Privacy Policy
People in defense acquisition take data seriously, so we tried to write this the way we'd want it written for us: what we collect, why, who else touches it, and how to make us delete it. No legal fog. Questions go to hello@acqlerate.com.
- We collect what it takes to run your account, track your progress, and take payments. That's it.
- We don't sell your data, and we don't use ad networks or ad tracking.
- A handful of service providers help us run things (hosting, payments, email, sign-in, AI). They're all listed below.
- You can delete your account yourself, any time, from My Account. It takes about ten seconds.
- Please don't put classified information, CUI, or sensitive program data anywhere on Acqlerate.
1. Who's responsible for your data
Acqlerate (acqlerate.com and the Acqlerate mobile apps) is owned and operated by Acqlerate, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, mailing address 10005 Rosemary Leaf Lane, Riverview, FL 33578, USA. In privacy-law terms, Acqlerate, LLC is the "controller" of your personal data. Its founder and manager, Lucas Cruz, works from Spain, so EU privacy law (GDPR) applies to how we handle your data. When this policy says "we," it means Acqlerate, LLC.
Contact for anything privacy-related: hello@acqlerate.com.
2. What we collect and why
Your account
| What | Why we use it |
|---|---|
| First and last name | To set up your account, address you properly, and print on your certificates of completion. |
| Email address | To sign you in, send receipts and account emails, and (unless you opt out) send lesson emails. |
| Password | To sign you in. We only ever store a scrambled version (a bcrypt hash). We can't read your password, and neither can anyone who gets hold of our database. |
| Google sign-in | If you choose "Sign in with Google," we keep your name, email, and Google account ID. That's all we keep (Google also offers a profile photo link, which we ignore). |
| Apple sign-in | If you choose "Sign in with Apple," Apple shares an Apple account ID, your email (which can be a private relay address if you pick "Hide My Email"), and your name the first time only. |
| Your onboarding answers | Your role (for example DoD employee, contractor, career changer, or student), experience level, and goal. We use these to put the right lessons in front of you first. |
Your learning activity
| What | Why we use it |
|---|---|
| Progress | Lessons completed, quiz and module assessment scores, skill levels, and certificates earned. This is how the platform remembers where you are. |
| Game stuff | XP, levels, streaks, daily challenge results, and which audio episodes you've played. This powers streaks, levels, and leaderboards. |
| Usage and sessions | When you sign in, when you were last active, how long your sessions last (we keep your last 100), and total minutes with Acqlerate open on your screen. We use this to sign you out when you've been away, and to see which parts of the course actually hold people's attention so we can improve the rest. |
| AI assistant usage count | How many AI requests you've made today, so we can apply the daily limit for your plan. We don't store your AI questions or answers. |
| Referrals | Your referral code, the code you signed up with (if any), and how many people joined through your link, so we can give out referral rewards. |
Payments
Payments are handled entirely by Stripe. Your card number, CVC, and billing details go straight to Stripe and never touch our servers. What we keep:
- Your Stripe customer ID and subscription ID (reference numbers, not payment data)
- Your plan status (free, trial, monthly, annual, lifetime)
- For template pack and Team Pack purchases: the email you bought with, what you bought, the amount, the date, Stripe's reference numbers, and a private download link with a count of how many times it's been used
If you sign up for our free starter kit or emails
If you give us your email on a landing page or pop-up, we store the address and where you signed up (for example "landing page"). We use it to send what you asked for, plus occasional updates. Every one of those emails has an unsubscribe link.
When you email us
If you write to us, we keep your message and our reply so we can help you and have a record of what we agreed.
Notifications to us
When someone signs up, joins the email list, buys something, cancels, or deletes their account, we get an email notification with their name and email address so we can say hello, help, or follow up. These land in our Google inbox.
Technical data
Like every website, our hosting and network providers see your IP address and basic browser and device info when you load a page. That's how the internet delivers the page to you, and it's also how we block brute-force login attempts and spam (for example, limiting how many times one address can try to log in). This shows up in short-lived server logs. We don't save your IP address to your account.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 to count visits and see which pages people use. It tells us things like "40 people read the CPARS lesson page this week," along with rough location (country or city) and device type. It also counts a few key moments: a lesson being completed (with the quiz score), and someone signing up, logging in, or starting checkout. We don't send Google your name, email, or account ID, so none of this is tied to you, and we don't use Google Analytics for advertising. If you're in Europe, it only runs if you say yes. Anyone can switch it off with Cookie settings.
With the same permission, we also note how you first found us: the website that sent you (just its name, like linkedin.com), any campaign tag on the link, and the first page you landed on. If you create an account, that's saved with it, along with whether you signed up on the website or in the app, so we can see which places bring people who stick around. It's never shared or used for ads.
3. What you type into our tools
Cost & Burn Rate Tracker
If you use the tracker, we store what you enter: task order and project names and codes, funding modifications (CLIN, SLIN, ACRN, amounts, dates, descriptions), cost entries, and your indirect rates (fringe, overhead, G&A, fee). We store it only so the tracker can show it back to you.
- It's private to your account. Other users can't see it.
- We don't analyze it, use it for anything else, or share it with anyone.
- "Deleting" a project in the tracker hides it (archives it). Everything you've ever entered is permanently erased when you delete your account.
Acqlerate Coach, AI explain buttons, and FAR translator
When you use an AI feature, we send the lesson text (plus, for the FAR translator, whatever clause number or text you type) to Anthropic's Claude API to write the answer. We don't send your name, email, or account details with it, and we don't store the conversation. Teach It Back doesn't use AI: you tap answers, we check them on our own server, and we keep your result and any XP. Under Anthropic's commercial terms, Anthropic doesn't use this text to train its models. It deletes it within 30 days, unless it's flagged for breaking Anthropic's usage policy, in which case it can keep it longer to deal with the abuse.
4. What other learners can see
Leaderboards. Signed-in learners can see leaderboards that show your first name and last initial (for example "Maria G."), your XP, your streak, and your Daily Challenge scores. Never your email or full last name. Don't want to be on it? Turn it off any time in My Account.
Certificates. Your certificates show the name on your account (edit it in My Account), the module, and the date. They're only shared if you share them.
5. What we don't collect
- Your security clearance level or status
- Your military rank, unit, or command
- Your employer's name (unless you tell us, for example in an email or a Team Pack purchase)
- Your CAC, PIV card, or any government ID
- Your precise location
- Anything from your phone's contacts, photos, camera, or microphone
We also don't sell or rent your personal information, don't "share" it for targeted advertising, and don't use it to make automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.
6. Who helps us run Acqlerate
We're a one-person operation, so we rely on a few established providers. Each one only gets what it needs to do its job, and each is bound by its own data protection terms.
| Provider | What they do for us | Their privacy policy |
|---|---|---|
| Railway | Hosts our servers and database (in the Netherlands, EU). | railway.com |
| Cloudflare | Delivers the site quickly and protects it from attacks. | cloudflare.com |
| Stripe | Processes payments and subscriptions. | stripe.com |
| Resend | Sends our emails (receipts, account emails, lesson emails, starter kits). | resend.com |
| Google sign-in (if you use it), Google Analytics, Google Fonts (which loads our typefaces, so Google sees your IP address), and Gmail / Google Workspace, where our inbox and notifications live. | policies.google.com | |
| Anthropic | Writes the answers for the Acqlerate Coach, the AI explain buttons, and the FAR translator (Claude API). | anthropic.com |
| Apple | Sign in with Apple (if you use it) and app distribution. | apple.com |
We may also share information if the law requires it (for example a valid court order), to protect someone's safety, or if Acqlerate is ever sold or merged. In that last case the new owner would have to honor this policy, and we'd tell you before your data became subject to a different one.
7. Where your data lives
Our servers and database are in the European Union (the Netherlands). Some of the providers above are US companies and may process data in the United States. When that happens, the transfer is covered by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, which are the legal tools EU law provides for this.
8. Cookies and similar storage
- Sign-in cookie. One cookie keeps you logged in. The site can't work without it. It lasts up to 30 days, and you're signed out automatically once you've been away for 30 minutes (tab closed or in the background).
- Theme cookie. If you pick light or dark mode, a small cookie remembers it for a year.
- Google Analytics cookies. Used to count visits, as described above. If you're in Europe (the EU, EEA, UK, or Switzerland), we ask first, and Google Analytics doesn't load at all until you click Accept. Everywhere else it's on by default, and you can turn it off below.
- How you found us. Only if analytics is allowed: a small cookie of our own remembers the site that sent you, any campaign tag, and your first page, for 90 days. Declining deletes it.
- Your cookie choice. A small cookie remembers whether you said yes or no, for 12 months, so we don't ask on every page.
- Stripe. When you check out, Stripe's own page sets cookies it needs to prevent fraud.
- Your device's local storage. Small settings like "I've already seen the tour," your lesson filter, or the invite code from a friend's referral link (kept for 30 days so it counts when you sign up). These stay on your device until they're needed.
No advertising cookies, no tracking pixels, no cross-site tracking.
Change your mind any time. Saying no has no effect on how the site works for you.
You'll also find "Cookie settings" in the site footer, in the app's sidebar, and at the bottom of My Account. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser, or use Google's opt-out add-on.
9. Emails we send
- Account emails (welcome, password resets, purchase and download emails, and important notices about your account or these policies). These are part of running your account, so they still arrive if you unsubscribe from everything else. Stripe emails your payment receipts directly.
- Lesson emails, reminders, and newsletters. A short series after you sign up, a heads-up before your free trial ends, and occasional updates. One click on "Unsubscribe" in any of them stops all of these. We keep a record of unsubscribed addresses so we never accidentally email you again.
10. How long we keep things
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| Account, progress, and tracker data | Until you delete your account. |
| Session history | Your most recent 100 sessions. Older ones drop off automatically. |
| Purchase records | As long as tax and accounting law requires (generally up to 7 years), even after you delete your account. |
| Starter kit / email list sign-ups | Until you delete your account or ask us to remove you. Unsubscribing stops every email right away. |
| Unsubscribe list | Kept, so your opt-out is always honored. |
| Password reset links | Expire after an hour. Deleted with your account. |
| Server logs | A few weeks at most. |
| Support emails | As long as needed to help you and keep a record of what we agreed. |
| Notification emails to us | They can stay in our inbox after you delete your account. Ask and we'll delete them. |
Deleted data can linger in our hosting provider's backups for a short time before it's overwritten.
11. Your rights and controls
Do it yourself, right now
- Change your name: My Account.
- Hide from leaderboards: My Account.
- Stop marketing emails: the Unsubscribe link in any of them.
- Delete your account: My Account, on the website or in the app. This permanently deletes your account, progress, tracker data, and email-list sign-up, and cancels any monthly subscription. Purchase records stay for tax reasons, as noted above.
Ask us
Email hello@acqlerate.com and we'll respond within one month (usually much faster). You can ask us to:
- Access the data we hold about you, or get a copy in a portable format
- Correct something, including changing your email address
- Delete your data
- Restrict or object to how we use it
- Withdraw consent you've given us
We may ask you to confirm the request from the email on your account, so we don't hand your data to someone pretending to be you. These rights come from the EU's GDPR, but we honor them for everyone, wherever you live.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to a data protection authority. In Spain, where our founder works, that's the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD), or you can go to the authority where you live. We'd appreciate the chance to fix it first, though.
12. Our legal reasons (for EU and UK users)
European law asks us to name the legal reason for each thing we do with your data. Here they are in plain English:
- To give you what you signed up for (performance of a contract): your account, progress, the tracker, AI features, certificates, leaderboards, payments, and account emails.
- Legitimate interests (things a reasonable user would expect, balanced against your rights): keeping the platform secure, usage and session data, and lesson emails to people who already have an account. You can object to any of these, and unsubscribing stops the emails.
- Consent: Google Analytics cookies for visitors in Europe (withdraw any time with Cookie settings), and starter kit and newsletter sign-ups from people without an account (withdraw any time with the Unsubscribe link).
- Legal obligation: keeping purchase records for tax purposes.
13. Security
Every connection uses HTTPS. Passwords are hashed with bcrypt. Password reset links are single-use, expire after an hour, and only a hash of each link is stored. Accounts are signed out after 30 minutes away, and login attempts are rate-limited. Other learners can never see your private data. Only the site administrator can view account records, and only to run the service and help you. Database access is limited to the systems that run Acqlerate.
No system is perfect. If you find a security problem, please email hello@acqlerate.com right away. If a breach ever puts your data at risk, we'll tell you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.
14. Children
Acqlerate is built for working professionals and you must be 18 or older to use it. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you think we have, tell us and we'll delete it.
15. Changes to this policy
When this policy changes, we update the date at the top. If a change is significant (for example a new kind of data or a new use for it), we'll email account holders before it takes effect.
16. Contact
Privacy questions or requests: hello@acqlerate.com. A real person reads every message.
By mail: Acqlerate, LLC, 10005 Rosemary Leaf Lane, Riverview, FL 33578, USA.