This Privacy Policy explains how OLM Inc., a Delaware corporation doing business as Trust Advocate (“Trust Advocate,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information when you visit www.trustadvocate.org or otherwise interact with us (together, the “Service”). It also explains your choices and rights. The Service is intended for people in the United States.
Privacy at a Glance
- We don’t offer accounts or checkout. The only information we ask you for is your email address, if you sign up for our newsletter.
- We and our partners use cookies and similar technologies to run the site, measure traffic, and track affiliate referrals.
- Some of this activity may count as “selling” or “sharing” personal information under state privacy laws. You can opt out. See Section 9 and our Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information page.
- We don’t sell email addresses or other contact information to anyone.
1. Information We Collect
A. Information you give us
- Newsletter: If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address.
- Emails to us: If you email us, we collect your email address, your name if you include it, and anything else you choose to put in your message.
B. Information collected automatically
When you use the Service, we and our partners automatically collect:
- Device and connection information: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, screen size, and language settings.
- Identifiers: cookie IDs and similar identifiers, and click IDs used to track affiliate referrals.
- Usage information: the pages and URLs you visit on the Service, the site that referred you, the links you click (including links to retailers), the date and time of your visit, and how you interact with pages, such as scrolling and clicking.
- Approximate location: your city, state, or ZIP code area, inferred from your IP address. We don’t collect precise geolocation.
- Inferences: general interests we may infer from the pages and product categories you view.
C. Information from third parties
- Affiliate programs and retailers, such as the Amazon Associates program, may report to us which clicks from our site led to purchases and what commission we earned. These reports are generally summarized and not tied to your name.
- Analytics providers give us reports on how our pages perform.
2. How We Use Information
- To operate, maintain, and secure the Service, including detecting fraud, bots, and abuse.
- To understand how people use the Service and to improve our content, rankings, and design.
- To measure affiliate referrals and get paid for them.
- To send our newsletter if you’ve subscribed, and to respond to your emails and requests.
- To comply with the law, enforce our Terms and Conditions, and protect our rights and the rights of others.
3. Cookies and Similar Technologies
Cookies are small text files stored by your browser. Tags and scripts are small pieces of code that send information about your visit to us or our partners. Some of these technologies are placed by third parties.
The providers we currently use include:
| Provider | What it does |
|---|---|
| Google Tag Manager | Loads and manages the other tools on our site |
| Google Analytics | Website analytics |
| Amazon Associates and other affiliate programs | Tracking referrals so we can be paid commissions |
| Our email service provider | Sending our newsletter to subscribers |
| Vercel | Website hosting, including server logs |
We may add or change providers over time.
Retailers and affiliate programs. When you click a link to Amazon or another partner, that company may place and read cookies on your browser, or use web beacons and similar technologies, to collect information about your visit and purchases. Its own privacy policy governs that information.
Page addresses. The information our analytics provider receives includes the address (URL) of the page you’re viewing. Because some of our guides cover personal finance and baby, health, and home-safety products, a URL may reveal the kind of product you were researching. We do not use this information to identify you or to infer sensitive characteristics, such as a health condition.
Your cookie choices
- Browser settings let you block or delete cookies. Blocking some cookies may affect how the site works.
- Global Privacy Control opts you out of the sale and sharing of your personal information. See Section 9.
- Google Analytics opt-out: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
Most opt-out tools work only on the browser and device where you use them, and clearing your cookies may undo them.
Do Not Track. There is no common standard for browsers’ “Do Not Track” setting, so we don’t respond to it. We do honor Global Privacy Control as described in Section 9.
4. How We Disclose Information
- Service providers. Companies that host the site, provide analytics, send our newsletter, and otherwise help us operate. They may use the information only to provide services to us.
- Google. Google Analytics collects identifiers, device information, and usage information (including page URLs) through its tags. Depending on settings, Google may also use this information for its own purposes under its own privacy policy. Under some state laws, this may count as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information.
- Affiliate programs and retailers. When you click a link to a retailer, the retailer and affiliate program receive a click ID and information about the link you clicked, so they can credit us. By clicking, you are choosing to visit that retailer, and its own privacy policy governs what happens on its site.
- Legal and safety. To comply with the law or legal process, such as a subpoena or court order, and to protect the rights, safety, and property of Trust Advocate, our users, or others, including to investigate fraud.
- Business transfers. In connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, sale of assets, or similar transaction, or in bankruptcy.
- With your direction or consent.
5. California and Other State Privacy Disclosures
The table below lists the categories of personal information, as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), that we have collected in the past 12 months and how we handle each one. Our business and commercial purposes are described in Section 2, and our sources are described in Section 1.
| Category | Examples | Sources | Disclosed for a business purpose to | Sold or shared? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | IP address; cookie IDs; affiliate click IDs; email address if you subscribe or email us | You; your device | Service providers; Google; affiliate programs and retailers | Online identifiers may be shared with Google through Google Analytics. Email addresses are not sold or shared. |
| Internet or other electronic network activity | Pages and URLs viewed, referring site, links clicked, interactions with pages | Your device | Service providers; Google; affiliate programs and retailers | May be shared with Google through Google Analytics |
| Geolocation data (approximate only) | City or state inferred from IP address | Your device | Service providers; Google | May be shared with Google through Google Analytics |
| Commercial information | Purchases made through our affiliate links and commissions earned, usually in summary form | Affiliate programs and retailers | Service providers | No |
| Inferences | General interests inferred from the pages and product categories you view | Derived from the categories above | Service providers | No |
Sensitive personal information. We don’t knowingly collect sensitive personal information, and we don’t use or disclose it for purposes that would give you a right to limit its use under California law.
Retention. We keep personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes in this policy:
- Newsletter email addresses: until you unsubscribe. After that, we may keep your address on a suppression list so we don’t email you again.
- Emails you send us: as long as needed to respond and to keep reasonable records of our correspondence.
- Analytics data: according to the retention settings in our analytics tools, which we set based on how long the data is useful for measuring and improving the Service.
- Affiliate reporting: as long as needed to reconcile commissions and for accounting and tax purposes.
We may keep information longer when the law requires it or when we need it to resolve disputes or enforce our agreements.
6. Children’s Privacy
Some of our guides cover baby and children’s products for parents and caregivers, but the Service is intended for adults and is not directed to children. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 16, and we don’t sell or share the personal information of consumers we know are under 16. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us at privacy@trustadvocate.org and we will delete it.
7. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information, including encrypting data sent to and from our site (HTTPS). No system is completely secure, and we can’t guarantee the security of information.
8. Third-Party Websites
The Service links to retailers and other websites that we don’t control, including providers of financial products and services. Their own privacy policies govern how they collect and use your information, including any information you give them when you apply or sign up. We encourage you to read them.
9. Your Privacy Rights and Choices
A. Opting out of sale and sharing
Anyone in the United States can opt out, whatever state they live in:
- Global Privacy Control (GPC). If your browser sends a GPC signal, we treat it as a request to opt out of the sale and sharing of your personal information and of targeted advertising for that browser. To learn more, visit https://globalprivacycontrol.org.
- Email. Email privacy@trustadvocate.org with “Do Not Sell or Share” in the subject line. You don’t need to verify your identity to opt out. Because we don’t have accounts, we usually can’t link an email request to the browser you use, so GPC is the most reliable way to opt out on each browser and device.
See our Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information page for details.
B. Newsletter
You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time using the link in any newsletter email, or by emailing privacy@trustadvocate.org.
C. California residents
If you live in California, you have the right to:
- Know and access the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, our purposes, and the categories of third parties we disclose it to.
- Delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to legal exceptions.
- Correct inaccurate personal information.
- Opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information.
- Limit the use of sensitive personal information. We don’t use sensitive personal information in ways that trigger this right.
- Not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.
D. Residents of other states
Residents of other states with comprehensive privacy laws, such as Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia, may have the right to confirm whether we process their personal information, access it, correct it, delete it, get a portable copy, and opt out of targeted advertising, the sale of personal information, and certain profiling. We honor these requests from residents of any state that grants these rights.
E. How to make a request
- Submit a request by emailing privacy@trustadvocate.org or writing to us at the address in Section 13. Tell us what you’re asking for and which state you live in.
- Verification. We need to verify requests to know, access, delete, or correct personal information. Because we don’t have accounts, the only personal information we can usually connect to you is your email address, if you’ve subscribed to our newsletter or emailed us. We’ll ask only for what we need to match your request to the information we hold, and we’ll tell you if we can’t verify it. We never require verification to opt out.
- Authorized agents. You can have an authorized agent make a request for you. We may ask for proof of the agent’s authority and, where the law allows, ask you to verify your identity directly with us.
- Timing. We’ll confirm receipt within 10 business days and respond within 45 calendar days. If we need more time, up to another 45 days, we’ll tell you why. We process opt-out requests within 15 business days.
- Appeals. If we decline your request, you can appeal by emailing privacy@trustadvocate.org with “Appeal” in the subject line. We’ll respond within the time your state’s law requires. If you disagree with our decision, you can contact your state attorney general.
F. No financial incentives
We don’t offer financial incentives or different prices or services in exchange for personal information.
10. U.S. Visitors Only
The Service is intended for people in the United States. Information we collect is stored and processed in the United States.
11. Accessibility
If you need this policy in a different format, contact us at privacy@trustadvocate.org.
12. Changes to This Policy
We review this policy at least once a year. When we update it, we’ll change the “Last Updated” date at the top. If we make material changes, we’ll post a notice on the Service.