Privacy Policy

Carter works without an account, a login, or a bank connection. The spending amounts you enter are used to calculate your results and are not stored on our servers or linked to your identity. If you upload a statement file, it is read entirely in your browser and the file is never uploaded to us. The only personal information we keep is your email address, and only if you choose to join the beta waitlist.

This policy describes how Carter ("we," "us," or "our") handles information on cardsbycarter.com (the "Service"). The Service is intended for users in the United States.

Spending amounts. The spending figures you enter (or that are derived in your browser from a statement you import) are sent to our servers for one purpose: calculating which cards earn you the most. They are processed transiently to produce your results and are not stored in any database, not logged, and not associated with your name, email, or any account. Your results are kept in your own browser's session storage and disappear when your session ends.

Statement files. If you import a CSV or Excel statement, the file is parsed locally in your browser. The file itself never leaves your device. Only the aggregated spending category totals derived from it are used, exactly like manually entered amounts, as described above. If we introduce optional enhanced import features in the future, limited merchant descriptions (never the file itself, your balances, or your identity) may be processed transiently by a third-party AI service provider to improve categorization — we will update this policy before any such feature is enabled.

Email address. If you join the beta waitlist, we store the email address you submit so we can send you a beta invitation and related product updates. This is the only personal information we retain. Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time at cardsbycarter.com/unsubscribe.

We use Google Analytics to understand how the Service is used. Like most websites, this collects information such as pages visited, buttons clicked, approximate location (city level), browser and device type, and cookie-based identifiers that distinguish returning visitors. The spending amounts you enter are never sent to Google Analytics, and no analytics data is tied to your name or email. Google's own practices are described in the Google Privacy Policy. You can opt out with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on or by blocking cookies in your browser.

• No account, password, or login — the Service doesn't have them.
• No bank credentials or bank connections.
• No credit reports, credit scores, or Social Security numbers.
• No card application data — applications happen on the issuer's website.

• To calculate and display your card recommendations.
• To send beta invitations and product updates to waitlist emails.
• To understand usage in aggregate and improve the Service.
• To maintain the security and reliability of the Service.

We do not sell personal information, we do not share it with card issuers or advertisers, and we do not use it for targeted advertising.

We use a small number of infrastructure providers to run the Service: hosting providers that run our servers, a third-party database provider that stores our card catalog and beta waitlist emails, and Google Analytics as described above. These providers process data on our behalf and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes, except as described in their own policies (for Google Analytics, see Section 3). We may also disclose information if required by law.

When you click "Apply Now," you leave the Service and go to the card issuer's website. Anything you do there is governed by the issuer's privacy policy, not this one.

The Service uses Google Analytics cookies (described in Section 3) and your browser's session storage to hold your current results on your own device. We do not use advertising cookies. You can clear or block both through your browser settings; the core Service still works without analytics cookies.

Waitlist emails are kept until the beta program concludes or you ask us to delete yours, whichever comes first. Spending inputs are not retained at all — they are processed in memory and discarded. Analytics data is retained according to our Google Analytics settings.

You can use the entire Service without providing any personal information. To stop receiving emails, use the unsubscribe page or the link in any email we send. To have your email fully deleted, or to ask what information we hold about you, contact us at the address below and we will respond within 30 days. Depending on where you live (including California), you may have additional rights under state privacy laws, such as the right to access or delete personal information — we honor such requests from all users regardless of location.

The Service is about credit cards and is not directed at anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

If we change how we handle data — for example, if we add accounts or bank import in the future — we will update this policy and its effective date before the change takes effect.

Privacy questions or requests: getcardsbycarter@gmail.com.