Privacy policy

Who operates Anchor

Anchor is an independent student project, not a government agency. For privacy questions or account deletion requests, contact jaisamadhiya@gmail.com. Please do not email benefit notices, Social Security numbers, or other sensitive documents.

Information you choose to add

Your workspace may contain original PDFs and images, extracted notice text, dates and requests you review, page coordinates, OCR quality indicators, suggested document facts, facts you confirm, file hashes for duplicate checks, preparation progress, form draft answers and notes, supporting documents, attached forms, submission records, receipts, agency-response notes, and language and county preferences. Documents and form answers can contain personal information; add only records you are authorized to use.

Anchor uses this information to show source-linked notice details, organize tasks and deadlines, record your progress, and create exports you request. The fictional practice workspace stays separate from your personal workspace.

Optional ZIP-code lookup

When you ask for a city associated with a US ZIP code, Anchor sends only that five-digit ZIP to Zippopotam.us, a public service using GeoNames postal data. The provider also receives ordinary connection information such as your IP address. The request omits credentials and referrer and does not include your street address, conversation, notice, or form answers. Anchor does not persist a ZIP-lookup history.

ZIP-associated city/state results do not verify a complete street address or county eligibility. Anchor identifies the source, shows multiple returned places without choosing one, and offers the official USPS lookup. This service needs internet access; failure does not produce a guessed city. Closing the form or switching accounts clears the pending dialogue and cancels a pending request.

Google sign-in information

If you choose Google sign-in, Google and Supabase Auth provide the account identifier, email address, and basic profile information associated with your account, such as your name and profile image. Anchor displays your name and email and uses your authenticated account identifier to connect you to your own saved workspace.

Sign-in requests basic identity scopes: OpenID, email, and profile. Calendar permission is requested separately, only when you choose to connect Google Calendar. Anchor does not request access to your Gmail messages, Google Drive files, or contacts. Downloading a calendar file does not require Google Calendar permission.

Google sign-in credentials are exchanged with Supabase Auth to establish an Anchor session. The Supabase session and a small display-identity cache are stored in your browser so sign-in can persist. Google profile information may also be retained in your Supabase Auth account. Anchor does not sell Google user data, use it for advertising, or use it to train AI models.

Local storage and optional cloud storage

In guest mode, personal notices, original files, and progress stay in this browser's storage. Browser settings, storage cleanup, private browsing, or changing devices can make that information unavailable. Export a backup for records you need to keep.

When signed in, your personal workspace, form drafts, and attached originals, forms, and receipts sync to your Supabase account. Draft answers are part of the saved workspace; files are held in private storage. Database ownership rules and a private file bucket restrict normal app access to your authenticated account. Service administrators may access hosted data when necessary to operate, support, or secure the service.

An account-specific local copy supports offline work. Changes made offline remain on that device until a successful sync. Existing guest data moves into an empty account workspace only when you choose to copy it; its original guest copy remains on the device.

Anchor caches website and PDF/OCR reader assets for offline use and stores interface preferences locally. The current app has no advertising or analytics tracking code. Notice content and form answers are not sent to a remote AI or document-processing service.

Local document intelligence and evidence checks

English and Spanish OCR, document classification, source-location matching, and paperwork comparisons run on your device. A small model trained on fictional examples suggests document categories; explicit rules locate candidate periods and amounts. Anchor asks you to check the original and confirm any facts used in comparisons. The checks do not authenticate documents or establish agency acceptance.

Supporting-file text, coordinates, model suggestions, and your confirmed facts follow the same local or private-account storage choices as the notice. File hashes help find duplicate contents inside your workspace. They are not published or added to a public training set. The public model and evaluation contain fictional examples only; the app does not train the model on your records.

Guided forms

Official blank forms are served from Anchor's site and displayed on your device. Form answers and PDF draft filling are processed in your browser. CF 37 and SAR 7B answers, including supported table rows, appear on the actual form as you type. The full editable PDF can be downloaded; signatures and signing dates remain blank. Earlier freeform notes remain available for you to transfer. Other forms offer notes and a local preview. Saving a draft follows the workspace storage choices above and does not submit it to an agency.

Appointment packets and translated guidance

Anchor creates appointment PDFs locally from the notices, questions, supporting files, and optional submission history you select. Files are excluded unless selected. The download can contain personal information; review its contents before sharing it. Packet creation does not send the PDF to an agency, Gemini, or another user. Downloaded copies are outside Anchor's deletion controls.

Official editable forms remain separate unsigned downloads so their fields are preserved. Spanish guidance and packet summaries are Anchor translations; original notice quotes and official PDFs retain their source language. Your questions and selected documents are not translated by a cloud service.

Anchor assistant

The source guide works without cloud AI. Your typed question is interpreted locally into a predefined public topic. Optional Anchor AI uses Google's Gemini API. Only the selected program, public question, focus, language, optional county jurisdiction, navigation destination, and adult-use confirmation go to Anchor's authenticated Supabase function. Form help can also send reviewed form, section and question identifiers with a public help category. Highlighted text stays on your device. The function retrieves reviewed public passages from a versioned official-source library and builds a prompt from those sources. Raw typed questions, conversation history, notice text, uploads, form answers, account profile information, and personal workspace data are not sent to Gemini.

Searching the source library happens locally. A typed search query does not go to Gemini. The library contains public guidance and source metadata, not residents' documents. Source review dates describe when Anchor's summaries were checked; the linked agency pages remain authoritative.

Cloud AI requires sign-in and confirmation that you are at least 18. It is available only where the provider's terms allow. The free Gemini service may use public prompts and responses to improve its products, and human reviewers may review them. Its terms prohibit sensitive, confidential, or personal input. See the Gemini API terms.

Supabase verifies your session and maintains per-account request counters and timestamps to limit misuse; that quota table does not store questions or answers. Providers may retain operational request metadata, such as IP addresses and errors. If Gemini is unavailable or you do not choose it, the app labels its response as a source guide.

Optional Google Calendar connection

Connecting Calendar requests https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.events.owned. Google's permission allows viewing, creating, changing, and deleting events on calendars you own. Anchor's current integration only creates the reminders you select and confirm; it does not read your existing events, edit them, or delete them.

The preview shows what goes to Google: checked dates, general reminder titles, and general instructions. Events are all-day, use private visibility, and use your calendar's default reminders. Original notices, case numbers, files, and form answers are not sent. Google stores the events and controls calendar sharing and notification delivery.

The Calendar access token stays in page memory; Anchor does not save it in browser storage, account sync, or Supabase. Reloading or choosing Disconnect this session clears Anchor's usable connection. This does not revoke Google's permission grant or delete events already created. Remove the grant through your Google account connections and manage events in Google Calendar. See Google's Calendar scope descriptions.

Anchor uses Google API data only to provide the features you choose, consistent with the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. Google data is not sold, used for advertising, or sent to Gemini.

Services and information sharing

GitHub Pages serves the website. Google provides sign-in, optional Calendar access, and Gemini responses to public topics when selected and configured. Supabase provides authentication, account storage, private files, and the cloud assistant gateway. These providers handle the network requests and information needed to deliver those services under their own policies. Guest documents are not uploaded simply by opening the website.

See the GitHub privacy statement, Google privacy policy, and Supabase privacy policy. Opening an official agency link takes you to that agency's website and policies. Anchor does not automatically submit your documents to an agency or share your workspace with other users.

Retention, deletion, and shared devices

Local records remain until you delete them or the browser removes its storage. Cloud workspace records remain until you delete them or request their removal. In your personal workspace, open Manage saved data and choose Delete workspace to clear that workspace. Signed-in deletion requires a connection to remove cloud data; interrupted file cleanup can require a retry.

Deleting a workspace does not delete your Google account or your Supabase Auth identity. Contact the support email above if you want the remaining Anchor account identity removed. Minimal deletion markers, provider logs, and backups may remain under the providers' retention processes; deletion does not promise immediate removal from every backup.

After your changes have saved, sign out to clear that account's local workspace cache. Guest records remain separate and must be deleted separately. Copies you downloaded, exported, or placed in another service are outside Anchor's deletion controls. Deleting your Anchor workspace does not delete Google Calendar events or revoke Google's grants.

Your browser and operating-system security protect local records; Anchor does not add a separate password or encryption layer to browser storage. Use your own device when possible and avoid leaving a signed-in workspace open on a shared device.

Policy updates

This policy will be updated when Anchor's data practices change. New features that change how your documents are processed or shared will include an explanation in the app before you use them. The date above identifies the current policy.