1. Who we are
Survey Smarter is operated by DampSurvey Pro Ltd, company number 17029975, registered in England and Wales. Our registered office is 3rd Floor, 86–90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE.
This policy covers surveysmarter.app, the Survey Smarter app at app.surveysmarter.app and its installed web-app version. For privacy questions or a data request, email jason@dampsurvey-pro.co.uk or write to our registered office.
We control account administration, support, security and billing data. When a surveying business uploads information about its clients, properties or occupants, that business normally decides why it is used and is the controller; we process that content to provide the service on its instructions. Contact the surveying business about the content of its survey. We will help route requests where appropriate.
2. Information we process
- Account and business details: name, business name, email, sign-in and verification records, company branding and preferences.
- Survey and job content: property and customer details, bookings, access notes, observations, readings, photographs and annotations, signatures, uploaded building surveys, extracted checklists, reports and invoices.
- Connected accounts: the account identity, email and calendar information described below, and credentials needed for the connection.
- Billing and support: subscription and transaction references, billing details returned by the payment provider, enquiries and correspondence. Card entry is handled by Stripe when paid checkout is available; the app does not receive your full card number.
- Technical records: network address, browser/device information, authentication, service errors and security or abuse-prevention records processed by the service and its infrastructure providers.
Information comes from you, authorised users in your business, the accounts you choose to connect and our service providers. Avoid uploading unnecessary health information, identity documents, passwords or other sensitive information about occupants or clients.
3. Why we use information
We use information to create and secure accounts, provide surveys and document exports, save and synchronise work where enabled, operate optional AI and account connections, administer subscriptions, respond to support requests, prevent abuse and meet legal obligations.
For account and subscription administration, our basis is performance of a contract or steps requested before entering one. We rely on legitimate interests to operate and secure the service and respond to business enquiries, and on legal obligations for records we must retain. Optional provider permissions and sharing selected content with AI are initiated by your affirmative choices; you can stop using these features or withdraw access. Where we rely on consent as the legal basis, you may withdraw it without affecting earlier lawful processing. Survey content is processed on the business customer's instructions; that customer must establish its own lawful basis.
You can object to processing based on our legitimate interests by contacting us. We will consider your circumstances and whether a lawful reason to continue applies. Signing up does not itself subscribe you to marketing emails.
4. Google Gmail and Calendar connections
Connecting Google is optional. Google shows the permissions requested before you approve access. Availability depends on Google's app approval, account settings and any restrictions applied by your organisation. This policy is not a claim that Google has verified Survey Smarter.
- Gmail: we use read access to show recent inbox threads and the messages you open, including sender, reply address, subject, dates and message text. We use send access to send new messages or replies that you review and explicitly send. The current integration does not request permission to delete your Gmail messages.
- Google Calendar: we use access to events on calendars you own to check appointments and clashes on your primary calendar, let you review an event as a proposed survey booking, and create or update a Survey Smarter appointment when you explicitly save it. This does not automatically synchronise every event or every calendar.
- Identity and access: account identity and email help identify the connected account and keep access attached to the correct Survey Smarter user. Access tokens pass through our server to call Google's APIs; they are protected in encrypted sessions and are not displayed to other subscribers.
Opening an inbox does not automatically submit it to AI. If you choose AI email assistance, the selected message or thread text and your instructions are sent to OpenAI as described below. Suggested bookings, invoices and replies remain proposals until you review and save or send them.
Limited Use: Survey Smarter's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements, and the applicable Google Workspace user data policy. We do not sell Google user data, use it for advertising, credit decisions, or train general-purpose AI models. We restrict its use and sharing to the user-facing features you request, security, legal requirements and other uses expressly permitted by those policies. Staff access is limited to your specific permission, necessary security investigation or legal requirements.
5. Outlook and Microsoft 365 connections
Where activated, each user connects their own Microsoft account. We process account identity, selected inbox messages and reply addresses to display email and send the messages you explicitly approve. Calendar permissions support availability checks and the appointment actions you request. Microsoft organisation policies or administrator consent may affect access. Selected Outlook messages are sent to AI only when you choose that assistance. Connections do not give other subscribers access to your mailbox.
6. Optional AI and building survey review
AI features use OpenAI. When you request wording help, summaries, field questions or business assistance, the relevant text, question, conversation context and any job details selected for that feature are transmitted through our server to OpenAI. For email assistance, this includes the selected email text and your instructions. For a building survey checklist, readable PDF text is sent where extraction succeeds; otherwise the PDF, including page images, may be sent. Check documents for unnecessary personal information before using the feature.
We do not use Google account data or your submitted content to train general-purpose AI models, and do not authorise our AI provider to do so for this service. API responses are requested with response storage disabled. This does not mean the provider has no temporary security or abuse-monitoring retention; its service terms and applicable retention controls still apply. See OpenAI's business data privacy information.
Generated wording, advice and extracted checklist items can be inaccurate or incomplete. Review against your evidence and the original document. AI does not independently confirm a building defect, replace a competent inspection or make a binding decision about a person. You decide whether to use its output.
8. Where data is processed
Our suppliers operate internationally, including in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. Data is not represented as UK-only. The location of a particular request or stored record depends on the provider, service and configured region. International processing is subject to applicable data-protection requirements and provider contractual safeguards, which may include UK adequacy arrangements or approved contractual transfer terms and the UK Addendum or International Data Transfer Agreement as applicable. Contact us for information about the providers and safeguards relevant to your use.
9. Storage, retention and deletion
On your device: survey data, photos, branding and app files may remain in browser storage until you delete them or your browser clears them. Downloaded reports and backups remain wherever you save them. Signing out or disconnecting an inbox does not erase those files. Anyone using your device or backups may be able to see their contents; protect them appropriately.
Cloud records: when cloud backup is connected, survey records and evidence are stored to support synchronisation and recovery. Deleting a survey can mark it as deleted rather than immediately purge every cloud copy. Subscription cancellation or trial expiry does not itself request erasure. Contact us for permanent cloud deletion or account closure, and remove device copies and downloaded backups separately if you want those erased.
Connected accounts: current access sessions are valid for up to one hour and may require reconnection. Gmail access is held in an encrypted, expiring device session; Calendar and Microsoft credentials are encrypted in server session records linked to your account and an expiring device cookie. Disconnect ends that device connection; you can also revoke access at the provider. Expired server session records are removed during connection maintenance. We fetch email for the screen or action you request, rather than maintaining a permanent full-mailbox archive. Messages or event details you deliberately save into jobs, drafts or exports follow the retention of those records. Send-protection records contain identifiers or hashes needed to reduce duplicate sends.
We keep account and service data while required to provide your account and ongoing work, resolve support or disputes, prevent fraud, and meet applicable accounting or legal obligations. Retention is assessed by record type, whether your account remains open, your deletion instructions, unresolved issues and applicable legal time limits. Restricted-access recovery copies may remain until the relevant backup cycle expires; we will explain any retention that prevents a requested deletion. We do not promise that provider logs, external mailboxes or copies you have shared are deleted by closing your account.
10. Disconnecting and requesting deletion
- Use Disconnect in the Gmail screen or Calendars & Outlook to end that device's connection.
- To revoke provider access more broadly, use Google Account connections or the connected-app permissions in your Microsoft account or organisation.
- To request deletion of account, cloud or connected-account data we hold, email jason@dampsurvey-pro.co.uk from your account address and identify the account or records. We may verify identity and authority before acting. Do not send passwords or tokens.
Disconnecting does not delete emails or events already created with Google or Microsoft. Manage those directly in the provider if needed. We may direct requests concerning a surveyor's client records to the business controlling that survey.
11. Your rights and complaints
Depending on the data and legal basis, you can request access, correction, erasure, restriction or portability of your personal data, object to legitimate-interest processing, and withdraw consent where applicable. Some rights have exceptions, including legal retention duties and the rights of other people. Contact us using the details above; we normally respond to a valid rights request within one month, subject to any lawful extension.
You can complain to us about how we handle information. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).