Privacy Policy

Summary

We collect only what we need to run the exam simulator and improve it. We don't sell your data, and we don't use it for advertising.

What we collect

• Account data: your email address and authentication details (managed by Google Firebase Authentication). If you choose "Continue with Google", we receive your Google account email, name and profile photo URL - nothing else, and we never see your Google password.
• Membership data: your CarlsCloud.com membership status and tier, synchronized from our Ghost publication.
• Study data: exam sessions, answers, scores, time spent per question, domain statistics, streaks, and question feedback/flags you submit.
• Tutor conversations: questions you send to "Ask Carl's AI" are processed to generate a reply. We do not store the conversation text; we record usage counts only.
• Operational data: usage counters, estimated AI costs, and server logs (which may include IP address and browser details) for security, abuse prevention, and reliability.

How we use it

• To provide the simulator, track your progress, and show your analytics.
• To enforce fair-use limits and protect the service from abuse.
• To improve question quality using aggregated, de-identified performance data (for example, which questions are most often missed or flagged).
• If you choose to join CarlsCloud from the Study Vault, to create your free membership and send the CarlsCloud newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time from any email or your account page on carlscloud.com.

Service providers

The Study Vault runs on Google Cloud (Cloud Run, Firestore, Firebase Authentication) in the United States. Questions and tutor replies are generated with Google Gemini via Vertex AI; under Google Cloud's terms, prompts are not used to train Google's models. Membership is managed through Ghost (carlscloud.com), and sign-in and account emails are delivered by Mailgun from auth.carlscloud.com (with link and open tracking disabled). The optional "Buy me a coffee" button links to buymeacoffee.com, which has its own privacy policy.

Retention & your choices

We keep your study data while your account is active. You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your data at any time by emailing carl@carlscloud.com. Deleting your account removes your profile, sessions, and usage records; aggregated statistics that cannot identify you may be retained.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Access to student data is restricted to the service itself and authorized administrators, and administrative actions are audit-logged.

Beta notice & disclaimer

The Study Vault is in a Founding Beta: features and limits may change. Practice questions are original, AI-assisted content and may contain errors - please use the "Report question" button. CISSP® and CCSP® are registered marks of ISC2, Inc.; CarlsCloud is not affiliated with or endorsed by ISC2, and practice results do not predict official exam outcomes.

Children

The Study Vault is intended for adults pursuing professional certification and is not directed to children under 16.

Changes & contact

We'll update this page if our practices change. Questions? Email carl@carlscloud.com.