Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

RateMyVSO LLC ("we," "us," "the Site") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have regarding your data.

2. Information We Collect

Sign in with Google or Sign in with Apple

If you create or access your account using Sign in with Google or Sign in with Apple, the provider sends us limited identity information so we can sign you in. We receive and store:

• A provider user ID (Google's sub claim or Apple's user identifier). We use this to recognize you on future sign-ins. It is not displayed publicly.
• Your email address as confirmed by the provider, used for the same purposes as a password-based account email.
• Your name, only if the provider sends it. Apple sends name only on the very first sign-in. We use it as your default display name and you can change it later.

Apple supports a "Hide My Email" option that gives us a private relay address ending in @privaterelay.appleid.com. If you use it, we store and email that relay address. Apple forwards messages to your real inbox without disclosing it to us. We record a flag noting your account uses an Apple private relay so we can support it correctly.

We do not store passwords for accounts created through Google or Apple. We do not store the OAuth access or refresh tokens after the sign-in handshake completes. We do not request or receive your contacts, calendar, photos, or any other data from these providers.

Account Information

When you create a local account without Google or Apple, we collect:

• Username. Displayed publicly on your reviews.
• Email address. Used for account verification, password resets, and communication. Never displayed publicly.
• Password. Stored in encrypted (hashed) form. We cannot see your password.

Optional Profile Information

Regardless of how you signed in, you may add the following to your profile at any time:

• Display name (optional). Shown on reviews if provided.
• State (optional). Helps with local relevance.
• Veteran status (optional). Displayed as a badge on reviews if provided.

User-Generated Content

Reviews, ratings, review responses, and messages you submit are stored and may be displayed publicly (except messages, which are private).

Claim Outcome Submissions

If you share a claim outcome through our "Share Your Outcome" feature, we collect the condition name, claim type, outcome, rating received, timeline, and whether you used a VSO or private medical opinion. You may submit anonymously. When anonymous is selected, your user ID is stored for account management purposes only and is never associated with the submission in any public-facing display. Claim outcome data is only displayed in aggregate form (combined statistics) and never as individual submissions.

Preparation Worksheets (My Preparation)

Some guide pages have optional working pages where you can write your own notes: a timeline, what your symptoms stop you doing, questions to ask a doctor, and which records you do or do not have. If you are signed in and you choose to save them, we store exactly what you typed, along with which guide and worksheet it belongs to and when you saved it.

These notes are private to your account. They are never shown publicly, never shared with a VA-accredited representative or any other user, never sent to the VA, and never used in any aggregate statistic or public figure on this site. Nobody but you can read them through the site.

You do not need an account to use the worksheets. If you are not signed in you can still fill them in and print them, and what you type is kept only in your own browser for that visit. Signing out clears those unsaved notes from the browser, so the next person using the same computer cannot read them. Anything you chose to save stays safe in your account.

When you save a worksheet again we keep the previous version for 90 days so that you can recover it if the same worksheet was edited on two devices. The version you are currently using is kept for as long as you keep it. You can print or save a copy of everything at any time from My Preparation on your profile, you can remove any worksheet yourself, and deleting your account deletes every saved worksheet with it.

These worksheets record what you write. They do not generate a diagnosis, a medical opinion, a nexus conclusion, a rating prediction, or a statement for you to sign.

Statements and attached PDFs. If you are signed in and choose to save a personal statement or a buddy statement draft, we store the text you typed, the title, the author name and context you entered, the review state you chose, and the claim conditions you connected it to. If you attach a PDF to a statement, we store that file privately on our server storage, outside any public folder, together with its name, size, page count and a fingerprint of its bytes; it is never shown publicly, never scanned by an outside service, and never sent to the VA or to anyone. The file is kept exactly as uploaded; we do not verify any signature inside it. Statements and attached files are removed when you delete them or your account; attached files are kept in our private daily backups, and we still suggest keeping your own copy of any signed original.

VSO Representative Verification

If you claim a representative profile, we collect your VA registration number and a verification document. Documents are stored securely and accessed only during the verification process.

Automatically Collected Information

We use server-side session cookies to keep you logged in, and a first-party cookie to recognize returning browsers for our own site analytics. We do not use advertising networks.

We no longer use session recording. Microsoft Clarity, which recorded how visitors moved through some pages, was removed on September 5, 2026, along with the Reddit and Google Ads tracking pixels. Nothing on this site records your screen.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To provide and maintain the Site's functionality
• To verify your identity and prevent fraud
• To display your reviews and responses to the community
• To aggregate claim outcome submissions into community statistics
• To communicate with you about your account or messages
• To moderate content and enforce our Terms of Service

4. Information Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties. We may disclose information only if:

• Required by law or legal process
• Necessary to protect the rights, safety, or property of RateMyVSO or its users
• You have given explicit consent

During Sign in with Google or Sign in with Apple, your browser exchanges an identity token with Google or Apple. That handshake is governed by Google's and Apple's own privacy policies. We do not send any of your account history, reviews, or activity to either provider.

5. Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your data:

• Passwords are hashed using bcrypt and cannot be read by anyone, including administrators
• Sessions are stored server-side with HTTP-only cookies
• Email addresses are never displayed publicly
• Verification documents are stored in a restricted directory

No system is perfectly secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data but take reasonable steps to protect it.

6. Your Rights and Choices

You have the right to:

• Access your account information, review history, and claim outcome submissions
• Delete your own reviews and claim outcome submissions at any time
• Request deletion of your account by contacting us
• Update your password through the password reset process

7. Data Retention

We retain your account information and reviews for as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion, we will remove your personal information within a reasonable timeframe. Anonymized review data may be retained for statistical purposes.

Preparation worksheets are kept for as long as you keep them. Earlier versions of a worksheet you have re-saved are kept for 90 days and then removed; the version you are using is never removed by that rule. Deleting your account deletes every saved worksheet, including those earlier versions.

8. Children's Privacy

The Site is not directed at individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

9. Public Data Sources

Representative names, registration numbers, and organizational affiliations are sourced from the publicly available VA Office of General Counsel (OGC) Accreditation Database. Diagnostic code information is sourced from 38 CFR Part 4. BVA decisions, GAO reports, VA Inspector General reports, VA Annual Benefits Reports, and VA PACT Act performance data are publicly available government documents. This information is a matter of public record.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the Site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

11. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, please contact us.

RateMyVSO LLC
Georgia, United States