At a glance. We collect the minimum information needed to run Business Skill Forge: your IP address and browser info (via server logs), your email if you sign up for our newsletter, and your details if you contact us. We don’t sell your personal information. We use Google Analytics for traffic measurement and Google AdSense for display ads. You can opt out of analytics at any time, request a copy of your data, or ask us to delete it by emailing contact@businessskillforge.com.

1. Who we are

Business Skill Forge (“BSF,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates businessskillforge.com and publishes free finance calculators, courses, e-books, templates, and educational content for professionals, Canada, and the broader English-speaking world. The website is owned and operated by Aditya Gupta. For any privacy-related questions you can reach us at contact@businessskillforge.com.

2. Scope of this policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all visitors, registered users, course enrollees, newsletter subscribers, and customers of Business Skill Forge. It covers personal information we collect when you visit the website, use our calculators and tools, enroll in a course, purchase a product, subscribe to our newsletter, or contact us. It does not cover third-party websites we link to (including affiliate links and the destinations of our /recommends/ redirects). Once you click an external link, that third party’s privacy policy applies.

3. Information we collect

3.1 Information you provide directly

• Newsletter signups. Your email address and (optionally) your first name when you subscribe via any form on the site.
• Contact form submissions. Your name, email address, topic, message, and the IP address from which the message was sent.
• Course enrollments. The email address you register with, your display name, and your course progress (lessons completed, quiz scores).
• Shop purchases. Your name, billing address, email address, and payment details. Payment information is processed and stored by our payment processor (Stripe and/or PayPal) — we never see or store full card numbers.
• Comments. Any name, email, website, and comment text you submit on blog posts.

3.2 Information collected automatically

• Server logs. Our hosting provider (Hostinger) maintains standard web-server logs including IP address, user agent, referrer, request path, response code, and timestamp. These logs are typically retained for 30 days and used for security, abuse prevention, and operational diagnostics.
• Cookies and similar technologies. See the Cookie Policy for the full list and purpose of each cookie used on the site.
• Analytics. We use Google Analytics 4 to measure aggregated traffic patterns: pages viewed, time on page, source/medium of arrival, geographic country/region, and device type. Google Analytics may set cookies on your device.
• Performance and error monitoring. If a calculator or tool throws an error, basic error context (the URL, the error message, the user agent) may be captured to help us reproduce and fix the issue. We do not capture the inputs you typed into our calculators.

3.3 Information we do not collect

• Your bank account numbers, credit card numbers, Social Security number, or other financial-account credentials. Our tools are computational only; they do not ask you to log into any external account.
• Health data, religious beliefs, or other “special category” personal data as defined by GDPR.
• The inputs you type into our calculators (these never leave your browser unless you explicitly use a “share” feature that says so).

4. How we use your information

We use personal information for the following purposes, each tied to a legal basis as required by GDPR Article 6:

• Deliver the services you request (course access, email newsletter, shop orders) — legal basis: performance of a contract.
• Respond to your messages — legal basis: legitimate interest in customer support.
• Send transactional emails (purchase receipts, course progress, password resets) — legal basis: performance of a contract.
• Send marketing emails (weekly tips, new tool launches) — legal basis: your consent. You can withdraw consent any time via the unsubscribe link in every email.
• Operate, secure, and improve the site — legal basis: legitimate interest in maintaining a functional, secure platform.
• Comply with legal obligations — tax records, fraud prevention, lawful requests from public authorities.
• Show non-personalized ads — we may display Google AdSense ads. AdSense personalization is controlled by your Google Ads Settings, not by us.

5. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only in these limited circumstances:

• Service providers who process data on our behalf under written agreements requiring confidentiality and limited-purpose use. As of the date of this policy, these include: Hostinger (hosting), Stripe (payments), PayPal (payments), Google (Analytics, AdSense), our email-service provider (currently FluentCRM hosted in our database; if we migrate to Klaviyo, ConvertKit, or similar, this policy will be updated), and our affiliate networks (Amazon Associates, Impact, ShareASale, CJ, Rakuten, Bankrate, and individual vendor programs) which receive only the click event, not your personal information.
• Affiliate partners. When you click an affiliate link (including any /recommends/… link), the destination retailer learns that you arrived from BSF. We do not share your email, name, or any other personal information with affiliate partners.
• Legal compliance. If we receive a lawful subpoena, court order, or other legally binding request, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to prevent fraud, protect rights, or comply with applicable law.
• Business transfers. If Business Skill Forge is acquired, merged, or sells substantially all of its assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity, subject to this Privacy Policy or an equivalent.

6. Cookies and tracking

We use first-party cookies to remember your preferences (such as the currency selector on calculator pages) and session data for course enrollment. We use third-party cookies from Google Analytics for traffic measurement and Google AdSense for advertising. You can disable cookies in your browser, though doing so may limit certain features (for example, you may need to re-select your currency on each visit, and course progress may not save). Full cookie inventory is on the Cookie Policy page.

7. Data retention

• Newsletter subscribers: until you unsubscribe, plus 30 days for delivery records.
• Contact-form messages: retained indefinitely in our admin dashboard unless you request deletion.
• Course enrollment records: retained for as long as your account exists; you can request account deletion at any time.
• Server logs: 30 days.
• Transactional payment records: 7 years, as required by IRS and standard accounting practice.

8. Your rights

8.1 If you are (CCPA / CPRA)

California residents have the right to know what categories of personal information we collect, the right to access and receive a copy of their personal information, the right to request deletion of personal information, the right to opt out of any “sale” or “sharing” of personal information (we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA), and the right to non-discrimination for exercising any of these rights. To exercise any of these rights, email contact@businessskillforge.com with the subject line “CCPA Request.” We will respond within 45 days.

8.2 If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom (GDPR)

You have the right of access (Art. 15), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20), and the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21). You also have the right to withdraw consent at any time and the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority. Email contact@businessskillforge.com to exercise these rights; we will respond within 30 days.

8.3 If you are in Canada (PIPEDA)

You have the right to access your personal information, request correction of inaccurate information, and withdraw consent for marketing communications. Email us as above.

9. Children’s privacy (COPPA)

Business Skill Forge is intended for adults working in finance, accounting, freelance, or small-business contexts. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately and we will delete it.

10. International transfers

Our hosting and email service providers may store and process data, the European Union, or India. When we transfer personal information out of the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission as the lawful basis for transfer.

11. Security

We use HTTPS sitewide (TLS 1.3) with HSTS preload, security headers including X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, and Permissions-Policy, and we follow industry-standard practices for password hashing, prepared SQL statements, and access logging. We rotate WordPress application passwords periodically and require two-factor authentication for administrative accounts. No system is perfectly secure; if you believe a security vulnerability exists, please email contact@businessskillforge.com with the subject line “Security Report.”

12. Do Not Track

Our site does not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) browser signals because no industry-standard interpretation of DNT has been adopted. However, we honor explicit opt-outs you make through cookie-consent tools, your Google Ads Settings, and the unsubscribe link in our emails.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The most current version always sits at this URL with the “Last reviewed” date in the header. Material changes will be announced via the email address on file for subscribers, and at the top of this page, at least 14 days before they take effect.

14. Contact us

For any privacy-related questions, requests, or complaints:

Business Skill Forge
Attn: Privacy
Email: contact@businessskillforge.com
Web: businessskillforge.com/contact

Last reviewed: June 5, 2026. Effective date: June 5, 2026.