Privacy Policy

Effective Date: November 27, 2025

Welcome to Ask Ivy! We understand that privacy is important to you, especially when it comes to your educational and personal information. This Privacy Policy explains in clear, straightforward language how we collect, use, protect, and share your information when you use our college admissions guidance platform.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address
• First and last name
• Password (encrypted and securely stored)
• Login credentials if you sign up using Google

1.2 Student Profile Information

To provide personalized college recommendations, we collect:

• Personal details: Grade level, expected graduation year, high school name, hometown, home state
• Demographics: Gender, Hispanic/Latinx status, race/ethnicity, state residency, income bracket, high school type, hometown location (for distance calculations), first-generation student status, legacy information (parents' colleges attended), recruited athlete status and sport

1.3 Academic Performance Data

• Test Scores: SAT (Math, Verbal, Total), ACT (Composite, English, Math, Reading, Science, Writing), AP exam scores, IB exam scores
• Academic Metrics: GPA (weighted and unweighted), class rank, number of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes

1.4 Extracurricular Activities and Awards

For each activity or award you add, we collect:

• Activity/award name and description
• Category and level
• Years participated or year received
• Leadership roles and achievements
• Time commitment (hours per week, weeks per year)

1.5 College Preferences and Interests

• Intended majors
• College interests and favorites
• Preferences for academic opportunities, location, campus setting, student population, campus culture, school spirit, and clubs/activities
• Application status tracking for colleges you're considering

1.6 Automatically Collected Information

• Usage Data: Pages visited, features used, search queries, college recommendations generated
• Session Data: Login sessions, onboarding progress, profile completion percentage
• Chat Interactions: Questions asked to our AI assistant and responses provided
• Authentication Tokens: Secure tokens (JWT) to keep you logged in

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide personalized recommendations: Match you with colleges based on your academic profile and preferences
• Calculate admission likelihood: Estimate your chances of acceptance at different colleges
• Generate fit scores: Show how well colleges align with your preferences and goals
• Compute your Ask Ivy Score: Measure your well-roundedness and college readiness based on your profile
• Improve our service: Analyze usage patterns to make Ask Ivy better
• Communicate with you: Send important updates about your account and our service
• Provide customer support: Respond to your questions and troubleshoot issues
• Ensure security: Protect against unauthorized access and fraudulent activity

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share your information only in these limited circumstances:

3.1 Service Providers

We work with trusted third-party service providers who help us operate Ask Ivy:

• Google OAuth: If you choose to sign in with Google, Google processes your authentication
• Formspree: Handles our waitlist form submissions
• Hosting and Infrastructure: Companies that host our website and databases

These providers are contractually required to protect your information and can only use it to provide services to us.

3.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, such as:

• In response to a subpoena, court order, or legal process
• To protect the rights, property, or safety of Ask Ivy, our users, or others
• To investigate fraud, security issues, or violations of our Terms of Service

3.3 Business Transfers

If Ask Ivy is acquired by or merged with another company, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

4. Data Security

We take the security of your information seriously and use industry-standard measures to protect it:

• Encryption: Your password is encrypted using secure hashing algorithms
• Secure transmission: Data is transmitted over HTTPS (encrypted connections)
• Access controls: Only authorized personnel can access user data, and only when necessary
• Regular security reviews: We continually assess and improve our security practices

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

5. Your Privacy Rights

You have control over your personal information. Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights:

5.1 All Users

• Access: View the personal information we have about you
• Correction: Update or correct inaccurate information in your profile settings
• Deletion: Delete your account and personal information (see Account Deletion below)
• Data Portability: Request a copy of your data in a portable format

5.2 California Residents (CCPA)

If you're a California resident, you have additional rights:

• Know what personal information we collect and how we use it
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Opt out of the sale of personal information (we don't sell your information)
• Non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

5.3 European Union Residents (GDPR)

If you're in the EU, you have rights including:

• Right to access, rectification, and erasure
• Right to restrict or object to processing
• Right to data portability
• Right to withdraw consent at any time
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

5.4 Account Deletion

You can delete your account at any time through your Settings page. When you delete your account:

• Your account will be deactivated immediately
• You have a 30-day recovery period to restore your account if you change your mind
• After 30 days, your personal information will be permanently deleted from our systems
• Some information may be retained in backup systems for up to 90 days for security and legal compliance purposes

6. Age Restrictions and Parental Rights

Minimum Age: Ask Ivy is intended for students ages 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

6.1 Users Ages 13-17

If you are between 13 and 17 years old:

• We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy with a parent or guardian
• Your parent or guardian may have the right to access, correct, or delete your information
• We may require parental consent for certain features in the future as laws evolve

6.2 Parental Rights

If you are a parent or guardian of a user under 18, you may:

• Request access to your child's personal information
• Request correction or deletion of your child's information
• Refuse to allow further collection of your child's information

To exercise these rights, please contact us at the email address provided below.

7. Student-Directed Service

Ask Ivy is a student-directed tool where you voluntarily provide your own academic information. We do not:

• Access official school records or transcripts
• Partner with schools to obtain student data
• Receive educational records from educational institutions

All academic information in your profile is provided directly by you. We treat this self-reported information with the same level of care and protection as official educational records.

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use the following technologies to improve your experience:

• Session Storage: Temporary storage in your browser to remember your session and preferences (like pathway simulations)
• Authentication Tokens (JWT): Secure tokens that keep you logged in
• Local Storage: May store non-sensitive preferences locally on your device

We do not currently use third-party advertising cookies or tracking pixels.

9. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as:

• Your account is active, or
• Necessary to provide our services, or
• Required by law

After you delete your account (and the 30-day recovery period expires), we will delete or anonymize your personal information, except where we must retain it for legal, security, or fraud prevention purposes.

10. International Data Transfers

Ask Ivy is based in the United States. If you access our service from outside the U.S., your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States. By using Ask Ivy, you consent to this transfer and processing.

For users in the European Union, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for international data transfers in compliance with GDPR.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make changes:

• We will update the "Effective Date" at the top of this policy
• For material changes, we will notify you via email or a prominent notice in the app
• Your continued use of Ask Ivy after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

12. Third-Party Links

Ask Ivy may contain links to college websites and other third-party sites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those external sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

13. Your Choices

You have choices about how we use your information:

• Profile Information: You can edit or update your profile at any time through the Profile page
• Communication: You can opt out of promotional emails (we'll still send important account-related messages)
• Account Deletion: You can delete your account at any time through Settings
• Browser Settings: You can clear your browser's local storage and session storage at any time

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