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Privacy Policy

Last Updated: February 26, 2026
Effective Date: February 26, 2026
Version: 1.1

EquityTax ("we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our Service.

This policy applies to users in the United States only. We are committed to compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and similar state privacy laws.

1. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect through:

  • Our website at myequitytax.com
  • Our web application and calculation services
  • Email and other communications with you

Geographic Scope: This Service is available only to residents of the United States. We do not knowingly collect information from users outside the US.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Personal Information

We collect the following personal information when you create an account:

  • Email Address: For account identification and communication
  • Name: Optional, for personalization
  • Password: Encrypted and hashed using bcrypt (we cannot view your plain-text password)

2.2 Financial Information

When you use our tax calculation service, we collect:

  • Income Data: W-2 income, other income sources
  • Stock Option Details: ISO grant strike prices, fair market values, vested quantities
  • Tax Information: Filing status (Single, Married, etc.), state of residence

Note: This financial information is used solely to perform tax calculations and is NOT shared with the IRS or any tax authority.

2.3 Payment Information

Payment processing is handled by Stripe. We do NOT store your credit card information on our servers. Stripe collects:

  • Credit/debit card information
  • Billing address
  • Transaction history

See Stripe's Privacy Policy for details on how they handle payment data.

2.4 Technical and Analytics Information

We automatically collect certain technical and usage information:

  • IP Address: For security and fraud prevention
  • Browser Type and Version: To ensure compatibility
  • Device Information: Operating system, screen resolution
  • Session Cookies: To keep you logged in (required for the Service to function)
  • Analytics Data: Page views, feature usage, session recordings (with text masking), and performance metrics — collected by our analytics providers (see Section 8)
  • Conversion Data: When you sign up or make a purchase, we share a hashed (non-reversible) version of your email address with advertising platforms to measure campaign effectiveness. We never share income, tax amounts, or financial details.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide the Service: Calculate AMT, generate tax scenarios, create reports
  • Process Payments: Via Stripe for subscription billing
  • Communicate with You: Send receipts, account updates, support responses
  • Improve the Service: Analyze usage patterns, fix bugs, add features
  • Security: Detect fraud, prevent abuse, protect user data
  • Legal Compliance: Comply with applicable laws and regulations

4. Data Retention (How Long We Keep Your Data)

We retain different types of data for specific periods:

  • User Accounts: Retained until you request account deletion
  • Tax Calculations (Tiered Retention):
    • Free/Preview Calculations: Automatically deleted after 90 days from creation date
    • Paid Calculations: Retained for 7 years to comply with IRS business record-keeping requirements and to support legal obligations (e.g., defending against disputes, providing receipts, fulfilling contractual obligations)

    Legal Basis: Tiered retention is authorized under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Section 1798.105(d)(1) (transaction completion exemption) and Section 1798.105(d)(8) (legal obligation exemption). This approach follows industry best practices established by tax preparation services like TurboTax, which retain tax returns for 7 years.

  • Payment Records: Retained for 7 years to comply with IRS business record-keeping requirements
  • Audit Logs: Retained for 2 years for security and fraud prevention
  • Support Communications: Retained for 2 years or until issue resolution, whichever is longer

After these periods, data is permanently and securely deleted from our systems.

5. How We Share Your Information

WE DO NOT SELL YOUR PERSONAL DATA TO ANYONE.

We share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

5.1 Service Providers

5.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, including:

  • Court orders or subpoenas
  • Government investigations
  • To protect our legal rights or the safety of others

5.3 Business Transfers

If we are acquired by or merged with another company, your information may be transferred to the new owners. We will notify you via email before any such transfer.

6. Your Privacy Rights (CCPA - California Residents)

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

6.1 Right to Know

You can request to know what personal information we have collected about you, including:

  • Categories of personal information collected
  • Sources from which the information was collected
  • Business purposes for collecting the information
  • Categories of third parties with whom we share the information

6.2 Right to Access

You can request a copy of all personal information we have about you. Contact us at privacy@myequitytax.com to export your data.

6.3 Right to Delete

You can request deletion of your personal information at any time. Go to Account Settings → Delete Account, or email privacy@myequitytax.com.

6.4 Right to Opt-Out of Data Sales

We do NOT sell your personal information, so there is nothing to opt out of.

6.5 Right to Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights.

How to Exercise Your Rights: Email us at privacy@myequitytax.com with "CCPA Request" in the subject line. We will respond within 30 days.

7. Data Security

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

  • SSL/TLS Encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted
  • Password Hashing: Passwords are hashed using bcrypt (we cannot see your plain-text password)
  • Database Encryption: Data at rest is encrypted on our hosting platform
  • Access Controls: Only authorized personnel can access user data
  • Regular Security Audits: We review our security practices regularly

However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Cookies, Analytics, and Tracking

8.1 Essential Cookies

We use essential cookies to keep you logged in to your account. These cookies are required for the Service to function and cannot be disabled.

8.2 Analytics

We use the following analytics services to understand how users interact with our Service, improve the user experience, and fix bugs:

  • PostHog: Product analytics (feature usage, user flows)
  • Microsoft Clarity: Session recordings and heatmaps (all text is masked — financial data is never captured)
  • Google Analytics 4: Web traffic analytics (page views, session duration)
  • Vercel Analytics: Web performance monitoring

8.3 Advertising and Conversion Tracking

We use conversion tracking pixels to measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns. These tools track specific actions (sign-up, purchase) — they never receive your income, tax amounts, or financial calculation data.

  • Google Ads: Conversion measurement for search advertising
  • Meta Pixel and Conversions API: Conversion measurement for Facebook/Instagram advertising
  • LinkedIn Insight Tag: Conversion measurement for LinkedIn advertising
  • X (Twitter) Pixel: Conversion measurement for X advertising

For conversion tracking, we share only: (1) the event type (e.g., "sign_up" or "purchase"), (2) subscription price for purchase events, and (3) a SHA-256 hashed version of your email address (which cannot be reversed to reveal your actual email). We never share financial inputs or calculation results with advertising platforms.

8.4 Error Monitoring

We use Sentry to detect and fix errors in real-time. When an error occurs, Sentry may capture a masked session replay (all text is hidden) to help us reproduce and fix the issue. Financial data is never included in error reports.

9. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before the changes take effect.

The "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy indicates when it was last revised. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers have a "Do Not Track" (DNT) feature that signals to websites that you do not want your online activity tracked. We currently do not respond to DNT signals because there is no industry standard for how to interpret them. However, you can use browser extensions (such as ad blockers) to prevent analytics and advertising scripts from loading. Our Service functions normally without any analytics scripts.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:

Privacy Requests: privacy@myequitytax.com

General Support: support@myequitytax.com

Response Time: We will respond to CCPA requests within 30 days.

BY USING THIS SERVICE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND CONSENT TO THE COLLECTION, USE, AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED HEREIN.