Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

EZ College Finder ("we," "our," or "us"), accessible via ezcollegefinder.com, values your privacy and is dedicated to safeguarding student data. This Privacy Policy outlines what information we collect, how it is handled, and how your privacy is protected when you browse our website and use our college matching features.

2. Information We Collect

We adhere to strict data minimization principles. We only collect information essential for providing our college matching services:

• Self-Reported Academic & Search Preferences: When you complete the 7-question college match questionnaire, you may input non-identifying criteria such as your approximate GPA, SAT/ACT score band, intended major, budget preference, and location interest. This data is processed client-side in your browser to generate matching fit scores. Your quiz answers are not sent to us or to Google Analytics: if you copy a link to your results, the answers are kept after the “#” in that link, the part of a web address that browsers never send to a server.
• Usage Analytics (Google Analytics): We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, to understand how visitors use the site. When you view a page, Google Analytics receives information such as the address of that page (including any words you type into the college directory search, which appear in the address), the page that referred you, your browser, device type, screen size, and language, your approximate location (such as country or city, derived from your IP address), and how you interact with the page (for example, time on page, scrolling, and clicks on links to other websites). Google Analytics recognizes your browser by a random ID stored in a cookie; it does not give us your name, email address, or other contact details.
• Side-by-Side Comparison Lists: Colleges that you select for side-by-side comparison are stored locally within your browser’s localStorage. We do not transmit or store your college selections on our backend servers.
• Contact Communications: If you voluntarily email us, we receive your email address, any name you include, and the contents of your message, and use them solely to respond to your inquiry.
• Automated Technical Logs: Like standard web platforms, our servers log aggregated, non-personally identifiable technical telemetry (e.g., browser user-agent, operating system, pages visited, timestamps) to monitor server health, diagnose bugs, and deter cyber abuse.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use collected data solely for the following legitimate purposes:

• Calculating personalized college compatibility fit tiers (Safety, Target, Reach).
• Maintaining browser-side user preferences such as Dark Mode and side-by-side comparisons.
• Responding to user support questions, bug reports, and data correction requests.
• Maintaining website performance, caching speeds, and security infrastructure.
• Measuring, in aggregate, which pages and features are used and how visitors find the site (through Google Analytics), so we can improve it.

4. Absolute Non-Disclosure & Zero Data Selling

Unlike many commercial education portals, we never sell, license, rent, or trade your personal information to third-party colleges, private student loan corporations, test-prep vendors, or data brokers.

We use Google Analytics to measure how our own website is used. Google processes this data as described in Google’s Privacy Policy and in How Google uses information from sites that use its services. This data may be processed on Google servers outside your country, including in the United States.

Our website is hosted by Cloudflare, which receives your IP address and browser details to deliver pages and protect the site (see Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy). Many college photos load directly from Wikimedia Commons, run by the Wikimedia Foundation, and some from Unsplash, so your browser sends those services your IP address and browser details when it fetches an image. We don’t tell them which of our pages you are on (see the Wikimedia Foundation Privacy Policy and Unsplash’s Privacy Policy).

5. Cookies and Local Browser Storage

Our own code sets no cookies. Google Analytics can set two analytics cookies, and we use browser localStorage for three functional features.

Your choice: If Google places your IP address in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, or your device’s time zone is in Europe, Google Analytics sets no cookies unless you allow them in our cookie banner. Until then it may send Google cookieless measurements (for example, that a page was viewed) that carry no cookie or ID for your browser. Elsewhere, analytics cookies are on unless you turn them off. We show the banner when your device’s time zone is in Europe, when Cloudflare places your IP address in one of those countries, or when that check fails. For this check your browser asks our server for your country only; we don’t store it or send it to Google Analytics. You can change your choice at any time, and turning analytics off also deletes the cookies already set.

Analytics cookies (set by Google Analytics)

• _ga: A random ID that lets Google Analytics tell visits from the same browser apart. Expires after up to 2 years.
• _ga_FL3373EDJ7: Keeps track of your current visit (session) for Google Analytics. Expires after up to 2 years.

Functional local storage (stays in your browser)

• ez_theme: Remembers your preferred display mode (Light or Dark).
• ez_compare_colleges: Remembers colleges you select for side-by-side comparison.
• ez_consent: Remembers whether you allowed analytics cookies, so we don't ask again.

You can block or delete cookies and clear local storage at any time in your browser settings, or stop Google Analytics on every website with the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The site works fully without them.

6. Children's Privacy (COPPA & FERPA)

EZ College Finder is intended for high school students, college applicants, and parents. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under the age of 13. If you believe that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately, and we will promptly remove such records.

7. Your Legal Rights (GDPR, CCPA, CPRA)

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), or California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). These rights include:

• The right to know what personal data is retained about you.
• The right to request the deletion or correction of any personal data.
• The right to equal service and freedom from discrimination for exercising privacy rights.

To exercise any of these rights or submit a data deletion request, contact us as described in Section 8.

8. Contact Us

For any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, or to submit a privacy inquiry or data deletion request, email us at [email protected].