I’m Jonathan Crowe, a self-employed blogger and writer living in Shawville, Quebec, Canada.
This privacy policy applies to websites under my control, including my personal website and project websites (jonathancrowe.net/jonathancrowe.ca and mcwetboy.net) as well as Gartersnake.info (gartersnake.info) and The Map Room (maproomblog.com).
These websites are hosted on DreamHost servers that physically reside in Ashburn, Virginia, USA.
This privacy policy outlines what personal data is collected from these websites’ visitors and why; what data is retained and for how long; and the rights you have to personal data gathered via these websites.
The short version: I personally collect very little personal data, and only in specific circumstances I set out below, but my websites make use of a number of common third-party tools that do collect data.
Regulatory Authorities
My websites are not commercial enterprises, and largely fall under exemptions for personal, artistic, journalistic and literary activities under Canadian and European data protection and privacy law. I mention Canadian law because I’m a Canadian citizen resident in Canada; the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation applies to EU residents visiting my websites.
As far as I can tell and to the best of my understanding, these websites are exempt from the requirements of Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act under paragraph 4(2)(b) of that Act with respect to personal and domestic activities, and under paragraph 4(2)(c) with respect to artistic, journalistic and literary activities, and from the requirements of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation under paragraph 2(2) with respect to personal and domestic activities; artistic, journalistic and literary activities are subject to national-level exemptions and derogations under paragraph 85(2) of the GDPR.
The following is in case they aren’t.
What Personal Data I Collect and Why I Collect It
Contact Forms
Contacting me via a contact form is the same as contacting me via email. The name, email address, website and any other personal data you provide will be retained. Any data collected is for the purposes of facilitating private communication, and will not be used for commercial or marketing purposes unless initiated by the sender.
Cookies
These websites do not generally use cookies except from third parties (as outlined below), for logged-in users (generally only me), or for comments.
In the event that comments are open on an article or blog post, or generally, on a website powered by WordPress, the following will apply:
- If you leave a comment, 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.
In the event that people who are not me are given accounts on one of these WordPress-powered websites, the following will apply to them:
- If you have an account and you log in to this site, a temporary cookie is set 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, several cookies are set 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 one day.
For more information, see Automattic’s Privacy Notice for Visitors to Our Users’ Sites and its Privacy Policy.
Email Newsletters
Both jonathancrowe.net and The Map Room offer newsletters that you can subscribe to via email. In each case I do not collect any data other than your email address. A subscriber’s email address is retained for the purpose of sending that subscriber newsletter messages. Because the newsletters are powered by DreamHost’s announcement list feature, DreamHost staff would presumably also be able to access the email addresses subscribing to these newsletters. When a subscriber unsubscribes, their email address is removed from the list of subscribers.
Third Parties
Advertising
These websites may display advertisements served by third-party companies, including Google. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. For example, Google uses the DoubleClick cookie to enable it and its partners to serve advertisements based on visits to this and other websites.
For more information on how to control and opt out from the use of interest-based advertising, please visit this page from the Network Advertising Initiative. To opt out of Google’s DoubleClick cookie for interest-based advertising, please visit Google’s Ads Settings page. To opt out of interest-based advertising from dozens of different advertising vendors, please visit the Digital Advertising Alliance Consumer Choice Page.
Embedded Content from Other Websites
Articles and blog posts on this website may include embedded content, such as videos, images, maps and other material. 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 and Site Statistics
These websites may use analytical tools, such as Google Analytics and built-in site stats from WordPress, to obtain non-personalized aggregate data about who visits this site. I can, for example, find out how many people visited from Canada, or from Facebook. Information like this helps me understand what works and doesn’t, why people are visiting, and what parts of the site need working on. I don’t get any information about individual visitors. Learn more about Google Analytics and privacy, and how to opt out of Google Analytics. Learn more about WordPress.com stats, including what data is collected and what activity is tracked.
For more information, see Automattic’s Privacy Notice for Visitors to Our Users’ Sites and its Privacy Policy, and Google’s Privacy Policy.
Gartersnake.info uses Google Analytics. Both jonathancrowe.net and The Map Room use WordPress.com site statistics.
Social Media
These websites make use of social media buttons from social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. These buttons make use of embedded code provided by the social media companies that I have no control over. If you’re logged in to one of these social media networks, they will be able to present information on this website based on your data (friends, likes, et cetera); I don’t have access to that data. For more information on social media and privacy, see the privacy policies of Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter.
How Long I Retain Your Data
If you contact me via a contact form, the message and its metadata may be retained indefinitely in the feedback section of the WordPress database, and in my Gmail inbox. Email subscribers’ addresses are removed when the subscriber unsubscribes. Google Analytics data is set not to automatically expire.
What Rights You Have Over Your Data
If you have an account on a website covered by this policy, have left comments, or have sent me a message via a WordPress contact form, you can request an exported file of the personal data held on this website, including any data you have provided to me. You can also request that I erase any personal data this website holds about you. This does not include any data I am obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes. Contact me at privacy@jonathancrowe.net to make that request.
Where I Send Your Data
Visitor comments and messages sent via a contact form may be checked by an automated spam detection service.
Contact Information
If you have a privacy concern related to these websites, contact me at privacy@jonathancrowe.net.
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