Privacy Policy

StackScholar works without an account, so it keeps your settings and study history in your browser's local storage:

• your light or dark theme;
• your analytics choice (accepted or declined);
• your learning progress: completed and mastered lessons, study days and streaks, quiz scores, daily-question answers and your flashcard review schedule;
• which pages you have already rated with "Was this page helpful?", so you are not asked again.

None of this is sent to our servers. It stays on the device and browser you used, which is why your progress does not follow you to another device unless you move it yourself with a backup code from the progress page. A backup code contains only that progress data, and only you decide where to paste it. You can delete everything at any time by clearing this site's data in your browser settings.

If you accept analytics cookies, we load Google Tag Manager, which runs Google Analytics. It tells us which pages are read and how people move through the site. Google Analytics records information such as the pages you view, your browser and device type, an approximate location derived from your IP address, and your "Was this page helpful?" votes. Google processes this data under the Google Privacy Policy.

If you decline, or never answer the banner, analytics is not loaded at all. You can change your choice at any time with Manage Cookie Preferences. If you withdraw consent, the page reloads so that tracking stops immediately. You can also install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Some lesson pages have an AI tutor chat, and the interview modules offer an AI mock interviewer. When you send a message, it goes to our server and on to Groq, which runs the language model that writes the reply.

• The AI tutor receives your messages in that conversation and the text of the page you are reading, so it can answer about it.
• The mock interviewer receives your answers in that interview and the question you are practising.

We do not save these conversations. They exist only in the open browser tab and are gone when you close or reload it. Groq processes the messages under its own privacy policy. Please do not put personal or confidential information in your messages.

The contact form emails your name, email address, subject and message to our inbox, which is hosted by Google (Gmail). We use these details only to reply to you.

When you subscribe to the newsletter, your email address is held by our newsletter provider, Buttondown, or in our inbox. It is used only to send you the newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time, either from the newsletter itself or by writing to us.

StackScholar is hosted by Vercel. Like any web host, Vercel records standard request logs, including IP address, browser and the page requested, to operate and secure the service. To stop abuse of the contact form, newsletter and AI features, our server also keeps IP addresses briefly in memory to limit how many requests one address can make. These counters are not stored and are not linked to you.

• We do not show ads or use advertising cookies.
• We do not sell, rent or share your personal information for advertising.
• We do not ask you to create an account or build a profile of you.
• Site search runs entirely in your browser, so your search terms are not sent to a search provider. Fonts are served from our own domain, not loaded from Google.

Where the GDPR or a similar law applies, we rely on:

• your consent for analytics;
• the need to provide a feature you asked for when you use the AI tools, the contact form or the newsletter;
• our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure for server logs and rate limiting.

Google, Groq, Vercel and Buttondown may process data in the United States and other countries, under their own safeguards for international transfers.

Depending on where you live, laws such as the GDPR or CCPA give you rights over your personal information. These include the right to access, correct or delete it, to withdraw consent, and to object to its processing. To exercise them for anything we hold, such as a message you sent or your newsletter subscription, email us at the address below. Your learning progress is already under your control in your browser, and you can change your analytics choice at any time. You also have the right to complain to your local data-protection authority.

StackScholar is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Articles link to external sites whose content and privacy practices we do not control. Please review their policies when you visit them.

All traffic to StackScholar is encrypted with HTTPS, and email is sent over an encrypted connection. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we keep the data we handle to the minimum described above.

We will update this policy when our practices change. The most recent version is always on this page, with the date of the last revision below.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, email us at contact.stackscholar@gmail.com or visit our Contact Page.