Privacy Policy

Who we are

Nestmate is an independent project for apartments in Irvine, California, and nearby campus housing. It is not affiliated with The Irvine Company®, Zillow®, Apartments.com®, Yelp®, or any landlord we list. Official leasing happens on each operator's own site.

Information we collect

• Rent-drop alerts: email address and the filters you set (budget, beds, communities).
• Campus accounts: college email (for verification), optional phone or display name, and role (student or landlord).
• Listings and posts: titles, addresses, prices, descriptions, photos or videos you upload, and interest marks on listings.
• Messages: direct and group chat content you send, plus conversation participants and read state.
• Sign-in data: first-party cookies or tokens needed to stay signed in, and basic server logs for reliability and abuse prevention.

How we use information

• Send rent-drop and campus notification emails you request
• Show listings, interest counts, and chat threads to the right people
• Verify college email ownership for campus features
• Operate, secure, and improve the service

We do not sell personal information. Marking interest on a listing shares your profile with the listing owner and other interested users so you can coordinate (including group chat).

Messaging and retention

Chat messages are kept so conversations work across devices. Messages older than 90 days are automatically deleted. Empty conversations past that window may be removed as well. Account profile data and active listing associations are retained while your account or listing remains in use.

Cookies and sessions

We use essential, first-party cookies or tokens only to keep you signed in for campus, chat, admin, and related features (for example a session cookie after login). We do not use advertising cookies, third-party ad trackers, or analytics cookies that follow you across other sites.

Because these cookies are limited to running the signed-in experience you request, we do not show a separate cookie-consent banner for browsing public pages. You can clear cookies in your browser at any time; that signs you out of those features. Submitting an email for rent alerts, creating a campus account, or posting a listing is your request for that service.

Service providers

We use hosting, database, and email providers to run the site. Those providers process data only to deliver the service.

Trademarks

Zillow®, Apartments.com®, ForRent®, Yelp®, and The Irvine Company® (and related marks) are trademarks of their respective owners. Nestmate is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected to those companies or any landlord we list. Official leasing happens only on each operator’s own site.

Your choices

• Unsubscribe from rent alerts using the link in any alert email, or visit /unsubscribe.
• Turn off chat email notifications in Messages, or use the unsubscribe link in a chat email.
• Remove interest marks, listings you posted, or sign out to stop new session use.

Children

The service is intended for adults seeking housing. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes

We may update this policy as features change. The "Last updated" date at the top will change when we do. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact

Questions about privacy can be sent through the feedback form.