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Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Cool Trading Journal ("we," "us," "our") is operated as a sole proprietorship doing business as Cool Trading Journal. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It covers cooltradingtools.io and our hosted application (the "Service"). This Policy is incorporated into our Terms of Service.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Account information

• Email address
• Username
• Password (stored as a one-way hash; we never see your plaintext password)
• If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email, and Google account ID via Google OAuth

2.2 Billing information

• Stripe processes all payments. We receive limited information from Stripe (such as the last 4 digits of your card, billing country, subscription status, and payment history)
• We do not store full payment card numbers on our servers

2.3 User Content

• Trades you log, including tickers, prices, dates, and entry/exit markers
• Personal notes, tags, and analyses
• Saved reports and playbooks
• Selected news articles and chart configurations
• AI Study Panel prompts and conversation history

2.4 Usage and analytics data

• Pages viewed, features used, button clicks, and session activity (collected via PostHog)
• AI Study usage events (token counts, costs, model used) — used for billing and abuse prevention
• Errors and performance data

2.5 Device and log data

• IP address, browser type, operating system, referrer, and timestamps
• Used for security, debugging, rate limiting, and abuse prevention

3. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use a limited set of technologies that may include cookies, session storage, and similar identifiers. Specifically:

• Strictly necessary (always on) — login sessions, CSRF protection, and similar tools required for the Service to function
• Analytics (consent required) — we use PostHog to understand how the Service is used. Analytics cookies are only set after you click Accept on the cookie banner shown on your first visit. If you click Decline, no analytics cookies are set and no usage data is collected from your browser.

Your cookie preference is remembered for 12 months. To change it, clear your browser cookies for this site and the banner will reappear on your next visit.

We do not use advertising cookies, behavioral advertising pixels, or cross-site tracking for marketing purposes.

4. How We Use Your Information

• Provide the Service: authenticate you, store and display your trades and notes, run the AI Study Panel, run the stock scanner, deliver your subscription
• Process payments: via Stripe, including subscription renewals
• Communicate with you: transactional emails (account, billing, security, password resets, important product changes)
• Improve the Service: debug issues, analyze aggregate usage patterns, monitor for abuse
• Enforce our Terms and comply with law: investigate violations, respond to legal requests

6. Service Providers and Third Parties

We share data with the following service providers, only as needed to operate the Service:

• Stripe — payment processing (stripe.com/privacy)
• Anthropic — AI Study Panel (anthropic.com/legal/privacy)
• Google — sign-in via OAuth (policies.google.com/privacy)
• PostHog — product analytics (posthog.com/privacy)
• Replit — application hosting (replit.com/site/privacy)
• Neon / PostgreSQL — database storage
• Yahoo Finance (yfinance), StockNews API, FinViz — market data and news (we send ticker queries; they do not receive your personal account data)
• Professional advisors (lawyers, accountants) when needed, under confidentiality

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not "sell" or "share" personal information as those terms are defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

7. Data Storage and Security

• Data is stored on managed PostgreSQL databases (Neon and Replit infrastructure)
• All connections to the Service use HTTPS / SSL encryption
• Passwords are hashed using industry-standard one-way hashing
• We apply rate limiting, security headers, and access controls to protect against abuse
• No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security

8. Data Retention

• Account and User Content: retained while your account is active. After account deletion, we make reasonable efforts to delete your data within approximately 90 days from our active systems
• Backups: data may persist in encrypted backups for a limited additional period (typically up to 35 days) before being overwritten in normal backup rotation
• Billing records: retained for up to 7 years as required by tax and accounting laws
• Server logs: retained for up to 90 days for security and debugging
• AI Study usage events: retained for billing audit and abuse prevention; aggregated and de-identified after billing reconciliation
• You may delete individual reports, playbooks, or trades at any time from within the Service

9. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Portability — receive your data in a portable format. You can export your account data at any time from your account settings (downloads as a JSON file)
• Correction — update inaccurate information (most fields are editable directly in your account settings)
• Deletion — delete your account and associated User Content from your account settings, subject to the retention rules in Section 8
• Opt-out — opt out of non-essential communications
• Non-discrimination — we will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights

To exercise any right not available through your account settings, email cooltradingtools16@gmail.com. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

9.1 California residents (CCPA / CPRA)

California residents have the rights described above, including the right to know what categories of personal information we collect, the right to delete, the right to correct, and the right to opt out of any sale or sharing. We do not sell personal information.

9.2 EU/UK residents (GDPR)

If you are in the EU, UK, or EEA, you have the rights described above plus the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. Our lawful bases for processing include contract performance (providing the Service), legitimate interests (security, analytics, fraud prevention), legal obligation (tax and accounting), and consent where required.

10. International Data Transfers

We and our service providers are based primarily in the United States, and your information will be processed in the U.S. and other countries where our providers operate. By using the Service, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in jurisdictions that may have different data protection laws than your own.

11. Children's Privacy

The Service is intended for users 18 years and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18 and do not target the Service to children. If we learn that we have collected information from a child under 13 in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we will delete it promptly.

12. Security Incidents

If we become aware of a security incident that materially affects your personal information, we will notify affected users by email and, where applicable, comply with breach-notification laws in your jurisdiction.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes, we will provide reasonable advance notice (typically by email or in-app notice) before the changes take effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

14. Contact Us

For privacy questions, data requests, or concerns: cooltradingtools16@gmail.com