What personal data we collect and why we collect it
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.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Analytics
Who we share your data with
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
How long 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.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
What is Google Analytics?
In short, Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. The tool uses “cookies,” which are text files placed on your computer, to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behaviour information in an anonymous form.
How do we use Google Analytics?
When we check my Google Analytics dashboard I look, among others, for the following:
- From which countries are visitors?
- Which articles are popular?
- How do visitors navigate my website?
- Through which channels do visitors end up at my website?
- How long do visitors stay on a particular page?
With the information gathered I improve my website. For example by writing better articles, developing more intuitive navigation and adding more relevant content.
Should visitors worry about their privacy?
Nope. All of my activity falls within the bounds of the Google Analytics Terms of Service that I signed. Further, Google takes several steps to keep my data protected. Find more information on Google data privacy and security here.
How to prevent Google Analytics from using your data:
You still may wish to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically default to accept them, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies. If you reject cookies by changing your browser settings then be aware that this may disable some of the functionality on our Website.
Another easy way it to install Google’s own opt-out add-on. Once up and running it tells your web browser to prevent Google Analytics from using your data. You can download the add-on here.
How about the email subscriptions?
The email addresses are not distributed to any third party, neither are they available to anyone but myself. We use the email addresses only to send you interesting and relevant content, created just for you.
Be aware that we do use email tracking to see how many subscribers have received and opened the mail and/or clicked on any links. Don’t worry though. This is all standard functionality and common practice within the industry of newsletter sending. There is no way for example that I can access your mailbox, and neither do I ever want to do that.