Privacy
Last updated November 6, 2026
probityprotocol.com (Probity Protocol, including True Cost of Capital, Funding Fit and the funding guides) is run by Mitchell Patout, an individual in Indiana (“I” or “me”). This page explains what the site collects, why, and how to have it removed.
The calculator
The offer's numbers you type in are worked out in your browser. They aren't sent to me unless you add your offer or see a comparison. While you use the page, your entries are kept in this browser tab so they survive a sign-in; they're cleared when you close the tab.
Answers saved without your name
Your answers to Funding Fit, and to the calculator's quick questions, are saved so I can see which options owners look at and how they decide. They're saved without your name, email, account, IP address, cookie or anything else that identifies you, with only the day's date. For Funding Fit that's your answers and the two kinds of funding it showed you. For the calculator it's your answers, who made the offer, how it's paid back and whether its payments are daily (never its numbers, unless you tick the box below), and whether you said it's a real offer. If you came from a link I shared, it also notes the kind of link (an X post, LinkedIn or an email), never which email or who it went to. Because nothing ties these to you, I can't pick out yours to delete it. While you use the site, this browser tab also keeps your Funding Fit answers, the tag from a link I shared and a note of which steps were already counted. They're cleared when you close the tab.
If you add your offer
Adding your offer is optional, needs no account, and only happens if you tick the box confirming it's a real offer you received. If you do, I store:
- who made the offer
- for Square, PayPal and crowdfunding offers, the offer's terms and the figures worked out from them. Terms means the amount, what it costs, how it's paid back, the payoff time and the APR on the offer if you entered it. How it's paid back covers the share of sales, the payments and how often they come out, a minimum payment, a payoff deadline and fees taken out up front. A sales or profit figure you type in to work out the payoff time is never stored, and in that case the payoff time is kept only to the nearest 30 days, so your figure can't be worked back from it exactly. For other providers, I don't keep the offer's numbers at all, only your answers and how often its payments come out
- your answers to the questions: whether you took the offer, how the payments felt, why you turned it down, what the money was for, whether you've raised money from customers or the public, and which option you picked in the side-by-side
I don't ask for your name or your business's name. Other people never see an entry on its own: offers only appear inside medians and ranges, and a group is only shown once it includes at least five businesses. An offer saved without an account is kept for the research but joins the comparisons only once it's tied to an account, so they can't be filled with made-up numbers. I use the combined data to run this tool and for research into how small businesses pay for growth, including building related products.
If you send the project form
I store what you send: the business's name, your email and what the project is, plus anything optional you add (your name, phone number, city and state, the quick answers and where you heard about it), your Funding Fit answers unless you untick that box (it starts ticked), and, if you came from a link I shared, which link it was (for example the email I sent you). It's emailed to me when you send it. I use it only to reply and, if I take on the project, to help with it. I never sell it or pass it to a lender, platform or anyone else without your say-so. I keep it for 12 months after we last talk, then delete it, or sooner if you ask.
If you create an account
Seeing how your offer compares with others needs an account, so the comparison stays limited to real people. I store your email address and when you signed up. If you sign in with Google, Google also shares your name and profile picture; I don't use them. Google's sign-in button is loaded from Google when the sign-in options appear, so Google can see that visit. If you tick the box, I may email you about the tool now and then, including to ask whether you'd be up for a short call; you can say no to any of it.
When you compare, your offer is sent to the server, compared and discarded. It's only stored if you chose to save it. Your sign-in session is kept in your browser's storage until you sign out.
Counting visits
To see where people stop, the site counts a few steps, such as opening a page or a funding guide (and which one), seeing a yearly cost, finishing Funding Fit or sending the project form. It also counts when a step fails, such as a sign-in code that didn't send, so I can fix it. It also counts a few broad details: phone or computer; whether the page is open inside another app; the kind of site a visit came from (such as LinkedIn or a search engine, never the page address); which of my shared links it came from, if any; which Funding Fit questions were answered; and which provider an offer is from and how it's paid back (never its numbers). Each count is stored on its own with just the time: no cookies, no IP address and nothing that identifies you or your browser. The counts are deleted after 30 days; only daily totals (how many of each, per day) are kept after that.
Keeping the site safe
To stop bots, the site uses Cloudflare Turnstile, which looks at signals from your browser and device to tell people from automated traffic (see Cloudflare's Turnstile privacy notice). To limit how often offers can be added and the project form sent, I keep a scrambled version of your IP address that changes every day, never the address itself. Those records are deleted after 30 days. Saving answers without your name keeps no record of your address at all. To limit comparisons, I keep a record of each one against your account, without the offer, for 30 days. Vercel, the host, keeps standard request logs, including IP addresses, for a short time.
Who else handles the data
Vercel hosts the site. Supabase runs the database and sign-in. Resend sends sign-in emails, project forms and a daily summary to me. They land in my Purdue email (Microsoft 365) and my Probity inbox. Cloudflare runs the bot check. Google handles “Continue with Google.” They process data only to provide those services. Supabase stores the database in Canada. I don't sell or rent your data, and the site has no ads or advertising trackers.
Removing your data
- Signed in, you can delete your account and everything tied to it yourself, with “Delete my account and data” under the comparison.
- Or email mitchellpatout@probityprotocol.com from the address on your account and I'll delete it within 30 days.
- If you added an offer without signing in, nothing links it to your name or email, so I can't pick out which entry is yours. Signing in during the same visit links it to your account, so you can delete it later.
- To delete a project form you sent, email me and I'll delete it within 30 days.
Wherever you live, you can also ask for a copy of what I hold about you.
Other things to know
- The site isn't meant for anyone under 18.
- If this policy changes in a way that matters, I'll update the date above and email account holders.