This page is specifically for residents of California in the United States. It is commonly referred to as the “Do Not Sell My Information” page, the “CCPA Compliance Statement,” or the “AB-375 Information Page.”
This page is meant to provide additional information to California residents and should be considered as an addendum to our general Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. The information provided in those documents still applies to residents of California, and we encourage visitors to read them in full.
Summary in Simple Language
In 2018, the State of California passed a law called AB-375, also known as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This law, which came into effect on January 1, 2020, places restrictions on internet activities for California residents.
The CCPA was enacted in response to alarming reports in the media about incidents like the well-known Cambridge Analytica scandal in other countries. Its purpose is to regulate the sale of personal information on the internet. Specifically, the law applies to the “transfer or communication of a consumer’s personal information to another business or a third party in exchange for money or other valuable consideration.”
The law aims to inform California residents about how their personal data is being used on the internet. It also gives them the option to opt out of the sale of their information. However, the law unintentionally imposes restrictions on other uses of data on the internet, even when no sale is involved.
Like many others, this website utilizes cookies, scripts, and web beacons. Please note that disabling these technologies may affect the functionality of the website. Certain features, such as personalized article suggestions based on your interests, may not work properly if these technologies are disabled. For more information, please refer to our complete Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
The CCPA law defines “personal information” and limits its use. While our information about you may represent your online presence, it is not personally identifiable. In other words, we do not know your identity.
Here’s the kind of data we have access to and what we know about your online activity:
“Someone from [IP hosted by Company A] in [City/State] visited our site from [a Pinterest pin or a Google search result] on [date]. They viewed articles X, Y, and Z. They were using an iPad and spent 15 minutes on our site.”
This information is not highly personal despite the attention-grabbing media stories and passionate political discussions.
As a California resident, you have the right to block us from “selling” your personal information. However, due to the broad and ambiguous wording of the law, this opt-out may also prevent us from using any information about you in collaboration with our partners to enhance your experience on our website. This means we won’t be able to use data or your presence on our website to plan articles, make changes or updates, identify technical issues, or provide other legitimate services.
As a California resident, you can trigger the opt-out mechanism in several ways outlined below in the CCPA Compliance Information section. However, please note that opting out may make yourself more identifiable. To clarify, by contacting us to opt out, you will be providing us with personally identifiable information about yourself that we would not have had access to otherwise. This is an unintended consequence of the law.
Do Not Sell My Personal Information/CCPA Compliance Information
Introduction
This document provides information about the use of cookies and related technologies on our website (referred to as “the website”). Cookies, as well as other technologies, are employed by us and third parties we have engaged. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy for a comprehensive understanding.
Understanding Cookies
Cookies are small, uncomplicated files that are sent along with website pages and stored by your browser on your computer or device’s hard drive. During subsequent visits, the stored information may be returned to our servers or the servers of relevant third parties.
What are Scripts?
Scripts are snippets of program code used to ensure proper and interactive functionality of our website. These codes are executed either on our server or your device.
What is a Web Beacon?
A web beacon, also known as a pixel tag, is an invisible piece of text or image placed on a website to monitor its traffic. Web beacons store various data about you for this purpose.
Consent
Upon your first visit to our website, we will display a pop-up explaining the use of cookies. You have the right to opt-out and object to the continued use of non-functional cookies. However, please note that disabling cookies via your browser may result in the improper functioning of our website.
Third Parties
We have established agreements with third-party companies that place cookies on our website. Nonetheless, we cannot guarantee these third parties’ reliable or secure handling of your personal information. Companies like Google act as independent data controllers. We recommend reading the privacy statements of these companies.
Cookies
7.1 Technical or Functional Cookies
Functional cookies ensure the proper functioning of specific website sections and retain your user preferences. By placing these cookies, we enhance your browsing experience by eliminating the need to repeatedly enter the same information when visiting our website or commenting on relevant blog posts. Like most websites, these cookies may be placed without your explicit consent.
7.2 Analytical Cookies
This type of cookies assists us in understanding how our website is used, primarily for analytical purposes, enabling us to improve the user experience. These cookies do not collect personally identifiable information but rather aggregate and anonymize data.
7.3 Advertising Cookies
Occasionally, we utilize tracking pixels that set cookies to support our marketing and online advertising efforts. Such cookies are widespread in online advertising. These cookies and our advertising partners do not gather personally identifiable information. We can effectively promote our products and services by better understanding our audiences’ interests. For instance, if you have viewed specific pages on our website, we may provide you with highlighted information about a relevant service or product. This process is anonymized, and you can opt out of these cookies at any time.
7.4 Social Media Buttons
We have included buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram on our website to facilitate page promotion (e.g., “like,” “pin”) or sharing (e.g., “tweet”) on social networks. These buttons utilize code from the respective social networks, which may place cookies. The social media buttons also have the capability to store and process certain information, allowing personalized advertisements to be displayed. To understand the practices concerning your (personal) data processed through these cookies, please consult the privacy statements of these social networks, as they may change periodically. The retrieved data is anonymized to the greatest extent possible. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram are based in the United States.