Privacy Policy

Overview

BenefitsUSA is a free eligibility screening tool for American families. We built this tool to help families discover government assistance programs they may qualify for. Your privacy is important to us, and we've designed this tool to collect only what's necessary to check your eligibility.

Information We Collect

When you use our eligibility screener, we collect the information you provide, including:

• ZIP code (to determine state-specific programs)
• Household size and composition
• Income information
• Age and family details
• Current benefit enrollment status
• Other information relevant to eligibility (veteran status, disability status, etc.)

We do not collect: Your name, Social Security number, address, email (unless you voluntarily provide it), phone number, or any other personally identifying information.

How We Use Your Information

The information you provide is used to:

• Calculate your potential eligibility for federal and state assistance programs
• Generate your personalized results
• Improve the accuracy of our screening tool

Information Sharing

We do not share your information without your consent. We do not share your individual screening responses with third parties, government agencies, or anyone else without your explicit consent.

We may use aggregated, anonymized data to understand usage patterns, improve our service, and report on community-level benefit access. Aggregated data cannot identify any individual.

If you choose to connect with a licensed specialist through our results page, we will share your contact information and relevant screening results with that specialist. This sharing only occurs with your explicit, affirmative consent.

Referral Partner Data Sharing

When you request help from a licensed disability attorney, accredited disability representative, or health insurance specialist, your name, email, phone number, and relevant screening results may be shared with Benefits USA's licensed partner firms to facilitate that connection. This constitutes a transfer of personal data to a third party.

This sharing only occurs when you affirmatively opt in by checking the consent box on the specialist request form. You are never required to connect with a partner to use the screener.

California residents and residents of other states with comprehensive privacy laws have the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal information. To exercise this right, visit our Do Not Sell My Personal Information page, or contact us at privacy@benefitsusa.org.

How We Stay Free

BenefitsUSA is completely free to use. We may offer to connect you with licensed professionals (such as health insurance brokers or tax preparers) who can help you apply for programs you qualify for. If you choose to connect with a partner, we may receive compensation from them.

This is always optional. You can use our screening tool and apply to programs on your own without ever being connected to a partner. We will never share your information with partners without your explicit consent.

Data Security

Your information is transmitted using industry-standard encryption (HTTPS/TLS). We implement reasonable security measures to protect against unauthorized access to your information.

Data Retention

Screening submissions are retained to allow us to improve our service, analyze usage patterns, and understand which programs best serve our users. Retained data is anonymized — we generalize ZIP codes, income ranges, and household sizes to prevent re-identification. Individual screening records are retained for up to 24 months. You do not need to create an account and we do not maintain individual user profiles. You may request deletion of your screening data by contacting help@benefitsusa.org.

Cookies

We use minimal cookies necessary for the website to function. We use Vercel Analytics to understand how people use our site — this collects anonymized usage data and does not identify individual visitors. We do not use advertising cookies or tracking pixels from third-party advertisers.

Third-Party Services

Our website is hosted on Vercel (SOC 2 certified). We use Supabase for data storage (SOC 2 certified). We use Vercel Analytics for usage analytics. Each of these providers has their own privacy policy. We have data protection agreements in place with each sub-processor.

Children's Privacy

This tool is intended for adults screening their household's eligibility. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised.

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your state of residence, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of your data. Residents of California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington, Nevada, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have additional rights under applicable state law.

For rights related to health-specific data, please see our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy.

To exercise your rights, contact us at help@benefitsusa.org. We will respond within 45 days.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or our practices, please contact us at help@benefitsusa.org.