Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy has been compiled to better serve those who are concerned with how their ‘Personally Identifiable Information’ (PII) is being used online. PII, as described in US privacy law and information security, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context. Please read our Privacy Policy carefully to get a clear understanding of how we collect, use, protect or
otherwise, handle your Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with our website.

What personal information do we collect from the people that visit our website?

When registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your name, email address, phone number or other details to help you with your experience.

When do we collect information?

We collect information from you when you fill out a form or enter information on our site.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/.

After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

How do we use your information?

We may use the information we collect from you when you register, make a purchase, sign up for our newsletter, respond to a survey or marketing communication, surf the website, or use certain other site features in the following ways:

To personalize your experience and to allow us to deliver the type of content and product offerings in which you are most interested.

To improve our website in order to better serve you.

To allow us to better service you in responding to your customer service requests.

To send periodic emails regarding your order or other products and services.

To follow up with them after correspondence (live chat, email or phone inquiries)

How long do we retain your data?

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

How do we protect your information?

We do not use vulnerability scanning and/or scanning to PCI standards.

We only provide articles and information. We never ask for credit card numbers.

Your personal information is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential. In addition, all sensitive information you supply is encrypted
via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.

We implement a variety of security measures when a user enters, submits, or accesses their information to maintain the safety of your personal information.

Do we use ‘cookies’?

Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the site’s or service provider’s systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. For instance, we use cookies to help us remember and process the items in your shopping cart. They are also used to help us understand your preferences based on previous or current site activity, which enables us to provide you with improved services. We also use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.

We use cookies to:

  • Understand and save user’s preferences for future visits.
  • Compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions in order to offer better site
    experiences and tools in the future.
  • We may also use trusted third-party services that track this information on our behalf.
  • You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can
    choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser settings. Since each browser is
    a little different, look at your browser’s Help Menu to learn the correct way to modify your
    cookies.
  • If you turn cookies off, some of the features that make your site experience more efficient may
    not function properly.

Third-party disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your Personally Identifiable Information.

Third-party links

Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third-party products or services on our website. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We, therefore, have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites.

Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.

We have implemented the following:

  • Demographics and Interests Reporting

We, along with third-party vendors such as Google use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) or other third-party identifiers together to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions and other ad services functions as they relate to our website.

Opting out

Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page. Alternatively, you can opt-out by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt-Out page or by using the Google Analytics Opt-Out browser add-on.

California Online Privacy Protection Act

CalOPPA is the first state law in the nation to require commercial websites and online services to post a Privacy Policy. The law’s reach stretches well beyond California to require any person or company in the United States (and conceivably the world) that operates websites collecting Personally Identifiable Information from California consumers to post a conspicuous Privacy Policy on its website stating exactly the information being collected and those individuals or companies with whom it is being shared.

According to CalOPPA, we agree to the following:

  • Users can visit our site anonymously.
  • Once this Privacy Policy is created, we will add a link to it on our home page or as a minimum,
    on the first significant page after entering our website.
  • Our Privacy Policy link includes the word ‘privacy’ and can easily be found on the page specified
    above.

You will be notified of any Privacy Policy changes:

  • On our Privacy Policy page

How does our site handle Do Not Track signals?

We honor Do Not Track signals and do not track, plant cookies, or use advertising when a Do Not Track (DNT) browser mechanism is in place.

Fair Information Practices

The Fair Information Practices Principles form the backbone of privacy law in the United States and the concepts they include have played a significant role in the development of data protection laws around the globe. Understanding the Fair Information Practice Principles and how they should be implemented is critical to comply with the various privacy laws that protect
personal information.

We also agree to the Individual Redress Principle which requires that individuals have the right to legally pursue enforceable rights against data collectors and processors who fail to adhere to the law. This principle requires not only that individuals have enforceable rights against data users, but also that individuals have recourse to courts or government agencies to investigate and/or prosecute non-compliance by data processors.

Revised July 16, 2022