeCalc does not sell personal information. Certain ad-targeting practices by Google may be considered "sharing" under CCPA; you may opt out via our consent banner (choose "Reject non-essential") or the Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information control.

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information: To exercise this right, click Manage cookie preferences in the footer of any page and toggle Advertising off. Your choice is stored on your device and applies until you change it or your consent expires.

8. Children's Privacy (COPPA)

HomeCalc is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete that information promptly. If you believe a child has provided us with information, please contact us via the About page.

9. Data Retention

We retain no first-party personal information. Standard server logs are retained by Cloudflare according to its policies. Third-party cookie retention (e.g., Google AdSense) is controlled by the third parties and their own policies.

10. International Data Transfers

Our infrastructure providers (Cloudflare, Google) operate globally. Depending on your location, your request data may be processed in a country other than your own, including the United States. Both providers implement Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent safeguards to protect data transferred internationally.

11. Security

The Site is served exclusively over HTTPS (TLS 1.2+). Because HomeCalc has no server-side data store, there is no first-party database of user information to breach. Client-side data (localStorage) is protected by your browser's origin isolation and never leaves your device.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes will be highlighted on the homepage or via a banner for a reasonable period. Your continued use of the Site after a change indicates your acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact

Questions? Reach us via our About page.