**Take Home** Legal # Privacy Policy Take Home connects to your accounting software and handles financial information, so you should know exactly what we collect, what we can and cannot see, who else touches it, and what you can make us do about it. This policy says so in plain terms. Effective date: **11 August 2026** ยท Last updated: **11 August 2026** ## 1.Who we are Take Home ("Take Home", "we", "us" or "our") is a UK take-home pay calculator and a financial planner for limited company directors and self-employed people. Take Home is operated by SideQuester. For the purposes of the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR, we are the **data controller** for the personal information described in this policy. That means we decide what information is collected and what happens to it, and we are accountable for it. You can reach us about anything in this policy at [hello@takehome.ai](mailto:hello@takehome.ai), or by post at 40 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0NE, United Kingdom. ## 2.What this policy covers This policy covers two different things, and the difference matters because most people only ever encounter the first: - The website at takehome.ai, including the take-home, dividend, corporation tax, sole trader and IR35 calculators, the guides, and the waitlist form. Anyone can use these without an account. - The Take Home app , which connects to your accounting software and produces a financial plan. The app is in private beta, so this part applies to you only if we have given you access. Where a section applies to only one of the two, we say so. ## 3.Information we collect ### When you use a calculator Our calculators do not run entirely in your browser. When you enter figures such as salary, dividends, turnover, expenses or a day rate, those figures are sent to our backend, which runs the tax calculation and returns the result. We do not ask for your name or email to run a calculation, and we do not attach the figures to an identity. Please do not type anything into a calculator that you would not want to leave your device. ### When you join the waitlist or contact us The waitlist and contact forms collect your name, email address, and optionally your phone number, company or trading name, and whatever you choose to write in the message box. If you email us directly we receive your email address and the contents of your message. ### Automatically, when you visit the site - Technical and security data. Our hosting and security provider receives your IP address, browser and device type, the page you requested, the referring page, and automated-traffic signals it uses to tell human visitors from bots. - Product analytics. We record which pages are viewed and which calculator steps are completed, so we know which guides and tools are worth maintaining. Each page view is tagged with a random identifier that is generated fresh in memory every time a page loads. It is not written to your device, it does not persist between pages, and it is not linked to you. - Google Analytics , but only if you accept analytics cookies. See the cookies section below. ### If you have access to the app - Account details. Your email address and the credentials needed to sign you in. - Accounting data from the accounting platform you choose to connect, described in detail in the next section. - Your profile answers. The questionnaire asks about your household and financial situation, including a spouse or partner's income, dependants, existing pensions and ISAs, insurance you already hold, mortgage and other debt, your retirement target, and specific goals such as a deposit or school fees. You tell us these; we do not read them from anywhere. - Company information retrieved from the public Companies House register when you identify your company. - Documents you send us , if you choose to send them, including through a messaging channel such as Telegram or WhatsApp where we offer it. ## 4.Your accounting data: what we can and cannot see This is the part most people want a straight answer on, so here it is. When you connect an accounting platform, you authorise the connection on that platform's own website using OAuth. We never see or store your accounting login details. The platform gives us an access token, and that token is **read-only**. **We can read. We cannot write.** We can see what is in your accounts: turnover, expenses, payroll, dividends, and the balance sheet. We cannot create, edit, or delete anything in your accounting software, cannot file anything with HMRC or Companies House on your behalf, and cannot move money. FreeAgent is the platform we currently support. Xero and QuickBooks Online are planned, and Sage and FreshBooks are further out. We only ever connect to a platform you have chosen and authorised. We use the accounting data to work out your take-home position, to spot expenses you are entitled to claim but are not claiming, and to model salary, dividend and pension decisions. We do not use it for advertising, we do not sell it, and we do not pass it to a partner unless you ask us to make an introduction. You can disconnect an accounting platform at any time, from Take Home or from the platform itself. Disconnecting stops any further reading immediately. See the retention section for what happens to data we already hold. ## 5.How we use your information We use personal information to: - run the calculators and return a result; - respond to your enquiry, add you to the waitlist, and tell you when access opens; - create and secure your account, and provide the app's features; - produce your financial plan and keep it current as your figures change; - make an introduction to a partner, where you have asked for one; - understand which pages and tools people actually use, so we can improve them; - keep the service secure and detect fraud, abuse and technical faults; and - meet our legal and regulatory obligations. We will only send you marketing email if you have asked for it or you are an existing user of a closely related service, and every marketing email has an unsubscribe link. Service messages that you cannot opt out of, such as a security notice, are not marketing. ## 6.Our legal bases Under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR we must have a lawful basis for each use. Ours are: | What we do | Lawful basis | | --- | --- | | Run a calculation you asked for | Legitimate interests, and steps taken at your request | | Reply to your enquiry, manage the waitlist | Steps taken at your request before entering a contract | | Provide the app to account holders | Performance of our contract with you | | Read your accounting data and build your plan | Performance of our contract, plus your consent given at the OAuth screen | | Google Analytics and any advertising cookies | Your consent | | First-party product analytics, security, fraud prevention, service improvement | Our legitimate interests in running and protecting the service | | Share your details with a partner for an introduction | Your consent, given when you request the introduction | | Keep business and tax records | Compliance with a legal obligation | Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether our interest is overridden by your rights, and you can object at any time using the contact details below. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time, and withdrawing it does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it. ## 7.Cookies and analytics We keep this deliberately minimal, and the detail is on our [cookie policy](/cookies) page. - takehome.ai sets no cookies of its own. Serving a page to you does not put a cookie on your device. - Nothing non-essential runs until you say yes. We use Google Consent Mode. Analytics storage, advertising storage, advertising personalisation and advertising user data all start in a denied state. Google Analytics loads but stores nothing and reports nothing, including no page view, unless you choose "Accept all". - Your choice is remembered in local storage, not a cookie. We save it in your browser under the key bxc , with the date you chose. Clearing your browser storage clears it and you will be asked again. - You can change your mind at any time by reopening the cookie banner from the link in the footer. Choosing "Reject all" switches Google Analytics off again. - Our hosting and security provider may set a strictly necessary cookie to distinguish humans from bots and to protect the site. This is required for security and does not track you across other websites. ## 8.Who we share your information with We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with anyone for their own marketing. We share it only with service providers who process it on our instructions under a written contract, and only as far as they need it. | Who | What they do for us | Where | | --- | --- | --- | | Cloudflare, Inc. | Hosting, content delivery, DNS, and security including bot protection. Processes request data such as your IP address. | United States and global edge network | | Xano LLC | Our application backend and database. Holds account details, waitlist and enquiry submissions, calculator requests, accounting data and plans. Runs on Google Cloud infrastructure. | United States (Iowa) | | Google LLC | Google Analytics, only where you have consented. We also use Google Search Console, which reports aggregate search statistics and receives no personal data from us. | United States and global | | Email and messaging providers | Delivering transactional email such as notifications and replies, and receiving any documents you choose to send us. | United States and EU | The accounting platform you connect, such as FreeAgent, is not our processor. It is a separate controller of your data under its own privacy policy, and you authorise it to share data with us. We may also disclose information where we are legally required to, to establish or defend legal claims, or to a buyer if the business is sold, in which case this policy continues to apply until you are told otherwise. An up-to-date list of the providers we use is available on request from [hello@takehome.ai](mailto:hello@takehome.ai). ## 9.Partner introductions and referral fees Take Home introduces users to accountants, mortgage brokers, insurance providers and pension platforms. We want to be plain about how this works, because it is how we make money. - An introduction only happens when you click to request it . Nothing is shared with a partner in the background, and no partner receives your details because you merely viewed a recommendation. - We tell you which partner you are being introduced to before you confirm. - Once you are introduced, the partner is an independent data controller. They hold your information under their own privacy policy, and you should read it. - We earn a referral fee from some partners when you choose to engage them. The fees are published in the product. - Take Home is not regulated to give tax, financial or investment advice. We provide calculations and general guidance, and connect you to qualified, regulated people who can advise you. ## 10.International data transfers We are based in the UK, but some of our providers are in the United States, so your information is transferred outside the UK and the European Economic Area. In particular, our backend and database are hosted on infrastructure located in the United States, which means account details, waitlist submissions and any accounting data we hold are stored there. Where we transfer personal information out of the UK or the EEA, we rely on one or more of the following safeguards: - the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, or the UK Addendum to the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses; - the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses; and - where applicable, the provider's certification under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension. You can ask us for a copy of the safeguards that apply to a particular transfer by emailing [hello@takehome.ai](mailto:hello@takehome.ai). ## 11.How long we keep your information We keep personal information only as long as we need it, then delete it or anonymise it. | What | How long | | --- | --- | | Calculator inputs and results | Retained in request logs for up to 30 days for debugging and abuse prevention, then deleted. Aggregate, non-identifying usage counts may be kept indefinitely. | | Waitlist and enquiry submissions | 24 months after our last contact with you, unless you become a user or ask us to delete them sooner. | | Account details | For as long as your account is open, then 6 months after closure. | | Accounting data and your plan | While the connection is active, and for 12 months after you disconnect or close your account, so you can come back without starting again. You can ask us to delete it immediately. | | Google Analytics data | Up to 14 months, set on our Analytics property. | | Security and server logs | Typically up to 30 days. | | Records we must keep by law, such as tax and accounting records | 6 years from the end of the relevant financial year. | ## 12.How we protect your information - All traffic to takehome.ai and to our backend is encrypted in transit with HTTPS, and the site is served with HTTP Strict Transport Security. - Accounting connections use read-only OAuth tokens. We never hold your accounting username or password. - Access to production data is limited to people who need it, and is authenticated. - Our hosting provider filters malicious and automated traffic before it reaches the application. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a personal data breach happens and it is likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will report it to the Information Commissioner's Office within 72 hours, and tell you without undue delay where the risk to you is high. ## 13.Your rights Under UK and EU data protection law you have the right to: - Access the personal information we hold about you, and get a copy of it. - Correct information that is wrong or incomplete. - Erase your information, where we have no overriding reason to keep it. - Restrict how we use it while a question about it is resolved. - Object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to object to direct marketing at any time, which we will always honour. - Portability : receive the information you gave us in a machine-readable format, or have us send it to someone else where technically feasible. - Withdraw consent at any time, where we relied on it. To exercise any of these, email [hello@takehome.ai](mailto:hello@takehome.ai). We will respond within one month. We may ask you to confirm your identity first, so that we do not disclose your information to someone else. Exercising your rights is free, and we will not treat you differently for it. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at [ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint](https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/) or on 0303 123 1113. If you are in the EEA, you can complain to your local supervisory authority. ## 14.Special category information We do not ask for special category information, which includes information about health, race, religion, political opinions, trade union membership, genetics, biometrics, sex life or sexual orientation. One situation can bring it up. If you ask us to introduce you to an insurance provider for income protection or critical illness cover, you may choose to tell us something about your health. We only use that to make the introduction you asked for, we rely on your explicit consent to do so, and you can decline to tell us and speak to the provider directly instead. ## 15.Automated decision-making and AI Your financial plan is produced by tax calculations and rules applied to the figures we hold. That is automated, but it is guidance for you to act on, not a decision about you. Nothing we do produces a legal effect on you or similarly significantly affects you within the meaning of Article 22 of the UK GDPR. We do not do credit scoring or profiling for lending decisions, and introductions are made because you asked for them, not because a model selected you. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your accounting or financial data to train AI models. Where we introduce a feature that sends your data to an AI provider, we will say so in the product before you use it. ## 16.Children Take Home is a service for people running a business or working for themselves, and it is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us their information, email [hello@takehome.ai](mailto:hello@takehome.ai) and we will delete it. ## 17.Links to other websites Our guides link to other websites, including HMRC, Companies House, and the partners and providers we mention. We are not responsible for their content or their privacy practices, and this policy does not apply to them. Please read the privacy policy of any site you visit from ours. ## 18.Changes to this policy We update this policy when what we do changes, for example when we add a new accounting integration or a new service provider. The effective date at the top of the page tells you which version you are reading. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we will tell account holders by email before it takes effect, and we will not apply a materially different use to information we already hold without a lawful basis for doing so. ## 19.How to contact us For anything to do with this policy, your information, or a request to exercise your rights: - Email: [hello@takehome.ai](mailto:hello@takehome.ai) - Post: 40 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0NE, United Kingdom We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer, because we are not required to. Enquiries to the address above reach the person responsible for data protection at Take Home.