Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information Complaint Patterns ("we", "us") collects when you visit complaintpatterns.com, why we collect it, and how it is handled. It applies to the website, the free consumer finance calculators, and the CFPB complaint narrative tool.

Information we collect

Email address. If you request an account or a download, we store the email address you provide so we can send you a sign-in link and confirm purchases.
IP address. When you sign in via a magic link, we record the IP address that redeemed the link. This is used only for fraud prevention and account security.
Account and purchase records. Which credit packages you purchased, when, and how many credits were used on which download.
Download history. Which company, products, and filters you ran the clustering tool against, so you can re-download or reference prior results from your account.
Usage analytics. Aggregate page-view and traffic data collected via Google Analytics (see "Third parties" below).

We do not collect or store passwords (there are none; sign-in is via emailed magic link), and we do not collect or store payment card details. Payments are handled by PayPal.

How we use your information

To send sign-in links, purchase confirmations, and responses to messages you send us through the contact form.
To maintain your credit balance and download history.
To detect and prevent abuse of the free preview or the credit system.
To understand which pages and tools are useful, in aggregate.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. Ever.

Cookies and sessions

We use a single session cookie to keep you signed in. It is marked HttpOnly, Secure, and SameSite=Lax. Google Analytics sets its own cookies to measure traffic; those are governed by Google's privacy policy.

Third parties

PayPal processes payments. When you buy credits, PayPal receives your payment details; we receive a payment confirmation and the payer email that PayPal shares with merchants.
Google Analytics collects aggregated, anonymized traffic data (page views, referrers, approximate region).
CFPB public data. The complaint narratives shown in the tool are drawn from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's public Consumer Complaint Database, which is in the public domain. We do not add or infer any personal information about the consumers who wrote them.

Data retention

Account records, purchase records, and download history are kept for as long as your account is active, so we can maintain your credit balance and history. You may request deletion of your account at any time by emailing [email protected].

Your rights

You may request a copy of the data we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Send requests to [email protected] and we will respond within a reasonable time.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

Terms of Service

By using Complaint Patterns you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

What this site is

Complaint Patterns is a research and information tool. It reads the CFPB's public Consumer Complaint Database, groups similar narratives together, and asks an AI model to give each group a short plain-English label and summary. It also provides free consumer finance calculators.

What this site is not

It is not legal advice. Nothing on this site creates an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice about a specific company or complaint, consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.
It is not financial advice. Calculator outputs are estimates. They are not loan offers, pre-approvals, or quotes. Actual terms depend on the lender.
It is not an accusation. A pattern of complaints is not proof of wrongdoing. Complaints are unverified allegations submitted by consumers, and companies respond to them in a variety of ways. The tool surfaces patterns; it does not adjudicate them.

Acceptable use

You agree not to:

Use the site or its downloadable data to harass, defame, or unlawfully target any individual or company.
Attempt to scrape, rate-limit bypass, or otherwise overload the site or its APIs.
Resell, redistribute, or repackage the full downloadable datasets as a competing product without written permission.
Use the site for any purpose that violates applicable law.

Accounts and credits

Accounts are created via email magic link. Credits are purchased through PayPal and are non-refundable once purchased, but they never expire. One credit covers one consumer-tier download; ten credits cover one business-tier download. We may adjust pricing or package sizes for future purchases at any time.

No warranty

The site is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We make no warranty that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that the AI-generated cluster labels will be accurate for any particular use.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Complaint Patterns and its operators will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or relating to your use of the site. Our aggregate liability for any claim relating to the site will not exceed the amount you paid us in the twelve months preceding the claim.

Data source attribution

Complaint narrative data is sourced from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's public Consumer Complaint Database. Charts and visualizations are provided by VariableVoices.com. We are not affiliated with the CFPB.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the "last updated" date below. Continued use of the site after a change means you accept the updated terms.

Contact

Questions about this policy or these terms? Email [email protected].

Last updated: January 2025