Effective: August 18, 2026 · Version 2.0
This policy explains how Lifeline Access (“we,” “us,” “our”) handles information on lifelineaccess.com. It replaces our previous policy in full. Please read the section on sharing carefully — it describes how information reaches telephone companies.
Lifeline Access is a private company. We are not a government agency, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by the FCC, USAC, or any state agency.
1. The short version
- Reading our guides and using the eligibility checker collects nothing personal. The checker runs entirely in your browser.
- If you choose to submit your details, we collect what is needed to match you with telephone companies, and we share it with those companies so they can contact you.
- We never ask for your Social Security number, benefit account or case numbers, or copies of your eligibility documents.
- If you ask companies to contact you, you will be told exactly which ones, and they may call and text you.
- You can opt out at any time, and you can ask us to delete what we hold.
2. Information we collect
Information collected automatically
Our servers record standard technical data on every request: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring page, pages viewed, and timestamps. This keeps the site running and secure.
The eligibility checker
The checker asks for your ZIP code, household size, whether anyone in your household participates in certain assistance programs, and — only if no program applies — your household’s yearly income.
These answers stay on your device. They are used to calculate a result in your browser and are not transmitted to us or stored. The only network request the checker makes is for a public file listing which telephone companies serve a ZIP code; that file is the same for everyone and contains no information about you.
Information you give us
If you contact us, create an account, or ask to be matched with a provider, we collect what you supply. Depending on what you do, that may include:
- Name
- Email address
- Telephone number
- ZIP code and state
- Household size
- An income range (we do not ask for an exact figure)
- Which assistance programs a household member participates in, recorded as yes/no
- Your contact preferences and the consents you have given
What we never collect
We do not ask for, collect, or store:
- Social Security numbers
- Lifeline, SNAP, Medicaid, or other benefit account or case numbers
- Full dates of birth
- Photographs or scans of eligibility documents
- Payment card or bank account details
None of these are needed to match a household with a telephone company. Your actual eligibility is verified by the National Verifier, not by us. If any page claiming to be Lifeline Access asks you for these, it is not us.
3. Why we use it
We use information to:
- give you an eligibility estimate and show which companies serve your area;
- match you with telephone companies and pass your request to them, where you have asked us to;
- contact you about your request;
- operate, secure, and improve the site;
- keep records of the consents you have given, which we are required to retain;
- comply with law.
4. How we share it
With telephone companies
This is the part that matters most. If you ask to be matched with a provider, we share your information with telephone companies so that they can contact you about Lifeline service. Before you submit anything, you will be shown:
- the specific companies that may receive your information;
- that they may contact you by phone call and by text message, including with automated or prerecorded messages;
- that agreeing is not a condition of receiving any service or benefit.
You have to actively agree. It is never pre-ticked, and you can decline and still use every part of this site.
We may receive compensation from those companies. Because money can change hands, we treat this as a “sale” or “share” of personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act, whatever it is called commercially, and we give you the opt-out rights that go with it. See section 7.
Enrollment assistance
In some cases we may help you complete a Lifeline application directly. Where we do, we act as an enrollment representative and are bound by the FCC’s rules for that role, including using a registered representative identifier. We still never ask you for your Social Security number — that goes to the National Verifier, not to us.
Everyone else
- Service providers who host the site, send email, or provide database services on our behalf, limited to what they need.
- Legal requirements, where required by law or valid legal process, or to protect our rights or someone’s safety.
- Business transfers, if the site is sold or merged.
We do not share your information with anyone else, and we do not use it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
5. Calls and texts
If you agree to be contacted, the companies you agreed to may call and text the number you gave, including using automated dialling systems and prerecorded or artificial voice messages. Standard message and data rates may apply.
- Reply STOP to any text to stop texts from that sender.
- Tell any caller to place you on their do-not-call list.
- Contact us and we will add you to our suppression list and pass your opt-out on.
Your consent is not a condition of purchasing anything or of receiving Lifeline benefits. Applying for Lifeline through the National Verifier is always free.
6. How long we keep it
- Correspondence: as long as needed to deal with it, then archived.
- Account and profile data: while your account is open, and up to 24 months after you close it or go inactive.
- Consent records: at least five years after the consent is given or withdrawn, because we must be able to show what you agreed to and when.
- Suppression and opt-out records: indefinitely, because deleting them would let contact resume.
- Server logs: a short rolling period.
7. Your rights and choices
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to know what we hold, to get a copy, to correct it, to delete it, to opt out of its sale or sharing, to limit the use of sensitive information, and not to be treated differently for exercising any of these.
Whether or not the law gives you these rights, we extend them to everyone who asks.
Two of them are worth calling out:
- Opt out of sale or sharing. Use our Your Privacy Choices page. This stops us passing your information to telephone companies.
- Sensitive information. Whether a household participates in a programme such as Medicaid or SNAP is sensitive personal information. We use it only to work out eligibility and to match you with providers you asked to be matched with — never to infer anything else about you, and never for advertising.
To make a request, use our contact page. We will verify that the request is really yours before acting, and we will respond within the time the law allows. You may use an authorised agent.
8. Cookies
We use a small number of cookies for basic functionality. The site loads no third-party advertising or tracking scripts. You can block or delete cookies in your browser and the site will keep working.
9. Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect information, including encryption in transit, access controls, and collecting as little as possible in the first place. No system is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Children
The site is for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.
11. Other sites
Our guides link to government resources and to telephone companies. Once you leave this site, this policy no longer applies. Read the privacy policy of any site you visit.
12. Changes
We will post any change here and update the version and date above. If a change materially affects how we use information you already gave us, we will tell you directly and, where the law requires it, ask again for your agreement.
13. Contact
Questions, requests, or complaints: contact us. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to your state attorney general or, in California, to the California Privacy Protection Agency.