Privacy policy
SalarySteps is built on a privacy-first foundation. Your calculator inputs—including wage rates, salaries, filing status, hours, and bonus amounts—are processed 100% locally in your web browser without a calculation request to our servers. Inputs are also stored in the page URL for bookmarking and sharing.
1. Information processed locally on your device
When you use any calculator on SalarySteps, all computations are performed by client-side JavaScript executing in your web browser. The page URL contains your inputs. Your browser history and anyone receiving a shared link can retain them. Opening a saved or shared URL sends that address to the hosting provider; avoid sharing sensitive values.
2. Information collected by hosting & infrastructure
Our hosting provider, Cloudflare, automatically logs standard technical request information to ensure site security, defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and maintain network reliability. This data includes:
- Internet Protocol (IP) address
- Browser type, operating system, and device information
- Referring URL, requested pages, and timestamps
- Approximate geographic location (country and city level)
We do not require user accounts, passwords, or personal profiles to access any portion of SalarySteps.
3. Web analytics
We utilize Cloudflare Web Analytics to monitor aggregate site performance, page load speeds, and visitor trends. Cloudflare Web Analytics is privacy-centric: it does not use client-side state (such as cookies or local storage) for tracking purposes and does not track individual visitors across sites.
4. Third-party advertising & Google AdSense disclosures
SalarySteps displays online advertisements served by Google AdSense and third-party advertising partners to fund our research and hosting. In accordance with Google AdSense program policies, we make the following mandatory disclosures:
- Third-party Vendor Cookies: Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies and web beacons to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to SalarySteps or other websites on the Internet.
- Advertising Cookies: Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visits to our site and/or other sites on the Internet.
- Personalized Advertising Choices: You may opt out of personalized advertising at any time by visiting Google Ads Settings. Alternatively, you may opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page at www.aboutads.info/choices.
- Google Partner Data Policy: For comprehensive details regarding how Google collects, uses, and protects data when you use partner sites like SalarySteps, please review How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.
5. European regulations & consent management (GDPR / UK DPA)
For visitors accessing SalarySteps from the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, and Switzerland:
Advertising choices depend on the consent controls presented by the advertising provider. This policy does not imply that a consent platform is active when no consent controls are displayed. Contact us with questions about advertising data.
6. California & US state consumer privacy rights (CCPA / CPRA)
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and similar state statutes (Virginia VCDPA, Colorado CPA):
- We do not sell personal financial information entered into our calculators.
- Third-party advertising partners may collect online identifiers (such as cookies and IP addresses) for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- You have the right to know what personal information is collected, the right to request deletion, and the right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising via the opt-out links provided in Section 4.
7. Data retention & external links
Server-level diagnostic logs are retained temporarily for security analysis in accordance with Cloudflare operational policies. Our pages may contain links to government portals (IRS.gov, DOL.gov, SSA.gov) and external resources; SalarySteps is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party websites.
8. Privacy inquiries
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact our privacy compliance team at [email protected].