Privacy Policy


Exam Advantage  ·  Certification Tool and Die, Ltd.

Effective: August 8, 2026


Plain-language summary


1 - Who we are


Exam Advantage is published by Certification Tool and Die, Ltd. ("we," "us," or "our"). Exam Advantage is free, self-hosted study software covering all nine (ISC)² certification examinations. The software is distributed at no charge and carries no advertising.


Questions about this policy may be directed to us at www.certificationtoolanddie.com.


2 - How Exam Advantage works

 

Exam Advantage runs as a local web application on your own computer. When you launch it, a lightweight server (server.js) starts on your device and serves the study interface to your browser at localhost. All course content is stored in SQLite database files that you download and keep on your own machine.


No account registration is required. No login credentials are stored anywhere — locally or remotely. The application does not transmit study data, quiz results, bookmarks, or confidence ratings to any external server.


3 - Information we do not collect


We do not collect, process, or store any of the following:


All data created during your use of Exam Advantage — including quiz history, bookmarks, and progress records — is stored exclusively in local SQLite database files on your own device and is never transmitted to us.


4 - The automatic update check


When Exam Advantage launches, it performs an automatic check to determine whether a newer version of the application or course databases is available. This check involves an HTTPS request to:


https://www.certificationtoolanddie.com/exam-advantage/versions


This is a standard web request. Like any web request, it will include your IP address in the server access log maintained by our web hosting provider, sites.google.com. When you send this request, you are interacting with Google's infrastructure, and Google's own Privacy Policy applies to that interaction:


https://policies.google.com/privacy


If a newer version is available, the updater will offer to download it. The download is served from Google Drive (see Section 5). No personal data is transmitted as part of the update check beyond the IP address inherent to the network request itself.


The update check runs only at application launch and only when a network connection is available. No background processes continue to contact external servers while you are studying.


We do not receive any data from Google about who checks for updates, nor do we have access to download logs to show IP addresses or other identifiers from about that interaction.


5 - Course database downloads and Google Drive


Course database files (the SQLite .db files for each certification) are hosted on Google Drive and downloaded directly to your device. When you download a course database, you are interacting with Google's infrastructure, and Google's own Privacy Policy applies to that interaction as well.


We do not receive any data from Google about who downloads our program or course files, nor do we have access to download logs or user identifiers from Google Drive. Once a program update or course database is downloaded and stored on your device, all subsequent use of that database is entirely local.


6 - Local data storage


Exam Advantage stores two categories of data locally on your device:




You have full control over this data. You may delete any or all database files at any time. Deleting a course database permanently removes all associated study progress for that certification.


7 - No analytics, telemetry, or advertising


Exam Advantage contains no analytics code, usage telemetry, error reporting services, or advertising technology of any kind. We do not use cookies in the application. We do not track which topics you study, how long you spend studying, or how you perform on practice questions.


Our website (www.certificationtoolanddie.com) is hosted on sites.google.com, and Google may use standard web server logs and may use cookies for its own operational purposes. We have no control over nor access to any of that data. This privacy policy covers the Exam Advantage application only; please refer to any website-specific notices in Google's privacy policy.


8 - Technical support and email contact


If you contact us for technical support — whether by email, through our website, or by sending diagnostic information or log files — you are voluntarily providing us with your email address and any information included in your message or attachments.


We use that information solely to respond to and resolve your support request. We will not use your email address for marketing purposes, share it with third parties, or add it to any mailing list. Diagnostic exports and log files may contain technical information about your installation (such as application version, database version, and error messages) but should not contain personal study data unless you include it intentionally.


Support correspondence is retained only as long as necessary to resolve the issue and is then deleted. If you would like us to delete your correspondence sooner, contact us and we will do so promptly.


9 - Children's privacy


Exam Advantage is designed for adult professionals pursuing (ISC)² certification credentials. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. Because the application does not collect personal information from any user, it does not collect information from minors. 


10 - Data security


Because Exam Advantage does not transmit personal data to our servers, the security of your study data depends on the security of your own device. We recommend standard device security practices, including keeping your operating system and browser up to date and using full-disk encryption where available.


The update check and course download communications are conducted over HTTPS, encrypting the connection between your device and the relevant servers.


11 - Third-party services


The only third-party service involved in normal operation of Exam Advantage is Google Drive, used to host course database downloads. Google Drive is subject to Google's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for Google's data practices.


No other third-party services, SDKs, or tracking tools are embedded in Exam Advantage.


12 - Open source and self-hosting


Exam Advantage is provided as self-hosted software. Users who choose to inspect the application code (ExamAdvantage.html, server.js, updater.js) can verify the data practices described in this policy. We encourage technically inclined users to review the code directly.


13 - Changes to this policy


We may update this privacy policy from time to time, for example if we introduce new features that involve different data practices or if legal requirements change. When we do, we will update the effective date at the top of this page and post the revised policy at the same URL.


Because Exam Advantage does not collect contact information, we cannot notify you directly of policy changes. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of Exam Advantage after a policy update constitutes your acceptance of the revised terms.


14 - Contact


If you have questions about this privacy policy or about how Exam Advantage handles data, you can reach us through postal mail, phone, our website or via email.


Certification Tool and Die, Ltd.

Attn: Data Protection Officer
351 Smith Street #28003
Providence, RI 02908

1.401.684.0091

www.certificationtoolanddie.com


privacy@CertificationToolAndDie.com


We will do our best to respond promptly to any privacy-related inquiries.


Note: This privacy policy is provided for informational purposes. 


Certification Tool and Die, Ltd.  ·  Exam Advantage  ·  Effective August 8, 2026