OPT Watcher

Privacy Policy

How OPT Watcher handles calculator inputs, paid-plan details, and limited analytics
Oct 7, 2026

Last updated: October 7, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how OPT Watcher ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, shares, and retains information when you use optwatcher.com, its free planning tools, or the paid OPT Job-Start Companion (together, the "Service"). The legal data controller is identified in the final section below.

1. Data controller and contact

OPT Watcher determines how information covered by this Policy is processed. Privacy, access, deletion, security, and support requests can be sent to support@optwatcher.com. No separate data protection officer has been appointed.

2. Information we collect

Free calculator inputs

The exact dates and employer label you type into the public calculators are processed in your browser. We do not send or save those exact inputs in our first-party analytics database. You do not need to enter a USCIS receipt number or create an account to use the calculators.

If you purchase the one-time automated product, we receive or use:

  • your payment and delivery email;
  • transaction details such as amount, currency, payment status, and transaction ID;
  • the USCIS received date and planned job start date you submit;
  • your employer-flexibility answer, product-fit confirmations, and broad case status such as pending, approved, card produced, or card received;
  • a random private-access token, stored as a one-way hash plus an encrypted copy used to deliver your link;
  • plan-access, email-delivery, and expiration records; and
  • support messages, corrections, and refund requests.

Do not send us a USCIS receipt number, SEVIS ID, passport number, Social Security number, uploaded notice, or other sensitive identifier. If you send information we did not request, we may delete it without using it.

Limited first-party analytics

We record a small set of events to understand whether the Service works. These records may include:

  • page path and feature actions, such as starting a calculator or viewing a result;
  • broad result categories, field names, coarse time bands, and bucketed day ranges—not exact calculator dates or employer names;
  • a random session identifier stored for the current browser-tab session;
  • referring website hostname and campaign tags, when present;
  • coarse device category, language, and country code supplied by our hosting provider; and
  • request time, validation outcome, and service errors.

Our first-party analytics table does not intentionally store your raw IP address, full browser user agent, exact calculator dates, employer name, USCIS receipt number, name, or email.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to measure traffic and product-event totals. Google may process device, network, cookie, and usage information under its own privacy policy. You can limit Google Analytics through your browser settings, privacy tools, or Google's available opt-out controls.

3. Why we use information

We use information to:

  • operate the calculators and website;
  • process and deliver a paid plan, status update, access email, or refund;
  • answer support, privacy, and security requests;
  • understand failures, prevent abuse, and protect the Service;
  • measure whether visitors can complete the tools and improve confusing steps; and
  • meet accounting, tax, payment, and other legal obligations.

Where data-protection law requires a legal basis, these activities rely on performance of our contract with you, our legitimate interests in operating and improving a limited-data service, compliance with legal obligations, or consent where the law requires it. We do not use calculator inputs to make decisions about immigration eligibility.

4. Cookies and browser storage

The Service may use browser storage or cookies that are strictly necessary for site functions and security. Our first-party product analytics use a random identifier in sessionStorage; it is scoped to the browser tab and is normally removed when that tab is closed. Attribution details may also be kept in that tab's session storage.

Google Analytics may use cookies or similar technologies. You can block or delete browser storage through your browser. Blocking optional analytics should not prevent you from using the public calculators, although blocking all storage may affect some site behavior.

5. Payment processing and sharing

We do not sell or rent personal information. We share information only as needed with service providers, including:

  • Waffo Pancake, which hosts checkout and processes payment-card data. OPT Watcher does not receive or store your complete card number;
  • Vercel, which hosts and delivers the website and may process request and network data;
  • Supabase, which hosts the private plan and first-party analytics databases;
  • Google Analytics, which provides traffic and event measurement; and
  • email and communications providers used to deliver the private plan link and receive support requests.

These providers process data under their own terms and privacy commitments. We may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with law, respond to a valid legal request, investigate fraud or security issues, protect users or the Service, complete a business transfer with appropriate protections, or act with your direction or consent.

6. International processing

Our providers may process information in the United States and other countries outside your place of residence. Those countries may have different data-protection laws. Where applicable law requires it, transfers rely on the provider's contractual safeguards or another lawful transfer mechanism.

7. Retention

We retain information only as long as reasonably needed for the purposes above:

  • the random first-party analytics session identifier normally ends when you close the browser tab;
  • first-party analytics event records are retained for up to 24 months, then deleted or aggregated, unless a security or legal need requires longer retention;
  • unpaid plan drafts are retained for up to 7 days;
  • paid-plan inputs and access records remain available during the 45-day access period and may be retained for up to 60 additional days for access recovery, refunds, disputes, security, and service reliability, then deleted or de-identified;
  • support messages may be retained for up to 24 months after the matter is closed; and
  • transaction and accounting records may be retained for up to seven years, or longer if applicable law requires it.

Waffo Pancake, Google, and other providers apply their own retention periods to information they control.

8. Security

We use HTTPS in transit, access controls for non-public records, one-way hashing and encryption for private-link tokens, limited analytics fields, and separation between public pages and private data. The private link functions like a key, so do not forward it. No online service can guarantee absolute security. If you believe information has been exposed or misused, contact support@optwatcher.com.

9. Your privacy choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to request access to, correction of, deletion of, restriction of, or a portable copy of your personal information, and to object to or withdraw consent for certain processing. You may also have the right to complain to your local data-protection authority.

Send a request to support@optwatcher.com from the email connected with the purchase or communication. We may need to verify your identity before acting. We aim to respond within 30 days, subject to any different period required by law. We do not discriminate against users for exercising privacy rights.

We do not sell personal information or use it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We therefore do not offer a separate "sale" opt-out. You can limit Google Analytics through the controls described above.

10. Children

The Service is intended for people aged 18 or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor submitted information, contact us so we can review and delete it where appropriate.

The Service links to USCIS, ICE, Reddit, and other third-party sources. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies. A link does not mean that the third party endorses or is affiliated with OPT Watcher.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy as the Service or its providers change. We will post the revised version here and update the date at the top. For a material change affecting an uncompleted paid order, we will also notify the payment email when reasonably possible.

13. Contact

Questions or requests about privacy, data access or deletion, security, a paid plan, or a refund can be sent to support@optwatcher.com.

Data controller: Wei Rong, an individual operating as OPT Watcher under the laws of China.

OPT Watcher is available at https://optwatcher.com.