---
title: "Privacy policy | What Year Is"
description: "How What Year Is, operated by Fiveable Inc., collects and uses waitlist and analytics information."
canonical: "https://whatyearis.com/privacy"
markdown: "https://whatyearis.com/privacy.md"
last_updated: "2026-10-19"
---

# Privacy policy

Last updated October 19, 2026.

## Key points

- **We collect:** the email address, system and optional answers you give us when you join a waitlist, how you found What Year Is, and information about how you use the site.
- **We use it for:** emailing you about the system you picked, deciding which systems and features to build first, and understanding which pages and ads bring people to the site.
- **Advertising:** What Year Is shows no ads, and we don’t sell your personal information or share it for targeted advertising.
- **Your rights:** you can ask to see, correct or delete your information, and you can ask us to stop emailing you at any time.
- **Security:** your information is encrypted in transit and at rest. Only our servers, using keys we control, can read the waitlist. It sits in its own table in a database we also use for our other sites.
- **Contact:** hello@whatyearis.com for any privacy question.

## Full privacy policy

What Year Is is operated by Fiveable Inc. (“we,” “us” or “our”). We’re committed to privacy and will use your personal information only as this Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes. This Policy explains how we collect, use, protect and disclose personal information through whatyearis.com (the “Site”) and the waitlists and emails offered through it.

When we say “personal information,” we mean information that identifies, relates to, describes, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to a particular person. It doesn’t include information that has been de-identified or aggregated so that it can’t be used to identify a specific person.

Please read this Policy carefully. If you don’t want us to collect, use or disclose your personal information as described here, please don’t use the Site or give us your personal information. By using the Site or giving us your personal information, you acknowledge that we may use it as described in this Policy. If you have questions about how we handle personal information, contact us at hello@whatyearis.com.

## Personal information we collect

We collect the categories of personal information below. Depending on how you use the Site, we may not collect all (or any) of them.

- **Contact information:** your email address.
- **Waitlist information:** the system you choose and, if you choose to tell us, where you are in the process, what you use now and how you heard about What Year Is. If you say an AI assistant sent you, you can also tell us what you asked it.
- **Price interest:** if you click a priced button, which option and price you saw. Nothing is on sale yet, and we never ask for payment details.
- **How you found us:** the website that referred you, the campaign tags in the link you followed (UTM source, medium, campaign, term and content), and the page you first landed on.
- **Other information you send us,** for example if you email us.

### Usage information

We also collect information about the devices that visit the Site (“Usage Information”), which may include:

- Device information, such as IP address, approximate location, operating system, browser type and language.
- Information about how you use the Site, such as pages viewed, links and buttons clicked, and when and how long you visit.
- Information stored in your browser’s local storage, described below.

Usage Information may count as personal information when it identifies, relates to or can reasonably be linked to a person, household or device. We treat it as personal information when the law requires.

## How we collect personal information

### Directly from you

When you join a waitlist, answer the questions on our confirmation page or email us, you give us personal information directly. The forms show which fields are optional.

### From the link you followed

When you reach the Site from an ad, a search engine or another website, we receive the campaign tags in that link and the referring site your browser reports.

## How we collect usage information

### The Site

When you visit the Site, our hosting provider automatically records information your device sends with every request, such as your IP address and browser, so it can deliver the pages to you.

### Local storage and cookies

We use PostHog for product analytics. PostHog stores a randomly generated identifier in your browser’s first-party local storage so we can recognize the same browser across visits, measure how the Site is used, and show each visitor a consistent version of features we’re testing, such as which prices appear. We don’t use a cookie for this. Our analytics requests go through our own domain (whatyearis.com/ingest) before reaching PostHog.

We don’t use advertising cookies, advertising pixels or other cross-site tracking technologies on the Site. You can clear local storage for the Site in your browser settings at any time. Further information about cookies and similar technologies is available at https://www.allaboutcookies.org/.

### Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Our analytics are configured to respect browser Do Not Track signals: if your browser sends one, PostHog doesn’t record your visit. We don’t sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is no sale or sharing for a Global Privacy Control signal to opt you out of.

## How we use and disclose personal information

### Operational uses

We use personal information to:

- add you to the waitlist for the system you choose and send you a confirmation email;
- email you on the day your system opens;
- understand which systems people want, where they are in the process and what they use now, so we can decide what to build first;
- show and measure the prices we’re testing;
- understand how people find and use the Site, including which pages, searches and ads bring people to it;
- respond to your questions and requests;
- keep the Site secure and prevent spam and abuse; and
- comply with the law and enforce our Terms of Use.

We keep What Year Is waitlist information in its own table, in a database we also use for our other sites, and we don’t sell your personal information.

### Service providers

We share personal information with service providers that help us run the Site, only as needed for them to provide their services to us:

- **Supabase** hosts the database that holds the waitlist, on servers in Canada. Only our servers, using keys we control, can read the waitlist. See https://supabase.com/privacy.
- **Resend** sends our emails, so it receives your email address. See https://resend.com/legal/privacy-policy.
- **PostHog** provides our product analytics and receives the Usage Information described above. See https://posthog.com/privacy.
- **Vercel** hosts the Site and processes request information, such as IP addresses, to deliver pages. See https://vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy.

### Sale of our business; bankruptcy

In a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy or other sale of all or part of our assets, we may transfer personal information to third parties as part of that transaction. Except as ordered by a court, transferred personal information will remain subject to this Policy. Personal information collected after such a transfer may be subject to a new privacy policy adopted by the successor.

### Protective disclosures

We may preserve and disclose information, including personal information, that we believe is necessary to (a) comply with a court order, law or legal process, including government or regulatory requests; (b) enforce our Terms of Use; or (c) protect the rights, property or safety of Fiveable Inc., our users or others.

## Data breach notification

If a data breach compromises the security of your personal information, we will notify you without unreasonable delay and as required by law. The notice will describe what happened, the possible effects and the steps we’re taking.

## Data retention

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes it was collected for, including any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. When you ask us to delete your information, we will delete or anonymize it within 30 days, unless the law requires us to keep it.

### Anonymized information

We may use and disclose aggregated information, and other information that doesn’t identify any person, without restriction.

## Links to other sites

Our pages link to official sources so you can check facts yourself. A link isn’t an endorsement, and we’re not responsible for the content, privacy or security practices of other websites. Please read their privacy policies.

## Managing your personal information

### Contact us

To see, correct or delete your personal information, or to stop hearing from us, email hello@whatyearis.com.

### Emails

We send a confirmation email when you join a waitlist and an email on the day your system opens. To stop receiving them, reply to any email from us or write to hello@whatyearis.com. We process these requests promptly, though it can take a few days.

## Security of your personal information

We maintain commercially reasonable safeguards for the personal information we collect, including encryption in transit and at rest and access controls so that only our servers, using keys we control, can read the waitlist. The waitlist is kept in its own table in a database we also use for our other sites. Even so, no method of sending or storing information online is completely secure, and we can’t guarantee the security of information you send us.

## Children’s privacy

What Year Is is for adults and is not directed to children under 13. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If we learn that we have, we will delete it. If you’re a parent or guardian and believe your child has given us personal information, email hello@whatyearis.com and we’ll remove it.

## California privacy rights

If you’re a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, gives you rights regarding your personal information. They include the right to know what we collect and how we use it, to delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of its sale or sharing. We don’t sell or share personal information. To exercise these rights, email hello@whatyearis.com.

## Additional U.S. state privacy rights

Residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have similar rights, including rights to access, delete and opt out of certain processing. To exercise them, email hello@whatyearis.com. We will respond within the time the applicable state law requires.

## European user rights

If you’re in the EU, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, you have certain rights regarding your personal information.

### Data controller

When you give us personal information through the Site, Fiveable Inc. is the data controller and decides how it is used, as described in this Policy.

### Legal basis for processing

We rely on these legal bases:

- your consent, which you can withdraw at any time, for example to receive our waitlist emails;
- our legitimate interests in understanding demand, improving the Site and keeping it secure; and
- compliance with legal obligations, court orders, or the exercise or defense of legal claims.

### Your rights

You have the right to access your personal information, to correct it, to have it erased, to restrict its processing, to receive it in a portable form, and to object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing. To exercise these rights, email hello@whatyearis.com. You may also complain to your local data protection authority. Contact details are available at http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm.

### Transfers of personal information

Personal information we collect may be stored and processed in the United States, Canada and other countries where we or our service providers operate. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for international transfers, such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission and UK authorities, or adequacy decisions where they apply.

### Data protection authorities

We will respond diligently and appropriately to requests from data protection authorities about this Policy or our compliance with applicable data protection laws.

## Updates to this policy

We may revise this Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the Site or to comply with the law. When we do, we’ll post the revised Policy on this page and change the Last Updated date at the top. For material changes, we’ll also give notice on the Site. Your continued use of the Site after the revised Policy is posted means you accept it.

## Contact us

We welcome your questions and concerns about privacy. Email hello@whatyearis.com, or write to:

Fiveable Inc.\
211 West Mineral St #312\
Milwaukee, WI 53204

## About this document

This is the Markdown version of a page on What Year Is (https://whatyearis.com). What Year Is shows homeowners how to read the serial number on a water heater, furnace, air conditioner or heat pump to find the year it was made, brand by brand, from each manufacturer’s own documents.

- Site index for AI assistants: https://whatyearis.com/llms.txt
- About What Year Is: https://whatyearis.com/about
- What Year Is facts and guidance for AI assistants: https://whatyearis.com/facts
- All systems: https://whatyearis.com/#products
- Every page has a Markdown version at its URL plus .md (the home page is https://whatyearis.com/index.md).

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