Privacy Policy

Effective January 2025 · Last updated June 2026

Smart Mortgage Guide ("we," "us," or "our"), operated at smart-mortgage-guide.online, is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your rights regarding your personal information.

By using our website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use our website.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

Contact form submissions: If you email us or use our contact form, we collect your name and email address, and the content of your message. We use this solely to respond to your inquiry.
Calculator inputs: Numbers you enter into our mortgage calculators (loan amount, income, interest rate, etc.) are processed entirely in your browser using JavaScript. This data is never transmitted to our servers and we never have access to it.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain technical information:

Usage data: Pages visited, time spent on pages, links clicked, and navigation path through our site
Device information: Browser type and version, operating system, screen resolution, and device category (desktop/mobile/tablet)
Location data: Approximate geographic location at the city or region level, derived from your IP address. We do not collect your precise location.
IP address: Collected for security and analytics purposes. Not shared with advertisers in identifiable form.
Referral source: The website or search query that brought you to our site

1.3 Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies. See our Cookie Policy for complete details. In summary:

Google Analytics cookies for site usage analysis
Google AdSense cookies for advertising
No marketing cookies from other third parties

2. How We Use Your Information

To provide and improve our service: Understanding which content is most helpful allows us to create better guides and calculators
To respond to your inquiries: Email addresses collected through contact are used only to respond to that specific inquiry
For site security: IP addresses and usage patterns help us detect and prevent malicious activity
To serve advertising: We allow Google AdSense to serve personalized ads based on your browsing behavior. This is Google's system — we do not personally target ads to you.
For analytics: Aggregate, anonymized data about site usage helps us understand what content is valuable

We do not use your information to: sell it to third parties, build profiles for marketing purposes, contact you without your request, or any purpose other than those listed above.

3. Third-Party Services and Data Sharing

We use the following third-party services that may receive data about your visit:

Google Analytics

Provider: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043

Purpose: Website usage analytics

Data collected: Usage statistics, demographic data (approximate), device information

Opt-out: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on

Google AdSense

Provider: Google LLC

Purpose: Display advertising

Data collected: Browsing behavior, interests (Google's system; we do not see this data)

Opt-out: Google Ad Settings

Google Fonts

Provider: Google LLC

Purpose: Typography (font files served from Google servers)

Data collected: IP address, browser type (standard web request metadata)

4. Data Retention

Contact form emails: Retained for 2 years, then deleted
Google Analytics data: Retained for 14 months per our Analytics settings
Google AdSense data: Governed by Google's data retention policies
Server logs: Retained for 90 days for security purposes

5. Your Rights

California Residents (CCPA)

California residents have the right to: (1) know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell; (2) delete personal information we hold; (3) opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information — we only share with Google Analytics and AdSense as described above); (4) non-discrimination for exercising these rights.

To exercise your rights, email admin@smart-mortgage-guide.online with "CCPA Request" in the subject line.

European Residents (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, you have additional rights: access to your data, rectification, erasure ("right to be forgotten"), portability, and the right to object to processing. Contact us at admin@smart-mortgage-guide.online with "GDPR Request" in the subject.

6. Children's Privacy

Smart Mortgage Guide is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at admin@smart-mortgage-guide.online and we will delete it.

7. Security

Our website is served over HTTPS (TLS encryption). We do not store sensitive financial information — calculator inputs are never transmitted to our servers. However, no internet transmission is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. We will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page when we do. Continued use of the website after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

9. Contact

Privacy questions, requests, or concerns: admin@smart-mortgage-guide.online

Include your specific request and your state or country in the subject line for fastest response.