Effective Date: June 15, 2026
This Privacy Policy (the "Policy") explains how SQ/HL Digital Strategy ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, stores, shares, and processes your information when you access or use The Quad mobile application ("The Quad" or the "App").
This Policy is intended for a U.S.-focused launch of the App. If the App is subsequently offered in jurisdictions outside the United States, additional privacy terms may be implemented to comply with local regulations.
As used in this Agreement:
The App does not currently require an account and does not ask for your name, email address, phone number, date of birth, username, or password to use the quiz or recommendation features. The App does collect and process information you choose to enter into the quiz and related App features. SQ/HL Digital Strategy does not sell personally identifiable information. If a User voluntarily provides contact information through a support request, feedback submission, platform communication, or future App feature, SQ/HL Digital Strategy may use that information to respond to the User, provide App-related notices, address App status or support issues, communicate changes to this Policy or the Terms of Use, or handle other matters relevant to the User's use of the App. SQ/HL Digital Strategy reserves the right to change this Policy from time to time. Any such change will be posted through the App or otherwise made available as required by applicable law. You may voluntarily provide certain information when using the App:
During the 21-step quiz, you may provide data including GPA, standardized test scores (SAT/ACT), intended major, home ZIP code, and various personal preferences, such as campus setting, budget, and extracurricular interests.
You may choose to submit feedback, including ratings and text commentary, through an in-App form or other feedback feature.
When using the "Search by School" feature, you may input school names to retrieve relevant data.
Premium status upgrades are processed through third-party platforms, including the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, as applicable. SQ/HL Digital Strategy does not collect or store your payment card information through the App. Payment information, billing information, purchase records, refund requests, and related payment activity handled by Apple, Google, or another platform provider are governed by that platform provider's own privacy policy, payment terms, and app-store rules, not this Policy. The App may store or process purchase status, receipt information, or platform-level purchase information as needed to verify, restore, or provide access to Premium Upgrade functionality. To the extent SQ/HL Digital Strategy receives purchase-related information from Apple, Google, or another platform provider, SQ/HL Digital Strategy uses that information for App functionality, purchase verification, support, analytics, fraud prevention, legal compliance, and related business purposes.
The App utilizes local storage, cache, and similar device-based storage technologies, including AsyncStorage within the application sandbox. This includes your processed profile, quiz responses, saved school preferences, recent recommendations, search count, premium purchase status, and similar App data used to operate the App.
The App may use cookies, cache, local storage, SDK storage, embedded browser or webview storage, device-based identifiers, or similar technologies to facilitate navigation, maintain preferences, support App functionality, remember purchase status, improve performance, support security, understand App usage, or support future features. Cookies and similar technologies may also be used by Third-Party Services, including platform providers, analytics providers, advertising providers, payment processors, or service providers, if those services are used in the App. The App currently uses local device storage for core functionality. If cookies, cache, advertising technologies, analytics SDKs, or similar technologies are later added or expanded, SQ/HL Digital Strategy may update this Policy or provide additional disclosures or consent prompts where required.
Data stored locally remains on your device until you delete the App, clear your application cache, use an available in-App deletion feature, or the data is otherwise removed through ordinary device or operating-system processes.
When generating recommendations, a processed profile is transmitted via encrypted HTTPS/TLS protocols to a Vercel serverless function, which then interacts with third-party APIs.
Raw ZIP codes are transmitted to Zippopotam.us solely for the resolution of city and state data.
The App requests campus imagery from Google Places and school statistics from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. These requests include only non-identifying parameters such as school name and state.
The App does not currently use third-party analytics SDKs or ad-tracking tools. SQ/HL Digital Strategy may use app-store or platform-level analytics provided by Apple, Google, or similar platform providers to understand downloads, purchases, crashes, device compatibility, general usage, and App performance. SQ/HL Digital Strategy may also use technical logs, summary statistics, security monitoring, or similar tools to maintain App functionality, identify technical issues, prevent misuse, understand general App performance, and improve the App. If SQ/HL Digital Strategy later adds separate analytics SDKs, ad-tracking tools, or similar technologies, this Policy may be updated and any required in-App disclosures or consents may be provided.
Residents of the State of California, under certain provisions of the California Civil Code, have the right to request from companies conducting business in California a list of all third parties to which the company has disclosed certain personally identifiable information as defined under California law during the preceding year for third party direct marketing purposes. You are limited to one request per calendar year. In your request, please attest to the fact that you are a California resident and provide a current California address for our response. You may request the information in writing at: SQ/HL Digital Strategy, d/b/a TheQuad, through our contact information provided in this Agreement.
The App does not currently use third-party advertising networks, ad SDKs, behavioral advertising tools, or advertising-based tracking. However, SQ/HL Digital Strategy may add advertising, sponsorship, traffic-measurement, or related tools in the future. If those features are added, the App may use network advertisers, advertising providers, traffic measurement services, device identifiers, cookies, cache, web beacons, SDKs, or similar technologies to deliver, measure, limit, or understand advertisements or sponsored content. Those third parties may collect or process information under their own privacy policies. SQ/HL Digital Strategy may update this Policy and provide additional disclosures or consent prompts before or when those features are implemented, as required by applicable law or platform rules.
We engage or may engage the following third-party service providers to facilitate App functionality:
The App uses artificial intelligence to provide college recommendation functionality. When you submit quiz information for recommendations, the App sends a processed version of your quiz responses to Anthropic's Claude API to generate AI-driven recommendations. This may include academic information, school preferences, intended major, campus preferences, budget-related preferences, and city/state derived from ZIP code. The App is not intended to send raw ZIP code, name, email address, phone number, account ID, device ID, or login credentials to Anthropic if the App operates as currently described. SQ/HL Digital Strategy relies on Anthropic's published policies and representations regarding API data handling, retention, and model-training practices, which may change over time and are outside SQ/HL Digital Strategy's control. The App may provide a separate in-App notice or consent prompt before quiz/profile information is transmitted to a third-party AI provider or other Third-Party Service where required by applicable law or platform rules.
While we implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, no digital platform can guarantee total security. All data transmissions are encrypted using HTTPS/TLS.
SQ/HL Digital Strategy does not intentionally maintain a user account database or store quiz profiles on SQ/HL Digital Strategy's own external servers as part of the App's current design. Local App data remains on the User's device until the User deletes the App, clears the application cache, uses an available in-App deletion feature, or the data is otherwise removed through ordinary device or operating-system processes. Optional feedback submitted through Formspree may be retained for support, product-improvement, legal, security, or business purposes. SQ/HL Digital Strategy cannot directly delete data stored only on a User's device except through App controls made available to the User or through the User's own deletion of App data. Third-Party Services, including Anthropic, Vercel, Apple, Google, Google Places, Google Maps SDK, Zippopotam.us, College Scorecard, and Formspree, may retain or process information according to their own terms, privacy policies, platform rules, and technical practices.
Local App data remains on your device until you delete the App, clear the App cache, use any available in-App deletion feature, or the data is otherwise removed through ordinary device or operating-system processes. Optional feedback submitted through Formspree may be retained by SQ/HL Digital Strategy for support, product-improvement, legal, security, or business purposes. Because the App currently does not require user accounts and stores core quiz/profile data locally on the device, SQ/HL Digital Strategy may be limited in its ability to access, identify, retrieve, or delete data that remains only on your device. Third-Party Services may retain or process information according to their own terms, privacy policies, platform rules, and technical practices.
You may manage your data as follows:
The Quad is not intended for users under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you are under 18, we recommend that you use the App with the supervision of a parent or guardian. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete it. We do not request date of birth or other age verification information in the app.
We reserve the right to amend this Policy periodically. Updates will be reflected in the App with a revised "Effective Date."
The App may link to or use third-party services. Those services have their own privacy policies and terms. We do not control them. Please review their policies directly if you want detail about how they handle data.
This Privacy Policy is drafted for a U.S.-focused launch. If we later offer the App outside the United States or target international users, additional privacy rights and disclosures may apply and this policy may be updated.
This Privacy Policy as posted in or for the App is the sole statement of our privacy policy with respect to the App, and no summary, modification, restatement, or other version of this Policy, in any form, is valid unless we post a new or revised policy to the App or otherwise make it available through an authorized SQ/HL Digital Strategy channel.
If you have any questions about the practices of this App, or your dealings with this App, you can contact SQ/HL Digital Strategy at our provided contact methods:
SQ/HL Digital Strategy
c/o Aaron Hausman
5701 Lynn Haven Road, Pittsburgh PA, 15217
(646) 265-3346
Date of Last Revision: June 15, 2026