Privacy Policy

Information you give us

When you build a profile or buy access, we collect:

• Parent or guardian details: first name and email address.
• Student details: first name, graduation year, GPA, SAT or ACT score (or that the student is applying test-optional), class rank if you provide it, and intended major.
• Family financial details: home state, household income range, household size, number of children in college, home ownership, student asset range, and your annual budget. We ask for ranges, not exact figures, and we never ask for Social Security numbers, tax returns, or bank details.
• Preferences: school size, setting, region, and the other filters you choose.
• What you save: schools on your list, the Likely, Target, or Reach label you give them, and checklist items you mark done.
• Messages: anything you send to hello@collegemeritfit.com.

Information collected automatically

Our hosting provider records standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested, and time) to keep the site running and secure. When you sign in, we set a cookie that keeps you signed in. We do not use advertising cookies or cross-site tracking, and we do not sell or share information for targeted advertising.

Payments

Payments are processed by Stripe. Your card number goes directly to Stripe and never reaches our servers. Stripe tells us the plan you bought, the amount, the date, and your email so we can unlock your access and handle refunds. Stripe's use of your information is described in the Stripe Privacy Policy.

How we use your information

• To match your student to colleges, estimate net prices, and identify merit and state aid your student may qualify for.
• To run your account: sign-in links, your saved list, your dashboard, and access to what you bought.
• To send emails you need, such as purchase confirmations, sign-in links, and refund or upgrade confirmations.
• If you build a profile but do not buy, to send up to three reminder emails about your student's list over the following week. Each has a one-click unsubscribe link.
• To send the MeritFit newsletter, only if you subscribe. You can unsubscribe from any issue.
• To answer your questions, fix problems, prevent fraud, and improve how MeritFit works.

We do not sell your information, and we do not use your student's information to market other products to them.

Service providers we share information with

We use a small number of companies to run MeritFit. Each receives only what it needs to do its job:

• Supabase stores your account, profile, and saved schools, and sends sign-in links.
• Stripe processes payments.
• Resend delivers account and purchase emails.
• Beehiiv manages the newsletter list if you subscribe.

We also use a few other vendors, such as our email inbox provider, that handle information only to help us run MeritFit and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes.

We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect the rights or safety of our users or others, or as part of a merger or sale of the business, in which case this policy would continue to apply to your information.

Students and children

MeritFit accounts are for parents and legal guardians, and you must be 18 or older to create an account, buy access, or subscribe to the newsletter. Students do not have their own accounts. A parent or guardian enters information about their student, who is usually a high school student under 18, and controls that information: they can update it or delete it at any time. We do not knowingly collect information directly from anyone under 18. If you believe a student has created an account or sent us information themselves, write to us and we will delete it.

How long we keep information

We keep your account and student profiles while your account exists, including after a purchase ends, so that buying again restores your list. You can delete a student profile at any time from your family dashboard, which also deletes that student's saved schools. To delete your whole account, email hello@collegemeritfit.com and we will delete it within 30 days, except records we must keep for tax, accounting, or legal reasons (such as payment records held by Stripe).

Your choices and rights

• See or correct: update your student's profile at any time with "Update profile," or ask us for a copy of what we hold.
• Delete: delete a student from your dashboard, or ask us to delete your account.
• Unsubscribe: use the link at the bottom of any newsletter or reminder email. You will still receive account emails such as sign-in links and receipts.

Depending on where you live, including California, Washington, and other states with consumer privacy laws, you may have additional rights to know, access, correct, or delete your information, and to not be discriminated against for using them. Email hello@collegemeritfit.com with "Privacy request" in the subject and we will respond within 45 days. We may need to confirm your identity by email before acting on a request.

Security

Information is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS) and stored with providers that encrypt data at rest. Access to family data is limited to the people who run MeritFit. No system is perfectly secure, and if we learn of a breach affecting your information we will notify you as required by law.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the effective date above. If a change materially affects how we use information you have already given us, we will email you before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions or requests: hello@collegemeritfit.com
Social Wealth Builders, LLC, d/b/a MeritFit · Seattle, Washington