Last Updated: February 16, 2026

1. Introduction

Welcome to CollegeBud ("we," "our," or "us"). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your data when you use our website and college admissions tools.

By using CollegeBud, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

2. Information We Collect

We operate on a principle of voluntary submission. We do not scrape your personal data from external sources. We only collect information that you explicitly provide to us.

A. Information You Provide

• When you sign up, we collect your name, email address, and encrypted password.
• To generate "Smart Chancing" predictions, you may enter data such as your GPA, standardized test scores (SAT/ACT), intended major, and high school details.
• When using our Essay Review tools, you voluntarily upload or paste your personal statements and supplemental essays.
• You may input details about your leadership roles, volunteer work, and awards.

B. Payment Information

We use Stripe to process subscription payments.

• We do not store your credit card information on our servers.
• All payment transactions are handled securely by Stripe. We only retain a customer ID and subscription status (e.g., "Active" or "Pro") to provide access to premium features.

C. Automated Data

Like most websites, we may automatically collect standard non-personal information such as your device type, browser version, and IP address to ensure our website functions correctly and securely.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your data solely to provide and improve our services:

• We use your academic stats to calculate admission probabilities and your essay drafts to generate AI-powered feedback.
• To handle login authentication, subscription upgrades, and customer support.
• We use aggregated, anonymized data to refine the accuracy of our essay grading and chancing algorithms.
• To send you updates about your account, subscription receipts, or important changes to the service.

4. Third-Party Services

We do not sell your data. However, we share necessary data with trusted third-party providers to function:

• Stripe: For secure payment processing.
• Google Gemini & Groq: We transmit anonymized text (such as essay drafts) to these AI providers solely for the purpose of generating feedback. These providers are not permitted to use your data for their own independent training purposes in a way that identifies you.
• Vercel: Our hosting provider, which ensures the site is online and secure.

5. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data:

• Passwords are hashed and salted (using bcrypt). All data in transit is encrypted via SSL/TLS (HTTPS).
• Only authorized systems have access to your personal data.

6. Children’s Privacy

Our services are intended for high school students and college applicants. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, please do not use CollegeBud. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it immediately.

7. Data Retention & Deletion

• We retain your data for as long as your account is active to provide you with historical tracking of your application progress.
• You have the right to request the deletion of your account and all associated data. You can do this by contacting support.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us at: support@collegebud.com