1. Introduction and Scope
FERS101.com (“FERS101,” “Platform,” “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is an online educational platform that helps federal employees and retirees understand the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB), Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI), Social Security, and related federal benefit programs.
This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect when you access or use the FERS101.com website, mobile application, planning tools, calculators, courses, reports, newsletters, and any associated services (collectively, the “Services”), whether you are a visitor, a registered free member, or a paid subscriber. By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
FERS101.com is a United States–based educational platform intended for users located in the United States. We do not knowingly target or market the Services to individuals located outside the United States.
2. Information We Collect
We collect the following categories of information, depending on the features you use:
2.1 Identity and Contact Information
Name, email address, mailing address, and phone number — for example, when you create an account, subscribe to our newsletter, purchase a subscription or product, or contact support.
2.2 Federal Employment Information
Federal agency or department, years of federal service, salary range or General Schedule (GS) grade level, retirement system (FERS or CSRS), estimated retirement date, and date of hire. This information is provided by you for the purpose of generating educational estimates and projections.
2.3 Benefit Enrollment Data
FEHB enrollment tier, FEGLI coverage elections, and TSP contribution rate and fund allocations, as entered by you for planning purposes.
2.4 Account and Authentication Data
Username, hashed passwords, account preferences, and security settings. We do not store your password in plain text.
2.5 Transaction and Billing Data
Subscription status, purchase history, and billing information. Payments are processed through a third-party payment processor; full payment card numbers are not stored by FERS101.com.
2.6 Usage and Analytics Data
Pages visited, features used, time on the Platform, tool interactions, device type, browser type, IP address, and referral source, collected automatically as you interact with the Services.
2.7 Communications Data
The content of support requests, emails to FERS101.com, survey responses, and other communications you send to us.
3. How We Collect Information
We collect information in three ways: (a) directly from you, when you register, subscribe, enter data into a tool or calculator, contact us, or otherwise submit information; (b) automatically, through cookies and similar technologies as you use the Services (see Section 6); and (c) from third-party service providers, such as our payment processor and analytics vendors, who provide us with limited information necessary to operate the Services.
4. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect solely to operate, deliver, and improve the Services. Specifically, we use your information to:
● Generate personalized educational estimates, projections, and outputs from our planning tools and calculators;
● Create and administer your account and authenticate your access;
● Process transactions, subscriptions, and renewals, and send related billing communications;
● Personalize the educational content and features presented to you;
● Respond to your support requests, inquiries, and survey responses;
● Send you newsletters, product updates, and marketing communications where permitted (you may opt out at any time);
● Monitor, maintain, and improve the security, performance, and functionality of the Platform;
● Detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, security incidents, and violations of our User Agreement; and
● Comply with applicable legal obligations and enforce our agreements.
We do not use the information you provide to make regulated financial, investment, insurance, tax, or legal recommendations. All tool outputs are illustrative and educational only, as described in the User Agreement.
5. Federal Employment Data — Limited Use
The federal employment information and benefit data you enter into our planning tools and calculators is used solely to generate personalized educational outputs for your own use. FERS101.com does not transmit, share, or disclose your user-entered federal employment or benefit data to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), any federal agency or department, any employer, or any government entity. Such data is not used for any purpose other than generating the educational output you request.
7. How We Share Information
7.1 No Sale of User Data
FERS101.com does not sell, rent, or otherwise transfer your personally identifiable information to third parties for their independent marketing purposes. Your data is used solely to deliver the Services, personalize educational content, administer accounts, process transactions, communicate with you, and improve the Platform.
7.2 Service Providers
We may share your information with third-party service providers who assist us in operating the Platform, including cloud hosting and infrastructure providers, payment processing and billing services, email marketing and communications providers, customer relationship management (CRM) software vendors, website analytics and behavior-tracking services, cybersecurity and identity management services, and learning management system (LMS) providers. All such service providers are required to execute data processing agreements that obligate them to (a) use your data only to perform services for FERS101.com; (b) maintain data protection standards no less protective than our own; and (c) comply with applicable data protection law. We do not authorize service providers to use your data for their own independent commercial purposes.
7.3 Referred Professionals
If you request a referral to a third-party licensed professional (such as a financial advisor, attorney, CPA, enrolled agent, or insurance agent), we may share the information reasonably necessary to facilitate that introduction, with your knowledge. Any subsequent engagement and information sharing between you and that professional is governed by your separate relationship with them, not by this Privacy Policy.
7.4 Legal and Compliance Disclosures
We may disclose your information where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; to enforce our User Agreement; to protect the rights, property, or safety of FERS101.com, our users, or others; or to detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues.
7.5 Business Transfers
If FERS101.com is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to the commitments made in this Privacy Policy.
8. Data Security and Encryption
FERS101.com employs industry-standard security measures to protect user data, including: (a) transmission of data using Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.2 or higher; (b) storage of personally identifiable information (PII) encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption or equivalent; (c) hashing of user passwords using industry-standard cryptographic hashing algorithms; and (d) access controls, audit logging, and security monitoring consistent with commercially reasonable practices.
No system is completely immune to security threats, and FERS101.com cannot guarantee the absolute security of user data. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for notifying us promptly at admin@fers101.com of any suspected unauthorized access to your account.
8.1 Security Incident Notification
In the event of a data security incident that results in the unauthorized access, disclosure, or acquisition of your personally identifiable information, FERS101.com will notify affected users within a commercially reasonable time and no later than as required by applicable state and federal data breach notification laws. Notification will be provided by email to the address associated with your account, or by conspicuous Platform notice, and will include a description of the nature of the incident, the categories of data affected, and steps you may take to protect yourself.
9. Data Retention
FERS101.com retains your account data for as long as your account is active and for a commercially reasonable period thereafter, as required by applicable law or for legitimate business purposes. Upon a written request for account deletion submitted to admin@fers101.com, FERS101.com will delete or anonymize your PII within thirty (30) business days, except to the extent retention is required by applicable law, regulation, or legal process, or is necessary to resolve open disputes or enforce our agreements. Anonymized or aggregated usage data that no longer identifies you may be retained indefinitely for analytics and platform improvement purposes.
10. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your state of residence, you may have some or all of the following rights with respect to your personal information: the right to know or access the personal information we hold about you; the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information; the right to request deletion of your personal information; the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (note that FERS101.com does not sell personal information); and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights.
10.1 California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)
FERS101.com complies with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). California residents have the rights described above, including: (a) the right to know what personal information is collected, used, disclosed, or sold; (b) the right to request deletion of personal information; (c) the right to correct inaccurate personal information; (d) the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (FERS101.com does not sell personal information); and (e) the right to non-discrimination for exercising privacy rights. To exercise any of these rights, California residents may contact admin@fers101.com. We will respond to verifiable consumer requests within the timeframes required by applicable law.
10.2 Other State Privacy Laws
Residents of other states that have enacted comprehensive consumer privacy laws may have comparable rights. To exercise any available right, contact us at admin@fers101.com, and we will respond as required by the applicable law of your state of residence.
11. How to Exercise Your Rights
To exercise any privacy right, or to request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, submit a written request to admin@fers101.com. We will acknowledge and process your request in accordance with applicable law. For your protection, we may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests. Certain data may be retained as required by law, for fraud prevention, dispute resolution, or enforcement of our User Agreement.
12. Children’s Privacy
The Services are intended for users who are at least eighteen (18) years of age. FERS101.com does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a person under 18, we will take steps to delete that information. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, please contact admin@fers101.com.
13. Third-Party Links and Services
The Services may contain links to third-party websites, tools, advertisements, or resources, and may reference Referred Professionals or vendors. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those third parties, and we are not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third party before providing them with your information.
14. Changes to This Privacy Policy
FERS101.com reserves the right to modify, update, or amend this Privacy Policy at any time. In the event of a material change, we will notify registered users by email at the address associated with their account, by prominent notice on the Platform, or by such other means as we deem appropriate. The effective date of the revised Policy will be indicated at the top of the document. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of an amended Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the revised terms.
15. Contact Us
For privacy and data rights requests, or any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
● Privacy and Data Rights Requests: admin@fers101.com
● Security Incident Reporting: admin@fers101.com
● General Inquiries and Support: admin@fers101.com
● Mailing Address: FERS101.com, Attn: Privacy, 300 SE Reed Market Road, Suite 103 Bend, OR 97702
● Website: www.fers101.com