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The Carryforward

Legal

Privacy Policy

The short version: we run a publication, not a data business. No accounts, no ad tracking, no sale or sharing of personal information.

Effective July 23, 2026 · Applies to thecarryforward.com

This policy describes what information The Carryforward(“we,” “us”) collects when you visit thecarryforward.com (the “Site”), how it is used, and the choices you have. We designed the Site to need as little information about you as possible: there are no user accounts, no newsletters, no comment systems, no advertising networks, and no forms that ask for personal information.

What we collect

Information you provide

None. The Site has no login, registration, subscription, or contact forms. We do not ask for, and do not want, your name, email address, or any other personal details.

Analytics

We use Vercel Web Analytics to understand, in aggregate, which pages are read. It is a cookieless, privacy-focused service: it does not use cookies or other persistent browser identifiers, does not track you across other websites, and identifies visits only through a temporary hash that cannot be linked back to you. We see counts — page views, referrers, country-level location, and device/browser categories — not individuals. Vercel’s practices are described in its own privacy documentation at vercel.com/docs/analytics/privacy-policy.

Server logs

Our hosting provider (Vercel Inc.) processes standard technical data needed to deliver the Site — IP address, request URL, user-agent — as any web server does. These logs are used for security and operations, are retained briefly, and are not used by us to identify visitors.

Reading progress (stored only on your device)

If you use our courses, the list of lessons you’ve opened is saved in your browser’s localStorage under a key named cf-read. This information never leaves your device, is never transmitted to us, and is deleted whenever you clear your browser’s site data. It exists solely so progress bars work without accounts.

What we do not do

  • We do not sell, rent, license, or share personal information with anyone.
  • We do not use advertising, ad networks, or cross-site tracking of any kind.
  • We do not set tracking cookies. The Site works fully with cookies disabled.
  • We do not profile visitors or make automated decisions about them.
  • We do not knowingly collect information from children; the Site is a professional tax publication with no features directed at children.

Third parties

The Site is hosted by Vercel Inc. (San Francisco, CA), which acts as our service provider for hosting and the aggregate analytics described above. Fonts are self-hosted and served from our own domain — no requests are made to font networks. Articles link to external sites (IRS.gov, eCFR.gov, congress.gov, and similar); once you follow a link, the destination’s own privacy practices apply.

Legal bases and international visitors

For visitors in jurisdictions with data-protection laws (such as the EU/UK GDPR or U.S. state privacy acts): the limited technical processing described above is performed on the basis of our legitimate interest in operating, securing, and understanding readership of a free publication. We do not process special categories of data, and because we hold no personal information about you, there is generally nothing for us to access, correct, delete, or port in response to a rights request — though you are welcome to ask. California residents: we do not “sell” or “share” personal information as those terms are defined in the CCPA/CPRA, and we honor that position without requiring an opt-out.

Data security and retention

The Site is served entirely over HTTPS as static content — there is no database of user information to breach. Aggregate analytics are retained per Vercel’s standard retention schedule; we retain no visitor-level data ourselves.

Changes to this policy

If our practices change — for example, if we ever add a newsletter — we will update this page, change the effective date above, and describe the change plainly rather than burying it. Material changes will be noted on the front page.

Contact

Questions about this policy can be raised via the repository or channels listed on our About page. Because we hold no personal data, most privacy requests will be satisfied by this document itself — but we will answer.