Kettle privacy policy
Last updated 14 October 2026
The short version
- We collect only what Kettle needs to work: your email address, your usual routes and the trains you track.
- We use it to run Kettle, send the alerts you ask for, take your payment and keep Kettle secure.
- We don't sell your data.
- You can see, correct or delete your data whenever you like. Deleting your account is in the app, under You.
- Kettle is run by DB Five Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales. We're the ones responsible for your data.
- You must be 16 or over to use Kettle.
1. What we collect
Your account. Your email address. You sign in with a code we email you, or with Apple or Google if you choose, so we don't store a password. If you use Apple or Google, they confirm it's you and give us your email address (or, if you choose Apple's Hide My Email, an address that forwards to you). We ask them for nothing else: not your name, photo or contacts. We keep the account number Apple or Google gives us for Kettle so you can sign in again, and, for Apple, a token that lets us disconnect Kettle from your Apple ID when you delete your account.
Joining. If you join the waiting list, we keep your email address and anything you tell us, such as your stations, until we let you in or you ask us to remove it. When you sign up, Cloudflare checks that you're a person, not an automated program.
What you set up in Kettle. Your usual routes, stations, saved ways round, tracked trains and alert settings, and the people you've chosen to tell when you're late, by the names you gave them. We keep these so Kettle can show you the right trains.
Things you share. If you report what's happening on a train (for example, held at a signal or standing room only), other passengers see the report without your name, until the train arrives. We keep it with your account so we can stop misuse. If you share a train, anyone with the link can see that train between your stops until about an hour after it arrives; the link doesn't show who shared it.
Codes. If you use a Premium code or a friend's code, we record which code and when. If someone uses your friend code, we record that too.
Your devices. To send notifications and keep your Lock Screen, widgets and Apple Watch up to date, we keep the addresses Apple, Google or your browser give us for your devices. They only work for sending to Kettle on that device.
How you use Kettle. Basic technical information such as your app version, device type and errors, so we can fix problems. If you report a problem, we also get the details you send us. If you test Kettle through Apple's TestFlight and choose to send feedback or crash reports, Apple passes them to us.
Train information. Live train data comes from National Rail and TfL. It's about trains, not about you. We keep a record of how trains run so we can show reliability history.
Payments. If you subscribe through the App Store, Apple takes the payment and we never see your card details. We're told whether your subscription is active. On the web, Stripe takes the payment and RevenueCat manages the subscription. You give them your email address and card at checkout, and we never see your card. We give RevenueCat your Kettle account number, not your name, so the subscription goes to the right account. We're told whether it's active, when it renews and where you bought it. We keep a record of your subscription and the dates.
Anything you tell us. If you contact us, we keep your message and our reply. An AI system helps us read your message and draft a reply, and a person approves each reply before it's sent.
2. Why we use it, and our legal reasons
| What we do | Why we're allowed |
|---|---|
| Run your account, show your trains, send the alerts you set up | It's needed to provide Kettle to you (contract) |
| Take and record payments, keep records for tax | It's needed for your subscription, and the law requires us to keep accounts (contract and legal duty) |
| Fix faults, keep Kettle secure, stop misuse | It's in our interest and yours to keep Kettle working safely (legitimate interests) |
| Send push notifications | Only if you say yes (consent). You can switch them off in your phone settings |
| Answer your questions | It's in our interest and yours (legitimate interests) |
We don't make decisions about you using automated profiling, and we don't use your data for advertising.
3. Who we share it with
We don't sell your data. We share it only with companies that help us run Kettle, and only what they need:
- hosting and security (Hetzner, which runs our servers in Germany, and Cloudflare);
- sending sign-in and service emails (Resend, which sends from Ireland and stores the emails in the United States, with Google Workspace as a backup);
- signing in with Apple or Google, only if you choose to: they confirm who you are, and learn nothing else about how you use Kettle;
- keeping encrypted backups (Google Workspace, and our own storage in the UK);
- error monitoring (Sentry, in the EU), which gets details of the fault but not your name or email address;
- payments and subscriptions (Stripe, RevenueCat in the USA, and Apple);
- sending push notifications (Apple, Google or Mozilla, depending on your device), encrypted so only your device can read them.
People you choose to tell. If you invite someone to be told when you're late and they accept, we send them a notification when a train you mark is 10 or more minutes late, cancelled or back on time. It shows your name as you typed it, the train's time, your stations and when it's now due. The invite shows your name and your email address, partly hidden. We never share where you are. Either of you can stop it at any time.
Support emails. When you email us, your message goes to Anthropic, the company behind Claude, so its AI can help us read it and draft a reply. We share only the message and the details needed to answer it.
We may also share data if the law requires it, or to protect Kettle or other people from fraud or serious harm.
4. Where your data is stored
Our main servers are in Germany. Some of the companies above are based elsewhere, including the United States. When your data goes outside the UK, we make sure it's protected by the safeguards UK law requires.
5. How long we keep it
- Your account and routes: until you delete your account.
- Sign-in codes: a short time, then they expire.
- Subscription and payment records: as long as the law requires us to keep accounts.
- Problem reports and messages to us: 12 months, then we keep only a count of what people asked about, without the message or who sent it. They're deleted sooner if you delete your account or ask us to.
- Train and reliability records: these are about trains, not you, so we keep them so Kettle can show how lines run over time.
- Passenger reports and shared train links: reports show until the train arrives and links stop about an hour after it arrives; both are deleted with your account.
- The link to your Apple ID or Google account: until you remove it (You → Account and privacy) or delete your account. Deleting your account also tells Apple to disconnect Kettle.
- Backups: we keep encrypted backups in case something breaks: our database's change history for 7 days, and nightly copies for 35 days. Deleted data drops out of them within 35 days.
When you delete your account, we delete your personal data from Kettle, other than records we have to keep by law.
6. Your rights
You can ask us to:
- show you the data we hold about you;
- correct anything that's wrong;
- delete your data;
- stop using your data in certain ways, or give you a copy you can move elsewhere;
- stop sending you notifications you've agreed to.
You can download your data and delete your account yourself, in the app under You. For anything else, email [email protected]. We'll reply within one month. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. We'd like the chance to put it right first.
7. Children
Kettle is for people aged 16 and over. If we find out someone younger has an account, we'll close it and delete their data.
8. Cookies and the website
The Kettle website and web app use only the cookies and storage they need to work, such as keeping you signed in. We don't use advertising cookies.
9. Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app or by email before it applies.
Who we are and how to reach us
DB Five Ltd, company number 17480861, registered in England and Wales. Registered office: c/o Farrow Accounting & Tax Limited, Unit T13, Tideway Yard, 125 Mortlake High Street, London, SW14 8SN. Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as a data controller, registration number ZC273362.
To contact us, email [email protected], or use Send feedback in the app (Tools).