Privacy Policy — Start the Chain

Plain English summary

We collect almost nothing. We use Plausible Analytics — a privacy-first tool that counts page visits without cookies, without tracking you across the web, and without storing any personal information. We don't sell data. We don't run ads. We don't know who you are.

1. Our commitment to your privacy

Start the Chain was built around a simple principle: the people this site is designed to help have historically had their data, their finances, and their trust exploited. We will not do that. This site collects the minimum information needed to understand whether it's working — and nothing more.

We do not sell data. We do not run advertising. We do not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes. We do not use cookies to track you across the web.

2. What we collect — and what we don't

What Collected? Details

Your name No Never collected

Your email address No Never collected — there are no sign-up forms on this site

Your IP address No Plausible does not store IP addresses

Cookies No This site sets no cookies of any kind

Page visits Yes Anonymized aggregate counts only — we know a page was visited, not who visited it

Button clicks Yes Anonymized aggregate counts for specific buttons (e.g. "Compare brokers") — we know a button was clicked, not who clicked it

Referring site Yes Anonymized — we know visitors came from, say, a Google search, but not which specific user

Device type Yes Anonymized — we know roughly how many visitors use mobile vs. desktop so we can improve the design

Calculator inputs No The sliders and calculator values exist only in your browser — they are never sent to us

3. How we collect analytics — Plausible

We use Plausible Analytics (plausible.io) to understand how people use this site. Plausible is a privacy-first analytics tool that is fundamentally different from Google Analytics or similar services.

Plausible does not use cookies. It does not track you across websites. It does not build a profile of you as an individual. It does not store your IP address. It collects only aggregated, anonymized data — meaning we can see that 500 people visited the index fund definition page this week, but we cannot see who those 500 people were or connect any visit to any individual.

Plausible is compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR. Because it uses no cookies and collects no personal data, no cookie consent banner is required. You can read Plausible's own privacy policy at plausible.io/privacy.

4. Third-party links

This site contains links to Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Vanguard, and other external websites. When you click those links and leave startthechain.org, you are subject to the privacy policies of those sites — not ours. We have no control over and no responsibility for the privacy practices of any third-party website.

We receive no compensation from any brokerage or financial institution for directing visitors to their sites, and we do not share any user data with them.

5. Children's privacy

This site is not directed at children under the age of 13 and we do not knowingly collect any information from children. If you believe a child has provided information through this site, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps.

6. Your rights

Because we do not collect personal information, there is no personal data for you to access, correct, or delete. If you have questions about this or believe we may have inadvertently collected personal information, please contact us through the About page.

If you are located in California, the European Union, or another jurisdiction with specific privacy rights, those rights apply to the extent that personal data is collected. Given our minimal data collection, those situations are unlikely to arise — but we are committed to honoring your rights if they do.

7. Changes to this policy

If we ever add features that change how data is collected — such as a newsletter sign-up, user accounts, or contact forms — we will update this policy before those features go live and clearly explain what changes. We will always update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page when changes are made.

Our commitment: we will never introduce advertising, never sell data, and never add tracking that follows you across the web.

8. Contact

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please reach out through the About page at startthechain.org/about.html.