Privacy Policy

24help.org ("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 visit our website at https://www.24help.org, use our interactive tools, interact with our AI chatbot (Virtual Dr. Ed), participate in community features (Report a Tip), subscribe to our email newsletter, or otherwise use our Services.

By using our website and services, you consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in this policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our website or services.

We may collect personal information from you when you interact with our website or use our Services. The types of personal information we collect may include:

We may collect personal information directly from you or from third-party sources, such as analytics providers, advertising partners, or referral services.

When you interact with our AI chatbot, Virtual Dr. Ed, we may collect and process the following information:

• The text of your questions and messages submitted to the chatbot
• The date, time, and duration of your chatbot sessions
• Your device type, browser, and IP address
• Any feedback you provide about chatbot responses

How We Use Chatbot Data

Chatbot conversation data is used to:

• Provide you with responses and assistance during your session
• Improve the accuracy and quality of our AI chatbot
• Identify common questions and topics to improve our educational content
• Detect and prevent misuse of our Services

Data Retention

Chatbot conversation logs may be retained for up to 12 months for quality improvement purposes, after which they are anonymized or deleted. You may request deletion of your chatbot conversation data by contacting us at ed@24help.org.

When you use our interactive calculators and benefit navigators, we may collect the inputs you provide, such as estimated earnings history, age, and benefit preferences. This information is used to generate educational estimates and to improve our tools.

Session vs. Stored Data

By default, tool inputs are processed in your browser session and are not permanently stored on our servers unless you explicitly choose to save or share your results. If you are logged in to an account, your tool inputs may be saved to your account profile to allow you to return to your calculations.

No Transmission to Government Agencies

Information you enter into our tools is NOT transmitted to the Social Security Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or any other government agency. Our tools are entirely independent educational resources.

When you submit a tip through our "Report a Tip" community feature, we collect:

• Your registered email address (required for account verification)
• The content of your tip submission
• The date, time, and general geographic region of your submission
• Your device type and IP address

Public Display

Tips may be displayed publicly on our website in an aggregated or anonymized format. We will not display your name or email address publicly without your explicit consent. We reserve the right to edit, moderate, or remove any tip submission at our discretion.

Quality Control

We use registration data to verify the authenticity of tip submissions and prevent spam. We may follow up with registered users to confirm the accuracy of submitted information. We will not share your registration information with third parties without your consent, except as required by law.

When you subscribe to our email newsletter, we collect your email address and, optionally, your name and topic preferences (e.g., Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid). This information is used to send you relevant educational content and updates.

Email Service Providers

We use third-party email service providers (such as Mailchimp or similar platforms) to manage our email list and send communications. These providers may have access to your email address and related subscription data for the purpose of delivering our emails. They are contractually prohibited from using your information for their own marketing purposes.

Opt-Out

You may unsubscribe from our email communications at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any email, or by contacting us at ed@24help.org. We will not share your opt-in data and consent for text messaging services with any third party unless required by law.

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:

• Providing and improving our Services, including interactive tools, AI chatbot, and community features
• Communicating with you about our Services, updates, and educational content
• Personalizing your experience on our website
• Analyzing how users interact with our Services to improve functionality and content
• Marketing our Services, including sending promotional emails (with your consent)
• Complying with legal obligations and responding to legal requests
• Protecting our rights and the rights of our users
• Detecting and preventing fraud, abuse, and security incidents

We will not use your personal information for any purpose other than those described in this policy without your consent, unless such use is permitted or required by law. We may aggregate or anonymize personal information for research, analysis, and other purposes. Aggregated or anonymized information does not identify individual users and is not considered personal information under this policy.

We may share personal information with the following categories of recipients:

Service Providers

We may share personal information with third-party service providers who assist us in providing our Services, such as email marketing platforms, analytics providers, hosting services, and customer service providers. These third-party service providers are contractually obligated to protect the confidentiality of your personal information and are not allowed to use the information for any other purposes.

Legal Requirements

We may disclose personal information in response to a legal request, to comply with applicable laws or regulations, or to government authorities or law enforcement agencies as required by law or to protect our legal rights.

Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email and/or a prominent notice on our website of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information.

What We Do NOT Share

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information of our users from unauthorized access, use, and disclosure. We use secure servers and encryption technology (SSL/TLS) to protect personal information during transmission and storage.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. In the event of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you in accordance with applicable law.

We may use cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies on our website to improve your user experience and analyze how you interact with our website.

User Control

You can control cookies and tracking technologies through your browser settings. Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings, which may include options to delete or block cookies or to receive alerts before a cookie is stored on your device. Please note that blocking or deleting cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

Third-Party Tracking

We may use third-party service providers such as Google Analytics to assist us with analytics activities. These third-party service providers may also use cookies and tracking technologies on our website. We do not have access to or control over these cookies. Please refer to the privacy policies of these third-party providers for more information.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Our privacy practices are designed to comply with GDPR requirements.

Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal bases:

• Consent: Where you have given us explicit consent to process your data (e.g., newsletter subscriptions)
• Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests, such as improving our Services and preventing fraud
• Legal Obligation: Where processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation

Your GDPR Rights

Under GDPR, you have the following rights:

• Right of Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You have the right to request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to Restriction of Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, including for direct marketing purposes.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at ed@24help.org. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

International Data Transfers

If you access our Services from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States. By using our Services, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States, which may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

If you are a California resident, you have certain rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).

Your CCPA Rights

• Right to Know: You have the right to request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources from which we collected it, the business purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
• Right to Delete: You have the right to request that we delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale: We do not sell your personal information. However, if we ever do, you have the right to opt out.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.
• Right to Correct: You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise your CCPA rights, please contact us at ed@24help.org with the subject line "CCPA Request." We will verify your identity before processing your request and will respond within 45 days as required by law.

Our Services are not directed to children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at ed@24help.org and we will promptly delete such information from our records.

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. The criteria used to determine our retention periods include:

• The length of time we have an ongoing relationship with you and provide Services to you
• Whether there is a legal obligation to which we are subject (e.g., certain laws require us to keep records for a minimum period)
• Whether retention is advisable in light of our legal position (e.g., in regard to applicable statutes of limitations, litigation, or regulatory investigations)

When we no longer need your personal information, we will securely delete or anonymize it in accordance with our data retention policies.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace this Privacy Policy at any time. If a revision is material, we will provide at least 30 days' notice prior to any new policy taking effect, which may include posting a notice on our website or sending an email notification.

By continuing to access or use our Services after those revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the new Privacy Policy, please stop using the Services.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information. The "Effective Date" at the top of this page indicates when this policy was last updated.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

For GDPR-related requests, please include "GDPR Request" in the subject line of your email. For CCPA-related requests, please include "CCPA Request" in the subject line. We will respond to all privacy-related requests within 30 days.