1. Who We Are
QuickStart Exams is operated by Carlsen Properties LLC, located in Paw Paw, Michigan, USA. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit quickstartexams.com or use our exam preparation services.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Account Information
When you purchase a study plan, we collect your email address to create your account and a password that is hashed using bcrypt before storage. We never store passwords in plain text.
2.2 Payment Information
All payments are processed by Stripe. We never see, receive, or store your credit card number, CVV, or full card details. Stripe handles all payment data in compliance with PCI DSS standards. We receive only a confirmation of payment and a Stripe customer identifier.
2.3 Quiz & Study Data
We store your quiz answers, scores, and progress data to calculate your readiness score and track your study plan progress. This data is tied to your account.
2.4 AI Chat Interactions
If you use the pre-sale chatbot or AI-powered study explanations, we log those conversations for usage tracking and service improvement. Question and answer text is sent to our AI provider (Anthropic/Claude) to generate explanations. No personal information (name, email, etc.) is included in those AI requests.
2.5 Automatically Collected Data
- IP Addresses: Collected temporarily for chatbot rate limiting. Not stored long-term.
- Cookies: We use a guest cookie (30-day expiry) to track free trial usage, and session cookies for logged-in users. No third-party tracking cookies are set by us directly.
- Analytics: If Google Analytics is active on the site, it may collect standard analytics data (pages visited, device type, referral source) subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
3. How We Use Your Information
- To create and manage your account
- To provide personalized study plans and track your progress
- To process payments through Stripe
- To generate AI-powered explanations for quiz questions
- To prevent abuse and enforce rate limits
- To communicate with you about your account (e.g., purchase confirmations)
- To improve our services
4. Third-Party Services
We share limited data with the following third-party services, only as necessary to operate QuickStart Exams:
- Stripe — Payment processing. Stripe receives your payment details directly. See Stripe's Privacy Policy.
- Anthropic (Claude AI) — AI-powered explanations. We send question and answer text only; no personal data is transmitted.
- Google Analytics — Site analytics (if enabled). See Google's Privacy Policy.
- ImprovMX — Email forwarding for our support address. See ImprovMX's Privacy Policy.
5. Data Security
We take the security of your data seriously and implement the following measures:
- All passwords are hashed with bcrypt before storage
- All connections use HTTPS (SSL/TLS via Let's Encrypt)
- No credit card data is ever stored on our servers
- Our database is hosted on a secured VPS with SSH-only access
While we use commercially reasonable safeguards, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.
6. Data Retention
- Account data — Retained for the duration of your access period (6 months from purchase) plus 30 days
- Quiz progress data — Retained with your account for the same period
- Pre-sale chat logs — Retained for 90 days, then deleted
- Guest cookies — Expire after 30 days
7. We Do Not Sell Your Data
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party. Period. This applies to all users, including California residents.
8. Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Request deletion of your account and associated data
- Request an export of your personal data
- Opt out of non-essential cookies via your browser settings
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 11 below.
8.1 California Residents (CCPA)
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):
- The right to know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose
- The right to request deletion of your personal information
- The right to opt out of the sale of personal information — though we do not sell your data
- The right to non-discrimination for exercising your CCPA rights
9. Children's Privacy
QuickStart Exams is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that we have collected data from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of QuickStart Exams after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
11. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to request data deletion or export, or have any other privacy-related concerns, you can reach us at:
- Email:
- Phone: (507) 615-4048
- Mail: Carlsen Properties LLC, Paw Paw, Michigan, USA