With Whom You’re Dealing
Hi there. I’m the author. I personally handle most things going on at this website (www.renaissanceguy.com). I do have some help with running things, chiefly from the web host (currently bluehost), the folks at WordPress, Akismet, Jetpack, WP Forms, NSP Code, and (tangentially), Patreon and Youtube. When I say “we”, I’m referring mostly to myself, but also to the website, which includes these other groups, and also optimistically anyone with whom I might collaborate in the future.
This privacy policy is written to comply with all of the relevant laws and regulations, and with my own ethical principles. But as it may be legally relevant in some jurisdictions, this website is a private, non-commercial entity, is not a corporation, nor is it a data collector (though it does, by the nature of the website’s architecture, collect data).
What Information is collected and Why
This website may automatically collect your IP address, WordPress.com or website user ID (if logged in), WordPress.com or website username (if logged in), user agent, visiting URL, referring URL, timestamp of event, browser language, and country code. This information is automatically anonymized and used for analytical and technical purposes.
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 at their website. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data. Visitors to the website may download and extract any location data from images on the website.
This website uses the plugin WPForms Lite to generate contact forms. Users may opt to submit information through these forms, which may or may not include personal information, depending on what you put in. Although we always do our best to respect your privacy, it is best that you avoid providing any information which would cause trouble for you if it became public.
If you have an account and you log in to this site, as is required for commenting, 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.
Articles and pages on this site may on occasion include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, widgets, etc.). Depending on the content, embedded content from other websites may behave in the same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. This means those websites could collect data about you, or monitor your activities.
With whom we share your data
Your data is never shared with outside advertisers or marketers.
Data specifically relating to security, including successful and failed login attempts, and comment activity are shared automatically with WordPress and Jetpack.
Naturally, we will disclose your data to relevant authorities if so compelled by law, or if we are led to believe that doing so will prevent harm to you or others.
How long we keep 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, 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.
Your rights over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you may have a legal right to request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You may 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.
Please be advised when submitting such a request, that although we will adhere to all relevant laws and regulations to the best of our ability, all such requests are handled manually, and so may take some time in executing after we receive your request. This website does not have a dedicated data protection officer, and so privacy concerns are addressed through the normal contact mechanisms.
How we protect your data
This website uses SSL encryption. Most of your data is anonymized. No specific protocols exist for site administrators at this time, but all are bound by this privacy policy and the principles explained here.
As a private blog, no official set-in-stone protocols currently exist regarding data breaches. If we become aware of a breach, we will notify potentially affected users in a timely manner as necessitated by law.
Third parties from which we receive data
Our system automatically receives data on security threats through Jetpack and Akismet. This data is not viewable by humans, but is collected and acted on autonomously.
We receive data on our patrons through Patreon. This data is subject to their privacy policy, available on their website. We also receive analytical data from our audience on YouTube, which through its links to this website often encompasses the same audience.
Automated systems that use your data
Our security systems use user data to detect potential threats to the website and security, and may in rare circumstances act to prevent access from users who seem to be threatening security. Additionally, users which engage in “spamming” behavior may be blocked automatically. In both cases, these actions are subject to manual human review.
Privacy with regards to children
In accordance with the principles of the Children Online Privacy Act, this website does not market itself to children (as defined by whatever legal guidelines exist in their country of jurisdiction). In the interest of ensuring the privacy and safety of all involved, should we become aware of a registered user who falls under this minimum age, that user’s account will be immediately suspended.