Privacy Policy

GrowByCredit ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website at growbycredit.com (the "Site"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you visit and use our Site.

By using the Site, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use the Site. Your use of the Site is also governed by our Terms of Service.

GrowByCredit is designed to be used without creating an account or providing personal information. We do not require registration, login, or any form of personal data submission to use our tools and educational content.

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit the Site, our web servers and hosting infrastructure may automatically collect certain technical information, including:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Referring URL
• Pages visited and time spent on each page
• Date and time of your visit

This information is collected through standard server logs and is retained for up to 30 days. It is used solely for operating and maintaining the Site, diagnosing technical issues, and understanding general usage patterns.

Calculator and Tool Inputs

All data you enter into our calculators and financial tools (such as mortgage amounts, retirement projections, or credit score estimates) is processed entirely within your web browser. We do not transmit, store, or have access to any inputs you provide to these tools. Credit card comparison interactions (such as filtering and sorting) involve requests to our servers to retrieve card data, but we do not log or store your specific filter selections or search terms beyond standard server access logs.

AI Assistant (CardFinder AI)

Our AI-powered chat assistant allows you to ask questions about credit cards and personal finance. When you use the AI assistant:

• Chat messages are collected and stored on GrowByCredit's servers for the duration of your chat session.
• Third-party AI processing: Your messages are sent to a third-party AI provider (Google) for processing. Google's Gemini API processes your messages to generate responses. Google's use of this data is governed by their Data Processing Addendum.
• Data retention: Chat messages are automatically deleted after 24 hours. We do not retain chat transcripts beyond this period.
• No account required: Chat sessions are anonymous and are not linked to any user account or persistent identifier.

We use the automatically collected technical information to:

• Operate and maintain the Site
• Monitor for security threats and abuse
• Diagnose and fix technical issues
• Understand aggregate usage trends to improve our services

Chat messages submitted to the AI assistant are used solely to generate responses to your queries and to maintain conversational context within your session. Chat data is automatically deleted after 24 hours and is not used for training AI models, advertising, or any purpose beyond providing the assistant service.

We do not sell, rent, or share any collected information with third parties for marketing purposes. Analytics data is used solely by GrowByCredit to improve the Site and is not shared for advertising or profiling.

The Site contains links to third-party websites, including credit card issuer websites accessible through "Apply Now" buttons. When you click on these links, you leave our Site and are subject to the privacy policies and terms of service of those third-party websites.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of any third-party websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any website you visit through links on our Site.

We use Google Analytics 4, provided by Google LLC, to understand how visitors use our Site. Google Analytics collects usage data including pages visited, time on site, browser type, device type, approximate geographic location (country/region level), and interaction events (e.g., which tools you use). IP addresses are automatically truncated by Google Analytics before storage (IP anonymization). Server logs may retain full IP addresses for up to 30 days.

You can learn more about how Google uses data at Google's partner policy.

Cookies Used

• _ga — Distinguishes unique visitors. Duration: 2 years. Set by Google Analytics.
• _ga_<ID> — Maintains session state. Duration: 2 years. Set by Google Analytics.
• gbc_analytics_consent — Stores your cookie consent preference. Duration: 13 months. Set by GrowByCredit.

Consent & Opt-Out

Analytics cookies are only set after you accept our cookie consent banner. You can change your preference at any time by clearing the gbc_analytics_consent cookie from your browser settings.

When analytics cookies are declined, our analytics provider may still receive anonymous, aggregated signals (such as consent status) that do not contain cookies or personally identifiable information. No analytics cookies are set without your explicit consent.

If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we automatically decline analytics cookies on your behalf. We do not currently respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals, as there is no industry-standard protocol for compliance.

We take reasonable measures to protect the information collected through our Site. The Site is served over HTTPS (encrypted connections) and is hosted on infrastructure that provides enterprise-grade security.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially reasonable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

The Site is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at contact@growbycredit.com and we will take steps to remove that information.

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA) provides you with specific rights regarding your personal information. These include:

• Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose what personal information we have collected about you.
• Right to Delete: You have the right to request the deletion of personal information we have collected about you.
• Right to Correct: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under the CCPA/CPRA. We do not collect or process sensitive personal information as defined under the CCPA/CPRA.

If you use the AI assistant, your chat messages are temporarily stored for up to 24 hours to provide the service. This data is considered "personal information" under the CCPA/CPRA. You may request deletion of your chat data by contacting us. Chat messages sent to our third-party AI provider (Google) are processed under their data processing agreement and are not retained by Google for model training.

Because we do not maintain accounts or collect identifying information, we may be unable to verify your identity in connection with a CCPA request. In such cases, we will respond to your request to the extent we can reasonably verify your identity using the information available to us.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@growbycredit.com.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides you with additional rights regarding your personal data.

Legal Basis for Processing

We process server log data (including IP addresses) based on our legitimate interest in maintaining site security and operations (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). We process analytics data via cookies based on your consent, which you may grant or withhold via our cookie consent banner (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). AI assistant chat data is processed based on your consent, provided by sending a message after viewing the consent notice (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). Chat data is shared with Google (Gemini API) as a data processor under appropriate data processing agreements.

International Data Transfers

The Site is hosted in the United States. Analytics data processed by Google may be transferred to the United States. Google LLC participates in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which provides adequate safeguards for such transfers.

Your Rights

Under the GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Rectify inaccurate personal data
• Request erasure of your personal data
• Restrict processing of your personal data
• Data portability
• Object to processing based on legitimate interest
• Withdraw consent at any time (without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal)

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@growbycredit.com.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: contact@growbycredit.com