Our official privacy policy begins at Privacy Policy – The Legal Stuff below. It contains language our lawyers say we must have.
Some of the words in that policy are rather “un-Packet Pushers” though. So before reading the official policy, here are some plain words from us. We want you to have this context because we don’t like how some of the official language might be interpreted, and privacy—both yours and ours—is a really big deal to us.
About sharing your info with others. Except as we spell out in our policy, we’ll never share or sell your name or e-mail address to any person or company without your permission. Period. We’re very strongly opposed to such tactics and are very practiced at saying “no” when people ask us to share our audience’s personal data.
About third parties. We use Google Analytics to gather anonymized statistics about our website. We use Beehiiv to store subscriber email addresses and deliver our newsletters.
About newsletter signups. If you sign up for one of our newsletters, that’s all you did: You signed up for a newsletter. You didn’t sign up to get spammed to death with 10 other newsletters or promotional offers. We don’t subscribe you to a bunch of other stuff. If you subscribe to a newsletter and decide it’s not for you, you can unsubscribe. It’s all under your control.
About browsing around the site. We don’t perform algorithmic analysis of your browsing habits to customize the content we show you. We don’t have “customized search results,” which is a technique some sites use to sneak sponsored content into search result sets. The Packet Pushers website experience should be the same for everyone.
About sponsored content. All Packet Pushers sponsored content is clearly marked as such. Vendors can’t pay us to make their sponsored shows or blog posts rank higher in our search results. If you’re searching our site and find a bit of sponsored content, it means you came across that bit of sponsored content naturally, and it’s probably worth checking out.
Now for the official, boring, privacy policy written in legalese because that’s what the lawyers want.
Privacy Policy – The Legal Stuff
Last updated: Sep 13, 2023
This privacy policy sets out how Packet Pushers Interactive, LLC (“Packet Pushers”) uses and protects any information that you give Packet Pushers when you use this website.
Packet Pushers is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured it will only be used in accordance with this privacy policy.
Packet Pushers may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure you’re happy with any changes.
What we collect
We may collect the following information:
- Name and job title
- Contact information including email address
- Demographic information such as postal or zip code, preferences, and interests
- Other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers
What we do with the information we gather
We collect this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
- Keep internal records
- Improve our products and services
- Complete audience research
- Deliver prizes or incentives related to surveys and contests
We will never sell your information.
Security
Packet Pushers is committed to ensuring that your information is secure. To prevent unauthorized access or disclosure we’ve put in place suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
How we use cookies
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyze web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes, and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyze data about web page traffic and improve our website. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you don’t. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
Third parties
We use Google Analytics to gather anonymized statistics about our website. Google Analytics uses cookies, to help our website analyze how users use the site. You can find out more about how Google uses data when you visit our website by visiting How Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps on the Google website. For more information regarding Google Analytics please visit Google’s website, and pages that describe Google Analytics, such as google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html.
We also use Beehiiv to store subscriber email addresses and deliver our newsletters. Beehiiv’s Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.beehiiv.com/privacy.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. Once you’ve used these links to leave our site, you should note that we don’t have any control over that other website. Therefore, we can’t be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information you provide while visiting such sites and such sites aren’t governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Controlling your personal information
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
If you’ve previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at [email protected].
Except as we outline in this policy, we will not sell, distribute, or release your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law.
Incorrect information
If you believe that any information we’re holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please email us at [email protected] as soon as possible. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
California privacy rights
To visitors, users, and others who reside in the State of California:
This notice is to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) and any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this notice. We may update these California Privacy Rights as necessary and in the event of changes in the CCPA. These terms apply only to California residents.
Categories of Personal Information Company Collects – California Residents
As described in “What we collect”, we collect and/or disclose personal information about you when you visit our website and we use such personal information for the purposes described in “What we do with the information we gather”.
Personal information does not include information that is: (a) publicly available information from government records; (b) de-identified or aggregated consumer information; or (c) certain information excluded from the scope of CCPA.
You may request details of the personal information we hold about you and you may request that we delete your personal information that we collect from you. To exercise the access and deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request by emailing [email protected]. Please provide sufficient details to allow us to verify you as the person about whom we collect personal information or that you are an authorized presentative. Please make sure that your request has sufficient details to allow us to properly understand, evaluate and respond to it. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights.