Who I am
Like you, I am also a web user and I’m aware of how data can be misused.
I take security and privacy on my website seriously. At Solar Energy Scout, here are the guiding principles I follow:
- I will not ask you for your personal information unless it’s absolutely necessary.
- I don’t share your personal information with anyone except to comply with the law, develop the website, or protect our rights.
- I don’t store personal information unless required for the ongoing operation and improvement of the website.
I own and operate solarenergyscout.com in my personal capacity.
It’s my policy to respect your privacy regarding any information I may collect while operating this website.
Website Visitors
Like most website operators, I collect non-personally identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as
- Your browser type,
- Language preference,
- Referring site, and
- The date and time of each visitor request.
The purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how visitors like you use the website with the view to make it better.
Comments
I also collect potentially personally identifying information like Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for logged-in users and for users leaving comments on my blog.
I only disclose logged in user and commenter IP addresses under the same circumstances that I use and disclose personally-identifying information as described below, except that blog commenter IP addresses are visible and disclosed to the me where the comment was left.
Gathering of Personally Identifying Information
Certain visitors to solarenergyscout.com use the website in ways that require me to gather personally-identifying information.
The amount and type of information gathered depends on the interaction.
For example, I ask visitors who comment on my blog to provide a username and email address. Those who want to get the Solar Scout Newsletter via email, I collect their emails.
In each case, I collect such information only where necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of the visitor’s interaction with the site.
I do not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below.
Visitors can always refuse to supply personally identifying information, with the caveat that it may prevent them from engaging in certain website-related activities.
Protection of Certain Personally Identifying Information
Solar Energy Scout discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only to contractors and affiliated organizations that:
- Need to know that information in order to process it on my behalf or to provide services available on the website, and
- That have agreed not to disclose it to others. Some of those contractors and affiliated organizations may be located outside of your home country; by using the website, you consent to the transfer of such information to them. I will not sell or rent your personally-identifying information to anyone. Other than to contractors and affiliated organizations, as described above, Solar Energy Scout discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only in response to court order or other governmental request, or when I believe in good faith, that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of Solar Energy Scout, third parties or the public at large. If you are a registered user of the website and have supplied your email address, I may occasionally send you an email to tell you about new features, solicit your feedback, or just keep you up to date with what’s going on with the site. I mostly use my blog to communicate this type of information, so I expect to keep this type of email to a minimum. If you send me a request (for example via a support email or via one of our feedback mechanisms), I reserve the right to publish it in order to help clarify or respond to your request or to help support other users. I take all measures reasonably necessary to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration or destruction of potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information.
Media
Suggested text: If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included.
Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns.
Solar Energy Scout uses cookies to help identify and track visitors, how they use the website, and their website access preferences.
If you would rather not have cookies placed on your computer, set your browser to refuse cookies before using the website.
Note that certain features of the website may not function properly without the aid of cookies.
If you leave a comment on the site, you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies.
These are so you don’t have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit the login page, we set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies.
This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, several cookies are set up to save your login information and your screen display choices.
Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks.
If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.).
Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
How long is your data retained?
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
Business transfers
If Solar Energy Scout is bought or in the unlikely event it goes out of business or enters bankruptcy, user information would be one asset that is transferred or gained by a third party. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of Solar Energy Scout may continue to use your personal information as set forth in this policy.
Privacy policy changes
Although most changes are likely to be minor, I may change the Privacy Policy from time to time, and in my sole discretion.
I will however notify you of any such changes and I encourage visitors to check this page for any changes to the Privacy Policy. Your continued use of this site after any change in this Privacy Policy will confirm your acceptance of such change.