Privacy Policy

Summary: Lock the Goal is a learning platform owned and operated by LockTheGoal.com LLC (Illinois, U.S.A.). Core access is currently free (no subscription required). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it (including limited staff access for operations and safety), what happens when you delete your account (including a time-limited archive), and the choices you have.

1. Who we are

This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and share information when you use Lock the Goal (the "Service"). The Service is owned and operated by LockTheGoal.com LLC (Illinois, U.S.A.). For privacy requests, contact: mail@lockthegoal.com.

2. Information we collect

Account information. When you create an account we collect your email address and a password (stored in a hashed form). We also store account status such as whether your email is verified.

Profile and onboarding information you provide. We collect information you enter into the Service, which may include your display name, age, country, grade level, core subjects and specializations, a career goal (if you choose one), and your target date and study preferences. If you choose to share work experience details, we may collect fields such as current employer, designation, years of experience range, and roles/responsibilities.

Learning activity and content you create. We collect information about how you use the Service, such as your learning progress, lessons generated for you, quiz attempts/results, and chat messages you send within the Service (including mentor-style chat in career counseling).

Gamification. We may record points you earn (for example for completing lessons, quizzes, or optional daily challenges), store a points ledger for integrity, and show anonymized or display-name-based leaderboard entries when you opt in or when the feature is available.

AI interactions (third-party processing). When you use KAI or other AI-powered features, your prompts/messages and relevant context may be transmitted to and processed by our AI provider(s) to generate responses. Today, our primary AI provider is Google (Gemini). If you do not want your inputs processed for this purpose, do not use the AI features. Please do not submit sensitive personal data you do not want processed.

Contact and support. If you contact us, we receive the information you send (such as your name, email address, subject, and message). Our contact form may use anti-abuse measures (such as Google reCAPTCHA v3) depending on configuration.

Technical data. We may collect device and usage information such as IP address, browser type, operating system, timestamps, and diagnostic logs needed to operate and secure the Service. We may derive approximate location (such as country/region) from IP address for security and reliability purposes. We do not collect precise GPS location.

Payment information. Core access and the course completion certificate are currently offered at no charge. If we introduce paid plans in the future, we may process card payments through Stripe. We do not store your full card number on our servers. We may store Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, payment status, billing period and entitlement information, and invoice or receipt references when applicable. We use US Central (Chicago) in our systems for certain product calendar rules. Times and dates you see in the app (such as on Account → Billing, when shown) use your local time zone (typically your device's time zone) unless we state otherwise in the interface. We also issue and track payment codes in our own systems for campaigns or future access models. Staff may view codes and entitlements in admin tools to provide support. Do not share your code with others.

Early-access and community offers. If you sign up under a time-limited promotion (for example, a capped "first 100" or similar program), we process the data needed to operate it fairly: your eligibility, event or payment code, redemption order, and the entitlement period (such as a complimentary access window through a stated end date), as described in our Terms of Service. A site-wide free period does not guarantee that every future feature will remain free, or that a specific promotion will always be available.

Financial assistance requests. If we introduce or require paid access again, we may invite applications for financial assistance and process the information you submit to review your request, communicate a decision, and, if applicable, grant time-limited access. We do not use this for unrelated marketing without your consent where the law requires consent.

Final exam attempts. If you take a final certification exam, we may record the attempt start time, end time, duration, score, pass/fail status, number of attempts, and related integrity metadata. We do this to enforce time limits, detect abuse, and maintain certificate integrity.

3. How we use information

• Provide, maintain, and improve the Service and its learning features;
• Authenticate you, manage your account, and send essential account emails (like verification codes);
• Generate AI-assisted learning content and responses when you request AI features;
• Respond to inquiries and provide support;
• Operate secure staff admin tools so authorized staff can publish notices and optional rail content, review high-level account status when needed for support or abuse prevention, and perform account lifecycle actions described in this policy;
• Measure optional Career rail effectiveness by recording when a learner follows an outbound promotional link: we store the promo identifier, timestamp, and (when they are signed in) their account ID. We do not store full IP addresses for this analytics event;
• Prevent abuse, enforce our Terms, and protect safety and security;
• Comply with legal obligations and protect our rights and users.

4. Legal bases (where applicable)

If GDPR/UK GDPR or similar laws apply, we may rely on performance of a contract (providing the Service you request), legitimate interests (such as security and improving reliability), consent where required (for example for certain cookies/marketing), and compliance with legal obligations.

5. Sharing

We may share information in these situations:

• Service providers. We use vendors to help us run the Service (for example hosting, email delivery, security, and AI processing). These providers process information on our behalf under appropriate terms.
• Payments. If we charge for any future optional service, that payment is processed by Stripe and we share the minimum information needed to create a checkout session and confirm payment. Stripe's processing is governed by its own policies. Course completion certificates today are issued at no charge.
• AI providers. When you use AI features, your prompts and relevant context may be processed by our AI provider(s) (currently Google Gemini) to generate outputs for you.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information if we believe it is required by law, needed to respond to lawful requests, or necessary to protect rights, safety, and security.
• Business changes. If LockTheGoal.com LLC is involved in a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to appropriate protections.

We do not sell your personal information for money. If we introduce advertising or marketing practices in the future that require additional disclosures or choices under applicable law, we will update this policy.

Access within LockTheGoal.com LLC. Certain employees or contractors with a business need may access learner personal information through authenticated admin interfaces (for example to help with misuse investigations, to remove accounts that violate policy, or to retire abandoned sign-ups that never completed verification). Access is limited by role where we configure it that way (for example, some roles may list accounts but not delete them). These disclosures are not a "sale" of personal information.

6. Advertising and marketing (future)

We do not currently run third-party targeted advertising on Lock the Goal. However, we may introduce advertising or marketing in the future to support the Service.

If we introduce personalized advertising or marketing, we will describe what data is used (for example profile details such as country/region and education/work context if you provided it, along with usage/activity data and technical identifiers such as cookies/device IDs), who we share data with (for example advertising partners), and what controls you have (for example opt-out choices and cookie preferences) as required by law.

Users under 18. If we introduce advertising, we intend to apply stricter protections for minors. For example, we may limit or disable personalized advertising for users we know are under 18, and we may require additional consent where required by law.

7. Retention

We keep information for as long as needed to provide the Service. We also retain certain information for backups, security, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, and legal compliance.

When you delete your account (self-service or authorized staff action): we remove your live account and associated primary records from the Service in line with our technical design. Before removal, we may write a single archive record that includes your email, a short reason for deletion, and a structured snapshot of learning-related data (for example profile fields, plan snapshot, completed lessons, chat history, quiz attempts, and progress) so we can meet legal, security, and operational needs. That archive is kept for a limited period (currently up to approximately one hundred eighty (180) days after deletion, after which it is intended to be purged from our systems as part of routine maintenance). Until purge, the archive is not used to restore your account or for marketing. If you have questions about deletion or the archive, contact mail@lockthegoal.com.

Account benefits and entitlements. When an account is deleted, access entitlements tied to that account (such as promotional payment codes, complimentary access windows, or financial assistance access) are ended as part of the deletion lifecycle. Because these benefits are linked to an account identifier, they typically cannot be restored or reused by registering again later, even with the same email address.

For information not tied to an archive row (for example residual backups or logs), we delete or roll off data according to our internal schedules and legal obligations.

8. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure.

9. Children

The Service is designed for users age 14 and older in most countries. For users in the EU/EEA, the UK, Switzerland, and Turkey, the minimum age is 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information in a way that violates these requirements, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps.

10. International transfers

We may process data in the United States and other countries where we or our providers operate. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers.

11. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export your data, or to object to or restrict certain processing. Contact mail@lockthegoal.com to make a request. You may appeal or complain to a supervisory authority where applicable.

12. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies or local storage as needed for login sessions and preferences. If we use additional analytics or advertising cookies in the future, we will describe them here and provide any choices required by applicable law.

13. Changes

We may update this policy. We will post the revised policy and revise the effective date. Where required, we will provide additional notice.

14. Contact

Privacy questions: mail@lockthegoal.com

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