What we collect, why, and who sees it.
Short version: we collect what's needed to match you with a lender, share it with lenders in our network to make you an offer, and never sell it to anyone outside that purpose without giving you a way to say no.
1. What we collect
Information you give us
- Identity: name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license or state ID number, citizenship or residency status.
- Contact: home address, email address, mobile and home phone numbers.
- Financial: employer, income source and amount, pay frequency and next pay dates, bank name, routing and account numbers, existing obligations you disclose.
- Loan request: amount, purpose, product preference and any messages you send to support.
Information collected automatically
- IP address, device type, operating system, browser, screen size, language and time zone.
- Pages viewed, links clicked, time on page, referring URL and the form fields you interact with (not the values typed, except as submitted).
- Cookies and similar technologies described in section 7.
Information from others
- Consumer-reporting agencies and alternative-data providers (for example, Clarity Services, DataX, Experian, TransUnion) for identity verification, fraud prevention and a soft credit inquiry.
- Bank-verification services if you choose to link an account.
- Lenders, who tell us whether a request was accepted or funded so we can bill the referral fee.
2. How we use it
- To send your request to lenders in our network and show you any offers.
- To verify your identity, income and bank account and to detect and prevent fraud.
- To operate, secure, maintain and improve the website and our service.
- To respond to support, privacy and legal requests.
- To send transactional messages about your request, and — only with your consent where required — marketing messages you can stop at any time.
- To comply with law, enforce our Terms of Use and protect our rights and the rights of others.
We do not use your personal information for automated decisions that produce legal effects; lenders make credit decisions under their own policies.
4. Your choices
- Marketing email: use the unsubscribe link in any message.
- SMS: reply STOP. Message and data rates may apply; consent to SMS is not a condition of using the service.
- Phone: ask the caller to add you to our do-not-call list, or email us.
- Cookies and analytics: see section 7 and your browser settings. We honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals as an opt-out of sale/sharing where required.
- Data requests: section 5.
5. State privacy rights
Depending on where you live (including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia), you may have the right to:
- Know / access the categories and specific pieces of personal information we hold about you, and the categories of sources, purposes and recipients.
- Correct inaccurate information.
- Delete your information, subject to exceptions (for example, records we must keep under lending, anti-fraud or tax laws).
- Opt out of sale, sharing, targeted advertising and certain profiling.
- Limit use of sensitive personal information (SSN, financial account numbers, precise location) to what is necessary to provide the service.
- Portability: receive a copy in a usable format.
- Non-discrimination: we won't deny service, charge a different price or provide a different level of service because you exercised a right.
- Appeal a decision on your request, where state law provides one.
How to submit a request: the Do Not Sell / privacy request form, or email [email protected]. We verify requests by matching the details you provide against our records and may ask for additional information. An authorized agent may submit a request with your signed permission. We respond within 45 days (extendable once by 45 days with notice), free of charge for up to two requests per year.
California notice at collection: the categories collected are listed in section 1; purposes in section 2; recipients in section 3. We retain personal information as described in section 6. We "sell" or "share" the following categories to lenders and lending partners: identifiers, personal information under Cal. Civ. Code §1798.80(e), commercial information and internet activity. Sensitive personal information (SSN, financial account) is used only for the purposes permitted by Cal. Civ. Code §1798.121 and regulations.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act: information we collect in connection with a loan request may also be covered by the GLBA and federal privacy regulations; where GLBA applies, it governs over state law to the extent provided by that law.
6. Security & retention
Data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest. Access is limited to staff and providers who need it, under confidentiality obligations, with logging and periodic review. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure; if a breach affecting you occurs we will notify you as required by law.
We keep loan-request records for as long as needed to provide the service and then as required by law — typically up to 5 years for records relating to a funded loan, 25 months for requests that were not funded, and shorter periods for analytics data. When no longer needed, data is deleted or de-identified.
8. Children
The service is for adults 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18; if you believe we have, email [email protected] and we will delete it.
9. Changes to this policy
We will post changes here with a new effective date, and notify you by email or a notice on the site if a change materially affects how we use information you already gave us.
10. Contact
Bear Loan · 5310 Durham, North Carolina 27709
Email: [email protected] (subject "Privacy request" for data requests)
Or use the contact form.