Legal
Privacy policy
Last updated
Short answer: Only the people you invite can see an estate. We use what you add to run Sortwell and to research your items. We don't sell it, we don't show adverts, and we don't use your photos to train AI models. You can delete an estate whenever you like.
This policy explains what Sortwell collects, why, who helps us process it, and the choices you have. We've tried to write it plainly, because many people reading it will be dealing with a hard time.
Who we are
Sortwell is run by HYPERDUSK LTD, a company registered in England and Wales (number 14788614), at 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX. We are the data controller for the personal information described here.
If you have a question or want to use any of your rights, email hello@sortwellapp.com.
What we collect
| What | Examples | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Account details | Your name, email address and profile picture, and your language | You, or Google or Apple if you sign in with them |
| Estates | The estate's name and location, rooms, photos, notes, comments and decisions | You and the people you invite |
| Invitations | The name, email address and role of each person you invite | The person inviting them |
| Device details | A push notification token, if you allow notifications in the iPhone app | Your phone |
| Purchases | What you bought for an estate, when, and any refund. Never your card details | Stripe or Apple, when you pay |
| Technical records | Sign-in sessions, IP address and error logs, used to keep the service secure | Your browser or phone |
When a photo is uploaded we strip its hidden data, including where it was taken. Photos are only ever shown from that stripped copy.
Photos and notes may include information about other people, including someone who has died. Please only add what you need for sorting through the home, and don't upload documents such as bank statements or passports.
How we use it
| Why | Our legal basis |
|---|---|
| To provide your account and estates, and let you work together | Performing our contract with you |
| To identify and research items, and suggest estimates | Performing our contract with you |
| To take payment for what you buy, and apply it to the estate | Performing our contract with you |
| To send sign-in links, invitations and service messages | Performing our contract with you |
| To send push notifications on your iPhone | Your consent, which you can turn off in your phone's settings |
| To keep Sortwell secure, fix faults and control costs | Our legitimate interest in running a safe, reliable service |
| To keep a record of deleted accounts, in case of a complaint or legal claim | Our legitimate interest in defending ourselves and resolving disputes |
| To answer legal requests and keep records the law requires | Our legal obligations |
We don't use advertising trackers. The website sets no cookies. The app uses only the cookies it needs to keep you signed in and remember your language.
How AI research works
When you ask Sortwell to research an item, we send its photos and notes to the services below so they can suggest what it is and what similar things have sold for. Anything suggested by AI is marked in the app, and you can correct it.
These suggestions are estimates. Nobody is making a decision about you on the basis of them, and they have no legal effect on you.
We don't use your photos or notes to train AI models, and our AI provider doesn't train its models on them under its commercial terms.
Who we share it with
The people you invite. Family members see the estate according to the role you give them. Guests, such as a valuer or solicitor, can only look at what you've allowed.
Companies that help us run Sortwell, who may only use your information to provide their service to us:
| Company | What they do | What they handle |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Hosting, file storage, email, queues and search | Everything stored in Sortwell |
| PlanetScale | Our database | Account and estate records |
| Anthropic | AI that identifies and researches items | Item photos and notes |
| Image recognition, and Google sign-in if you use it | Item photos, or your sign-in details | |
| eBay | Finding comparable sales | Item photos |
| Apple | In-app purchases on iPhone, Sign in with Apple, push notifications | Your App Store purchases, sign-in details and device token |
| Stripe | Taking payments on the web | Your payment details, which we never see |
| Sentry | Error monitoring | Error reports, without your photos or the contents of your estate |
Our staff can view an estate only when it's needed for support, safety or a legal reason. Staff access is read-only and recorded.
We may also share information if the law requires it, or if the business is sold, in which case this policy would continue to apply.
We never sell your personal information.
Where it's stored
Some of these companies are based in, or process information in, the United States and other countries outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on the legal safeguards UK law provides, such as the UK-US data bridge or the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement.
How long we keep it
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| An estate, its photos and everything in it | Until you delete it. Records are removed straight away and photos are then purged from storage |
| Exports you've created | Up to 30 days |
| Photos that never finished uploading | 1 day |
| Your account | Until you delete it, which stops it working straight away and removes your email address and photo from it |
| Estates nobody else is using, when you delete your account | Hidden straight away, then permanently deleted, photos included, after 30 days |
| Estates you share with family, when you delete your account | Kept for the family. What you added stays, with your name on your comments and decisions |
| A record that an account was deleted | Your name, email address and the estates affected, for up to six years, in case of a complaint or legal claim |
| Security and payment records | As long as we reasonably need them, or the law requires |
Your rights
You have the right to ask for a copy of your personal information, and to have it corrected or deleted. You can also object to how we use it, ask us to restrict it, ask for it in a portable format, and withdraw consent where we rely on it.
You can delete your account yourself, under Your account in the web app or in Settings on your iPhone. For anything else, email hello@sortwellapp.com. We'll reply within one month.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Children
Sortwell is for adults. You must be 18 or over to create an account.
Changes to this policy
If we make a significant change we'll tell you by email or in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top shows when this page last changed.