Privacy Policy

Who we are

For privacy questions, including any request to access or delete your data, contact theshakedowntech@gmail.com. The Shakedown is the controller of the personal information described here.

Information we collect

Information you give us

• Email address — if you contact us.
• Message content — anything you write to us via email or the contact form.

Information collected automatically

• Log and device data — IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring page, pages viewed, and timestamps. Our hosting provider collects this to serve and secure the site.
• Cookies and similar technologies — see our Cookie Policy for the full list and how to control them.
• Analytics data — we use Google Analytics to count pageviews and see which guides are read. Until you accept cookies it runs in cookieless mode: Google receives the page, referrer, approximate location derived from your IP, and general device details, but stores no identifier, so your visits are not linked together. If you accept, it sets the cookies listed in our Cookie Policy and can recognize a returning browser.
• Advertising identifiers — if you accept advertising cookies, Google and its partners may set identifiers used to select and measure ads.
• Affiliate click data — when you click an outbound product link, the affiliate network records the click (typically via a cookie or URL parameter) so a purchase can be attributed to us. That data is collected by the network, not by us.

We do not knowingly collect sensitive categories of personal information (such as health, biometric, precise geolocation, or financial account data), and we do not ask for them.

How we use information

• To operate, secure, and improve the site.
• To respond to your messages.
• To measure aggregate traffic and which articles are read.
• To serve advertising, and — only with your consent — personalized advertising.
• To attribute affiliate commissions and comply with our network agreements.
• To comply with law and to protect the site against fraud and abuse.

We do not sell your personal information for money. However, sharing data with advertising partners for cross-context behavioral advertising can qualify as a “sale” or “sharing” under some US state privacy laws. See Your US state privacy rights for how to opt out.

Legal bases (UK/EU visitors)

• Consent — personalized advertising cookies.
• Legitimate interests — keeping the site secure, preventing fraud and abuse, and understanding aggregate readership.
• Legal obligation — responding to lawful requests and keeping records.

You may withdraw consent at any time; withdrawal does not affect prior processing.

Who we share information with

• Google Analytics — measures traffic on our behalf. We do not send it your name or email address, and we have not enabled Google Signals or any ad-remarketing integration. You can block it on every site with Google’s opt-out browser add-on.
• Google AdSense — serves the ads on this site. Google may use cookies and device identifiers to select ads and measure performance. See how Google uses information from sites that use its services. You can control ad personalization at Google My Ad Center.
• Affiliate networks and retailers — Amazon Associates, Impact, ShareASale, CJ Affiliate, Rakuten Advertising, and the merchants they represent. They receive click and conversion data governed by their own privacy policies.
• Hosting and infrastructure — Netlify hosts this site and processes server logs on our behalf.
• Legal and safety — we may disclose information if required by law, or to protect our rights, users, or the public.
• Business transfer — if the site is sold or merged, information may transfer with it, subject to this policy.

Article text on this site is drafted with the help of Claude, an AI system provided by Anthropic. We do not submit reader personal information to it as part of that process.

International transfers

We operate in the United States. If you access the site from outside it, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, which may not offer the same level of protection as your home country. Where required, our providers rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or an equivalent transfer mechanism.

How long we keep information

Contact messages are kept up to 24 months. Server logs are typically retained for up to 12 months. Google Analytics keeps user-level and event-level data for the retention window configured in that property, after which only aggregate reports remain. Advertising and analytics cookies expire on the schedule in our Cookie Policy.

Your US state privacy rights

If you are a resident of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana, or another state with a comprehensive privacy law, you may have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect and how it is used and shared.
• Access a copy of it, or request that it be corrected or deleted.
• Opt out of “sale” or “sharing” for targeted advertising.
• Not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.

To opt out of personalized advertising, choose “Reject personalization” in our cookie banner — reopen the cookie banner. Ads still appear, but non-personalized ones, and Google will still set a limited set of cookies for frequency capping, measurement, and fraud prevention; our Cookie Policy lists exactly which. Analytics drops to cookieless measurement, and any analytics cookies already on your device are deleted. We also honor Global Privacy Control: if your browser sends that signal and you have not made an explicit choice here, we apply the opt-out automatically.

To make any other request, email theshakedowntech@gmail.com with the subject line “Privacy Request”. We will verify your request by replying to the email address on file and respond within 45 days. You may use an authorized agent; we may ask for proof of authorization. If we deny a request, you may appeal by replying to our response.

Your UK/EU rights

You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to processing of your personal data, and to data portability. Contact theshakedowntech@gmail.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national supervisory authority or, in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Children

This site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has given us information, email theshakedowntech@gmail.com and we will delete it.

Security

The site is served over HTTPS and we limit access to the systems that hold subscriber data. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes

We may update this policy. The “Last updated” date above always reflects the current version, and material changes will be noted on this page.