Your household's information
Privacy, in plain language
Last updated: September 10, 2026
Utility Kitty is a small, invite-only service operated by Utility Kitty, operated by Steve Winton as a personal, non-commercial project based in Tennessee, United States. For privacy questions or requests, email privacy@utilitykitty.com.
What we store and why
Visitors may provide an email address to register interest in the closed beta. Registering interest does not create an account or guarantee access. We store that address and the time it was submitted in Utility Kitty's Render PostgreSQL database. We use it only to contact the person about Utility Kitty beta access, not for a general newsletter or unrelated marketing.
We store your email address, display name, protected password information, account status, and login dates so you can sign in and recover access. Passwords are stored as hashes, not readable passwords.
We also store household names, membership, roles, and creation dates. These let us show the right household to the right people. Active members can see the household roster and display names. Other members' email addresses aren't shown on household pages. Authorized administrators can manage accounts and memberships.
For each monthly kitty, we store the household and calendar month, the utility type and amount for water and sewage, electricity, and internet bills, and each included member's calculated share. Active members can see the bills and household total but only their own share; organizers can see the complete split. This version does not record member contributions or provider payments.
We keep administrator activity records and basic technical information to operate and secure the service. Our application error logs use generic messages instead of private request details. Hosting providers may also keep technical request logs, such as IP addresses and request information.
Payments stay outside Utility Kitty
Utility Kitty does not process payments or transfer money. Do not enter bank-account details, payment-card information, payment-service credentials, or utility-provider credentials.
Who helps run the service
Render hosts the website and production PostgreSQL database. It stores and processes the information needed to run them.
Resend delivers account-access and password-reset emails from Utility Kitty <notifications@utilitykitty.com>. It receives the destination email address and the message, including the password link. Password links expire after one hour and can be used only once.
Cloudflare (DNS and inbound email forwarding) supports the service's domain records and inbound forwarding for the privacy mailbox. It does not receive household utility data through Utility Kitty.
We don't use advertising, analytics, or tracking scripts. Fonts and styles are served with the site. Following the GitHub link takes you to a separate service with its own practices.
Cookies for login and security
The public interest form uses an essential CSRF cookie to protect it against unwanted requests. We also use essential cookies to keep account holders signed in and protect account forms. Login cookies normally expire after two weeks; form-security cookies can last about a year. Logging out ends your login session. These cookies aren't used for advertising.
Keeping and deleting information
Interest records are retained only while the beta interest list is active and deleted when they are no longer needed. Email privacy@utilitykitty.com to ask us to delete an interest record earlier. After verifying the request, we delete it manually within 30 days.
Account and household information stays in the service until an administrator removes it. There is no automatic deletion schedule or self-service export. Deactivating an account stops access but does not delete its information.
Email privacy@utilitykitty.com to request access, a correction, or deletion. We may need to confirm that the request is yours. Monthly financial records are protected from accidental cascading deletion. An administrator must review and explicitly remove relevant monthly records before deleting a referenced membership, account, or household. Deleting a household does not delete unrelated member accounts. Administrator activity records and provider backups or logs can retain information after a record is deleted.
Resend retains email data for 30 days on the current free plan. Application data is retained while a household is active. We fulfill approved correction or deletion requests manually within 30 days. Residual provider backups and logs expire under the providers' retention schedules.
Security and limitations
We use HTTPS, protected passwords, and household access checks. No service can promise absolute security, uninterrupted availability, or guaranteed recovery. Please keep your password and password links private.
When this notice changes
We'll update this page when our practices change and communicate material changes to active users when appropriate.