Last Updated: August 7, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how Debt Help Illinois (a program offered by Illinois Legal Aid Online) (“we” or “us”) collects, uses, discloses, and otherwise processes personal information about you on the sites where it is posted or is referenced. This includes our websites and mobile sites. This policy does not apply to information we may collect in any other forums.

We may update this Policy.

We may change our privacy practices from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this Privacy Policy. If we make material changes, we will provide you with additional notice (such as by sending you a notification). Please check our site periodically for updates.

Contents

• We collect and use information from and about you.
• We collect information from various sources.
• We use information as disclosed and described here.
• We may share information with others.
• You have certain choices about information sharing and marketing practices.
• Our sites are not intended for kids.
• We may link to other sites or have third party services on our site we don't control.
• Our Sites are intended for users in the United States only.
• Feel free to contact us if you have more questions.

We collect and use information from and about you.

Debt Help Illinois (and the vendors and other parties we use to perform services on our behalf), collects, receives, and develops several categories of personal information about you depending on the nature of your interactions with us. For example:

We collect contact information.

For example, we might collect your name and street address. We might also collect your phone number or email address.

We collect account information.

For example, we may collect your name, email, mobile number, and password if you create an account on our site, depending on how you create the account.

We collect information you submit.

We collect the information you submit on or through our website. This may include any chat features we may make available to you as well as other feedback, submissions, or questions you submit. We also collect the information you provide when seeking legal help, such as information about your debt, to assist you with managing it.

We collect demographic information.

We may collect information like your city, county, zip code, judicial circuit and district, income, and information about your assets and debts, including relating to prior and active collection lawsuits and bankruptcies.

We collect usage and device information.

We may collect information about the device or browser you are using, including device identifiers or your IP address. We might look at what site you came from, or what site you visit when you leave us. We may collect and record page interaction information and other electronic communications and content from your use of the site (such as content entry, mouse movements, screen captures, the date, time, and location of your visit, what areas of the websites you visit and for how long, what search terms or other data you enter, and what content or links you view and click on), and methods used to browse away from the page. We may also embed technologies (which may include, for example, web beacons, tags, and pixels) in the emails and other communications we or our vendors send to you to help us understand how you interact with those messages, such as whether and when you opened a message or clicked on any content within the message. We may engage or otherwise permit other parties to also collect information in these ways.

We collect and develop inferences.

Using the other pieces of personal information collected about you, we may draw inferences about you, reflecting what we believe to be your characteristics or experiences you had. For example, we may infer that you are interested in certain articles or resources to assist with managing your debt based on personal information collected about you.

We collect information from various sources.

We collect information directly from you.

For example, we collect information from you when you sign up for our emails, create an account, use our chat features, or seek legal help. We collect information when you ask us questions or provide feedback.

We collect information from you passively.

We use tracking tools and other technologies, like browser cookies, web beacons, tags, and pixels to collect information about you and how you interact with our sites or emails. We collect information about you across our websites and your devices and over time when you use our sites, read our newsletters, or interact with emails we or our vendors provide. Learn more about these tools, and how you can control them.

We may get information about you from our vendors.

For example, vendors that host or maintain our sites or send emails for us may give us information. Our marketing and technology vendors and analytics providers may also provide us with information about you.   

We receive information about you from other sources.

Other parties may give us personal information about you. These other parties might include business partners and social media platforms that may give us information about you they have collected either directly or indirectly from you. Additionally, if you create or log in to your account through a third-party platform (such as Google), we will have access to certain information from that platform, in accordance with the authorization procedures determined by such platform. Such information may include your name, phone number, email address, language preference and profile picture.

We combine information.

For example, we may combine information that we have collected offline with information we collect online. Or we may combine information we get from another party with information we already have.

We use information as disclosed and described here.

We use information to respond to your requests or questions or to provide our services.

For example, we might use your information to respond to your comments or customer feedback. We will also use your information to attempt to provide you with referrals of legal aid providers if you apply for legal help. We may send you text messages and/or emails to communicate with you about the requested services and to verify your identity by sending you a one-time passcode to log in to your account.

We use information to assess, develop, and improve our sites and services.

We may use your information to improve our website and services and develop our services. We might also use your information to customize your experience with us. For example, we might store your password if you register for our site. We may also use your information to conduct research and analysis in connection with our services.

We use information to comply with our obligations and for security and safety purposes, such as to detect, investigate, respond to, prosecute, and help protect against security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity.

We may use the information to protect our company, our customers, our websites, and others. We may also use information to comply with our legal obligations.

We use information to administer our websites.

For example, we use personal information to administer the websites, including troubleshooting, testing, analyzing, and surveying.

We use information for marketing purposes.

For example, we might send you information about legal developments in which we think you may be interested, about us, our sites, upcoming events, or other services that may be of interest to you, or to request your help in supporting our organization. These might be related to our own organization or to other organizations that we think you might be interested in.

To manage this, read the “You have certain choices about sharing and marketing practices” section below.

We use information to communicate with you about our relationship.

We may contact you to get your feedback. We might also contact you about this Policy and our site Terms.

We use information as we may notify you from time to time or otherwise permitted or required by law.

We may share information with others.

We may share information within our organization (including our affiliated organizations).

We will share information with vendors who perform services on our behalf.

For example, we share information with vendors who help us send emails and text messages and operate our sites. This may include website analytics vendors. Some vendors may be located outside of the United States.

We may share your information with organizations that perform legal services.

For example, if you apply for legal help, we may forward your information to one of our legal services partners.

We will share information with our business partners.

If we provide joint services or collaborate with others in providing services, we may share information with such business partners. If you apply for legal help, we will share your information with one or more of our partner organizations participating in the online application process. We may also share certain information collected through our websites with business partners for marketing purposes. Data obtained specifically through the Debt Help Illinois short code program will not be shared with third parties for marketing purposes.

We may share information with your consent.

We may also make personal information available to third parties, when we have your consent or you intentionally direct us to do so.

We may share information with professional advisors.

We may disclose personal information to our legal, financial, insurance, and other professional advisors where necessary to obtain advice or otherwise protect and manage our interests.

We will share information if we think we have to comply with the law or to protect ourselves or others.

We may disclose personal information if we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our policies, if we believe that you have violated the law, or if we believe it is necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of Debt Help Illinois, the public, or others. For example, we will share information to respond to a court order or subpoena. We may share information if a government agency or investigatory body requests. We might share information when we are investigating potential fraud or abuse.

We may share information with any successor to all or part of our business.

For example, if part of our business was acquired, we may give our customer list as part of that transaction. We may also share your information if there is a similar change to our corporate structure. We may also share your information with others as they conduct diligence on our organization.

We may share information for other reasons we may describe to you or as otherwise permitted or required by law.

For example, we may also disclose aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

You have certain choices about information sharing and marketing practices.

You can opt out of receiving our marketing emails.

To stop receiving our promotional emails, follow the instructions in any promotional message you get from us. Don’t worry! Even if you opt out of getting marketing messages, we will still send you transactional messages. These include responses to your questions and one-time passcodes to log in to your account.

You can control certain cookies and tracking tools.

Your browser may give you the ability to control certain cookies. How you do so depends on the type of cookie. Certain browsers can be set to reject browser cookies. See the “help” section of your particular web browser for more details on rejecting, blocking, and deleting cookies.

NOTE: If you block cookies on your browser, certain features on our sites may not work. Certain options you select are browser and device-specific. Your selections are also deleted whenever you clear your cookies or browser’s cache.

Our Do Not Track Policy: Some browsers have “do not track” features that allow you to tell a website not to track you. These features are not all uniform. We do not currently respond to those signals.

You have other controls you can exercise.

You can choose whether or not to share certain categories of personal information. If you choose not to share, some parts of our sites and some services may be more difficult or impossible to use.

Our sites are not intended for kids.

Our sites are meant for adults. We do not knowingly collect information online from children under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and think we have information about your child, please contact [email protected]. You can also write to us at the address listed at the end of this Policy. Please mark your inquiry “COPPA Information Request.”

We may link to other sites or have third party services on our site we don't control.

If you click on a link to a third-party site, you will be taken to websites we do not control. This includes social media sites. This Policy does not apply to the privacy practices of these websites. Read the privacy policy of other websites carefully. We are not responsible for these third-party practices, services, or policies.

Our sites are intended for users in the United States Only.

Our sites are intended only for users in the United States.

Our sites are hosted in the United States and the data collected through the sites will be stored and processed in the United States. Our sites are subject to U.S. laws, which may not afford the same level of protection of those in another country.

Feel free to contact us if you have more questions.

If you have any questions about this Policy, please email us at [email protected]. You can also write to us or call us at:

11 E. Adams St.
Suite 500
Chicago, Illinois 60603

Phone: (312) 977-9047

When you contact us, please include your contact information (your email address or telephone number). This helps us handle your request correctly.