Effective date: October 2, 2026 · Applies to Data Doughnut and datadoughnut.com
This policy explains what information Data Doughnut (“we,” “us”) collects,
how we use it, and the choices you have. We wrote it in plain language on
purpose. It covers our public website and the desks we offer
to business customers.
1. Who this is for
Data Doughnut is a business (B2B) product. We expect users to be adults
acting for their company. The site and products are not directed to
children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal
information from children under 16.
2. Information we collect
Depending on how you use the service, we may collect:
Account and contact
Your email address and name when you create an account, and your password stored only in scrambled (hashed) form — we can’t read it
If you choose “Continue with Google,” the name, email, and account ID Google sends us to sign you in
Invite codes you enter when signing up
Password-reset requests (a scrambled copy of each emailed link, kept so links work once and expire)
Messages you send us for support or privacy requests
Billing
Plan, purchase, and invoice details needed to sell and support paid access
Payments are processed by Stripe through its Link service, which sells paid plans on our behalf as the merchant of record and collects any sales tax. You give your card and billing address to Stripe/Link on their secure checkout page; we never receive or store your full card number. Stripe shares with us what we need to run your plan (for example your plan, billing status, and billing email).
What you do in the product
Searches you type into Help and questions you ask in Discover & Analyze and the answers we gave, tied to your account, so we can answer well and fix wrong answers
AI access keys and spreadsheet links you create — we keep an encrypted copy so you can see them again on your Account page
Web server logs (always on)
Like every website, our servers keep a record of each page request:
The page you asked for, the time, and the page on our site you came from
Your browser and device type (from the information every browser sends)
Your IP address — we store it only in scrambled (hashed) form for these records, plus the approximate city, region, and country it points to and the name of your internet provider. We look those up on our own servers; the address itself is never kept.
Which account and desk, if you’re signed in
We use these logs to run and secure the service, help you when you contact us, and count visits and popular pages.
Cookies and similar tools
Essential (always on): your sign-in session, a visitor ID that lasts only until you close your browser, and a cookie that remembers your privacy choice. If you haven't accepted analytics, each page also sends our server a one-time note that its script ran, so we can tell real browsers from automated programs. That note sets no cookie and carries no visitor ID: it only marks that one page view in the log above.
Optional analytics (only if you accept): we keep your visitor ID for up to a year so we can tell when you come back, and your browser tells our server when a page actually opened (so we can tell real visits from link previews)
Saved for your team: regions, scoring weights, and Check a site sites you choose to save for your team (a saved site keeps its address or map point, drive-time settings, and the numbers you typed) are stored with your account so everyone on it can reuse them, along with who saved each one. Anyone on your account can remove them, and they are deleted if your account is closed.
My places: lists your team uploads or types in (facility numbers, HUD loan numbers, addresses, ZIP codes, counties, with any labels and notes) are stored with your account so everyone on it can use them on the desks. No other customer sees them, we don’t use them for anything else, anyone on your account can edit or delete them, and they are deleted if your account is closed.
Not kept unless you save: addresses you check and numbers you type into Check a site are not stored unless someone on your account presses Save site. Slider positions you are trying out stay in your own browser until you save them.
All of our cookies are our own. We do not use Google Analytics,
advertising pixels, or any third-party trackers, and we don’t read cookies from
other websites or follow you around the web.
Street addresses. When you type a street address into Check a site, Check rural eligibility, a
place search box, My places, or one of our AI tools, we send just that address to the U.S. Census Bureau’s free
address service to find where it is on the map and which county and neighborhood it’s in. We don’t send your name,
account, or anything else with it. We don’t keep the address unless you save it (a saved site, or a place in My
places). Check rural eligibility also sends that spot’s map coordinates (not the address) to USDA Rural
Development’s public eligibility map to see which USDA programs cover it. The Census Bureau’s privacy
policy covers what it does with the request.
Map backgrounds. Some maps (Check a site, Site map, cell towers, and the facility and loan maps)
show a street map from OpenStreetMap’s free public map service. To draw it, your browser asks OpenStreetMap’s
servers for the map pictures of the area on your screen, so they receive your internet address, which part of the
map you are looking at, and usually which of our pages you are on. They do not receive your account, anything you
type, or any cookie from us. OpenStreetMap’s own
privacy policy
covers what they do with it. We plan to serve these map backgrounds from our own servers.
3. How we use information
Run the website and desks
Authenticate users, check invite codes, and keep sessions secure
Provide customer support and respond to privacy requests
Bill and fulfill paid plans, and send account emails you ask for, such as password-reset links
Understand how the site is used, from our own server logs and — only if you accept — the optional analytics above. It all stays on our own servers; never sent to Google Analytics, ad networks, or brokers
Protect against abuse, fraud, and security incidents
Meet legal duties when required
4. We do not sell or share your data (hard rule)
Data Doughnut does not sell personal information.
We do not sell it for money, and we do not trade it for other valuable
consideration.
We do not share personal information with third parties for
advertising, analytics vendors, data brokers, or any other commercial
purpose.
We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral
advertising. That is our product rule — not a temporary setting.
Our server logs and optional analytics stay on
our own servers only. They are
never sent to Google Analytics, ad networks, data brokers,
or other marketing/analytics companies.
5. Necessary operators only (not marketing partners)
To run the service we may use a small set of necessary service
providers. They may process data
only under contract to operate Data Doughnut — not for
their own advertising or marketing, and not to sell your information.
Google Cloud — hosting and databases that keep the site online
Stripe (including Link) — payments, subscriptions, receipts, and sales tax; for your purchase Link acts as the seller of record under its own terms and privacy policy
Google sign-in, only if you choose “Continue with Google” — Google tells us your name and email so we can sign you in
Google Workspace — our email, used to answer you and to send account emails such as password-reset links
Professional advisors (legal, accounting) when needed for the business
Authorities when the law requires it, or to protect rights and safety
A buyer or successor only if the business itself is sold or merged — still bound to protect the data
That is not “sharing for a commercial data purpose.” We do not sell
customer lists, and we do not hand personal information to ad or analytics
companies.
6. California privacy rights (CCPA / CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you may have the right to:
Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose
Delete personal information we hold about you (with legal exceptions)
Correct inaccurate personal information
Opt out of sale or sharing of personal information (Do Not Sell or Share: we do not sell or share for cross-context behavioral advertising — there is nothing to turn off for that)
Limit use and disclosure of sensitive personal information where that law applies
Non-discrimination for exercising these rights
To exercise these rights, email
privacy@datadoughnut.com
with enough detail for us to find your request. We may need to verify who
you are before we act. You may use an authorized agent as allowed by law.
7. Your cookie and analytics choices
Essential cookies and our web server logs are always on so the site works.
The optional analytics extras are off until you accept. You can change your mind any time
on this page or with the banner buttons.
Analytics preference
You have not chosen yet.
8. Retention
We keep information only as long as we need it for the purposes above —
for example while your account is active, for the life of a paid contract,
for security logs for a limited time, and longer when the law requires it.
We then delete or de-identify it when we no longer need it.
9. Security
We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards (access controls,
encrypted transport, least privilege). No internet service is perfectly
secure; please use a strong, unique password.
10. Updates
We may update this policy from time to time. We will change the effective
date at the top and, when changes are material, post a notice on the site
or email account holders when we have their address.
We use essential cookies so the site and your access keep working.
We do not sell personal information and we
do not share it with advertisers, analytics vendors, or data brokers.
No Google Analytics, ad pixels, or third-party trackers. “Accept analytics” just lets us recognize return visits — it all stays on our own servers.
Privacy Policy
Data Doughnut