Last updated: September 2026
US Rent vs. Buy Map (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is a free, browser-based real estate analysis tool available at rentvsbuymap.com. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your choices regarding that information. By using this application, you agree to the practices described below.
This application does not require account registration or login. All financial assumptions you adjust (mortgage rate, rent, down payment, etc.) and any custom property values you enter are stored exclusively in your browser’s localStorage. They are never transmitted to our servers.
When you use the map, our servers automatically receive standard web request data, including:
We also maintain a small, self-hosted analytics log, separate from the third-party Vercel Analytics described in Section 5. For each page you visit, we record the page path, a one-way cryptographic hash of your IP address (combined with a private server-side value before hashing), and a coarse location (your country, and if in the United States, your state) derived from your IP by our hosting provider. This hash cannot be reversed back into an IP address, we do not store your raw IP address alongside it, and the location we record is never more precise than country/state level — no city, ZIP code, or coordinates. This data is used only to approximate unique visitor counts and where visitors are roughly located, and is never linked to any other information described in this policy.
When you search for an address, your query is sent to Nominatim (OpenStreetMap) for geocoding. When you click a property on the map, the coordinates are sent to our server-side API, which forwards them to RentCast for market estimates. We do not store a long-term history of which coordinates or addresses you have viewed.
We do not use tracking cookies. The application uses browser localStoragesolely to remember your slider preferences and any custom property values between sessions. This data never leaves your device and can be cleared at any time through your browser settings.
Third-party services integrated into this site (see Section 5) may set their own cookies subject to their respective privacy policies.
We use the information described above to:
We do not sell, rent, or share your personally identifiable information with third parties for their marketing purposes.
This application integrates with the following third-party services, each governed by their own privacy policies:
Server-side logs generated by Vercel are retained according to Vercel’s standard retention schedule (typically 30 days). Cached property estimates stored in our Supabase database are retained to improve performance and are reused for up to two years before a new third-party lookup; they do not contain personal information. The hashed, self-hosted page-view log described in Section 2b is currently retained indefinitely; we may introduce a pruning schedule in the future, and this policy will be updated if so. Your browser’s localStorage data persists until you clear it manually.
This application is intended for adults making real estate decisions. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can delete it.
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete personal data we hold about you. Because we collect minimal personal data and do not maintain user accounts, most data associated with you is limited to short-lived server logs keyed by IP address.
To request deletion of any data associated with your IP address or to exercise other privacy rights, please contact us at the address in Section 10.
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. Continued use of the application after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, you may reach us via the feedback link at rentvsbuymap.com.