Privacy Policy - How We Protect Your Data

Last Updated: October 29, 2025

1. Who We Are

CalcWise is operated by Aaron, a solo developer based in the United States. When this policy says "we," "us," or "our," that's who we're referring to. You can reach me directly at aaron@calcwise.org.

2. What Data We Collect (And Don't)

Calculator Inputs & Results: ZERO Collection

This is the most important part: we never see your calculator data.

• All calculations happen in your browser using JavaScript
• Your inputs (mortgage amounts, BMI data, whatever you calculate) never leave your device
• Results are computed locally and displayed locally
• Nothing is sent to our servers
• Nothing is stored in databases
• Nothing is logged

We built it this way on purpose. Your financial data, health information, and calculations are yours—not ours.

Page Analytics: Plausible.io

We use Plausible.io to understand which calculators get used. Here's what Plausible tracks:

Data Point	What We See
Page Views	Number of times each calculator is loaded
Referrer	Where traffic comes from (Google, direct, etc.)
Country	General location (country-level only)
Device Type	Desktop, tablet, or mobile
Browser	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.

Calculator Ratings: Firebase Realtime Database

When you rate a calculator (1-5 stars), we store that rating using Google Firebase Realtime Database. Here's exactly what happens:

What We Store:

• Calculator identifier (e.g., mortgage-calculator)
• Total number of ratings
• Sum of all ratings (used to calculate average)
• Your rating (temporarily tracked in browser local storage to prevent duplicate voting)

What We DON'T Store:

• Your IP address
• Your identity
• Browser fingerprints
• Timestamps of when you rated
• Any personal information whatsoever

Future Advertising: Media.net (Not Yet Implemented)

We plan to use Media.net for advertising to keep CalcWise free. When ads are added, here's what will change:

• Cookie consent banner: You'll see a banner asking to accept or decline cookies
• If you accept: Media.net will use cookies for ad delivery, frequency capping, and basic metrics
• If you decline: No cookies are set, and all calculators still work perfectly
• Ad cookies only: These cookies are for advertising purposes only—not for tracking your calculations

Media.net uses contextual advertising, which means ads are based on page content (e.g., mortgage ads on a mortgage calculator), not tracking you around the web.

Current status: No ads are live yet, so no cookies are currently used for advertising.

3. How We Use This Data

Analytics (Plausible):

• Understand which calculators are popular so we can prioritize improvements
• See where traffic comes from to understand how people find CalcWise
• Identify technical issues (e.g., if a page has a high bounce rate, something might be broken)

Ratings (Firebase):

• Display average rating and total votes on each calculator
• Help users identify which calculators are most useful
• Guide our development priorities based on user feedback

That's it. We don't sell data, we don't share data with third parties (beyond the service providers listed), and we don't use data for marketing.

4. Third-Party Services

CalcWise uses the following third-party services:

5. Cookies & Local Storage

Current Cookie Usage: NONE

CalcWise currently does not use any cookies. Plausible.io is cookieless, Firebase ratings don't require cookies, and ads aren't live yet.

Local Storage Usage

We use browser local storage (stays on your device) for:

• Rating duplicate prevention: A flag that remembers you've already rated a calculator (retained for 365 days, then automatically expires)

Local storage is not sent to our servers. You can clear it anytime through your browser settings.

Cookie Declaration

Below is a complete list of cookies that will be used when Media.net advertising is implemented. Currently, no cookies are in use.

6. Your Rights Under GDPR & CCPA

CalcWise respects your privacy rights under GDPR (European Union), CCPA (California), and other privacy regulations. Here are your rights and how to exercise them:

Right to Access

What it means: You can request a copy of any personal data we have about you.

How to exercise: Email aaron@calcwise.org with "Data Access Request" in the subject line. Include any information that might help us locate your data (though we collect very little personal information).

What to expect: We'll respond within 30 days with a report of any data we have. Since calculator inputs aren't stored and analytics are anonymous, there likely won't be any personal data to provide—but we'll confirm that for you.

Right to Deletion

What it means: You can request that we delete any personal data we have about you.

How to exercise: Email aaron@calcwise.org with "Data Deletion Request" in the subject line. Provide any details that could help us identify your data.

What to expect: We'll respond within 30 days. Since we don't collect identifiable data from calculator usage, deletion requests typically apply only to contact form submissions or email correspondence, which we'll remove from our systems.

Note: Aggregate rating data in Firebase (total counts and averages) cannot be tied to individual users, so there's nothing to delete. Local storage flags are on your device—you can clear them through your browser settings anytime.

Right to Portability

What it means: You can request a copy of your data in a portable, machine-readable format.

How to exercise: Email aaron@calcwise.org with "Data Portability Request" in the subject line.

What to expect: If we have any personal data (like contact form submissions or email correspondence), we'll provide it in JSON or CSV format within 30 days. Again, calculator usage data isn't stored, so there's typically nothing to export.

Right to Non-Discrimination

What it means: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

Our commitment: CalcWise is built to function perfectly without collecting your data. If you:

• Decline advertising cookies (when implemented) → All calculators work identically
• Block analytics scripts → Full functionality maintained
• Don't rate calculators → No features are locked or degraded
• Request data deletion → No service restrictions apply

You will never be denied service, charged different prices, or receive lower-quality service for exercising your privacy rights. The site was designed this way from the start.

Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing

What it means: You can opt out of having your personal information sold or shared with third parties.

Our stance: We do not sell your personal information. Period. We don't share personal data with third parties except for the service providers listed in this policy (Plausible, Firebase, Netlify, and future Media.net ads), and they're bound by their own privacy policies not to sell your data.

When Media.net advertising is implemented, you can opt out of interest-based advertising at Media.net's opt-out page.

Additional Choices

Plausible Analytics Opt-Out:

• Use a browser extension like uBlock Origin or Privacy Badger to block analytics scripts
• Enable Do Not Track (DNT) in your browser—Plausible honors DNT signals automatically

Calculator Ratings Opt-Out:

• Simply don't click the star rating—it's completely optional
• Clear local storage through browser settings to remove duplicate-prevention flags

Future Advertising Cookies Opt-Out:

• Decline the cookie consent banner when it appears (calculators work the same either way)
• Use an ad blocker
• Opt out via Media.net's opt-out page

Do Not Track (DNT)

We respect Do Not Track signals. If your browser sends a DNT signal, Plausible honors it automatically (though Plausible is already privacy-first, so DNT doesn't change much).

How to Contact Us About Your Rights

For any privacy rights requests or questions, email aaron@calcwise.org with a clear subject line (e.g., "Data Access Request" or "Privacy Question").

Response time: We aim to respond within 30 days, as required by GDPR and CCPA. In most cases, you'll hear back much sooner.

Verification: To protect your privacy, we may ask for information to verify your identity before fulfilling requests. This is standard practice and required by law to prevent unauthorized access to someone else's data.

7. Data Security

We take security seriously:

• HTTPS everywhere: All pages are served over encrypted HTTPS
• Firebase security rules: Database rules prevent unauthorized access and limit write operations
• Minimal data surface: We don't collect sensitive data, so there's less to protect
• Open source code: You can review our security practices on GitHub

Data Breach Notification

In the unlikely event of a data breach affecting user information, we will:

• Notify affected users within 72 hours via email (if we have email addresses on file) and a prominent notice on our Resources page
• Describe the breach: What data was affected, how it happened, and when we discovered it
• Explain our response: Steps we've taken to contain the breach and prevent future incidents
• Provide guidance: Recommended actions users should take to protect themselves
• Comply with regulations: Report to relevant authorities as required by GDPR, CCPA, and other applicable laws

Important context: Since CalcWise doesn't collect personal data from calculator usage, a breach would most likely affect only aggregate rating data (which isn't personally identifiable) or contact form submissions. We maintain minimal data to minimize breach risk.

Automated Decision-Making

CalcWise does not use automated decision-making or profiling. All calculations are performed by transparent mathematical formulas that you can review. We don't use AI, machine learning, or algorithms to make decisions about you or your data. What you see is what you get—simple, honest calculations.

8. Children's Privacy

CalcWise is a general-audience calculator platform. We don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children under 13. Since we don't collect personal data from calculator usage, there's no age-specific concern there.

If you're a parent and believe your child has submitted personal information via the contact form, email us at aaron@calcwise.org and we'll delete it.

9. International Users

CalcWise is hosted in the United States (via Netlify). If you're accessing CalcWise from outside the U.S., your data (which is minimal) may be processed in the U.S.

Plausible.io is EU-based and GDPR-compliant. Firebase is a Google service with data centers worldwide. Both meet international privacy standards.

10. Changes to This Policy

We'll update this policy when we add new features or services (like Media.net ads). When changes are made:

• The "Last Updated" date at the top will change
• Significant changes will be noted in the Platform Updates section of our Resources page
• You'll see any new cookie consent banners if applicable

11. Contact & Questions

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how CalcWise handles data, contact me directly:

• Email: aaron@calcwise.org
• GitHub: Open an issue

I'm a solo developer, so you're talking directly to the person who built this. If something in this policy is unclear or you want to verify our practices, just ask.

12. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For users in the European Union, here's our legal basis for processing data:

• Plausible analytics: Legitimate interest (improving the website)
• Firebase ratings: Legitimate interest (displaying useful information to users)
• Future advertising cookies: Consent (via cookie banner)