updated 6 Feb 2022, reflected upon as recently as today
Do you have concerns about data and privacy? Sure, we all do.
I just found out Google was using their fonts to track people’s IP addresses. Luckily this website doesn’t use Google fonts, so we’re safe on that front.
The only information I store on my website is information that you provide freely. I only use your information for two reasons:
- You asked, and
- I value your safety and the safety of those who visit my site.
For example, I collect your email, I send you a newsletter. Erratically, not even regularly.
To allow for discussion, you have the opportunity to post comments on this website. If you post comments, I collect your name, email address, IP address, and your comments. If you ever wish to have your comments removed, send me a quick note and I’ll remove them. To protect my site from spam, your information is compared with a list of known spam senders by CleanTalk. CleanTalk stores your information for a few days to give me time to contest its decision as to whether you are a spammer or not.
Well, are you?
In particular, we’ll check your IP address (the address of your computer) to make sure you’re not a spammer. I do this to protect you and the rest of my fans.
My newsletter subscriptions are handled by Automattic, a GDPR compliant company. I use MailChimp to handle subscriptions to my email list. MailChimp has certified to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. When you subscribe, I collect your name, IP address, and email address so that I can send you very infrequent updates.
Want to be removed from this list? Click unsubscribe at the bottom of any newsletter. In addition, my newsletters do send a message back to my website when they are opened. This helps me to better design my future content. I store the statistics about whether you’ve opened the newsletters or not.
At night I look at the statistics, and I cry or celebrate depending on whether or not you opened it.
Contact forms on this site allow you to send me messages. Those messages (along with your email address, ip address, and your name) are processed through my website and sent to me via email. They are also stored on my website for use in case of a failure in the email system. My contact form requests your name, email address, the subject and message that you wish to send me. Your IP address is also captured by the system. This information is checked for spam as noted above and then transmitted to me via email. It is not stored on my website. During that transmission, the data will be sent through normal email channels.
Use of Cookies. In the old days, they were a fun-to-eat treat. But now that we’re living in the future, they’re a small text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer, so if this happens to you, it wasn’t me. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.
One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. For example, if you personalize a web page, or navigate within a site, a cookie helps the site to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of delivering relevant content, eases site navigation, and so on. When you return to the Web site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the site’s features that you customized. Believe it or not, you have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Many Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of this or other Web sites you visit.
I may occasionally update this privacy statement. When I do, I will also revise the “last updated” date at the top. I encourage you to periodically review this privacy statement to stay informed about how I am helping to protect the personal information I collect. Your continued use of the service constitutes your agreement to this privacy statement and any updates.
