The short version
- Your survey answers stay in your browser. They are saved on your own device and are not sent to us. We cannot see them.
- No cookies and no ads. We count visits with a privacy-focused tool that sets no cookies and does not follow you across other websites. We do not use advertising or social media trackers, and we never sell data.
- Our hosting provider sees basic technical data (such as your IP address) when you load a page. This is needed to deliver the website and keep it secure.
- You are in control. Download or delete your answers at any time from the results page, or by clearing your browser data.
1. Who is responsible for your data
The controller responsible for processing personal data on this website is Maksym Onyshchenko ("StudyCompass", "we", "us").
Contact for anything about privacy: contact.studycompass@protonmail.com.
We have not appointed a data protection officer, as we are not required to. Please use the contact above.
2. What data is handled, why, and for how long
| Data | Where it is kept | Purpose | Legal basis | How long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your survey answers: first name (optional), IB year, start year, citizenship (optional), subjects and grades, test scores, interests, activities, goals and preferences | Only in your browser's local storage on your device. Not sent to us. | Saving your progress, showing your profile summary and calculating your university matches. The matching runs on your device; the university data it uses is public. | We do not receive or process this data. Storing it on your device is strictly necessary for the service you ask for (Art. 5(3) ePrivacy Directive) | Until you delete it ("Delete my answers") or clear your browser data |
| Technical data: IP address, browser type, page requested, date and time | Server logs at our hosting provider, Vercel | Delivering the website, preventing abuse, fixing errors | Legitimate interests in a secure, working website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) | Kept for a short period under the provider's log retention, then deleted automatically |
| Visit statistics: the page viewed, date and time, the website you came from, country, browser, operating system and device type. No name, no IP address stored with it, and nothing from your survey | Vercel Web Analytics, run by our hosting provider Vercel | Learning which pages are used and which are broken, so we can improve the website | Legitimate interests in understanding and improving the website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). You can object (see section 8) | Your visit is recognised only by a code made from your request, which Vercel discards after 24 hours. It sets no cookie and cannot link your visits across days or across other websites. We only look at totals |
| Messages you send us: your email address and what you write | Our email inbox at Proton Mail | Answering you | Legitimate interests in responding (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) | Up to 12 months after the conversation ends, unless the law requires longer |
Giving us information is voluntary. The survey works without your name or citizenship; leaving fields out only makes your results less specific.
Please don't include sensitive information such as health details, religion or ethnicity in free-text answers. StudyCompass doesn't need it.
4. Who else is involved
We use a small number of service providers that act on our instructions as processors under data processing agreements (Art. 28 GDPR):
- Vercel Inc. (USA): website hosting, content delivery and visit statistics (Web Analytics). Processes the technical data and visit statistics above. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)
- Supabase Inc. (USA): database for university and programme information. It stores no personal data about you today. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)
- Proton AG (Switzerland): our email provider. Stores the messages you send us. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)
We do not sell, rent or trade personal data, and we do not share it with universities, schools or advertisers. We only disclose data if the law requires it.
5. Transfers outside the EU
Our hosting provider is based in the United States, so technical data may be processed there. Such transfers are protected by the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (opens in a new tab) where the provider is certified, and otherwise by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46 GDPR). Our email provider is based in Switzerland, which the European Commission recognises as providing adequate data protection (Art. 45 GDPR). You can ask us for a copy of the relevant safeguards.
6. Automated recommendations and AI
StudyCompass gives you estimates and suggestions about universities (safe, target or reach, and what could improve your chances). They are calculated automatically, in your browser, from your answers and published admissions information, using fixed rules. No artificial intelligence (AI) is used for this. If we add AI features, we will always tell you when you are interacting with AI.
These estimates are not decisions about you. They have no legal or similarly significant effect: only universities decide on admission, and you decide what to do. We therefore do not carry out automated decision-making within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR. Read the AI and accuracy disclaimer for the limits of these estimates.
Today, your answers stay in your browser and are not sent to any AI service. If a future feature needs to send data to an AI provider, we will update this policy first, keep the data to the minimum, never include your name or contact details, and ask for your consent where the law requires it.
7. Young people
StudyCompass is made for secondary-school students, most of them between 15 and 19. We designed it to collect as little as possible, and today we do not collect survey answers at all.
If you are under 16, please read this policy with a parent or guardian. If we introduce accounts, we will ask for a parent's or guardian's consent wherever the law of your country requires it (Art. 8 GDPR sets this age between 13 and 16, depending on the country).
8. Your rights
Under the GDPR you have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy (Art. 15);
- have inaccurate data corrected (Art. 16);
- have your data deleted (Art. 17);
- restrict how we use it (Art. 18);
- receive it in a portable format (data portability, Art. 20);
- object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21);
- withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent, without affecting earlier processing (Art. 7(3)).
Because your survey answers live in your browser, you can exercise most of these yourself: "Download my answers" gives you a copy, editing the survey corrects it, and "Delete my answers" erases it. For anything else, email us. We will reply within one month (Art. 12(3) GDPR).
You also have the right to complain to a data protection authority, in particular in the EU country where you live, work or where you think an infringement happened. The European Data Protection Board lists all national authorities (opens in a new tab).
9. Security
The website is served only over encrypted connections (HTTPS), with security headers that limit what other sites can do with it. Our database allows public reading of university information only; it cannot be changed from the website. Data in your browser is protected by your device and browser, so use a device you trust, and delete your answers on shared computers.
10. Changes to this policy
We will update this policy when StudyCompass changes how it handles data, before the change takes effect. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change matters to you, for example new account features, we will point it out clearly on the website.
Questions about this document? Contact us using the details in section 1.