Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated July 27, 2026. This describes what we actually collect and do, not a generic template. If something here stops matching reality, tell us and we'll fix the page, not just the wording.
Admissions Distilled is the controller of the information described on this page. We're based in Connecticut, United States.
What we collect
When you sign up for a list, we collect what the form asks for: your name, email, whether you're a parent, student, or counselor, grade level, region, US state if applicable, and the intended major and activities you check. If you're joining a waiting list rather than an open list, the same fields go to a private spreadsheet we use to notify people when that list opens.
If you subscribe to an open list, payment goes through Stripe. We never see or store your card number. Stripe collects your billing details directly and shares back only what we need to run the subscription: your email, the plan, and whether payment succeeded.
To show you the right price and regional content, our server reads a country code that our hosting provider attaches to your request. We don't log or store your IP address ourselves. That country code is kept in your browser's session storage, not a cookie, and disappears when you close the tab.
What we don't collect
No advertising pixels. We don't sell or rent your information to anyone, and we don't run ads on this site or in the newsletters.
Cookies and analytics
We use Google Analytics to see which pages get read; it sets a cookie and we see aggregate traffic patterns, not your individual browsing elsewhere. Where cookie consent law requires asking first, meaning the EU, the UK, and the EEA, a banner asks before anything loads. Decline it, or just let it disappear without choosing, and nothing runs: no script, no cookie, no data sent to Google. Everywhere else, analytics runs without asking, which the law there doesn't require. Wherever you are, you can set or change your answer anytime from "Cookie preferences" in the footer, on any page.
How we use it
To send the list you signed up for, bill your subscription, notify you if a waiting list you joined opens, enforce seat caps fairly, and keep the pricing and admissions guidance relevant to your region. We don't use your intended major or activities for anything beyond that: no resale to colleges, no scholarship databases, no third-party marketing lists.
Who it's shared with
- Stripe, our payment processor, to process payment and run the subscription. See Stripe's privacy policy.
- A private spreadsheet tool, to hold waiting-list signups until a list opens.
- Our hosting provider, which processes standard web server logs to serve the site.
- A font delivery service, to load the typefaces on this page.
- Google Analytics, only if you accept the cookie banner. See Google's privacy policy.
Children's privacy
This site isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. Many of our subscribers are high school students under 18, and in most cases a parent completes the signup and payment. If we learn that a child under 13 has submitted information without a parent or guardian involved, we'll delete it. If you believe that's happened, email us using the address below.
How long we keep it
For as long as your subscription is active, plus whatever period we're required to keep billing records for tax and accounting purposes. Waiting-list entries are kept until that list opens or you ask us to remove your entry.
Your choices
You can cancel a subscription anytime from the link in your Stripe receipt email, and it takes effect immediately, no charge for the next period. To access, correct, or delete the information we hold on you, or to unsubscribe from a waiting list, email us and we'll handle it directly, no account login required.
If you're in the EU, UK, or EEA
We process your information under these legal bases: running your subscription and billing you is necessary to perform our contract with you; showing you the right region and price is also part of that contract; holding your details on a waiting list before a list opens relies on your consent, given when you sign up; and Google Analytics runs only on the consent you give (or later withdraw) through the cookie banner, never on contract or legitimate interest.
Your information is processed in the United States by us, Stripe, and the other providers listed above. Each of those providers offers standard contractual clauses or an equivalent safeguard for data leaving the EU/UK, and you can ask them directly for a copy. Beyond the rights listed above, you can also object to or restrict certain processing, and request your data in a portable format. If you're unhappy with how we've handled a request, you can lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority, or the UK Information Commissioner's Office if you're in the UK. We don't have a dedicated Data Protection Officer; our size doesn't require one under GDPR Article 37, so the contact below reaches the person actually responsible for this.
California and Connecticut
California's CCPA and Connecticut's Data Privacy Act, where we're based, apply to businesses well larger than us by revenue or by how many residents' data they process; as a small, seat-capped subscription list, we don't meet either threshold. We extend the substance of those rights anyway: you can ask what we hold, ask us to correct or delete it, and confirm that we don't sell or share personal information for money, which we don't, to anyone.
Security
We take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold, and payment data never touches our own servers at all, it goes straight to Stripe. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security.
Changes to this policy
If we change what we collect or how we use it, we'll update this page and the date at the top. We won't quietly expand what we do with your existing information without telling you.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or a request to access, correct, or delete your information: hello@admissionsdistilled.com.