Privacy Policy

Effective Date: January 28, 2026

Your privacy is important to Creditor Advocates. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information in connection with our website and related communications and is incorporated into our Terms of Use.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will post the updated Privacy Policy on this page and update the Effective Date above. Where required by applicable law, we will provide additional notice.

Scope and Our Role

This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect through our website and related communications (for example, email, messaging programs (such as SMS/MMS/RCS), phone, chat, and portals). In many cases, Creditor Advocates processes personal information on behalf of creditor clients in connection with debt collection and account servicing. In those contexts, we may act as a “processor” under certain state privacy laws, and as a “service provider” under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA (“CCPA/CPRA”), where applicable.

Personal Information We Collect

Categories of personal information we may collect include:

  • Identifiers (name, address, email, phone number)

  • Government identifiers (e.g., SSN, where provided/required)

  • Account and transaction information (account numbers, balances, payment history, payment method details)

  • Commercial information (records of services, communications, and interactions)

  • Internet/network activity (IP address, device info, website interactions)

  • Audio/visual (call recordings where permitted/required)

  • Professional/employment information (job applicant data)

  • Inferences (limited inferences drawn to verify identity, prevent fraud, or improve communications)

Personal information (sometimes called “personal data”) is information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular individual or household. Some laws also define sensitive personal information (or sensitive data) as a subset of personal information (for example, Social Security number, precise geolocation, certain health data, or financial account credentials).

Below are some examples of the types of personal information we collect:

  • When transferring an account, the creditor may provide a variety of information including, but not limited to, your full name, address, phone numbers, social security number, date of birth, and email address. They may also provide information pertaining to your account, such as original creditor, current creditor, account number, payment history, and/or remaining balance, among other information. Some of this information may be considered sensitive under certain privacy laws.

  • You may provide us with information directly. Examples may include, but not limited to, your name, spouse’s name, address, phone numbers, email address, consent, account numbers, credit card information, bank information, account information, or other personal identifying information.

  • We may receive metadata and technical information associated with our interactions, such as delivery status and engagement with communications (phone call, email, chat, messaging programs (such as SMS/MMS/RCS), voicemail), IP address, device identifiers, browser type, log-in attempts, and related security and usage data.

Any interaction with us or information supplied to us that cannot be combined or linked with an existing account or transaction, or isn’t readily combined or linked with such, may not be considered personal information, unless and until such information is combined or linked with other personal identifying information, such as your name, address, and/or account information. For example, when you access our website, a variety of generic information may be collected and stored in log files. This may include, but not limited to, date/time stamp of interaction, IP address, type of browser, type of operating system, user interface interactions (such as, but not limited to, mouse clicks and/or navigation on our website, applications, or emails), or other usage information. Although this data may be detailed, it lacks the connection to you or an account. This general usage information would only be considered personal information when those detailed interactions are combined and linked with other personal information, such as your name, address, and/or account information.

Sources of Personal Information

Most of the information we have is provided to us by the original creditor, current creditor, servicer, or party placing your account(s) with us. We also receive information directly from you via phone call, messaging programs (such as SMS/MMS/RCS), mail correspondence, email correspondence, in person, chat sessions, portal usage, other web or electronic applications, and/or metadata connected with such. We occasionally receive information from contracted law firms, agents, servicers, or other third parties that may service your account. We sometimes receive information from third party vendors who help us enhance and confirm the validity of our information as it relates to address, phone number, bankruptcy, deceased information, fraud, military status, employment, property information, credit worthiness, and/or identity.

If you are a potential candidate for employment with us, we may have received your personal information from a recruiter or external website. Information collected in an employment or applicant context may be subject to different notices and rights than information collected about consumers in an individual or household context. Where required, we provide separate privacy notices to job applicants and employees.

Use of Personal Information

We collect, use, retain, and disclose personal information only as reasonably necessary and proportionate to (a) provide and administer our services, (b) comply with legal obligations, and (c) other purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Some examples of how we use personal information include, but not limited to: (1) Send you communications on your account, (2) Verify your identity, (3) Process payments and other account activity you authorize, (4) After you opt-in, consent, and agree to recurring messaging programs (such as SMS/MMS), we may provide alerts, updates, and other important account information which may be delivered with auto dialed messages to the phone number you provide; (5) messaging programs (such as SMS/MMS/RCS) information is not sold and is not used for third-party marketing. We may share information with service providers that help us deliver messages, maintain systems, or comply with law; (6) Resolve disputes and troubleshoot customer concerns; (7) Prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities, and enforce our Terms of Use; (8) Customize, measure, and improve our services and the content and layout of our website; (9) Help us create, develop and improve our content and services, including through internal auditing and data analysis; (10) Compare information for accuracy and verification purposes; (11) If you apply for a job at Creditor Advocates we use the information we receive to evaluate your candidacy and contact you.

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies for (1) essential functionality, (2) security, and (3) analytics to understand how visitors use our site and improve performance. You can control cookies through your browser settings; however, some features may not function properly without certain cookies. Analytics may be provided by third-party service providers acting on our behalf.

Our emails may contain pixel tags that help us understand whether an email was opened (depending on your email provider). You may be able to limit this type of tracking through your email client settings (for example, disabling automatic image loading), where available.

Our email messages may contain “tracking URL” that are linked to web pages on our website or third party sites. We track this tracking data to help us determine our customer’s communication preferences or interest in particular topics. Our email messages may include links that route through tracking URLs to help us understand engagement and improve communications. If you prefer to reduce link tracking, you may copy and paste a URL directly into your browser or adjust privacy settings where available.

Some browsers offer “Do Not Track” signals. Our website currently does not respond to “Do Not Track” signals as there is no consistent industry standard. Where required by applicable law, we will honor legally recognized opt-out mechanisms for certain processing activities. If this information is combined with personal information, we treat the combined information as personal information for the purposes of this Privacy Policy at that point.

If any correspondence or information is received by us in which it cannot be combined or linked with an existing account or transaction, the correspondence or information may be returned, securely stored, or destroyed. If this correspondence is later combined with personal information, we will then treat the combined information as personal information for the purposes of this Privacy Policy at that point.

Health-Related Information. In connection with healthcare-related accounts, we may receive information related to billing or services. We use and disclose such information only as permitted by applicable law and our contractual obligations, and we apply administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect it.

Sharing of Personal Information

Sale/Sharing for Targeted Advertising. We do not sell personal information. We also do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising (as “share” is defined under California law). We do not process personal information for targeted advertising as that term is used in certain state privacy laws, including Minnesota’s. We do not engage in profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning consumers.

Sensitive Personal Information. We use and disclose sensitive personal information (such as Social Security number or financial account credentials) only as reasonably necessary for permitted purposes such as account servicing, payment processing, identity verification, fraud prevention, security, and compliance with law.

Personal information is shared with our creditor client and/or with a limited number of contracted third party service providers who help us provide our services, which may include, but not limited to, information verification, managing and enhancing customer data, mailing, payment processing, and account referral. When we disclose personal information to service providers, we require contractual commitments consistent with applicable law that limit the service provider’s use of personal information to providing services to us (or on behalf of our creditor clients), and require appropriate privacy and security safeguards.

Examples on how we share information include, but not limited to:

  • Processing your payment, we may share your credit card or bank information with the card-issuing bank to complete the payment you authorized.

  • In the process of communicating with you, we may share your email address, physical address, or phone number with the delivery service to deliver any communication, message, or requested account documents.

  • For compliance, we may share name, address, and social security number to ensure no bankruptcy, deceased, address or phone number changes have occurred during the servicing of your account.

  • For regulatory compliance, we may share account and personal information with state regulators conducting an audit pursuant to state or federal licensing statutes.

  • Law enforcement or judicial authorities may occasionally require us to disclose information. We will only disclose information when there is a lawful basis or if disclosure is reasonably necessary to demonstrate compliance with the law.

  • We may transfer information about you in the event of a business transaction, such as if we or one of our business units or our relevant assets are acquired by, sold to, or merged with another company.

  • Generic data may be shared with our clients, potential clients, or governmental regulators. This information may include de-identified visitor and user interactions with our services and/or products, or generic aggregate demographic information not linked to any personally identifiable information.

Third Party Websites and Other Applications

Our website may contain links to other sites whose information practices may be different from ours. Visitors should consult the other sites’ privacy policies before submitting any information, as we have no control over information that is submitted to, or collected by, these third parties.

How We Protect Personal Information

We take data security seriously. We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information. Safeguards may include access controls, encryption in transit where appropriate, monitoring, and other measures proportionate to the sensitivity of the information and the risk presented.

No data transmission over the Internet is guaranteed to be 100% secure. In spite of our efforts to protect and maintain the confidentiality of any personal information you provide to our website, Creditor Advocates cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us. You transmit all such information at your own risk. Please contact our offices directly if you would prefer to speak to a representative.

Data Integrity and Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including servicing accounts and complying with legal and contractual obligations. When retention is no longer required, we delete or de-identify information in accordance with our records retention and disposal practices.

Your Privacy Rights (Certain U.S. Residents)

Depending on your state of residence and applicable law, you may have the right to:

  • Access/Know: request information about the personal information we maintain about you;

  • Delete: request deletion of certain personal information;

  • Correct: request correction of inaccurate personal information;

  • Portability: obtain a copy of certain personal information in a portable format;

  • Opt out of certain processing (for example, sale of personal information, sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising, targeted advertising, or certain profiling), where applicable; and

  • Appeal: if we decline to take action on your request, you may have the right to appeal our decision (including under Minnesota law).

Creditor Advocates acts as a service provider or processor for creditor clients with respect to many accounts we service. Accordingly, we do not control certain decisions regarding the retention, deletion, or scope of personal information associated with those accounts. Requests relating to such information must be directed to the creditor. We may decline to act on requests that fall outside our authority and will notify you when this applies.

How to Submit a Request

You may submit a request by emailing support@creditoradvocates.com or calling (866) 357-7522.

Verification and Authorized Agents

To protect your information, we may need to verify your identity before responding. Where permitted by law, you may use an authorized agent to submit requests on your behalf; we may require proof of the agent’s authorization and may still verify your identity.

Appeals (Minnesota Residents)

If you are a Minnesota resident and we deny your request, you may appeal by emailing support@creditoradvocates.com with “MN Privacy Appeal” in the subject line.

Important Limitations

We may deny or limit requests where permitted by law, including where we must retain information to comply with legal obligations, to establish or exercise legal claims/defenses, or to service accounts placed with us by a creditor client.

U.S. Audience

This website is intended for a United States audience. If you access this website from outside the U.S., you acknowledge, agree, and consent that any information you provide, including any personal information, will be transferred to and processed by a computer server located within the U.S., and subject to U.S. laws and regulations. Further, if you access this site from outside the U.S., you acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local or national laws, rules or regulations applicable to such use.

Minor

This website is not intended for children. If you are below the age of thirteen (13), we ask that you not submit any personal information to this website. In compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, we will not accept any registrations or other personal information from those under the age of thirteen (13).

California Privacy Notice

If you are a California resident, you may have rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know, delete, correct, and opt out of sale or sharing (as defined by California law). For requests, call (866) 357-7522 or email support@creditoradvocates.com. We will verify your request as required or permitted by law.

Submitting California Requests

To submit a request to know/access, delete, or correct, contact us at (866) 357-7522 or support@creditoradvocates.com. If we process your information on behalf of a creditor client, we may direct you to submit certain requests directly to that creditor.

Notice at Collection

Where required, we provide notice at or before the point of collection describing the categories of personal information collected, the purposes of use, whether information is sold or shared, and retention criteria.

Direct Creditor Requests

Information concerning how you can exercise your rights directly with the creditor or current creditor, visit their website directly or contact them directly.

Other Disclosures

Please note that Creditor Advocates is a debt collector and regularly attempts to collect debts. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose. For other important information, please visit our Disclosures page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please feel free to contact us.

Creditor Advocates Inc.
4719 Park Nicollet Ave SE #115
Prior Lake, MN 55372
Phone: (866) 357-7522

Version 20260128 – Updated on 1/28/2026.