Privacy Policy

Please read this Privacy Policy before using our Services. This Privacy Policy applies to assistance-programs.com, a website operated by a business entity doing business as BenefitGuides.org (“Company”, “we”, or “our”). The Company is a Delaware-based entity with a registered address of 2803 Philadelphia Pike Suite B #1477 Claymont, DE 19703 that owns and operates various digital properties and services, as well as other online services and communication channels, including via email or telephone (collectively, the “Services”). “You” and “your” refer to any person who accesses or uses the Services. By using the Services, you authorize our ability to collect, use, disclose, share, and sell your personal information as set forth below in this Privacy Policy, and also agree to be bound and abide by our Terms of Use and this Online Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Terms”) in effect at the time of use. Do not access or use the Services if you do not agree with these Terms.

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will let you know by appropriate means such as by posting the revised Privacy Policy on this page with a new “effective date” date at the bottom of this Privacy Policy. Any changes to this online Privacy Policy will become effective when posted unless indicated otherwise.

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with the Company and meet all of the eligibility requirements in these Terms. The Services are intended only for individuals who are at least 18 years old and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16 without parental consent

1. CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We may collect the categories of information from you described below when you use our Services and where we believe it is reasonably required for our business purposes.

1.1. Customer Website Activity

1.1.1. Personal information you voluntarily provide. This includes contact information (such as name, email address, mailing address, and/or telephone number) and demographic information you may be prompted to provide while using our Services, for instance when you respond to a survey on one of our websites. 

1.1.2. Communications. We also receive information you may provide through the Services (e.g., feedback, inquiries, etc.) and communications between you and us, such as calls, chats, emails, or messages regarding the Services. Note that calls with our customer service center may be recorded or monitored for quality assurance purposes. 

1.1.3. Information collected automatically through web technologies. When you use our Services we may automatically collect certain elements of your internet information, such as IP addresses, browser type, internet service provider, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. This information is collected through web technologies, including cookies, web beacons, Javascript, and other similar technologies (collectively “Web Technologies”).   

1.1.4. Service providers and contractors. We may receive personal information about you from our service providers and contractors, such as internet service providers.

1.1.5. Third-parties. We may receive personal information about you from third-parties, such as affiliates and advertising partners. 

1.1.6. Mobile Activity. When you use a mobile device to connect to our Services, we may collect a unique device identifier or other device information to provide the Services and/or functionality. We may also collect, use and store information about your location (e.g., GPS) depending on your mobile settings.  

1.2. Online User Activity.  We use third-party analytics tools to help us measure traffic, usage, and other trends by your use of our Services. We may also use Web Technologies to collect and store other information about your visit to, or use of, our Services. These tools may capture:

1.2.1. Usage Details. This may include interactions with our Services (such as the date, time, and length of visits, and specific pages or content accessed during the visits, frequency of visits, and referring website addresses). 

1.2.2. Device Information. This may include the IP address and other details of a device that you use to connect with our Services (such as device type and unique device identifier, operating system, browser type, and mobile network information). 

1.2.3. Location Information. This may occur when you choose to provide the website with access to information about your device’s location.

1.3.4. Site usage and session information. This may include information about your interaction with our Services, including the resources that you access, pages viewed, how much time you spend on a page, and how you reached our website. We may also log the details of your visits to our website and information generated in the course of using our website, such as mouse movements, clicks, page visits, text entered, how long you spent on a page, and other details of your actions on our website.

2. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

2.1. Essential Purposes. We may use information we collect as we believe to be necessary or appropriate for certain essential purposes. These purposes are listed below (collectively, the “Essential Purposes”) and include:

2.1.1. To comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards, contractual obligations, and our Company policies;

2.1.2. To detect, prevent, or investigate fraud, and suspicious or illegal activities;

2.1.3. To enforce our Terms of Use and other legal terms;

2.1.4. To evaluate, negotiate, or conduct a merger, sale, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of all or any portion of our business, assets, or equity, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding (collectively, “Business Transactions”), in which your personal information is or may be among the assets sold or transferred;

2.1.5. To manage any other business relationship between you and us and carrying out our obligations and enforcing our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us;

2.1.6. To protect our rights, privacy, safety, property, operations, or security and/or that of our affiliates, business partners, you, or others; and

2.1.7. To allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may suffer.

2.2. Customer Website Activity may additionally be used for the following business purposes (collectively, “Customer Experience Purposes”): 

2.2.1. To provide you with products or services or to otherwise fulfill your requests;

2.2.2. To provide personalized content and information through our website, third-party websites, phone calls, text messages, email, and/or direct mail, which could include offers of various products or services that you may be interested in;

2.2.3. To notify you about changes to our products or Services;

2.2.4. To provide customer service support;

2.2.5. To operate and improve the functionality of our websites, as well as our business and operations, including internal administration, auditing, and troubleshooting for our Services;

2.2.6. To conduct testing, research, analysis, and product development, including to develop and improve our products and Services;

2.2.7. To monitor metrics such as total number of visitors, traffic, advertisement placement, and demographic patterns; and

2.2.8. To provide, improve, test, and monitor the effectiveness of the Services, and diagnose and fix technology issues.

2.3. Online User Activity is collected via Web Technologies and may be used to further the various business purposes described in this Section (collectively, “Online User Purposes”). In particular, information collected via cookies is used to understand our customer base, advertise our Services to you and other prospective customers, monitor the performance of our Services, improve the user experience, and to enhance the security of our Services.

3. HOW WE DISCLOSE YOUR INFORMATION

3.1. We may disclose personal information, for the Essential Purposes, Customer Experience Purposes, and Online User Purposes noted above, to the following categories of entities:

3.1.1. Legal affiliates under our control or common control with us;

3.1.2. Service providers and contractors who provide technology, business, professional, research, legal expertise or other such services to us (such as website hosting, information technology and related infrastructure, customer services, internet, and email delivery);

3.1.3. Advertising and other partners, including our marketing partners, who provide marketing research and who market products, services, promotions, and events;

3.1.4. Website partners who help us create a multitude of brands to serve content to our customers around different verticals of interest;

3.1.5. Data analytics providers who report on and help us analyze and monitor traffic to, from, and within our websites;

3.1.6. External parties (including government agencies) to comply with legal requirements, including, but not limited to, regulatory, court, and law enforcement demands (e.g., subpoenas, court orders, etc.) (collectively, “Legal Requirements”); to prevent and address fraud, security or technical issues, and to respond to an emergency or otherwise to protect the rights, property or security of our Company, customers, or third parties (collectively “Security Purposes”).

3.1.7. External parties in the event of any evaluation, negotiation and/or completion of any Business Transaction.

4. HOW WE STORE YOUR INFORMATION

By using our Services, you consent to the transfer and use of your personal information anywhere where our Services or our service providers maintain facilities, consistent with this Privacy Policy. We keep personal information at least as long as necessary for business purposes, our retention policy, and legal requirements. Although we implement commercially reasonable administrative, physical and technical security measures designed to protect your personal information from unauthorized access or use, we cannot guarantee that the information will not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed.

Please note that information you send to us electronically may not be fully secure when it is transmitted to us. We recommend that you do not use unsecure channels to communicate sensitive or confidential information to us.

5. YOUR CHOICES ABOUT YOUR INFORMATION

5.1. Privacy Rights. Residents of certain states may have all or some of the following rights with respect to their personal information within the scope of applicable state laws. Where such laws apply to you, we will endeavor to fulfill your requests within the time provided under the relevant state law. We may have a reason under the law why we do not have to comply with your request, or why we may comply with it in a more limited way than you anticipated. If we do, we will explain that to you in our response.

California residents should review Section 7 for information specific to their rights under California law.

5.1.1. Right to Access. You may have the Right to Access the personal information we have collected about you and information regarding the sources of that personal information, the purposes for which we collect it, and the categories of third parties and service providers with whom we share it.

5.1.2. Right to Correct. You may have the Right to Correct inaccurate personal information about you, taking into account the nature of the personal information and the purposes of the processing of the personal information.

5.1.3. Right to Delete. You may have the Right to Delete personal information that we have collected from you.

5.1.4. Exercising Your Rights. If you live in a state that provides for such protections, you may submit a request by completing the Privacy Rights Request form, by emailing us at support@benefitguides.org. To protect your personal information, we may ask you to verify your identity before we can act on your request based on the right you are attempting to exercise. Thus, we will ask you to provide personal identifiers we can match against information we may have collected from you previously, and to confirm your request using the contact information provided in the request. If we need additional information, we will let you know.

5.1.5. Right to Appeal. There may be certain circumstances that prevent us from processing your privacy right request. In such instances we will explain our reasons for declining your request, and if you live in a state that provides for such protections, you may submit an appeal by completing the Privacy Rights Request form, by emailing us at support@benefitguides.org.

5.1.6. Right to Non-Discrimination. You have the right to be free from discrimination if you exercise privacy rights under state law.

5.2. Right to Opt-Out. We may sell or share your personal information we have collected to third parties. Online User Activity may also be shared with or collected by third parties, such as data analytics providers, about your visit to, or use of, our Services, and could potentially be used by those parties for their own purposes, some of whom may be able to associate such information with you based on other information they have collected independently (not from us). You can opt-out of “sales” or “sharing” of your personal information with certain third parties by submitting a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” request via the Privacy Rights Request form or clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share My Info” link on our website and submitting a request. The link can be found at the bottom of our websites.

5.3. Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information. We may sell or share information that may be considered “sensitive” under state law to third parties if such disclosures are necessary to provide goods or services you have requested. You can request that we limit our use and disclosure of your sensitive personal information by submitting an opt-out request as described above.

5.4. Cookies. We use cookies, such as Google Analytics, to analyze traffic across our websites and participate in interest-based advertising, also known as online behavioral advertising. We also use cookies to enhance your browsing experience. You can take the following steps to limit data shared with third parties via tracking cookies.

5.4.1. Rejecting Cookies. Most web browsers allow a user to reject cookies, but doing so may diminish your experience with our Services.

5.4.2. Opting-Out of Tracking Cookies. We provide all customers and other website visitors with the option of turning off tracking cookies by clicking on the “Cookie Choices” link found at the bottom of our websites. Please note that if you clear cookies from the cache in your browser, or access our Services via a new device your “Cookie Choices” preferences may be erased, and you may need to reset it.

5.4.3. Global Privacy Control. We respond to Global Privacy Control signals.

5.4.4. Do Not Track. We do not respond to Do Not Track signals.

5.5. Emails. You can opt-out from receiving promotional emails from us by clicking the “unsubscribe” or similar link within any email. Please note if you have shared multiple email addresses with us, you will need to make an opt-out request for each email address.

5.6. Phone calls. You can opt-out of receiving marketing calls from us by emailing us support@benefitguides.org. If you have shared multiple phone numbers with us, you will need to make an opt-out request for each phone number.

5.7. Text messages. You can opt-out of receiving text messages from us by replying “STOP” to any text message received. If you have opted-in to receive text messages from us using multiple phone numbers, you will need to make an opt-out request for each phone number.

5.8. Mobile devices. As with cookies, mobile devices may allow a user to block certain information requests (e.g., location information), but doing so may diminish your experience with our Services. Mobile device or mobile operating system providers typically provide instructions on how to adjust such privacy features.

6. LINKING TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND SERVICES

6.1. Our Services may contain links to other applications, websites, services or social media platforms that are owned or operated by other companies (collectively, “Third-Party Websites”). Third-Party Websites are not subject to our Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for the practices employed by any Third-Party Websites linked to or from our Services, including the information or content contained within them. Your browsing and interaction on any Third-Party Websites, including those that have a link on our Services, are subject to that third party’s own rules and policies, not ours. By accessing Third-Party Websites you agree that we are not responsible and do not have control over any third parties that you authorize to access your personal information, which includes linking your activity to any social media platforms or data aggregators.

7. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS

California law requires that we provide certain disclosures to California residents who apply for jobs with us, or who may interact with us in the context of their employment. That information is provided here.

7.1. Categories of Information We Collect.

7.1.1. Job Applicant Information. This section describes our practices when you apply for a job with our Company. Our disclosure covers information that may be collected about you by us or external sources, such as third-party job posting services, recruiters, references, and former employers.

7.1.1.1. Information you give us: We may collect certain information from and about you in order to evaluate and process your employment application. This information may include: contact information (such as name, telephone number, physical address, email, and other contact details); previous work experience, education, skills, and other qualifications; professional and other work-related licenses, permits, and certifications; work authorization status; information relating to references; information from social media platforms or professional sites (e.g., that is publicly available or if you include a link in your application materials); and any other information you elect to provide to us.

We may also ask you to provide certain information that we use to further our goal of maintaining a diverse workforce, or to comply with laws, such as information about your race, ethnicity, gender, veteran status, or whether you have a disability. As described in the application process, you are not required to provide this information.

7.1.1.2. Information received from external sources: We may obtain information about you from platforms used to collect application information (e.g., third-party job posting services), recruiters, references, and former employers. We may use background check services to collect additional information, subject to your consent, which we will request during the process of evaluating your application.

If you submit an application through third-party job posting services, please be advised that we do not control the privacy practices of these services. Please review their privacy policies carefully prior to providing application information.

7.1.2. Business Contact Information. This section describes our practices when you interact with the Company as an employee, representative, or agent of a vendor, service provider, or contractor of the Company, or other non-customer business entity that interacts with us. Our disclosure covers information that may be collected about you, and not about the business you represent.

7.1.2.1. Information you give us. You may provide us with your full name, title, business email address, office location, phone number, and other work contact information, in the context of your role as an employee or other representative of a service provider or contractor of the Company.

7.1.2.2. Information received from external sources. We may obtain your business contact information, and other such information relevant to your role, from the business you represent and other sources, including third parties making referrals or recommendations.

7.1.3. We also collect Customer Website Activity and Online User Activity. For more information on these information categories, please refer to Sections 1, 2, and 3 of this Privacy Policy.

7.2. How We Use Your Information.

7.2.1. In addition to using your information for Essential Purposes, we may also use your Job Applicant Information and Business Contact Information as follows:

7.2.1.1. Job Applicant Information. We may use this information to recruit qualified applicants and process applications submitted to us.

7.2.1.2. Business Contact Information. We may use this information to operate and improve our business and operations, and provide Services to our customers.

7.3. How We Disclose Information.

7.3.1. We may disclose personal information, for the business purposes noted above, to the following categories of entities:

7.3.1.1. Legal affiliates under our control or under common control with us;

7.3.1.2. Service providers and contractors who provide technology, business, professional, research, legal expertise or other such services to us (such as website hosting, information technology and related infrastructure, customer service, internet, and email delivery);

7.3.1.3. Advertising and other partners, including our marketing partners, who provide marketing research and who market products, services, promotions, and events;

7.3.1.4. Website partners who help us create a multitude of brands to serve content to our customers around different verticals of interest;

7.3.1.5. Data analytics providers who report on and help us analyze and monitor traffic to, from, and within our websites;

7.3.1.6. External parties (including government agencies) to comply with Legal Requirements or for Security Purposes.

7.3.1.7. External parties to facilitate Business Transactions.

7.3.2. Job Applicant Information may also be shared with: your references; and our service providers that we believe need the information to perform recruiting and related business functions for us, but we only provide information so these individuals or entities can perform their required functions on our behalf.

7.3.3. Business Contact Information may also be shared with: Your employer (who is generally a service provider or contractor to the Company); and our service providers that we believe need the information to perform a technology, business, professional, or other similar functions for us, but we only provide information so these individuals or entities can perform their required functions on our behalf.

7.4. Notice of Collection.

If you are a California resident, you have certain rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended, “CCPA”) and to the extent that we collect personal information subject to the CCPA, that information and our practices are described below.

A few things to note when reading this chart:

• The categories we use to describe personal information (“PI”) are those enumerated in the CCPA. Certain personal information may fall into multiple categories. Categories listed in the CCPA and not discussed here are either not collected or not within the scope of the CCPA.
• We are required by law to list entities to whom we (1) “sell” personal information; or (2) “share” personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Under the CCPA, a business “sells” personal information when it discloses it to a third party for monetary or other benefit. A company may be considered a third party either because the purpose for its sharing of personal information is not for an enumerated business purpose under California law, or because its contract does not restrict it from using personal information for other purposes. A disclosure is not considered a sale if it is authorized by you or otherwise does not meet this definition. Note, we are not required to list disclosures that are infrequent or that are not considered “sales” or “sharing” under the law.

We are required to list the categories of entities to whom we disclose information to conduct activities on our behalf. These entities are restricted from using personal information for any purpose that is not related to our engagement or otherwise permitted under law.

7.4.1. Customer Website Activity

7.4.2. Job Applicant Information

7.4.3. Business Contact Information

7.4.4. Online User Activity

7.5. Retention. The length of time we retain personal information will depend on a number of criteria, including (i) the length of time we are required to retain personal information in order to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, (ii) the length of time we may need to retain personal information in order to accomplish the business or commercial purpose(s) for which such personal information is collected, used or disclosed (as indicated in this Privacy Policy), and (iii) whether you choose to exercise your right (subject to certain exceptions) to request deletion of your personal information.

7.6. Notice of Financial Incentive. We do not provide a financial incentive, a price, or service difference to customers in exchange for the retention or sale of their personal information. We may send promotions or offers to customers or other individuals who elect to receive marketing communications, unless a customer has opted-out of such communications. We do not offer financial incentives to deter customers from making such requests.

7.7. CCPA Rights. If you are a California resident, you may have the following rights with respect to your personal information within scope of the CCPA:

7.7.1. Privacy Rights: the Right to Access, the Right to Correct, the Right to Limit, the Right to Delete, the Right to Opt-Out, and Right to Non-Discrimination. For more information on these rights, please refer to Section 5 of this Privacy Policy.

7.7.2. Exercising Your Rights. You may submit a request for access to your personal information, to correct your personal information, to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, or to limit the use or disclosure of, or to delete your personal information, by completing the Privacy Rights Request form, by emailing us at support@benefitguides.org. To protect your personal information and process your request, depending on the request, we may ask you to provide personal identifiers we can match against information we may have collected from you previously, and to confirm your request using the contact information provided in the request. If we need additional information, we will let you know.

7.7.3. Authorized Agents. You may authorize another individual or a business, called an authorized agent, to make certain requests on your behalf through these means.

7.8. Shine the Light – Your California Privacy Rights. California residents have the right to request information from us regarding whether we have disclosed certain categories of information to other companies for their direct marketing purposes. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, you may do by submitting a Right to Access request for your personal information as outlined above. Additionally, if you would like us to not disclose your personal information to other companies for their direct marketing purposes you may opt-out of such disclosures by submitting a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” request via the Privacy Rights Request form or clicking the "Do Not Sell or Share My Info" link located at the bottom of on our websites.

8. HOW TO CONTACT US

8.1. Please direct questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our Services to us at support@benefitguides.org

9. EFFECTIVE DATE

9.1. This Privacy Policy was last revised and is effective as of July 1, 2025.