Information

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

This page answers a right that many readers hold under the privacy law of their state, and states plainly that the editorial office engages in no such practice at all.

The right described

Under the privacy law of several states, a reader may direct a business not to sell personal information and not to share it for a purpose beyond the one for which it was gathered. The right is well known and this page answers it directly, so that a reader need not search for an answer elsewhere.

The office's position

The editorial office does not sell personal information, and it does not share personal information for any purpose at all. It holds no profile to sell, it passes nothing to an outside party, and it puts no information to a promotional use. There is, in short, nothing to opt out of.

What is held

The only personal information the office ever holds is what a reader chooses to send through the contact form or by post: a name, an electronic mail address, an optional organization and the text of the note. That information is held for one reason only, so that the note may be read and answered, and it is held no longer than the correspondence requires.

How to make a request

A reader who wishes to confirm the position, or to ask that a note be erased, may write to the editorial office. The request may be sent through the contact form or by post to the address given at the foot of every page. Name the page concerned where one exists, and state plainly what is wanted.

Verification

Because the office holds so little, a request is easy to honour. Where a reader asks for confirmation that a note exists, the office will describe the note it holds and nothing more. Where a reader asks for erasure, the note is removed and the removal is confirmed in a short reply.

Authorised agent

A reader may use an authorised agent to make a request. The office will act on a request from an agent who shows that they are permitted to act, and it will make no charge for doing so. A simple statement from the reader is enough to establish the arrangement.

No charge

No charge is made for any request under this page. A reply is prepared in the order the note arrives, and a reader who is dissatisfied with the reply may write again and give reasons. The editorial office treats such notes with the same care as any other.

This page is to be read together with the Privacy Policy, which describes the handling of personal information in fuller terms, and with the Cookie Policy, which describes the small amount of necessary storage used by the site. Both are linked at the foot of every page.

Records kept

The office keeps no list of readers and no register of requests. It cannot say how many readers have made a request, because it keeps no such count. This is a deliberate choice: a register would itself be personal information, and the simplest way to protect a reader is to hold nothing about that reader beyond the note that has just been sent.