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Privacy · updated October 14, 2026
Your privacy, in plain words
You shouldn't have to give up your privacy to find help. Here's exactly what happens to what you type, where you are, and what gets counted when you use this site.
The short version
- No accounts, no sign-ups. We never ask for your name, email or phone number to use the site.
- Your answers stay on your device. Income, household size, benefits answers, the utility call script and the earnings calculator all work inside your browser. None of it is sent to us or anyone else.
- One thing you type does leave: a ZIP code or city you type into a search box goes to OpenStreetMap's place finder so we can find places near it.
- We count visits with Google Analytics, which uses cookies. It never sees your answers.
- The only things our pages save are the state you picked, your light or dark mode choice and, on the plasma page, the last city you searched, in your own browser. You can erase them.
- We don't sell or share your information, and we don't run ads.
At a glance
What leaves your device?
| When you… | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Answer questions in a checker or calculator (benefits check, SNAP, energy help, gig earnings, price helper) | Nowhere. The math runs in your browser. Nothing is sent or saved. |
| Fill in the utility call script (name, account number, amounts) | Nowhere. It's only copied to your phone's clipboard if you tap Copy. |
| Print or save your benefits checklist | Nowhere. Your browser makes the printout or PDF. |
| Pick your state | Saved in your browser on this device only, so the next page remembers it. |
| Switch between light and dark mode | Saved in your browser on this device only, so the site remembers your choice. |
| Type a ZIP code or city in a "near me" search | OpenStreetMap's place finder, to turn it into a map point. Details |
| Tap "Use my location" | Stays on your device, except on the plasma page and in one backup case, where a rounded location is sent to a public map server. Details |
| Open any page | Google Analytics and our web host. Pages also load their lettering from Google Fonts. Details |
| Tap a link to another site, or a call or email link | That site, your phone app or your email app. Details |
Checkers and calculators
Your answers never leave
Our tools (the benefits check, SNAP check, energy help check, gig earnings calculator, sell-price helper and utility call script) are built to work entirely in your browser. When you type a number, the page does the math right there. There's no "submit" to us, no database, and no copy kept anywhere.
Your answers also never go into the page address (the link in your address bar), so they don't show up in your browser history or in our visit counts. Close the tab and they're gone.
ZIP and city searches
Searching near you
Pages that find places near you (plasma centers, food pantries, places to sell, day labor and job centers, paid studies, housing help) need to know where "near" is. When you type a ZIP code or city and press search, your browser sends just that text to Nominatim, OpenStreetMap's free place finder, run by the OpenStreetMap Foundation. It sends back a map point, and your device does the rest.
Like any website, Nominatim's servers can see your internet (IP) address and browser type, and that the request came from newlypoor.com. They don't get your other answers. Tip: a ZIP code shares less than a street address.
The list of places itself comes from files on our own site, refreshed weekly. Searching it happens on your device.
The plasma page works a little differently. Besides our own list of centers, it also asks a public OpenStreetMap server (overpass-api.de or one of its mirrors) for plasma centers near the place you searched, using a rounded area about half a mile across, so it can catch centers our list misses. It also puts the city you searched in the page address (like plasma.html?q=Tulsa, OK) so you can share it, which means the city name shows up in your browser history and can show up in our visit counts. If you tap "Show map," the map's code comes from cdnjs (run by Cloudflare) and the map pictures come from OpenStreetMap's tile servers. Like any website, those servers see your internet address and which part of the map you're looking at.
Location
"Use my location"
Some search pages have a "Use my location" button. Tapping it makes your browser ask whether to share your location. It's your choice: if you say no, just type a ZIP code instead. We never ask for location on our own when a page opens.
- What we do with it: your device uses it to sort places by distance. It isn't saved, and it's forgotten when you leave the page.
- On the plasma page: the page sends a rounded location (about half a mile) to Nominatim to look up your town's name, and to the OpenStreetMap server described above to find centers nearby. Never your exact spot.
- One backup case: on the food pantry, selling and day labor pages, if our saved weekly map files can't load, the page asks a public OpenStreetMap server (overpass-api.de, run by the nonprofit FOSSGIS in Germany, or the community mirror at overpass.private.coffee in Austria) for places nearby. To do that, it sends a rounded location, accurate only to about half a mile, never your exact spot. The same happens with a typed ZIP code in that case.
- The "Leave a note on OpenStreetMap" link on the food pantry page opens OpenStreetMap's map at the area you searched (rounded to about a city block), so you can mark a missing pantry. That only happens if you tap it.
Analytics and cookies
How we count visits
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to learn which pages people use, so we know what to improve and which guides are worth building next. When you open a page, Google Analytics may record:
- Which pages you viewed, how long you stayed, and how far you scrolled
- Links you tapped that leave our site (for example, an "Apply" button), and files you downloaded
- That a form on the page was used. It never records what you typed in it
- Your device type, browser, screen size and language
- Your rough location (city, state, country), estimated from your internet address. Google says Analytics doesn't store IP addresses
- The site or search that sent you here
We see this as totals and trends, like "300 people used the SNAP page this week." It isn't tied to your name, and we don't combine it with anything else about you. We don't use Google Analytics for advertising, and Google signals (which links activity to signed-in Google accounts) is turned off. We set Google to delete the detailed data after 2 months.
Google handles this data under its privacy policy. See how Google uses data from sites that use its services.
Cookies
We don't set any cookies of our own. Google Analytics sets two:
_ga: a random number that tells Google "this browser has visited before," so returning visitors aren't double-counted. It lasts up to 2 years._ga_followed by letters and numbers: keeps track of your current visit. It also lasts up to 2 years.
Neither cookie contains your name or your answers.
How to opt out
- Install Google's Analytics opt-out add-on (for computers)
- Block or clear cookies in your browser settings, use a private window, or use a content blocker
Every page and tool still works without analytics or cookies.
Fonts
Our pages load their typefaces (lettering styles) from Google Fonts. To send them, Google's servers receive your internet address and browser type, like any website would. Google says Google Fonts doesn't set cookies.
Our web host
Our pages are served by our web host, Porkbun. Like every website, its servers receive your internet address, browser type and the page you asked for in order to send you the page, and may keep standard server logs for security and troubleshooting. We don't use these logs to identify anyone.
Saved on your device
What our pages remember
The homepage questions and the SNAP, utility help and benefits check pages remember the state you picked, so you don't have to pick it again. It's saved in your browser's storage on this device (named np-state), never sent to us, and you can erase it any time with the button below or by clearing your browser data.
The plasma page also remembers the last city you searched (named np-plasma-last), so it's filled in next time, and keeps that search's results until you close the tab so repeat searches are fast. Neither is sent to us, and the button below erases the saved city too.
If you switch between light and dark mode, every page remembers that choice (named np-theme) so the site opens the way you like it. It's never sent to us, and the button below erases it too.
Nothing else (no income, no answers, no location) is saved.
Other sites
Links, calls and email
- Links to other sites. We link to government agencies, nonprofits, apps and stores so you can apply or learn more. Once you tap a link, that site's own privacy policy applies. Right now, none of our links carry tracking codes for us.
- Directions links open Google Maps with the place's address, not yours.
- Price-check links on the selling page send the item name you typed to the site you pick (for example, eBay or Swappa), only when you tap the link.
- Call and email links open your phone or email app. Nothing is sent until you place the call or send the message.
- If you email us at hello@newlypoor.com, we'll see your email address and message. We use them only to reply or fix a mistake, and we never add you to a mailing list.
The rest
Other things you should know
We don't sell or share your information
We don't sell personal information, share it for targeted ads, or trade it with anyone. We don't have accounts or a database of visitors to sell in the first place.
Our place lists are public information
The food pantries, housing agencies, job centers and studies we list come from public sources like OpenStreetMap, HUD, the Department of Labor and ClinicalTrials.gov. They're about places and programs, not about you.
Kids
This site is meant for adults. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13.
Your choices
Because we don't keep accounts or your answers, there's usually nothing of yours for us to show, change or delete. The analytics data isn't tied to your name, so we can't look up one person in it. If you have any privacy question or request, email hello@newlypoor.com and we'll help however we can.
Changes
If how the site works changes (for example, a new service or a new kind of link), we'll update this page first and change the date at the top.
Need help right now? Dial 211 or text your ZIP code to 898-211 for local food, rent, and utility help, 24/7 in most areas.