This Privacy Policy explains what information YV Commission (yvcommission.com) collects when you visit, how we use it and the choices you have.
The short version: you can read everything on this site without creating an account or telling us who you are. We collect very little about you, we don’t sell your personal information, and we never ask for your Social Security number, National Insurance number or bank details.
This policy applies to readers everywhere, including our readers in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Information We Collect
Information you choose to give us
- Contact form: if you send us a message, we receive your name, email address and whatever you write in the message.
- Comments: if comments are open and you leave one, we receive the name and email you enter, your comment, and your IP address. This helps us fight spam.
You never have to give us this information to read the site.
Information collected automatically
Like most websites, our site and the services we use automatically collect some technical details when you visit. This can include:
- Your IP address and approximate location, such as your country or city
- Your browser, device type and operating system
- The pages you visit, how long you stay and the site that sent you here
This information is mostly collected through cookies and similar technologies, which we explain in the next section.
Cookies, Analytics and Advertising
Cookies are small text files stored in your browser. We use them for three things:
- Making the site work: for example, remembering your cookie choices.
- Understanding our readers: we use Google Analytics to see which articles people read and how they find us. This data is grouped together and helps us decide what to cover. It isn’t used to identify you personally.
- Showing ads: the site is free to read because it is supported by advertising.
About Google advertising
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your previous visits to this website or other websites.
- Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
- You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors’ cookies at aboutads.info or, in the UK and Europe, at youronlinechoices.eu.
- To learn more, see how Google uses information from sites that use its services.
Your cookie choices
When you first visit from the UK or Europe, we ask for your consent before setting non-essential cookies. You can change your choice at any time using the cookie settings link at the bottom of the page. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings, though some parts of the site may not work as well.
How We Use, Share and Keep Information
How we use it
- To reply to your messages and fix errors you report
- To run, secure and improve the site, and to block spam and abuse
- To understand which topics our readers care about
- To show ads, through our advertising partners
Who we share it with
We don’t sell or rent your personal information. We only share it with:
- Service providers who help run the site, such as our web host, Google Analytics, Google AdSense and our contact form and anti-spam tools. They handle data on our behalf or under their own privacy policies.
- Authorities, if the law requires it or we need to protect the site, our readers or our rights.
Some of these providers are based outside your country, including in the United States. When data is transferred, it is protected by the safeguards those providers use.
How long we keep it
We keep contact form messages only as long as we need them to deal with your message, and generally no longer than 12 months. Comments stay on the site until they are removed. Analytics and advertising data is kept according to Google’s own retention settings.
Your Privacy Rights
If you’re in the UK or Europe
Under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR, you have the right to:
- Ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- Ask us to correct or delete it
- Object to, or ask us to limit, how we use it
- Withdraw your consent to cookies at any time
- Complain to a data protection authority. In the UK, that’s the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
We process your information based on your consent (for non-essential cookies and ads), our legitimate interest in running and protecting the site, and, when you contact us, to respond to your request.
If you’re in the United States
Depending on your state, such as California, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect, to ask us to delete it, and to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information for targeted advertising. We don’t sell personal information for money. You can limit ad personalization through Google’s Ads Settings or your browser’s privacy controls.
How to use your rights
Send us a request through our Contact Us page. We’ll reply within the time the law requires, usually within 30 days. We may need to confirm your identity first.
Children’s Privacy
This site is written for adults. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 in the UK and Europe). If you believe a child has sent us their details, contact us and we’ll delete them.
Keeping Your Information Safe
Our site uses a secure (HTTPS) connection, and we limit who can access the messages we receive. No website can be completely secure, though, so please don’t send us sensitive personal information through the contact form.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy if we add new features or services, or if the law changes. When we do, we’ll update the date at the top of this page.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, please reach out through our Contact Us page.