Privacy Policy

1. Scope & Service Model

White Pine Lending ("White Pine", "we", "us", or "our") operates the website whitenpinelending.com to provide financial educational resources, installment loan calculation tools, and an online connection referral platform.

This Privacy Policy governs the collection, processing, storage, and transfer of personal information when you access our website, use our financial calculators, interact with customer support, or submit an online loan connection request.

Important Notice: White Pine Lending is not a bank, lender, loan broker, or financial institution. We do not make credit decisions or issue loan funds directly. When you submit a loan inquiry, your information is processed to match you with independent, participating third-party lenders in our network who may evaluate your request according to their individual lending criteria.

2. Information We Collect

We collect personal information through three primary channels: information you provide voluntarily, information collected automatically through device interactions, and information obtained from verified third parties.

A. Information You Voluntarily Provide

• Contact & Identity Details: Full legal name, date of birth, physical residential address, email address, mobile phone number, and state of residence.
• Loan & Financial Parameters: Requested loan amount ($500 – $5,000), primary loan purpose (e.g., debt consolidation, emergency medical, home repair, auto expense), and preferred repayment timeline.
• Employment & Income Information: Employment status, employer name, occupation, gross monthly income, income frequency, and primary source of funds.
• Banking Information (when requested by matching lenders): Bank name, routing number, and account type to facilitate direct deposit verification and electronic loan disbursement if approved.
• Government-Issued Identifiers: Social Security Number (SSN) or Tax Identification Number (ITIN) when necessary for participating lenders to perform identity verification and credit review.

B. Information Collected Automatically

• Device & Connection Data: Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, operating system, unique device identifiers, network carrier, and language preferences.
• Browsing & Usage Metrics: Referring and exit URLs, pages viewed, time spent on specific tools, clickstream events, calculator interaction variables, and timestamps.
• Location Data: Approximate geographic location derived from IP address (e.g., city and state) to display state-appropriate lending disclosures.

C. Information Received From Third Parties

We may receive verification data from identity verification vendors, fraud prevention databases, lead verification partners, and participating lenders regarding whether an inquiry resulted in an offer or funded loan.

3. How We Use Collected Data

We process your personal information strictly for legitimate commercial and operational purposes, including:

• Loan Matching & Referral: Transmitting your application parameters to participating lending partners capable of servicing your requested amount and state.
• Identity & Fraud Prevention: Verifying data authenticity, validating phone and email formats, and preventing unauthorized or fraudulent inquiries.
• Service Communications: Notifying you of loan matching results, lender redirects, and responding to inquiries submitted via customer support channels.
• Platform Optimization: Analyzing calculator usage trends, debugging technical errors, optimizing page load speeds, and improving user experience.
• Legal & Regulatory Compliance: Maintaining audit trails required by federal financial laws, state lending regulations, and responding to lawful subpoenas or court orders.

4. Information Sharing & Disclosures

Because White Pine Lending connects borrowers with third-party providers, sharing your information is essential to fulfilling your request. We disclose your data under the following circumstances:

No Sale of Data to Unaffiliated Marketers: We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for independent marketing unrelated to financial services or loan connection.

5. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) Notice

Under the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. § 6801 et seq.) and implementing regulations, consumers have specific rights regarding how financial institutions and referral networks collect and share "Non-Public Personal Information" (NPI).

• Why We Share NPI: We share your NPI to process transactions you request, match your inquiry with lenders, and service customer requests.
• Sharing With Non-Affiliates: When you submit a request, you affirmatively instruct us to transmit your NPI to non-affiliated financial institutions (lenders) for the sole purpose of evaluating your loan application.
• Opt-Out Rights: You may restrict certain non-essential disclosures by submitting an opt-out request as detailed in Section 14 below.

6. TCPA & Communications Consent

By submitting your telephone number on our platform and checking the agreement box, you provide your express written consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 U.S.C. § 227) authorizing White Pine Lending and our network of participating lenders to contact you via:

• Live telephone calls to the mobile or residential number provided.
• Short Message Service (SMS) text messages regarding your inquiry status and loan offers.
• Automated dialing technology and pre-recorded voice messages where permitted by law.

Revoking Consent (Opt-Out): Providing consent is not a mandatory condition of purchasing any good or service. You may revoke SMS consent at any time by replying "STOP" to any text message received. To opt out of telephone calls, you may request to be placed on our internal Do-Not-Call list by emailing [email protected].

7. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies, web beacons, and local browser storage to provide functional capabilities, preserve session progress in multi-step forms, and analyze aggregated traffic.

• Essential / Functional Cookies: Necessary for security validation, CSRF protection, and keeping track of calculator states.
• Performance & Analytics Cookies: Measure website traffic patterns and bounce rates without collecting direct identifying information.

Managing Cookies: You can configure your web browser to refuse all cookies or notify you when a cookie is sent. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of interactive calculators and forms.

Do Not Track (DNT) & Global Privacy Control (GPC): We honor recognized Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals in jurisdictions where required by law.

8. Security & Encryption Standards

We implement administrative, technical, and physical security safeguards engineered to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, alteration, or disclosure:

• Encryption in Transit: All data submitted across our platform is transmitted using 256-bit Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3/SSL) protocols.
• Encryption at Rest: Sensitive database records are stored using AES-256 standard encryption algorithms.
• Access Controls: Access to consumer records is strictly restricted to authorized compliance personnel with multi-factor authentication.
• Vulnerability Monitoring: Routine automated vulnerability assessments and code audits to safeguard system integrity.

Disclaimer: While we adhere to rigorous industry security practices, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% immune from security vulnerabilities. We encourage users to maintain secure passwords and protect their devices.

9. Data Retention & Disposal

We retain personal information only for the duration necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, satisfy legal and regulatory recordkeeping mandates (typically 5 to 7 years pursuant to financial compliance rules), resolve disputes, and enforce contractual agreements.

When retention periods expire, personal data is securely deleted, overwritten, or irreversibly anonymized using cryptographic data disposal standards.

10. State-Specific Privacy Rights

Residents of California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and other states with enacted comprehensive privacy legislation enjoy specific statutory rights regarding their personal data:

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA / CPRA)

• Right to Know / Access: You may request disclosure of the specific categories and pieces of personal information collected about you in the past 12 months.
• Right to Delete: You may request the deletion of your personal information, subject to statutory exemptions (such as legal compliance, fraud detection, and transaction completion).
• Right to Correct: You may request the correction of inaccurate personal information in our records.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale / Sharing: We do not sell consumer data. You may opt out of cross-context behavioral sharing at any time.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not deny services, charge different prices, or provide a lower quality of service for exercising your privacy rights.

Submitting a State Privacy Request

To exercise your statutory privacy rights, please submit a verifiable consumer request by emailing [email protected] with the subject line "State Privacy Rights Request". We will verify your identity using matching contact records before processing any request.

11. Children's Online Privacy (COPPA)

Our website and financial services are strictly directed to individuals who are at least 18 years of age (or the legal age of majority in their jurisdiction) and legal U.S. residents. We do not knowingly collect, solicit, or maintain personal information from children under the age of 18. If we learn that personal data of a minor has been collected inadvertently, we will delete that information immediately from our servers.

12. Third-Party Websites & Independent Lenders

Our website contains links to independent third-party lenders, financial education resources, and verification services. When you click a link or are redirected to a participating lender's website to review a loan offer, this Privacy Policy no longer applies. We strongly encourage you to review the privacy policies and security disclosures of any external site you visit.

13. Policy Updates & Amendments

We may periodically revise this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our information practices, technological updates, or legal requirements. Material changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Effective Date" at the top of the policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

14. Contact Us & Privacy Compliance Officer

If you have questions, feedback, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data protection practices, please contact our Compliance Office: