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Legal

Privacy Policy

How WhatIsThisCharge.net collects, uses, and protects your personal information.

Last updated: May 7, 2026

At WhatIsThisCharge.net (we, our, or us), we respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard information when you use our website.

1. Information We Collect

We collect minimal information to provide our service. The types of data we may collect include:

  • Search queries: The bank charge descriptors you paste into our search tool. We may store these in aggregate form to improve our database and search accuracy.
  • Usage data: Information about how you interact with our site, including pages visited, time spent, browser type, device type, and approximate location based on IP address.
  • Cookies: Small data files stored on your device used for analytics and ad personalization.
  • Voluntary submissions: If you submit a charge report, comment, or contact us via our form, we collect the information you provide (name, email, message).

We do not require you to create an account or provide personal financial information such as bank account numbers, card numbers, or login credentials. Never enter sensitive financial details on our website.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • To provide and improve our charge identification service
  • To analyze how our website is used and improve user experience
  • To display relevant advertisements through Google AdSense
  • To respond to inquiries you send us
  • To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents
  • To comply with legal obligations

3. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website. Cookies are small files stored on your device. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, some portions of our website may not function properly.

We use the following types of cookies:

  • Essential cookies: Required for the website to function
  • Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with the website (Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity)
  • Advertising cookies: Used by Google AdSense to display relevant ads

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may collect information about you:

5. Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google uses cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our sites and other sites on the internet.

You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings or by visiting aboutads.info.

6. Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your information. All data is transmitted over secure HTTPS connections. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Aggregated and anonymized data may be retained indefinitely.

8. Your Privacy Rights

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

  • Right to access — Request a copy of your personal data
  • Right to rectification — Request correction of inaccurate data
  • Right to erasure — Request deletion of your personal data
  • Right to restrict processing — Request limitation of how we process your data
  • Right to data portability — Request your data in a transferable format
  • Right to object — Object to certain types of processing

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact information below.

9. GDPR (European Union Users)

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the rights described in Section 8. The legal basis for processing your data is your consent (for cookies and analytics) and our legitimate interest (for service operation, security, and fraud prevention).

10. CCPA (California Users)

If you are a California resident, you have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete your information, and the right to opt out of the sale of your personal information. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

11. Children's Privacy

Our service is not directed to anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

12. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own. We use service providers such as Vercel, Cloudflare, and Supabase that may store data in different regions. By using our website, you consent to these transfers.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Significant changes will be communicated through a notice on our homepage.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy, please contact us through our contact page.