← Back to home

Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 5, 2026

The short version

  • We collect what's needed to repair your credit on your behalf — name, address, DOB, last-4 of SSN, your credit reports, your tradelines.
  • We never sell your personal information to third parties.
  • We never share your data with the credit bureaus on your behalf — you mail your dispute letters yourself.
  • You can export everything we know about you at Settings → Export my data, and you can request hard-delete by emailing info@creditcougar.com.

Information we collect

Account information

When you create an account we ask for your email, password, and full legal name. To generate FCRA-compliant dispute letters that the credit bureaus will process we also ask for your current mailing address, date of birth, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. We store the last 4 of your SSN, never the full number.

Credit data

You upload your credit report (PDF, image, or HEIC). We parse it locally on our server to extract tradelines, score, and negative items. The original report file is stored encrypted at rest. We never re-share this with the credit bureaus or any third party.

Document Vault uploads

Government-issued ID, proof of address, account statements, and any other supporting documents you upload to your Document Vault. Stored encrypted at rest. Used only to embed into the auto-generated print packet so you can mail a complete dispute envelope.

Payment information

Stripe handles all card processing. We never see, store, or transmit your card number, CVV, or expiration. We do receive a Stripe customer ID and subscription state which we use to gate access to the app.

Usage data

We log API requests, errors, and aggregate metrics for debugging and product improvement. Server logs are retained 30 days then rotated. We do not currently use third-party analytics that profile users across the web.

How we use your information

  • To generate FCRA-compliant dispute letter templates personalized to your accounts.
  • To track the 30-day FCRA response window per dispute and remind you when it's closing or has expired.
  • To send you transactional email (welcome, dispute confirmations, billing receipts) from info@creditcougar.com.
  • To process payments via Stripe.
  • To respond to support requests you send us.
  • To improve the product based on aggregate, anonymized usage patterns.

Who we share data with

We share data only with vendors strictly required to operate the service:

  • Stripe — payment processing.
  • Neon — database hosting (Postgres).
  • Google Workspace — sending you transactional email from info@creditcougar.com (Gmail SMTP).
  • Anthropic — the AI Credit Coach. Your messages plus a structured account summary are sent to Anthropic's API to generate responses. Anthropic's privacy policy applies to that hop. We do not send credit reports verbatim.
  • AWS — server hosting + file storage for Document Vault uploads.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to anyone for marketing purposes. We have no advertising trackers, no data brokers, no third-party "audience" sharing.

Your rights

Depending on your state of residence (CCPA in California, plus expanding state-by-state privacy laws) you may have:

  • Right to access — see the data we have about you. Use Settings → Export my data.
  • Right to delete — request deletion of your account and all associated data. Email info@creditcougar.com with subject Delete my account.
  • Right to correct — fix incorrect personal information. Edit it in Settings → Profile directly, or email us.
  • Right to opt out of sale/sharing — N/A. We don't sell or share for advertising.

Security

We use 256-bit TLS in transit, encrypted storage at rest, bcrypt-hashed passwords, HTTP-only session cookies, and rate-limited credentials endpoints. No system is perfectly secure; if we discover a breach affecting your data we will notify you per applicable state-law notification windows (typically 30–60 days).

Children

CreditCougar is not intended for users under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If you believe we have, contact us and we'll delete it.

Changes to this policy

We'll update the Last updated date at the top whenever the substance of this policy changes. Material changes will be communicated via email to your account address.

Contact

Questions about this policy or how your data is handled? info@creditcougar.com — replies within 1 business day.