Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information SchoolScout LLC (“SchoolScout,” “we,” “us”) collects when you use schoolscout.college, and how we use it.

1. Information we collect

• Account information: name and email address, provided directly or via Google sign-in.
• Profile and report data: the student profile details you enter (e.g. intended major, home state, test scores) and the reports and chat messages you generate.
• Usage data: a record of feature usage and AI query volume, used for billing and to improve the service.
• Payment data: handled entirely by Stripe. SchoolScout never sees or stores your card number.

2. How we use your information

• To provide and personalize the college research and reporting features you use.
• To process payments and token purchases through Stripe.
• To send account-related email (e.g. password reset, invite links) via our email provider, Resend.
• To maintain and improve the reliability and accuracy of the service.

We do not sell your personal information.

3. Third parties we share data with

We use a small number of service providers to operate SchoolScout, each of which processes data only as needed to provide their service to us:

• Stripe — payment processing.
• Google / Anthropic — the underlying AI models used to generate reports and chat responses. Profile and chat content you submit is sent to these providers to generate a response.
• Resend — transactional email delivery.
• Amazon Web Services (Lightsail/RDS) — hosting and database infrastructure.

4. Data retention

We retain your account and report data for as long as your account is active, so you can return to saved reports. You can request deletion of your account and associated data at any time by contacting us.

5. Children’s privacy

SchoolScout is intended for use by high school students planning for college, typically with the awareness of a parent or guardian who reviews or pays for the account. We do not knowingly collect more information from a minor than is needed to provide the service (name, email, and the academic profile details entered into the tool). Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided information beyond this can contact us to review or delete it.

For users we know to be under 18, we do not sell personal data and do not use it for targeted advertising.

6. Your choices

• You can review, edit, and delete your profile and report data at any time from within the app.
• You can disconnect Google sign-in from your account settings.
• You can request a copy of your data or full account deletion by emailing us.

7. Security

Passwords are hashed and never stored in plain text. We use industry-standard practices to protect data in transit and at rest, but no online service can guarantee absolute security.

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by an updated “Last updated” date on this page.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a data request? Reach us at contact@schoolscout.college.