Privacy policy
This Privacy Policy was last updated in May 2018.
Ben Patterson and Here’s the Thing (“HTT”), realize the importance of feeling safe online. We are fully committed to ensuring that your privacy is respected and protected. Our Privacy Policy below outlines the type of information we collect and receive from you when you visit and interact with heresthethingblog.com (“HTT Site”) as well as ways in which we process and, sometimes, share such information and how you can correct or change such information.
PLEASE REVIEW THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND THE TERMS OF SERVICE FOR THE HTT SITE CAREFULLY. YOUR USE OF THIS SITE SIGNIFIES YOUR AGREEMENT TO SUCH PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE.
1. How HTT Collects Information
A. Personal Data You Provide
B. Information HTT Collects
2. Our Use of Your Information
3. Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information to Third Parties
5. Third-Party Advertising and Links to Other Sites
6. Guidelines Regarding Children
7. Public Forums/Chat Rooms/Message Boards/Bulletin Boards/Social Networking
8. How We Protect and Secure Your Information
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
1. How HTT Collects Information
A. Personal Data you provide to HTT
Personally Identifiable Information is any information that can be used to identify a specific individual, for example, your name, email address, home address, and phone number. HTT may ask you to provide, or you may have the opportunity to provide, Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) in various places throughout the HTT Site. Some of these areas where the collection of such information takes place are listed below:
HTT Email Newsletter
HTT currently offers two newsletters: 1) here’s the thing: Tips & How-tos and 2) here’s the thing: Tech Deals. If you subscribe to one or both of these newsletters, you will be required to provide and confirm a valid email address to verify that you have opted in to receiving the newsletter. Our newsletter mailing lists are managed by a third-party service called Mailchimp. You may click here to view Mailchimp’s Privacy Policy.
Surveys and Polls
HTT may, from time to time, offer online surveys and questionnaires that ask users for opinions on various issues and/or other information. Occasionally, we may request demographic information (like ZIP code, age or gender) when you answer a survey. Such surveys are completely voluntary.
Sweepstakes and Contests
HTT may, from time to time, sponsor or host sweepstakes and contests throughout the HTT Site. HTT typically may ask you for your email address, first and last name, gender, and date of birth or age demographic. HTT may also sometimes ask for post office addresses in order to verify the entrant’s identity. In some situations, additional information will be requested as part of the entry process, such as a prize selection choice.
User Comments
Visitors to the HTT site may leave comments by using the User Comments section, which is hosted by Disqus, a third-party service. Disqus is responsible for user registration, storing your email address, text of comments you choose to write, and any other information or files you provide. For more information on how Disqus handles your data, please click here.
If your comment includes PII in your post, such as your first and last names, such information will be viewable to all other visitors to the HTT site. HTT reserves the right to modify or delete any comment that includes, or appears to include, PII of any individual. Notwithstanding the foregoing, HTT is not required nor does HTT assume any responsibility associated with monitoring and removing any PII of users from the HTT Site as described in this paragraph.
Ask Ben
HTT requires that you provide a valid email address when interacting with the “Ask Ben” section of the HTT site. Optionally, users may also submit their name, although they are under no obligation to do so. The email addresses that HTT collects from the “Ask Ben” form are used for the purpose of communicating and will not be shared with any third party for any other use.
Uploading Photos to HTT
In various places on the HTT site, users may have the opportunity to upload a photo along with a comment, question or written materials. By submitting a photo, you understand and agree that HTT may reproduce, digitize, modify, change, alter, adapt, or otherwise make use of your photo on the HTT Site at HTT’s sole discretion. You also understand and agree that your photo may be used alone or with other materials, including but not limited to text, data, images, other photographs, illustrations, animation, graphics, and video or audio segments on the HTT Site.
B. Information HTT Collects
When you visit the HTT Site and interact with the services and tools that reside there, HTT and third parties with whom HTT has contracted to provide services to HTT may collect information on your actions. This type of information is generally collected from two sources. One is from the server log files and the other is from cookies.
IP Address
Your IP address is a number that is assigned by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to your computer to identify its location. We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer the HTT website. HTT may also use IP addresses to ban those users who are not complying with our Terms and Conditions.
Cookies
Our site uses a feature of your browser to set a “cookie” on your computer. Cookies are small packets of information that a site’s computer stores on your computer. The HTT Site can then read the cookies whenever you visit the HTT Site. These cookies allow us to use the information we collect to customize your HTT experience so that your visit to HTT is as relevant and as valuable to you as possible. To learn more about cookies, please visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
You may modify your browser preference to provide you with choices relating to cookies. You have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set or to reject all cookies. Click here for more information on how to do so. If you choose to reject cookies you may be unable to use those HTT services that require registration in order to participate or will have to sign in each time you visit the HTT Site.
Our advertising is currently served by third-party advertising companies that deliver a cookie to you so the ads you see can be tracked and ensure that you are not shown the same ad too many times. Since the third-party advertising company tags your computer with a number, they know nothing about who you are. HTT does not provide these third party advertising companies with any personally identifiable information. However, these companies may use non-personally identifiable information about your visits to the HTT Site and other sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.
Google Adsense
Google Adsense is one of the third-party services HTT uses to show advertisements on the website. HTT has enabled Google Adsense to show non-personalized ads to HTT users in the European Economic Area. According to Google, the cookies used by these non-personalized ads do not target users based on their past behaviors. Also, the cookies for these non-personalized ads served by Google allow for frequency capping, aggregated ad reporting, as well as the prevention of fraud and abuse.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics (GA) is a service that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. HTT utilizes GA to collect non-PII information about HTT Site visitors and users, including, but not limited to, users’ browser types, aggregate geographical statistics, operating systems and fluctuations in number of visitors during a standard 24-hour period. If you wish to opt-out of GA tracking, click here.
2. Our Use of Your Information
HTT uses the information you provide for several purposes, such as to communicate with you and to give you a better experience when visiting the HTT Site by personalizing tools, content, services and email messages. HTT also uses this information to build new services and develop offers that HTT believes are more relevant and valuable to you.
3. Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information to Third Parties
HTT does not sell or otherwise share Personally Identifiable Information with unaffiliated third parties without your consent (please see the Opt-In/Opt-Out Policy below), except in the following instances: (i) disclosure is required by applicable law or pursuant to a court or similar order; (ii) as deemed necessary, in HTT’s discretion, to protect the legal rights or the property of HTT, an HTT user or third party, or to prevent personal injury; and/or (iii) in the event of a sale, merger, assignment, joint venture or other transfer or disposition of a portion or all of the assets or stock of HTT or its affiliated entities (including, without limitation, in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings). In addition, HTT may provide Personally Identifiable Information to third parties who are providing technical or fulfillment services on behalf of HTT when such disclosure is required in order to provide those services, provided that such third parties agree to be bound by HTT’s Privacy Policy. HTT also reserves the right to share any Personally Identifiable Information or other information about you which you provide to (or which is gathered from) the HTT Site with its employees, and any or all of its subsidiaries and affiliates, and their employees (collectively, our “Affiliates”) (subject to the opt-out right described below, with respect to disclosures of Personally Identifiable Information to Affiliates for their direct marketing uses).
Sometimes, sweepstakes and contests offered on the HTT Site are sponsored by unaffiliated third parties. Information that you provide as part of an entry into a third-party sweepstakes or contest will be shared with the sponsor if we advise you of such in the sweepstakes rules. Most sweepstakes and contests will also ask you to consent to the release of information contained within the entry form for tax purposes if you become a winner. You should carefully review the rules of each sweepstakes and contest which you enter as they may contain additional important information about HTT’s or a sponsor’s use of your personally identifiable information.
The information you provide on pages of the HTT Site that are co-branded with a third party (including tools that are hosted by a third party) may be shared with advertisers and partners on an aggregated basis and in these instances your permission will not be requested since no Personally Identifiable Information will be shared or provided to these third-party sponsors or advertisers. HTT will, however, use commercially reasonable efforts to contractually require all such third-party advertisers and partners to agree not to use any non-Personally Identifiable Information about you, in conjunction with other sources of information, or otherwise, to identify you.
4. HTT Opt-in/Opt-out Policy
From time to time, you may be asked to indicate whether you are interested in receiving information from HTT about special offers or news about the HTT Site and our advertisers. If you do choose to receive these communications by means of an opt-in, we will occasionally send you an email message that matches your request(s). We currently provide the following opt-out opportunities:
- At any time, you can follow a link provided in every newsletter or email message to unsubscribe from that mailing list or email service.
- At any time, you can contact us through [email protected] to have your contact preference changed to “Do Not Contact Me.”
- Notwithstanding anything else in this Privacy Policy, please note that HTT reserves the right to contact you in the event of a change in the HTT Site Terms and Conditions and/or this Privacy Policy.
You will also be provided with the opportunity to opt-in to receive offers, goods and services directly from select companies other than HTT. In such instances where you have opted-in to receive such offers, goods and services from third parties, HTT will share your information with such third parties and will often provide you access to the Privacy Policy of the third party for your review via a link. In some instances, when you have the opportunity on the HTT Site to subscribe to a newsletter offered by a third-party email service or advertiser or partner, the email address information will be located on the third party’s server and any information you provide is subject to that entity’s Privacy Policy, not this one.
If you have additional questions about how one of our advertisers, partners or sponsors use information about you, we urge you to contact them directly. For purposes of this Privacy Policy, “opt-in” is generally defined as any affirmative action by an HTT user or visitor to submit or receive information, as the case may be.
5. Third-Party Advertising and Links to other Sites
The HTT Site contains links to advertiser and partner websites that are not co-branded or affiliated with HTT in any way. We cannot be responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such non-HTT websites, and we do not control the practices of any of our advertisers or partners to whose sites we link.
Notice Regarding Interest-Based Advertising: Partner Websites may allow third-party companies, including ad networks, to serve advertisements, provide other advertising services and/or collect certain information when you visit HTT. Third party companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g. click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visit to HTT Site in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. Third parties may use non-cookie technologies to recognize your computer or device and/or to collect and record information about your web surfing activity including your activities on HTT. These technologies may be used directly on HTT. Please keep in mind that your web browser may not permit you to block the use of these non-cookie technologies, and those browser settings that block cookies may have no effect on such techniques. To learn more about this Interest-Based Advertising or to opt-out of this type of advertising by those third parties that are members of self-regulatory programs such as the Network Advertising Initiative, please visit the NAI’s website (www.networkadvertising.org) which will allow you to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising by one, or all, NAI members.
6. Guidelines Regarding Children
Personal information about children is a concern for all of us. At HTT, we take the protection of children’s privacy seriously. HTT does not encourage participation or visitation by children. Visitors who are known to be or who are perceived to be under thirteen (13) or sixteen (16) in the EU are prohibited from leaving any information on the HTT Site, including, but not limited to, signing up for the newsletter and leaving comments on articles and forums.
HTT is not designed or intended for use by children, especially those under age thirteen (13) or sixteen (16) in the EU.
7. Public Forums/Chat Rooms/Message Boards/Bulletin Boards/Social Networking
In order to comment on an article or in a forum on the HTT Site, you must be at least thirteen (13) or sixteen (16) in the EU and provide a valid email address. The comments section of any article or forum post is, unless otherwise stated or in breach of this Privacy Policy, open to all HTT Site visitors 13 and over or 16 and over in the EU. Please be aware that any information you disclose in these public forum areas becomes public information and is immediately accessible on the HTT Site, so it is important for you to exercise discretion and appropriate caution when deciding to reveal personal information in these areas. HTT may decide to utilize this content in order to enhance HTT’s editorial, advertising, promotional and similar activities. In those cases, HTT will usually credit a commenter by listing the first name and the first initial of the last name provided by such commenter.
8. How We Protect and Secure Your Information
HTT has numerous security measures in place to protect you from the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control, including your credit card information if you choose to conduct an e-commerce transaction on the HTT Site. All of your user information requires use of your password. We recommend that you do not share your password with anyone. HTT uses industry-standard tools, such as firewalls, to ensure that your information is secure and confidential.
9. Applicable Law
We control and operate the HTT Site from the United States. The HTT Site is not intended to subject us to the laws or jurisdiction of any state, country or territory other than that of the United States. Please note that we do not represent or warrant that the HTT Site is appropriate for use in any particular jurisdiction. Those who choose to access the HTT Site do so at their own initiative and are responsible for complying with all local laws, rules and regulations.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We will notify HTT Site visitors and users when we make any significant changes to our Privacy Policy that affect the use of any Personally Identifiable Information we collect. We will not make new use of any Personally Identifiable Information which HTT gathered from individual users and visitors prior to any such significant change in our Privacy Policy without first obtaining the user’s or visitor’s consent for any new uses.
In addition, HTT reserves the right to make non-significant changes to our Privacy Policy that will not affect HTT’s use of a user’s Personally Identifiable Information at any time without any notice to you other than posting any such changes in a revised Privacy Policy on the HTT Site. We encourage you to periodically review our Privacy Policy to be sure you are familiar with the most current version. The Privacy Policy will include the most recent date in which any revision has been made. Please note that this Privacy Policy is also incorporated into HTT’s Terms & Conditions.
11. Contact Information
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or anything else about HTT, you can contact us at the following email address: [email protected].