Privacy Policy

Houston City Cleaners ("we," "us," "our") provides residential house cleaning services in Houston, TX and the surrounding suburbs. This policy explains what information we collect through houstoncitycleaners.com and our booking system, how we use it, and the choices you have.

Information we collect

When you request a quote or book a cleaning, we collect:

• Name, email address, and phone number
• Service address, including street, city, state, and ZIP code
• Details about your home and the service you select (bedrooms, bathrooms, areas, add-ons, frequency)
• Your chosen appointment date and time

If you use the address auto-complete feature, the text you type is sent to OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service to suggest matching addresses. See their privacy policy for how they handle that data.

If a deposit is required for your booking, payment details are collected and processed directly by Stripe, our payment processor. We do not receive or store your full card number.

How we use your information

• To schedule, confirm, and deliver your cleaning appointment
• To create a calendar event visible to your assigned cleaning crew, via the Google Calendar API
• To calculate accurate pricing and travel distance for your address
• To contact you about your booking (by email, text message, or phone call), including confirmations, reminders, crew arrival updates, and support
• To process payment or deposits, where applicable, via Stripe

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

Who we share information with

We share limited booking details with the people and services that power your cleaning and our scheduling and payments:

• Independent contractor cleaning crews: your name, service address, appointment time, and the details of the service you booked, shared solely so they can perform your cleaning
• Google Calendar: to check crew availability and create your appointment
• Stripe: to process deposits or payments, when enabled
• OpenStreetMap Nominatim: to power address autocomplete as you type
• Google Analytics and PostHog: to understand site traffic and how people use the site, as described below

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site (pages viewed, general location, device type) and to see when a visit results in a completed booking. This data is aggregated and used to improve the site. We don't use it for third-party advertising or ad retargeting. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking across all websites using Google's Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Site analytics and session recordings

We also use PostHog to see how people move through the site, for example where visitors leave the booking steps, which pages they read, and where they click and scroll. This helps us fix confusing parts of the site.

• What it collects: pages viewed, clicks, scrolling, how far you got in the booking or application steps, device and browser type, general location (city level), and how you arrived at the site. If you're signed in to your account, visits are linked to a random id, not your name or email.
• Session recordings: PostHog can record how a page was used (mouse movement, clicks, scrolling) so we can see where people get stuck. Everything typed into a form is hidden from recordings, and on your account and booking-management pages all text is hidden as well.
• Error reports: if a page breaks, a technical report (the error, the page, and your browser and device type) is sent so we can fix it. Email addresses and phone numbers are removed from these reports.
• What it doesn't do: we don't use it for advertising, and we don't sell or share it with advertisers.

Turning analytics off here stops both PostHog and Google Analytics in this browser. It's remembered on this device; if you clear your browser data or use another device, you'll need to turn it off again.

Data retention

We keep booking and contact information for as long as needed to provide our services, maintain business records, and meet tax or legal recordkeeping requirements.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account yourself: sign in, go to Profile, and choose Delete my account. Before you confirm, we show you exactly what will happen, and we email you a code to make sure it's you.

• Straight away: your account is closed and you're signed out. Upcoming cleans are canceled under our usual cancellation policy (deposits are refunded when there's enough notice), recurring plans stop, and we stop sending you reminders and offers. Any unused credit is lost.
• Seven days later: we delete your name, email address, phone number, saved homes and notes, quotes, messages and photos. If you change your mind before then, sign in and choose Restore my account.
• What we keep: records of past cleans and payments (date, service, amount, and city and ZIP code), which we're required to keep for tax and accounting. They no longer include your name or contact details. Our payment processor, Stripe, keeps its own records of card payments as the law requires; your saved card is removed.
• If money is owed for a clean that's already been done, we keep what we need to collect it, and delete your account once it's paid.
• Backups: our encrypted backups age out within 12 months. If we ever restore one, your deletion is applied again.
• Analytics: site analytics were only ever linked to a random id, not your name or email, so once your account is deleted they can't be connected to you.

Crew members and job applicants

Checks before your first job. Once we approve you, we ask you to complete three steps on your jobs page. Each is handled by a specialist partner, and we only receive the result:

• ID check, by Stripe Identity: a photo of your ID and a selfie. Stripe keeps the images; we keep whether it was verified, when, and the name on the ID.
• Background check, by Certn, only with your consent on Certn's own form. We pay for it. We receive the outcome (clear, or needs review) and can view the report in Certn to make a decision. If we decide not to work with you because of it, you'll get a copy of the report and a summary of your rights first, and you can dispute anything that's wrong with Certn.
• Pay setup, by Stripe: your bank account and tax details (for 1099 forms) go to Stripe, not to us. We keep the Stripe account reference so we can pay you.

If you just need a break, you can deactivate your account instead (Profile → Deactivate my account): you won't get job offers until you sign in and reactivate it, and nothing is deleted.

If you applied to work with us or clean with us as an independent contractor, you can have your account deleted: sign in to your jobs page, go to Profile, and choose Delete my account, or ask our office.

• Straight away: you're signed out and won't get job offers. Jobs you'd accepted or been offered go back to the rest of the team, and we stop texts and phone alerts.
• Seven days later: we delete your phone number, ZIP code, availability, prices, application answers, messages, insurance certificate and your ID and background check results, and ask Stripe and Certn to delete what they hold from those checks. If you change your mind before then, sign in and choose Restore my account.
• What we keep: if we've paid you, the law requires us to keep tax records for contractor payments (1099 forms). We keep your name, email, company, W-9, signed contractor agreement and the record of what we paid you until we no longer have to, then delete them too. If we still owe you money, we keep your payout details until you're paid. If you were paid through Stripe, your Stripe account stays open for the same time, because Stripe holds the 1099 records.
• If we never paid you (for example, you applied but didn't work with us), everything is deleted after the seven days.

Your rights

You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, by emailing info@houstoncitycleaners.com (or delete your account yourself, as above). We'll respond within a reasonable time.

Children's privacy

Our services are intended for adults booking home cleaning services. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top of this page will reflect the most recent revision.

Contact us

Questions about this policy? Reach us at info@houstoncitycleaners.com or (206) 671-2648.