Privacy Policy
1. Introduction
Welcome to The Smart Investor (“we,” “our,” or “us”). The Smart Investor is owned and operated by Mann Media LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company. We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website [thesmartinvestor.com](https://thesmartinvestor.com), use our dashboard at [app.thesmartinvestor.com](https://app.thesmartinvestor.com), or engage with our AI-powered chat services and personalized financial recommendation features (collectively, the “Services”).
Please read this privacy policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the Services.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Personal Information You Provide
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you:
– Register for an account using Google OAuth
– Complete our onboarding questionnaire
– Use our chat interface to ask questions
– Contact us for support
This personal information includes:
– **Account Information**: Name, email address, and Google profile picture (via Google OAuth)
– **Profile Information**: First name, last name, email verification status
– **Financial Preferences**: Responses to our 14-question onboarding survey about your banking preferences, frustrations, and goals (no Social Security Numbers or sensitive financial account numbers are collected)
– **Communication Data**: Questions you ask in our chat interface, feedback you provide, and any correspondence you send to us
### 2.2 Information Automatically Collected
When you access our Services, we automatically collect certain information about your device and usage, including:
**Device Information:**
– IP address
– Browser type and version
– Operating system
– Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)
– Screen resolution
– User agent string
– Time zone setting
**Usage Information:**
– Pages visited and content viewed
– Click patterns and interaction data
– Time spent on pages
– Scroll depth and engagement metrics
– Search queries within our Services
– Referring website addresses
– Date and time of access
**Location Information:**
– Country and state/region (derived from IP address)
– Geographic location for service availability
2.3 Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our Services and store certain information:
**Essential Cookies:**
– Authentication tokens (JWT tokens with 30-minute access, 7-day refresh)
– Session management (30-minute timeout)
– Security cookies
**Analytics Cookies:**
– Google Analytics 4 (_ga, _gid, and related cookies)
– Performance monitoring cookies
**Functional Cookies:**
– User preference storage
– Affiliate click tracking (CJ, Impact, Rakuten)
– Content personalization
**Third-Party Cookies:**
– CloudFlare (security and performance)
– Google Fonts (typography)
– jQuery CDN (functionality)
– MailChimp (email campaign tracking)
2.4 Local Storage
We use browser localStorage and sessionStorage to maintain:
– JWT authentication tokens
– User session data
– Interface preferences
– Temporary form data
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
3.1 Provide and Improve Services
– Create and manage your account
– Provide personalized financial recommendations
– Generate customized widget content based on your preferences
– Process and respond to your chat queries
– Improve our AI models and recommendation algorithms
3.2 Communicate With You
– Send weekly personalized recommendation emails (with your consent)
– Respond to your inquiries and support requests
– Send important service updates and notifications
### 3.3 Analyze and Enhance
– Analyze usage patterns to improve user experience
– Track positive/negative feedback to enhance our services
– Monitor and analyze trends and usage metrics
– Conduct research and analysis for service development
3.4 Legal and Business Purposes
– Comply with legal obligations
– Enforce our terms and policies
– Protect against fraudulent or illegal activity
– Maintain security and prevent abuse
## 4. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share your information only in the following situations:
4.1 Service Providers
We share your information with third-party vendors who perform services for us:
**Authentication Services:**
– Google OAuth (for account authentication)
**AI Processing Services:**
– OpenAI (GPT-4) – We send your queries WITHOUT your name or email
– Anthropic (Claude) – We send your queries WITHOUT your name or email
**Analytics Services:**
– Google Analytics 4 (usage analytics)
**Infrastructure Services:**
– CloudFlare (CDN and security)
– PostgreSQL (database hosting)
**Communication Services:**
– MailChimp (email marketing)
**Affiliate Networks:**
– CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction)
– Impact
– Rakuten Advertising
4.2 Business Partners
When you click on affiliate links to our partners (Chase, CIT Bank, PNC Bank, and others), we share only:
– Click tracking ID (no personal information)
– Referral source information
4.3 Legal Requirements
We may disclose your information where required to:
– Comply with applicable laws or regulations
– Respond to legal process or government requests
– Protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property
– Allow us to pursue available remedies or limit damages
### 4.4 Business Transfers
If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.
## 5. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law.
– **Active Account Data**: Retained while your account is active
– **Deleted Account Data**: Removed within 60 days of deletion request
– **Backup Data**: Daily backups (retained 30 days), Weekly backups (retained 6 months), Monthly backups (retained 24 months)
– **Analytics Data**: Aggregated and anonymized after 26 months
– **Chat Logs**: Retained for service improvement and quality assurance
– **Email Records**: Retained per MailChimp's policies
## 6. Your Privacy Rights
### 6.1 Access and Control
You have the right to:
– Access your personal information
– Correct inaccurate data
– Request deletion of your data
– Opt-out of marketing communications
– Disable cookies through your browser settings
To exercise these rights, contact us at baruch.s@infoforinvestors.com
### 6.2 California Residents (CCPA)
California residents have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act:
– Right to know what personal information we collect
– Right to know if we sell or share personal information (we do not)
– Right to opt-out of the sale of personal information
– Right to request deletion of personal information
– Right to non-discrimination for exercising privacy rights
To exercise these rights, California residents may contact us at baruch.s@infoforinvestors.com
### 6.3 European Union Residents (GDPR)
While our Services are primarily intended for U.S. residents, EU residents who access our Services have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation:
– Right to access your personal data
– Right to rectification of inaccurate data
– Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”)
– Right to restrict processing
– Right to data portability
– Right to object to processing
– Right to withdraw consent
## 7. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information, including:
– Encryption of data in transit (HTTPS/TLS)
– Secure authentication using JWT tokens
– Regular security assessments
– Access controls and authentication
– Input sanitization and validation
– Protection against common vulnerabilities (XSS, SQL injection)
However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
## 8. Children's Privacy
Our Services are not intended for individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 18, we will take steps to delete such information immediately.
If you believe we have collected information from a child under 18, please contact us at baruch.s@infoforinvestors.com
## 9. International Data Transfers
Your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States, where our servers are located. If you are accessing our Services from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.
## 10. Third-Party Websites
Our Services may contain links to third-party websites and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.
## 11. Do Not Track Signals
Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems include a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature. Our Services do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or similar mechanisms.
## 12. Updates to This Privacy Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Last Updated” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. We encourage you to review this privacy policy frequently to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.
Changes to this privacy policy are effective when they are posted on this page.
## 13. Contact Information
If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:
**Mann Media LLC**
d/b/a The Smart Investor
30 N Gould St, Ste R
Sheridan, WY 82801
Email: baruch.s@infoforinvestors.com
## 14. Additional Disclosures
### 14.1 Financial Profiling
We analyze your responses to onboarding questions about banking frustrations, financial goals, and savings methods to provide personalized recommendations. This analysis does not involve sharing personally identifiable information with financial institutions.
### 14.2 AI Processing
When you interact with our chat interface or receive personalized recommendations:
– Your queries are processed by AI services (OpenAI and Anthropic)
– We do NOT send your name, email, or other personally identifiable information to these AI services
– Complete AI interactions are logged for quality improvement and service enhancement
– Your data is NOT used to train third-party AI models
### 14.3 Widget Personalization
We use your financial preferences and onboarding responses to generate personalized recommendation widgets displayed in your dashboard. These recommendations are generated within our system and are not shared with third parties.
### 14.4 Affiliate Relationships
We participate in affiliate programs with financial institutions. When you click on product links:
– We may earn a commission if you are approved for a product
– Only non-personal click tracking IDs are shared with partners
– Your personal information is not sold or shared with these partners
– Affiliate relationships may influence product placement but not editorial content
### 14.5 Error Logs and Debugging
We collect error logs and debugging information that may inadvertently contain user data. This information is used solely for troubleshooting and improving our Services and is not shared with third parties.
### 14.6 Cross-Device Tracking
If you log into your account on multiple devices, we may associate your activity across devices to provide a consistent experience and maintain security.
## 15. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)
For EU residents, we process your personal data based on:
– **Consent**: For marketing communications and optional features
– **Contract**: To provide the Services you've requested
– **Legitimate Interests**: For service improvement, security, and fraud prevention
– **Legal Obligations**: To comply with applicable laws
**© 2025 Mann Media LLC. All rights reserved.**