Privacy Policy

Stairway U is operated by Dietrich Consulting LLC (“we,” “us,” or “our”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you use our college planning platform (the “Service”).

We take the privacy of student data seriously. Many of our users are minors (ages 13–17), and we design our data practices with student privacy protections in mind, including compliance with applicable federal and state laws.

Information you provide directly

• Account information: Name, email address, and password (or Google OAuth credentials)
• Academic profile: GPA (weighted and unweighted), SAT score, ACT score, intended major, home state
• College list: Schools you are considering or applying to
• User-generated content: Essays, notes, scholarship entries, task lists, and other content you create within the Service
• Payment information: Processed securely by Stripe. We do not store your credit card number, CVC, or full card details on our servers.

Information collected automatically

• Usage data: Pages visited, features used, XP earned, and progress milestones
• Device and browser information: Browser type, operating system, and screen size
• Cookies: We use essential cookies for authentication and session management. We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

We use your personal information to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve the Service
• Personalize your experience (admissions estimates, school comparisons, strategy recommendations)
• Process subscription payments through Stripe
• Send account-related communications (confirmation emails, password resets)
• Send weekly progress emails (if opted in; you can disable this anytime)
• Generate AI-powered essay feedback and planning suggestions
• Monitor and prevent abuse of the Service

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use student data for advertising, marketing to third parties, or building advertising profiles.

Stairway U uses third-party AI services (such as Google Gemini) to provide essay feedback, strategy suggestions, and other recommendations. When you use AI-powered features, relevant portions of your content are sent to these providers for processing. These providers process data under their own privacy policies and data processing agreements.

We do not use your content to train AI models. AI providers are contractually prohibited from using your data for model training.

We share your information only in the following circumstances:

• Service providers: Supabase (database and authentication), Stripe (payment processing), Google (AI features), and Vercel (hosting). Each provider processes data under contract and only as necessary to provide their services.
• Legal requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, legal process, or government request.
• Business transfers: If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you of any such change.

We never share your academic profile, essays, or college list with colleges, admissions offices, or other students.

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. You may delete your account at any time from your profile page, which permanently removes:

• Your profile and academic information
• All essays, tasks, scholarships, and college lists
• XP records, milestones, and referral history
• Email preferences and notification settings

After account deletion, your data is permanently removed from our databases. Stripe retains payment records independently per their own retention policies.

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including:

• Encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest
• Row-level security (RLS) policies ensuring users can only access their own data
• Secure authentication through Supabase Auth with support for email/password and Google OAuth
• No storage of raw payment credentials (handled entirely by Stripe)

No system is 100% secure. If we become aware of a data breach affecting your information, we will notify you promptly in accordance with applicable law.

Stairway U is not directed at children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at StairwayUHelp@gmail.com and we will delete the account and associated data.

For users aged 13–17, we require parental or guardian consent as described in our Terms of Service. We limit data collection to what is necessary to provide the Service and do not use student data for targeted advertising.

Stairway U is a direct-to-consumer product and does not contract with schools or districts. However, we design our practices to align with the principles of student data privacy laws:

• We do not sell student information
• We do not use student data for non-educational advertising or marketing
• We do not build profiles of students for purposes other than providing the Service
• Students (and their parents/guardians) can access and delete all stored data at any time

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate information via your profile page
• Delete your account and all associated data
• Export your data (contact us at StairwayUHelp@gmail.com)
• Opt out of non-essential communications (weekly emails)

California residents may have additional rights under the CCPA. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at StairwayUHelp@gmail.com.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you via email or through the Service. The “Last updated” date at the top reflects the most recent revision.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, contact us at:

Dietrich Consulting LLC
Email: StairwayUHelp@gmail.com