This Policy is meant to inform those who are concerned with how their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is being used online. PII 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.

This Policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who visit our website, how we use that information, and what we do with it. We may change this Policy from time to time, so check this page occasionally to ensure you’re comfortable with any changes.

By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.

1. Who are we?

We’re Richard Hardin and other administrator-level associates of this site. Richard Hardin is a writer and an evangelist.

2. How do we collect information from you?

Most of our site’s features don’t require you to share PII, allowing you to visit our site without telling us who you are. However, some features won’t work properly if you choose to withhold your PII.

The features that require you to share PII include:

• leaving a comment or filling out a form;
• subscribing to a newsletter;
• and requesting to receive updates relating to a book or podcast.

3. What type of information is collected from you?

PII collected might include your name, address, email address, IP address, and information regarding your request (such as your newsletter subscription). In addition, we use Google Analytics, which attempts to collect non-personal information, such as browser type (Firefox, Chrome, etc.), browser version, and pages viewed.

On this site, you will not be asked any information regarding credit/debit card details through this website.

4. How is your information used?

We may use your information to:

• display your comments on a site page or post;
• send you communications you’ve requested;
• deal with requests for special consideration (contest giveaways, ARC fulfillment, review copies, editing feedback, etc.);
• personalize your experience and deliver the information in which you’ve expressed an interest;
• follow up after requested communications to provide extra information or to ask for assistance;
• improve the functionality and/or engagement of the site;
• and maintain internal records.

We do not use your information for purposes other than what you intend. For example, leaving a comment will not automatically subscribe you to our newsletters or marketing information, etc., if this is not your wish.

For the best experience of our visitors, we generally do not delete information unless requested (see sections #6 and 7 below). For example, information included with comments remains unless the comment itself is deleted, etc.

We do not track our visitors across other websites, use Google AdSense/AdWords, or allow advertising on our site, so your information is not used by us for targeted ads. However, we do use Google Analytics, which might collect information used by Google.

Other third parties beyond our control might collect information through tracking and cookies as well. It’s possible to discourage tracking and/or disallow use of cookies through your browser (see section #9 below).

5. Who has access to your information?

Only Richard Hardin and his administrator-level associates of this website have access to your information on our server. We will not sell, trade, or rent your information to third parties, and we will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

We may pass your information to our third party service providers for the purposes of completing tasks and providing requested services to you on our behalf (for example, using an email list distribution service, such as MailChimp, to distribute newsletters and blog post announcements). However, when we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service. We won’t release your information to any other third parties unless we are required to do so by law.

6. What are your choices?

You have a choice about whether you wish to share information with us or to receive information from us. If you decide not to share some PII with us, we may not be able to provide you some of the features and functionality of the site. However, we will not contact you for marketing purposes unless you’ve given your prior consent. We use double-opt-in for our newsletter subscribers, and we encourage those who change their mind about their interest in our marketing messages to unsubscribe by offering explicit invitations/reminders and instructions. You can change your subscription preferences for either informative and/or marketing purposes at any time by clicking the links at the bottom of every message to subscribers or by requesting through this form to have your information removed from our records.

7. How can you access, update, or delete your information?

You can update your preferences for newsletter and blog post subscriptions at any time by clicking the links at the bottom of every message to subscribers. To access, change, or delete your information gathered from other processes, please contact us at our Contact Form.

8. What security precautions are in place?

We contract with a server hosting company with an aggressive policy toward computer hackers and other server/networking risks. They take security seriously, but no online data can be guaranteed 100% secure. While we can’t control how your computer transmits information to us, once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems.

Our SSL certificate is a Google-friendly certificate only. At this stage, it is not cost effective to employ a commercial SSL or HTTPS certificate on our website.

9. What about the use of “cookies”?

Like many other websites, we use cookies—small pieces of information sent to your computer to allow our website to recognize you when you visit. They do not identify you as an individual, but help us improve our website and deliver a more personalized experience.

For a few examples, while on our site, cookies may be used to:

• identify any new comments on a post since the last time you visited that page
• pre-fill in your information in a comment form if you’ve left a comment before
• keep products in your cart while you continue browsing our site

Use of this site without blocking software or settings means you agree to allow cookies to be placed on your computer. We don’t have access to your computer through our use of cookies or to cookie data stored on your computer beyond what you choose to share with Google Analytics on our behalf.

It’s possible to switch off cookies by setting your browser preferences. For more information on how to switch off cookies, search for information on cookies and the name of your browser in a general web search (such as with Google) or check your browser’s Help section. Turning cookies off may result in a loss of some features when using our website.

If you don’t want your data collected with Google Analytics, you can install a browser add-on for Chrome. If you use a different browser, check with your browser manufacturer to determine if an add-on will work with your browser version or if settings can be changed.

10. What about links to other websites?

Our website contains thousands of links to sites run by other organizations. This Policy applies only to our website, so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.

We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website. Nonetheless, we want to protect the integrity of our site and the safety of our visitors, so we welcome any feedback about links to questionable sites.

In addition, if you visited our website through a link from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third party site.

11. What else should you know?

We do not promote the information, products, or services of this site to children under the age of 16. Visitors under the age of 16 should get their parent/guardian’s permission before sharing PII with us.

Information shared with us will be transferred to the United States, no matter the originating country. Our host provider is located in the United States. This Policy applies to all visitors, regardless of home country.

Any questions regarding this Policy or our privacy practices can be referred through our Contact Form.