Privacy Policy

The Short Version

We don't collect your personal data. All calculations run in your browser. We don't have an account system. We don't store what you calculate. We don't sell your data.

What We Don't Collect

• Your name, email, or any personal identifiers (no account system)
• Your calculator inputs (GPA, income, loan amounts, school choices — all processed in your browser)
• Your report contents or results
• Browsing history across other sites

What We Do Receive

Like any website, our server receives standard request metadata when you load a page:

• IP address — used only to serve the page; not linked to any user account
• User agent — browser type and operating system
• Page requested — which page you loaded (e.g. /report.html)
• Timestamp — when the request was made

This is the minimum data any web server receives. We do not combine it with any other data source, and we do not build user profiles.

Payment Data (Paddle)

When you purchase the full ROI report ($29), payment is processed by Paddle.com, our payment provider. Paddle handles your card information, billing address, and transaction — we never see or store your payment details. Paddle shares with us only: (a) whether the payment succeeded, (b) a transaction ID, and (c) the email you provide at checkout (for delivery of the report unlock). See Paddle's Privacy Policy.

How We Make Money (And How We Don't)

WorthDegree has one revenue source: the $29 full ROI report. That's it.

We do not accept:

• Display advertising (Google AdSense, Carbon Ads, or any ad network) — we will never put ads on calculator pages or reports
• School recruitment leads — we do not sell your information to colleges, enrollment counselors, or recruitment agencies
• Loan product referrals — we do not earn commissions from lenders, loan comparison tools, or refinancing services
• Sponsored placements — no school, program, or service can pay to appear in our reports or recommendations

Why? Because our product is neutral math. The moment a user suspects our report nudges them toward a commission-earning school or product, the trust collapses — and trust is the only asset we have. DegreeCalc (a tool we respect) accepts contextual ads. We go one step further: no ads at all.

If we ever add affiliate links (e.g. free resources like Khan Academy or Coursera), they will be clearly labeled as affiliate links, will never appear inside a report's calculation or conclusion, and will never be for paid school recruitment or loan products.

Analytics

We may use privacy-respecting analytics (e.g. self-hosted or cookie-free analytics) to understand aggregate traffic patterns — which pages are most visited, rough geographic distribution by country. We do not use cross-site tracking, advertising cookies, or remarketing pixels.

Cookies

WorthDegree does not set tracking cookies. Your report inputs may be temporarily stored in your browser's local storage to preserve the report if you refresh the page — this data stays on your device and is cleared when you close the browser.

Data Retention

Server logs (IP, page requested, timestamp) are retained for a maximum of 30 days for security and debugging, then automatically deleted. We do not retain any data linked to individual users because we don't collect any.

Your Rights

Since we don't collect personal data, there's nothing to access, export, or delete. If you have concerns, you can use the site without providing any information — no account is required for any free tool.

Contact

Privacy questions: reach out via the contact information on our About page.