Smart Cents Club

Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

Smart Cents Club (smartcentsclub.com) is built to collect as little personal data as possible. This page explains exactly what we collect, why, and what your rights are. Our content is written primarily for a US audience, but we extend GDPR-level protections to all visitors as a courtesy, wherever you are.

What we collect

Newsletter data

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we store your email address, your first name (only if you choose to give it), the exact consent text you agreed to, and a timestamp of your consent. We use double opt-in: no emails are sent until you confirm your subscription via the link we email you.

Affiliate click statistics

When you click an affiliate link on this site, we record the click for aggregate statistics: which link was clicked, your browser type, the referring page, your country, and a truncated one-way hash of your IP address mixed with a secret salt. We never store your raw IP address, and the hash cannot be reversed to identify you.

Aggregate visit counts

We count visits in aggregate — a single daily total per site — to understand what content helps; this counter stores no cookies, no IP address, and no identifier of any kind. To avoid counting the same visit twice, we set a temporary technical flag in your browser tab — deleted when the tab closes, containing no identifier.

Account data (optional)

Reading articles never requires an account. Some interactive tools (for example the subscription-audit tool) let you optionally sign in with Google to save your results. If you choose to do this, we store your Google account email address, display name, and a stable Google account identifier; the tool results and history you save; a strictly necessary session cookie that keeps you signed in; and, only if you subscribe to a paid tier, a Stripe customer reference and your subscription status. You can delete your account and everything tied to it yourself, at any time, from the account page — see "Your rights" below.

What we do not collect

We do not use tracking cookies, advertising pixels, or third-party analytics scripts. Using an optional account (above) does not build an advertising or marketing profile — it only stores what you explicitly choose to save.

Why we collect it (purposes)

  • To send you the newsletter you asked for, including occasional product recommendations.
  • To understand which recommendations readers find useful, in aggregate.
  • To keep the site secure and prevent abuse of our forms.

Legal basis

Newsletter processing is based on your consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)), which you give explicitly via an unticked checkbox and confirm via double opt-in. You can withdraw it at any time using the unsubscribe link in every email; withdrawal is one click. Aggregate, pseudonymized click statistics are based on our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) in understanding and funding our editorial work; the hashing described above minimizes any privacy impact. The optional account feature is based on your consent to create an account and, once created, on our performance of that account relationship (Art. 6(1)(b)): saving a tool result only happens when you click Save, and paid-tier billing only happens if you choose to subscribe.

Who processes your data

  • Vercel: website hosting and delivery. Vercel Inc. is US-based.
  • Supabase (eu-west-1, EU region): database storing subscriber records, click statistics, and (for visitors who create the optional account described above) account and saved-tool-result data.
  • Resend: our email delivery provider, which processes subscriber email addresses on our behalf. Resend is US-based.
  • Google: if you choose to sign in with Google to use the optional account feature, Google processes your sign-in on our behalf. Google LLC is US-based.
  • Stripe: if you subscribe to a paid tier, Stripe processes your payment details; we never see or store your card number. Stripe is US-based.

International data transfer. Vercel, Resend, Google, and Stripe are US-based companies, so using this site's hosting, email, optional sign-in, or optional paid-tier features involves transferring personal data outside the EU/EEA to the United States. We rely on the transfer safeguards these providers publish for their own services — such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or their Standard Contractual Clauses — as the lawful basis for that transfer. We have not yet put brand-specific Data Processing Agreements or Standard Contractual Clauses in place directly with each provider; that work is in progress. If you have questions about a specific transfer, contact us using the details below.

We do not sell or rent personal data to anyone. Data is shared with processors only to the extent needed to run this site.

How long we keep it

Subscriber records are kept while your subscription is active. If you unsubscribe, we keep a minimal suppression record so we do not email you again. Click statistics are kept in pseudonymized form for aggregate reporting.

Your rights

You can at any time:

  • Request a copy of the data we hold about you (access & portability).
  • Ask us to correct or delete it (rectification & erasure).
  • Withdraw consent with one click on the unsubscribe link in any email.
  • If you created the optional account, delete it and everything tied to it yourself, immediately, from the account page — no email needed.
  • Object to or ask us to restrict any processing.
  • Complain to your local data protection authority.

To exercise any of these rights, email hello@smartcentsclub.com. We respond within 30 days.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle personal data, we will update this page and the date at the top.