We keep this short, clear, and human. Here is exactly what we collect, why we collect it, and what you can do about it.
CreditAid USA is a small educational publisher. We collect the minimum information needed to run the site and send our free credit education content to people who ask for it. We do not sell your data. We do not share your email with third parties for marketing. We use trusted services to handle email delivery and basic site analytics.
The full policy below explains everything in detail. If you have a question after reading it, get in touch at the bottom of the page.
Our website address is https://creditaidusa.org. CreditAid USA is an independent educational publisher focused on credit building information for beginners. We are not a bank, a lender, a credit repair organization, or a registered financial advisor. For questions about this policy or your data, contact us at hello@creditaidusa.org.
We collect different categories of information depending on how you interact with the site.
Information you give us directly. When you sign up for our free cheat sheet or any future email list, you provide us your first name and email address. This is the only personal information we ask for.
Information collected automatically. Like most websites, our hosting and analytics providers automatically collect basic technical information when you visit, including your IP address, browser type and version, the pages you view, the time you spend on each page, and the website that referred you. This data is used in aggregate to understand how the site is performing.
Comments on the blog. If we add a comments feature to our blog and you leave a comment, we may collect the data shown in the comment form, plus your IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection. An anonymized hash of your email may be shared with the Gravatar service to display your profile picture next to your comment. The Gravatar privacy policy is available at automattic.com/privacy.
Media uploads. We do not allow public users to upload images or files to the site. Any images displayed on the site are uploaded by us and do not contain embedded location data (EXIF GPS).
Our email list is managed through AWeber Communications, Inc., a third party email service provider. When you sign up, your name and email are stored on AWeber's servers, which are based in the United States. AWeber processes this data on our behalf to deliver our welcome message, the cheat sheet you requested, and follow up emails about credit education and related tools we recommend.
Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Clicking it removes you from the list immediately. You can also email us at any time to request removal. We do not share your email address with anyone other than AWeber, who is contractually bound to use it only for delivering our messages. AWeber's privacy policy is available at aweber.com/privacy.htm.
Cookies are small text files that websites place on your device. We use a small number of cookies to make the site work properly and to understand traffic patterns.
Functional cookies. These keep the site working correctly. They do not track you across other websites.
Analytics cookies. If we use a service like Google Analytics, those cookies help us understand which pages are visited and how visitors interact with the site. The data is aggregated and not used to identify you personally.
Affiliate tracking cookies. When you click an outbound link to a partner like CreditStrong, the partner site may set a cookie to credit your eventual signup to us so we receive a referral commission. This cookie is placed by the partner, not by us, and is governed by their privacy policy.
Comment cookies. If we add comments and you leave one, you may opt in to saving your name, email, and website in cookies for your convenience next time. These cookies last for one year.
Most browsers let you block or delete cookies. Doing so may affect how the site works for you.
Articles or pages on this site may include embedded content such as videos, images, or third party widgets. Embedded content from other websites behaves exactly as if you had visited that site directly. These external sites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction if you have an account with them and are logged in.
CreditAid USA participates in affiliate programs, including the CreditStrong affiliate program operated by Austin Capital Bank. When you click an affiliate link on our site and complete a qualifying action on the partner's site, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.
These third party sites operate independently and have their own privacy policies. Once you leave CreditAid USA by clicking an outbound link, our privacy policy no longer applies. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any sites you visit.
We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with the following service providers, and only as necessary to operate the site:
If you request a password reset on any future account feature, your IP address may be included in the reset email.
Email subscribers. We retain your name and email for as long as you remain subscribed. When you unsubscribe, your information is removed from active mailing lists. Some records may be retained in archived backups or for audit purposes for a limited period.
Comments. If commenting is enabled and you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely so we can recognize and approve any follow up comments automatically instead of holding them in moderation.
Analytics data. Aggregated analytics data may be retained indefinitely. It does not personally identify you.
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
To exercise any of these rights, email us at hello@creditaidusa.org. We will respond within a reasonable time. Note that some data may need to be retained for legal, security, or administrative reasons even after a deletion request.
Our services and service providers are primarily based in the United States. If you visit our site from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States. By using the site, you consent to that transfer.
Visitor comments, if enabled, may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
CreditAid USA is not directed to children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can remove it.
We take reasonable steps to protect the limited personal data we collect, including using reputable third party providers with their own security practices. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100 percent secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.
We may update this policy from time to time as our site evolves or as legal requirements change. The "Last updated" date at the top of the policy reflects when it was most recently revised. Continued use of the site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
For questions about this policy, requests to access or delete your data, or any other privacy concern, send us a message. We aim to respond within a couple of business days.
hello@creditaidusa.org