Privacy Policy

1. Overview

CalcYourWealth ("we", "us", "our") operates the website located at calcyourwealth.com, a free financial calculator service. We are committed to handling personal data responsibly, collecting only what is necessary to operate the site, and being transparent about every data practice described here.

Because our calculators are designed to run without an account, the volume of personal data this site processes is intentionally small. The sections below describe every category of data we collect, the specific purpose for each category, and your rights with respect to it.

2. Information We Collect

We collect two categories of information: data you actively provide, and data collected automatically when you use the site.

2a. Data You Provide Directly

• Contact form submissions. When you use the contact form, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your message for the sole purpose of responding to your enquiry.
• Email newsletter or resource signup. If you voluntarily subscribe to our newsletter or request a resource such as the Financial Health Checklist, we collect your email address and the date and source of your signup. You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email we send.
• Calculator form inputs. Values entered into our calculators (e.g., home price, loan balance, income, interest rate) are transmitted to our server solely to compute the requested result and return it to you. These values are processed in memory during the calculation, not written to a user database, and not associated with your identity. We do not request or accept account numbers, government identification numbers, Social Security numbers, passwords, or payment credentials through any calculator form.

2b. Data Collected Automatically

• Log data. Our web server automatically records standard HTTP log entries when you visit a page. These include your IP address, browser user-agent string, referring URL, requested URL, response status code, and timestamp. Server logs are retained for security and diagnostic purposes and are rotated on a defined schedule (see Section 9 - Data Retention).
• Analytics data. We use analytics software to understand aggregate traffic patterns - which calculators are most used, typical session duration, device type, and broad geographic region (country and state, not street address). See Section 7 for full details of the analytics service in use.
• Advertising and cookie data. Our advertising partners, including Google AdSense, may collect data through cookies and similar technologies to deliver relevant advertising. See Sections 5 and 6 for a full cookie table and advertising disclosure.

3. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For visitors in the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR require us to identify a lawful basis for each processing activity. The table below maps each activity to its basis:

4. How We Use Information

• To provide calculator results. Entered values are processed to return the computed output. No other use is made of those values.
• To respond to contact enquiries. Name and email from the contact form are used exclusively to reply to the message submitted.
• To deliver subscribed content. Email address and signup source are passed to our email service provider to send the resource or newsletter you requested and to manage your subscription preferences.
• To measure and improve site performance. Aggregate analytics data identifies which calculators are most used, which pages have high exit rates, and where the user experience can be improved. No individual user is identified in this process.
• To display advertising. Advertising revenue keeps all calculators free. Ad delivery may use cookies as described in Sections 5 and 6.
• To maintain site security. Server logs are used to detect abuse, investigate errors, and block malicious traffic.

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

A cookie is a small text file placed on your device by a website. We and our third-party partners use cookies, pixel tags, and browser localStorage for the purposes described below. You can control cookies through your browser settings at any time (see Section 15 - Your Choices).

Do Not Track / Global Privacy Control (GPC): Our site currently does not alter its behavior in response to a browser Do Not Track (DNT) header because there is no accepted industry standard for DNT interpretation. We do, however, honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal for California residents as described in Section 14.

6. Advertising

We serve advertisements through Google AdSense. Google, as a third-party advertising vendor, uses cookies - including the DoubleClick cookie - to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this site and other sites across the internet. The use of advertising cookies allows Google and its partners to serve ads personalized to your interests.

For EEA and UK visitors, personalized advertising is activated only after explicit consent is given through the cookie consent mechanism presented on your first visit. Visitors who decline personalized advertising will still see ads; those ads will be contextual (based on page content, not personal history).

You may opt out of personalized advertising at any time by visiting:

• Google Ads Settings - manage personalization for all Google ad products
• Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out - opt out of participating ad networks
• Network Advertising Initiative opt-out - additional network-level opt-out

Important: advertising partner cookies and the data they collect are governed by the privacy policy of each respective partner. Those cookies operate independently of our calculator logic and have no access to values entered into any calculator form. Partner advertising does not influence calculator formulas, default inputs, or results.

In addition to display advertising, some pages include clearly labeled affiliate or partner links (e.g., "Compare rates at LendingTree"). If you click such a link and complete an action on the partner's site, we may receive a referral fee. Affiliate relationships are disclosed at the point of the link and never influence the calculator results or benchmarks on any page.

7. Analytics

We use web analytics to measure aggregate site performance. Analytics data is used to identify which calculators are most valuable, where users encounter problems, and how to improve the site. We do not use analytics to build individual user profiles, and analytics data is never combined with calculator input values.

Our analytics configuration follows a privacy-first approach:

• IP anonymization is enabled - the last octet of your IP address is masked before any analytics record is written.
• Data retention in the analytics platform is set to the minimum available period (see Section 9).
• User ID tracking is disabled - we do not assign persistent cross-session identifiers.
• Demographic and interest reporting is disabled - we do not use Google Signals or equivalent cross-device profiling.
• Calculator input values are never sent to analytics as event parameters or custom dimensions.

If you prefer to prevent analytics collection entirely, you may install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on or use a browser that blocks analytics trackers by default.

8. Data Sharing and Third-Party Processors

We do not sell personal information to any third party. We do not share personal information with third parties for their own independent marketing purposes. Data is shared only with the following categories of service providers ("data processors") who act on our instructions:

We may also disclose data when required by law, court order, or regulatory authority, or when necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of this site, our users, or the public. We will notify affected users of legally required disclosures where permitted to do so.

9. Data Retention

We retain data only as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law. The table below specifies retention periods for each category:

10. Security

We implement the following technical and organizational measures to protect data processed through this site:

• TLS encryption in transit. All connections to calcyourwealth.com are served exclusively over HTTPS (TLS 1.2 minimum, TLS 1.3 preferred). Unencrypted HTTP connections are redirected to HTTPS.
• Server-side input validation. All calculator inputs are validated against documented numeric ranges on the server before any calculation runs. Values outside accepted ranges are rejected with an error, not silently accepted.
• No sensitive data storage. Because calculators require no account numbers, government identifiers, passwords, or payment credentials, the attack surface for credential or financial data breach is by design eliminated.
• Access control. Administrative access to server infrastructure and the database is restricted to authorized personnel, protected by strong credentials, and logged.
• Dependency management. Third-party libraries and server software are kept updated to address known vulnerabilities.
• Security headers. HTTP security headers including Content Security Policy (CSP), X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security are configured to reduce common web attack vectors.

No system is completely secure. If you discover a security vulnerability on this site, please report it responsibly through the contact page before public disclosure. We will acknowledge valid reports within five business days.

11. International Data Transfers

This website is operated from the United States. If you access the site from the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or another region with data protection laws that differ from U.S. law, your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate.

Where such transfers involve personal data from the EEA or UK, we rely on the following transfer mechanisms:

• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) - for transfers to service providers without an adequacy decision, we ensure contractual data protection through the European Commission-approved SCCs or UK IDTA equivalents.
• Adequacy decisions - where the European Commission has issued an adequacy decision for the destination country, transfers proceed on that basis.
• Google's compliance framework - Google's international data transfer mechanisms for AdSense and Analytics are described in the Google Privacy Policy.

12. Children's Privacy

This site is not directed to, and does not knowingly collect personal information from, children under the age of 13 in the United States (as defined by COPPA) or children under the age of 16 in the EEA and UK (as defined by GDPR Article 8). Our calculators are intended for adults making financial planning decisions.

If we become aware that a child under the applicable minimum age has submitted personal information through our contact form or email signup, we will delete that information promptly. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please notify us through the contact page and we will investigate and delete the information within five business days.

13. Your Rights - EEA and UK Residents (GDPR / UK GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the following rights under the GDPR and UK GDPR with respect to personal data we hold about you:

• Right of access (Art. 15). You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how it is processed.
• Right to rectification (Art. 16). You may request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to erasure (Art. 17). You may request deletion of your personal data where it is no longer necessary, where you withdraw consent, or where we have no overriding legitimate interest to retain it.
• Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18). You may request that we limit processing of your data in certain circumstances, such as while a rectification request is pending.
• Right to data portability (Art. 20). Where processing is based on consent or contract, you may request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object (Art. 21). You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. We will cease processing unless we demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests.
• Right to withdraw consent. Where processing is based on your consent (e.g., newsletter subscription), you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
• Right to lodge a complaint. You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. In the EU, find your authority at edpb.europa.eu. In the UK, the supervisory authority is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

To exercise any of these rights, submit your request through the contact page. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests.

14. Your Rights - California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) grants you the following rights:

• Right to know. You may request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, the business purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties with whom it is shared.
• Right to delete. You may request deletion of personal information we have collected, subject to certain exceptions (e.g., completing a requested transaction, security purposes, or legal obligations).
• Right to correct. You may request correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Right to opt out of sale or sharing. We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising without consent. You may also signal your opt-out preference through the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser setting, which we honor as a valid opt-out signal for California residents.
• Right to limit use of sensitive personal information. We do not collect sensitive personal information as defined by CPRA (e.g., Social Security numbers, financial account details, precise geolocation) through our calculator forms.
• Right to non-discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any CCPA/CPRA right. Exercising these rights will not affect your access to any calculator or feature.

To submit a CCPA/CPRA request, use the contact page and identify your request as a California privacy rights request. We will respond within 45 days (extendable to 90 days with notice).

15. Your Choices and Controls

• Cookie consent. On your first visit, a consent banner allows you to accept or decline non-essential cookies. You may change your choice at any time by clearing your browser cookies and revisiting the site, or by adjusting settings in your browser.
• Browser cookie controls. All major browsers allow you to view, block, or delete cookies through their settings menu. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may affect calculator functionality.
• Opt out of personalized advertising. Use Google Ads Settings, aboutads.info, or networkadvertising.org to opt out of participating ad networks.
• Analytics opt-out. Install the Google Analytics opt-out add-on to prevent your visits from being included in analytics reports.
• Email unsubscribe. Every marketing or newsletter email contains an unsubscribe link. Click it to be removed from all marketing communications immediately.
• Global Privacy Control (GPC). California residents may use a GPC-enabled browser to signal an opt-out of sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising. We honor GPC signals.

16. Third-Party Links and Services

Calculator pages may include links to external websites, financial institutions, government agencies, or partner products. When you follow a link to a third-party site, you leave calcyourwealth.com. We do not control, and are not responsible for, the privacy practices or content of third-party websites. We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of any external site before submitting personal information to it.

Outbound links to primary government data sources (IRS, SSA, BLS, FRED, ECB) are provided for reference and verification purposes and carry rel="noopener nofollow" attributes. They are not affiliate links.

17. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our data practices, legal requirements, or site features. When we make changes:

• The effective date at the top of this page is updated.
• For material changes - changes that expand the categories of data collected, add new purposes, or affect user rights - we will place a notice on the site homepage for a minimum of 30 days following the update.
• For email subscribers, material changes will be notified by email before they take effect where practical.
• Continued use of the site after the effective date of a revised policy constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

We conduct a full review of this policy at least once per year. The next scheduled review is August 1, 2027.

18. Contact and Data Enquiries

For questions about this Privacy Policy, to exercise any data right described above, or to report a privacy concern, contact us through:

• Contact form: calcyourwealth.com/contact/ - preferred method for all data rights requests
• Email: hello@calcyourwealth.com

We will acknowledge all privacy-related requests within five business days and provide a substantive response within the timeframe required by applicable law - 30 days for GDPR requests, 45 days for CCPA/CPRA requests.

This privacy policy applies solely to data processed by CalcYourWealth (calcyourwealth.com). It does not apply to data processed by third-party sites linked from this site, including advertising partners, financial product providers, or government data sources.