This page is a plain-language inventory of what happens to information on this site: what our tools do with what you type, what we store and why, and what we never collect. It exists because our readers deserve a specific answer, not a vague one. The Privacy Policy is the governing legal document; this page is the practical map.
The short version
- Our calculators do not store what you type. Inputs are used to compute your result and are not saved.
- We only store personal information you deliberately hand us, such as an email address you type into an opt-in form.
- We never store IP addresses in our analytics, never use third-party ad trackers, and never sell or share personal information for advertising.
Calculators and tools
When you use a calculator (combined rating, monthly compensation, back pay, TDIU, SMC, DIC, bilateral factor, and the rest), your inputs are sent to our server for one purpose: computing the result you see on screen. The inputs are processed in that request and are not written to our database. No account is needed, and closing the page leaves nothing behind on our end.
Two calculator conveniences are different, because they only work by storing something, and both are opt-in:
- Emailed reports and roadmaps. If you ask us to email you a calculator summary or a rating goal roadmap, we store the email address you provide and the details needed to render that report.
- Deadline reminders. If you ask for a reminder about a reduction response deadline, we store your email address and the notice date so we can send it.
Every stored email record carries an unsubscribe path, and you can ask us to delete it at any time through the privacy request form.
Newsletter
Subscribing stores your email address, your optional and anonymous "which best describes you" selection, and your consent record. We use confirmed opt-in (you must click the confirmation email), and every issue contains a one-click unsubscribe link. Preferences and unsubscribe pages let you manage this yourself.
Contact and application forms
Messages sent through the contact page, error reports, guest pitch submissions, and directory or sponsorship applications store what you submit so we can respond and administer the relationship. Sponsored listings and business accounts additionally store the account and billing records needed to provide the service.
Analytics: how we count visits without tracking you
We use our own first-party measurement, not Google Analytics or any advertising pixel. Here is exactly how it works:
- Before you accept cookies (or if you never do): we record the page path, a country and region code supplied by the network, a device class (desktop, phone, tablet), and a daily-rotating pseudonym derived from a salted hash. That pseudonym cannot identify a person and resets every day, which means we can count visits without following you.
- If you accept cookies: we set one first-party cookie containing a random visitor identifier so we can tell returning visits from new ones. It contains no personal information.
- Never: IP addresses are not stored in analytics events, and we honor the Global Privacy Control signal.
Payments
Paid placements are processed by Stripe. Card numbers are entered on Stripe's systems and never touch our servers. We store the transaction records needed for receipts, billing history, and tax compliance.
Service providers
A small number of providers help us run the site, such as our payment processor, email delivery service, and error monitoring. The current list and what each one handles is maintained on the Sub-processors page.
Security and transport
All traffic to this site is encrypted in transit over HTTPS. Stored data lives in access-controlled databases available only to the site operator. Error monitoring is configured to capture technical failures, not form contents.
Retention and deletion
Opt-in records (newsletter, reminders, emailed reports) are kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them. Business and billing records are kept as long as legally required. To exercise access or deletion rights under CCPA, VCDPA, CPA, CTDPA, UCPA, TDPSA, or similar laws, use the privacy request form or the contact page.
What we never do
- No sale of personal information, in any form.
- No third-party advertising trackers or cross-site profiling.
- No storing of calculator inputs tied to you.
- No requiring an account to use any educational tool on this site.
If anything on this page ever stops matching how the site actually works, that is a defect. Report it through the corrections process and we will fix the practice or the page, whichever is wrong.