At FTM Blog, we are committed to safeguarding your privacy and personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect your data when you interact with our website, including our forum, blog comments, contact form, and affiliate shop.
1. Who We Are
Our website address is: https://www.ftmblog.website. The site is managed by Mr. Frank Hammond. Guest bloggers, once we have them, will be credited for their contributions. As FTM Blog grows, this section will be updated to reflect any new employees, partners, or collaborating organizations.
2. Comments and Forum Posts
When visitors leave comments on blog articles or post in our forum, we collect the data submitted in the comment or post form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.
We may use an anonymized string (hash) created from your email address and provide it to the Gravatar service to check if you are a spammer or not. The Gravatar privacy policy can be found here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. Once your comment is approved, your profile picture, if applicable, will be visible alongside your comment.
3. Media Uploads
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid including embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the website can download and extract location data from uploaded images.
4. Cookies
Our website uses cookies to enhance user experience. Specifically:
- Comments and Forum Cookies: If you leave a comment or post in the forum, you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies for your convenience. These cookies last for one year.
- Login Cookies: If you visit the login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. Upon logging in, additional cookies will be set to save your login information and screen display preferences. Login cookies last for two days, while screen options cookies last for a year. Selecting “Remember Me” will extend the login cookie for two weeks. Logging out will remove the login cookies.
- Publishing Cookies: When you publish or edit an article, a cookie is saved in your browser. This cookie contains no personal data and expires after one day.
5. Embedded Content
Articles on this site may include embedded content such as videos, images, and links from external websites. Embedded content behaves as though you are visiting the external website directly. These external sites may collect data, use cookies, and track your interactions, especially if you are logged into those websites.
6. Affiliate Links and Affiliate Shop
We participate in the Amazon Associates Program, meaning that affiliate links on our site may track your behavior to provide personalized advertisements and earn commissions. When you click on an affiliate link, Amazon may track your interaction with the product and website. Similarly, our affiliate-linked shop, which links to several different vetted affiliate company’s pages, may collect certain data to track purchases made through the site. By clicking on affiliate links, you consent to the data collection practices of those third-party platforms.
7. Contact Form
When you use the contact form on our website, we collect your chosen name, pronouns, email address, and message. This information is used solely to respond to your inquiry and will not be shared or used for any marketing purposes without your explicit consent.
8. Who We Share Your Data With
Currently, we do not share your data with third parties except as necessary for site functionality, such as through the Gravatar service for comment profile pictures or Amazon and other companies for affiliate tracking. However, we may use aggregated data for analytical purposes to improve the user experience, analyze site behavior, and present targeted advertisements.
9. How Long We Retain Your Data
- Comments and Forum Posts: If you leave a comment or post, the content and its metadata are retained indefinitely to recognize and approve follow-up interactions automatically.
- Registered Users: For users who register on the site, we store the personal information provided via the contact form. Users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time. Website administrators also have access to this information.
10. Your Rights Over Your Data
If you have an account on this site, have left comments, or interacted through the forum, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold. This does not include data we are required to retain for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
11. Where Your Data Is Sent
Visitor comments and forum posts may be checked through automated spam detection services. Your data may also be used for analytics to help us optimize the site and improve user experience.
If you have any concerns or questions regarding your privacy on FTM Blog, please contact us directly through our contact form or email Frank here.