This policy explains what information Form D Explorer collects, how it is used, and the choices you have. Form D Explorer ("we", "us") is operated by Dawn Crest Consulting (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA). Contact: [email protected].
What we collect
- Account data — email address and hashed password when you sign up.
- Billing data — handled by Stripe. We store only the Stripe customer ID and subscription status; card details never touch our servers.
- Usage data — server logs (IP address, user agent, requested URLs) retained for up to 30 days for security and debugging.
- Saved searches, watchlists, newsletter subscriptions — what you explicitly save.
- Public SEC data — issuer names, CIKs, officer names, and offering amounts sourced from SEC EDGAR. This data is public record; we re-index it.
How we use it
- To operate your account and deliver the features you've signed up for.
- To send transactional emails (account, billing, alerts) and, if opted in, the weekly digest.
- To detect abuse and enforce the Terms of Service.
Service providers
We use the following third parties. Their own privacy policies govern their handling of any data passed to them:
- Stripe — payments and billing.
- Railway — hosting.
- Postmark / SendGrid — transactional email delivery.
- Sentry — error monitoring (scrubbed of request bodies and PII).
- SEC EDGAR — source of filing data (public).
Cookies
We use a session cookie and a CSRF cookie to operate the site. When advertising is enabled, we also store your advertising choice in this browser's local storage for up to 180 days. This preference is separate from the consent records maintained by Google's consent platform. Clearing browser storage resets your local choice to advertising off.
Optional advertising
When enabled, we use Google AdSense on our educational guides and About page. Ads are labeled “Advertisement” and are separate from our editorial content. Our search tools, filing and issuer pages, account forms, and checkout pages do not carry ads. Signed-in paid subscribers do not see these placements.
Advertising is off until you choose to allow it. If you allow advertising, Google's consent platform loads and collects any required regional choices before our ad placements can request ads. Google and its advertising partners may receive your IP address, browser and device information, and the URL of the guide you visit, and may use cookies or similar technologies for ad delivery, measurement and fraud prevention. We initially request non-personalized ads; these may still use cookies. See how Google uses information from sites that use its services and Google's advertising technologies.
Use “Advertising choices / Do not sell or share” in the footer to turn advertising off at any time. On an advertising-supported page, after Google's consent platform loads, “Google consent settings” lets you revisit its choices. Google's regional message also provides applicable privacy controls. Turning advertising off prevents further advertising requests after the page reloads; it does not erase information already received by partners or their existing cookies. You can delete those cookies using your browser settings.
We honor Global Privacy Control by keeping advertising disabled. You can also select “Keep ads off / Do not sell or share” to opt out of advertising-related sale or sharing on this browser. Your choice applies to this browser, not automatically to other browsers or devices. Declining advertising does not restrict access to the site.
Your rights
You can:
- See your data in your account page.
- Request export or deletion by emailing [email protected]. We honor requests within 30 days.
- Unsubscribe from the weekly digest via the link in every email.
California residents (CCPA/CPRA) and EU/UK residents (GDPR) have additional rights (access, correction, deletion, portability, objection). Email us to exercise them.
Data retention
We keep account data as long as your account is active. On deletion we remove personal data within 30 days; transactional billing records are retained for seven years for tax/audit compliance.
Security
Passwords are hashed with Django's default PBKDF2. All traffic is encrypted in transit (TLS). We don't store card numbers.
Children
Form D Explorer is not intended for users under 18. We don't knowingly collect data from minors.
Changes
We'll update this page when our practices change and post a new "Last updated" date at the top.
This policy is intended to describe our actual practices in plain English. It is not legal advice.