Privacy Policy for thedougie.com

Last updated: 12/4/2025

Welcome to TheDougie.com (“the Site”). This Privacy Policy outlines what information is collected, how it is used, and what rights you have regarding your personal data. This website is a personal blog and does not intentionally collect more data than necessary for basic functionality, security, and spam protection.

1. Information I Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

You may provide personal information when:

  • Leaving a comment
  • Contacting me through a form (if enabled)

This may include:

  • Name or username
  • Email address
  • Any text you submit

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

Like most websites, the Site automatically collects standard technical information such as:

  • IP address
  • Browser type
  • Operating system
  • Pages viewed
  • Referring URL
  • Date and time of access

This information is used for security, performance, and spam-prevention purposes.

2. How Your Information Is Used

Your information may be used for:

  • Spam prevention (via CleanTalk Anti-Spam)
  • Website security and diagnostics
  • Improving site functionality and content
  • Creating and storing backups
  • Search engine optimization (Yoast SEO processes content only; it does not collect visitor data)

Your personal information is not sold, rented, or shared for advertising or marketing.

3. Plugins and Third-Party Services

3.1 CleanTalk Anti-Spam

To prevent spam, CleanTalk processes:

  • IP address
  • Browser information
  • Form/comment data

CleanTalk may temporarily store this information according to its own privacy policy:
https://cleantalk.org/publicoffer#privacy

3.2 Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO does not collect or transmit visitor personal data. It analyzes page content locally.

3.3 Hosting Provider

Your hosting provider may collect and store server logs such as:

  • IP address
  • Browser information
  • Access times

This is standard and used for security, diagnostics, and performance monitoring.

4. Backup Disclaimer

The Site uses periodic backups to protect against data loss and ensure proper recovery after technical issues.

Backups may include:

  • Website content
  • Comments
  • Technical logs
  • User-submitted text

Backups may be stored locally or on secure third-party storage services (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3), depending on configuration. These backups are used solely for recovery and are not shared or used for analytics.

5. Cookies

The Site may use cookies for:

  • Saving your comment information for convenience
  • Spam prevention
  • Basic site functionality

You can disable cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may affect certain features.

6. Embedded Content

Articles may include embedded content (e.g., YouTube videos, social media posts).
Embedded content behaves as if you visited the third-party website directly and may collect data under that site’s privacy policy.

7. Data Retention

  • Comments: Stored indefinitely unless deleted.
  • Technical logs: Retention varies based on hosting provider.
  • Spam logs (CleanTalk): Retained per CleanTalk’s policy.
  • Backups: Retained based on the backup schedule and storage configuration.

8. GDPR: Your Data Protection Rights (EU/EEA Visitors)

If you are located in the European Union or EEA, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right of access: Request a copy of your stored personal information (e.g., comments).
  • Right to correction: Request updates or corrections to inaccurate information.
  • Right to deletion (“right to be forgotten”): Request removal of your personal information, including comments.
  • Right to object: Object to processing when based on legitimate interests (security or spam prevention).
  • Right to data export: Request a portable copy of your data.
  • Right to withdraw consent: If any processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

Requests are processed manually using WordPress’s built-in privacy tools to ensure accuracy and security.

To make a GDPR request, contact:
douglas (at) thedougie (dot) com

9. CCPA Notice (California Residents)

This Site is not a commercial enterprise and does not meet CCPA applicability thresholds.
However, in the interest of transparency:

  • I do not sell personal information.
  • You may request deletion of data you have submitted (such as comments).
  • You may request disclosure of what personal information the Site stores about you.

To submit a request, contact:
douglas (at) thedougie (dot) com

10. Protecting Your Information

Reasonable measures are taken to protect your information, including:

  • Server-level security
  • Spam filtering
  • Regular software updates
  • Safe handling of backups

While no website can guarantee complete security, I take steps to safeguard visitor information.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated periodically. Any updates will be reflected with a new “Last updated” date at the top of this page.

12. Contact Information

For questions or privacy-related requests, please contact:

douglas (at) thedougie (dot) com

This obfuscated format helps protect against automated email harvesting.