Privacy Policy

Ha. This is kind of a funny page to have on my site, given that Darwood & Smitty deals so much with surveillance in the future, and I find the question of privacy vs. (supposed?) security such a fascinating subject. Especially on the topic of, "When should we care?"

But unlike the government, I'm happy to let you know how I'm snooping around on you. Which mainly I'm not, but websites these days ... what are ya gonna do? Anyway, unlike most of the boring policies out there, I'm going to try putting this in plainspeak.

So here's the deal:

• This site uses cookies so I can see what kind of traffic I'm getting, what kind of browsers people are using, where they're coming from, and so on. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it just tells me that more people are interested in the answer to Einstein's Riddle than they are in the end of the world.
  
  But as far as I know, this gives me no way to identify you as an individual. And my policy is, I don't want to know anyway, unless you write to me and want to tell me about your experience here or how much you enjoy my writing or music.  ;)
  
  
• If you choose to subscribe to my blog / newsletter (you're planning to subscribe for great content, right?), I'll be able to see your e-mail address. Including your name is optional. If you include that, I'll be able to see that. I won't know if you made it up, unless you've entered something like SillyMonkey0303. Then I'll be suspicious. But I'll still be polite about it just in case:
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• ​​After sending an e-mail, I can see who opened it and clicked on the links. It makes me sad when you don't open my e-mails, but it's ok. I'm not going to ask you why.
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• You know how you visit a website and then you start seeing ads about that site? This isn't like learning a new word and then hearing it the next day. With digital ads, this is a technique called "remarketing" or "retargeting." It means a website has put a tracking pixel in your browser, and that pixel is triggering those ads. I may have pixels and run ads like these from time to time. I will not know that I'm targeting you or that you've been pixelated.
  
  Just so you know, you can sometimes click on a box or x or triangle or something in those ads to let the ad network know you don't want to receive that kind of ad anymore. (Really good after shopping for someone else.) Just remember ... ads aren't all bad. They keep the internet free / low cost. And wouldn't you rather receive ads of things you're actually interested in?
  
  
• I may run ads on this site to help squeak a few pennies out of the time I put into it. Those ads may be tracking you as I've described, but not from my end of things. I won't know what ads you're seeing.
  
  
• I may link to products through affiliate links, and if you buy something through such a link, I might see that this thing has been purchased. (The link allows me to make a little money from the referral but does not increase your cost, as promotional costs are built in either way.) On a retail site like Amazon, I would not be able to see anything about who bought it.
  
  ​I will only know that you've followed a link if you do so and choose to become more of a partner on a team, although I'm not involved in many programs like that.
  
  
• As far as we can tell these days, the government is tracking just about everything. Same with your internet service provider. And in some cases other hackers. So unless you employ something like a Virtual Private Network, I can't really help who else might be stalking you while you're on this website. Or the next one. Or the next one.
  
  
• I also can't stop people from hacking Weebly (used to build this site, and who may hold info from forms you submit on this site) or my mailing list provider, etc. Of course I use reputable providers, but even governments get hacked. Which makes for pretty interesting stories. And so, I can't guarantee the safety of info you provide against breaches like that. Nor can the next website you visit. Nor the next one.
  
  On this note, if you ever request that your personal information be deleted from my possession through my providers, you can write and let me know.
  
  
• I don't share, rent, or sell your information except as required by law (hopefully never) unless it's to fulfill an order or other obligation for you. For instance, I may forward your order to those who will send your physical or digital product.

I've done my best to explain all the ways I gather and use your data. If you have any questions about this policy, please write to me and I'll answer what I can. Thank you.