1. Who we are
The Informed Expat LLC ("we"), 300 Kemp Road, Suwanee, GA 30024, runs The Informed Expat and is responsible for your personal data. Questions: support@theinformedexpat.com.
2. Our approach
We collect as little as the product needs, and these limits are built into our systems, not just promised here:
- We store your first name only. There's no field for a surname.
- We never ask for or store account numbers, card numbers, or logins for any bank or institution. The simulator works from amounts and dates.
- We don't record your voice. Pat speaks to you, but there's no microphone and no recordings.
3. What we collect
What you give us
| Data | Why |
|---|---|
| First name and email address | Your account, sign-in, and emails about your account |
| Password | Sign-in; stored only in scrambled (hashed) form we can't read |
| Your plan inputs – savings, income, ages, spending, destinations, stay calendar | To run your simulations and save your plans |
| Checklist progress | So you can pick up where you left off |
| Playbook feedback – the button you choose and any text you write | To find and fix outdated or unclear steps. Linked to your account only to prevent spam and duplicates; never shown publicly |
| Emails you send to support | To help you |
| Billing details | Collected and held by Stripe. We receive your subscription status, never your card details |
What's created as you use the Service
| Data | Why |
|---|---|
| Sign-in sessions | Keep you signed in and let you sign out everywhere |
| Security records – sign-in attempts, verification and reset links, a log of sensitive account actions | Protect your account and detect abuse |
| Usage records – simulations run, when paid country research was opened, and when results were downloaded | Apply plan limits and our Refund Policy. These record that something happened and when, not which countries |
| Technical logs, including IP address and browser type | Run the Service, fix problems, prevent abuse |
Cookies: we use one cookie to keep you signed in. We don't use advertising or analytics trackers. Stripe sets its own cookies on its checkout and billing pages.
4. Why we use it (legal basis for UK and EU residents)
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Running the Service and your plans | Performance of our contract with you |
| Billing | Performance of our contract |
| Security and preventing abuse | Legitimate interests; legal obligation |
| Emails about your account | Performance of our contract |
| Improving the Service with de-identified or combined data | Legitimate interests |
| Marketing email, if we ever send any | Your consent, which you can withdraw any time |
5. Who we share it with
We don't sell your personal data. We share it only with these service providers, who process it on our behalf:
| Provider | What it does | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Card payments, subscriptions and fraud prevention | Your email, billing address and card details. We never see your card number |
| Render | Hosting and database | The data we store |
| Resend | Account emails | Your email address |
| Sentry | Error reports, if enabled | Technical details of an error, which may occasionally include an account identifier |
Stripe also uses payment information to prevent fraud, under its own privacy policy.
These providers are in the United States, and so are we. If you use the Service from outside the US, you send your information directly to us in the US, where it is stored and processed.
We may also disclose data where the law requires it, to protect our rights or users' safety, or to a buyer if the business is sold, in which case we'll tell you.
6. How we protect it
- All traffic is encrypted (HTTPS only).
- Passwords are hashed and checked against known breached passwords.
- Sign-in attempts are rate-limited.
- Each customer's data is kept separate at the database level.
- Your email, first name and plan inputs are encrypted with a key unique to your account, so a stolen copy of the database is unreadable. Deleting your account destroys that key.
No system is perfectly secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security.
7. How long we keep it
- While your account is open: for as long as you keep it.
- After your plan ends or you close your account: everything – account, plans, personal details, subscription record and usage records – is frozen and then permanently deleted 30 days later. The data is erased, not just hidden.
- Sooner: ask and we'll delete it sooner.
- Exceptions: the security log of account actions is kept for 2 years, and we may keep minimal records where the law requires. Stripe keeps its own payment records under its own policy.
8. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to see, correct, delete, or get a copy of your data, to object to or limit how we use it, to withdraw consent, and to complain to a regulator. Email support@theinformedexpat.com and we'll respond within 3 business days.
You can download your simulation results from the Service. For a full copy of your account data, email us and we'll send it.
California residents: we don't sell or share personal information for advertising, and we won't treat you differently for using your rights. UK residents can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office; EU residents to their local data protection authority.
9. Children
The Service is for adults 18 and over. We don't knowingly collect children's data; if you think we have, email us and we'll delete it.
10. Automated results
The Service calculates results from your inputs. It doesn't make decisions about you with legal or similarly significant effects.
11. Changes
We'll post changes here and update the date. For significant changes, we'll also email you or tell you in the Service.