Privacy Policy

bestcalculator.tools is a free educational calculator website operated from California, United States. In this policy, "we," "us," and "our" refer to the operator of bestcalculator.tools.

This policy covers this website only: the debt calculators, guides, FAQ, and supporting pages. It describes what we actually collect today, what we deliberately do not collect, and what will change if we add specific features later. Where a practice is planned but not live, we say so explicitly instead of hiding it behind the word "may."

The numbers you enter into our calculators — balances, interest rates, payments, fees, loan terms — are processed entirely in your browser by code that runs on your device. They are not transmitted to us, not stored on our servers, and not visible to us in any form.

There are no accounts, no saved calculation histories, and no profiles. If you close the page, your inputs are gone. This is a deliberate design decision, not a side effect: a debt calculator only works if you can be honest with it, and you can only be honest with it if the numbers stay yours.

Server and security logs. Our host, Cloudflare, processes standard connection data (IP address, user agent, requested page) to serve the site and protect it from abuse. We do not build profiles from this data; it is retained per Cloudflare’s standard log retention and then discarded.

Aggregate, cookieless analytics. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which measures page views, referrers, countries, and page performance without cookies, without fingerprinting, and without tracking individuals across sites.

Google Analytics 4. We also use GA4 to understand which pages and calculators actually help people. GA4 sets first-party cookies (names beginning with _ga) and collects device and browser information, approximate location derived from IP address, and interaction events — for example, that a calculator page was opened. We have configured it for measurement only: Google Signals and ads personalization are disabled, and the numbers you type into calculators are never sent as event data. Google processes this data as our service provider under its own privacy terms; you can block GA4 entirely with Google’s browser opt-out add-on (tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout) or any standard content blocker, and every calculator on this site works identically with it blocked.

Email you choose to send. If you email [email protected], we receive your email address and whatever you write. We use it to respond to you and for no other purpose.

We do not set advertising cookies. The only analytics cookies on this site are Google Analytics’ first-party cookies described in Section 3, configured for measurement without ads personalization. (Cloudflare may also set strictly necessary cookies for security and bot mitigation; those are functional, not tracking.)

We do not sell personal information, and we have never sold personal information.

We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, use ad networks, run retargeting pixels, or send data to data brokers.

We do not knowingly collect any category of sensitive personal information as defined by California law.

Optional email resources. We plan to offer optional downloads such as a debt payoff checklist delivered by email. If you opt in, we will collect your email address, the page you signed up from, and a consent timestamp, store them with a reputable email service provider, and use them to deliver the resource and related content. Every email will include a working unsubscribe link. This feature is not live today; we will update this policy before launching it.

Affiliate links. We plan to add clearly disclosed affiliate links to third-party financial products. Affiliate networks measure clicks and completed applications using their own technology under their own privacy policies. Our calculators will never feed your entered numbers to any affiliate or partner. See the Affiliate Disclosure page for the full policy.

We share information only with service providers that operate the site on our behalf — currently Cloudflare (hosting, security, and analytics) — and only for those purposes.

We will disclose information if a law, regulation, subpoena, or court order genuinely requires it, or where disclosure is necessary to protect the site, its users, or others from fraud or harm. We will not volunteer information beyond what is legally required.

If the site is ever sold or transferred, operational data would transfer with it, and the acquirer would be bound to honor this policy or publish a revised one before changing practices.

We collect only these categories of personal information as defined by the CCPA: identifiers (IP address in transient server logs and in Google Analytics processing; email address if you email us) and internet activity (page analytics, including GA4 cookie-based usage measurement described in Section 3). We collect them directly from you or your browser, for the business purposes described in Sections 3 and 6, and retain them as described in Section 9.

California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose; the right to request deletion; the right to request correction; the right to opt out of sale or sharing; and the right to limit the use of sensitive personal information. We do not sell personal information, and because Google Analytics runs with Signals and ads personalization disabled, we do not "share" personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as California law defines it — so there is nothing to opt out of or limit. The other rights are real and we honor them.

To exercise a right, email [email protected] with "California Privacy Request" in the subject line. Tell us what you are asking for and the email address involved. We verify requests by confirming control of that email address, respond within 45 days (extendable once by 45 days with notice, as the statute allows), and will never treat you differently for exercising a right.

You may use an authorized agent; we will ask for evidence of the agent’s authority. We honor Global Privacy Control signals; because we do not sell or share personal information, a GPC signal requires no change to how we treat your data.

Residents of states with comprehensive privacy laws (including Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, and Oregon) may have similar rights of access, correction, and deletion. Most of these laws exempt businesses of our size and data volume, but we apply the same process regardless: email [email protected] and we will handle your request the same way we handle California requests.

Calculator inputs: never retained — they never reach us (Section 2). Server logs: retained per Cloudflare’s standard rolling retention, then discarded. Cloudflare analytics: aggregate counts only, containing no personal information, retained indefinitely. Google Analytics: user-level event data retained 14 months (the maximum GA4 allows for standard properties), then only aggregate reporting remains. Support email: retained while we resolve your question and for up to two years afterward in case the issue recurs, then deleted on request or in periodic cleanup.

The site is served exclusively over HTTPS, is statically generated (there is no application database of user data to breach), and is protected by Cloudflare’s security layer. The most sensitive data involved — your financial numbers — never leaves your device, which is a stronger protection than any promise we could make about servers.

This site is a general-audience financial education tool and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email [email protected] and we will delete it.

When we change this policy, we will post the revised version here with a new effective date. For material changes — such as launching email capture or affiliate links — we will update the affected sections before the feature goes live, not after.

Privacy questions and requests: [email protected]. Include "Privacy" in the subject line and we will route it correctly.