Preamble

I take privacy and data (ab)use very serious. I've written multiple times about the topic and what the widespread tracking, collecting, aggregating and analyzing of very personal data does to us and our societies.

I'm trying not to be one of those people. Yet I also rely on some information about how people find me and my website to get a better understanding of my audiences and what works for me and you, and what doesn't. I think this is reasonable.

I also respect your wish to remain un-tracked while browsing my website. As long as you do not consent to this, no cookies are set on your device (see below) and no information about you, your device, the software you use to connect to the internet or which network is used is stored by me. But please be aware that simply rejecting cookies when offered a choice will not render you 'invisible', or at turn your browsing session into an anonymous one. There are numerous techniques to track and classify you, and to avoid them, you will need to use a special plugin for your browser. I encourage you to try Ghostery or Privacy Badger for this purpose. As an additional benefit, both will show you how many and which tracking devices are installed on the websites you visit. I find this very educating.

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact me.

Cookie Policy

I use Google Analytics to monitor website usage and user behavior. To do that, Google Analytics wants to set three cookies (small text files) called '_gat', '_gid', and '_ga'. You can read more about these cookies on Google's website.

It is your choice wether to accept those cookies. If you do not give your explicit consent by agreeing to it in the bar displayed on the bottom of every page, no cookies will be set.

If you give your consent, I will also set a cookie called 'cookie-notice-acknowledged' to indicate that you are OK with Google Analytics setting those cookies.

If you consent to being tracked, your usage data along with some basic information about your system is sent to Google for further processing. I do not use any advanced features that collect any personal information about you or expose you to further analysis by Google, and IP masking is turned on.

Please be aware that not all websites wait for your explicit consent before tracking you. Some (if not most) will try to use an implicit consent that says: 'We've just set a cookie. If you continue to browse our site, we assume you are ok with that.' To counter that, you need to install a browser plugin like  Ghostery or Privacy Badger.

If you want to retract your consent on cookies, you will need to delete from your system. Please refer to your browsers manual on how to do that.

Mailing List and Subscription Forms

If you are using the subscription forms on this website, we will send the data you entered to our mailing list service provider MailChimp. By submitting your email address, you consent to this transfer and acknowledge that the information you provide will be transferred to MailChimp for processing in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms. You will receive an email requesting the confirmation of your subscription ('double opt-in'). If you do not take any further action, you will not be subscribed to the list, and your input will be removed from their systems in a timely matter. The opt-in email will contain further information.

If you no longer want to receive any emails, you can always unsubscribe directly from the mails sent to you. If you leave the list, your eMail address is stored in MailChimps account, but you will no longer receive any emails from me. MailChimp needs to store your address to be able to prove that you consented to receiving mails before unsubscribing.

Webserver

This website is hosted on the Amazon AWS cloud computing platform, which is in itself GDPR-compliant. Further, no personally identifying information is collected by the hosting platform.

Google Analytics Disclaimer

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

For more information about Google Analytics, please refer to Google Privacy & Terms.

How this information is used

Browsing data collected via Google Analytics is used to create aggregated reports of user behavior on this website, and how users found this website.

Your eMail address is used to send you the Let's be Fwends journal you signed up for.

How this information is shared

I do not engage in any data sharing scheme of any kind. I do not sell your personal data, I do not send you spam. The service providers listed above have access to exactly as much information as needed to be able to provide their services.

Who to contact if you have any questions or want your data removed

If you have any questions or want your data removed from my records, please contact me by email. Please do not include any forms of identification in your initial request.

Legal or contractual obligations may make it impossible to remove your personal data from my systems (for example, the requirement to retain financial information for several years in case of a tax audit).