Privacy Policy

Last updated July 10, 2024.

Please read these privacy policies in detail before you start using the features and information on our site.

General Information

We respect the privacy of our visitors. We store very minimal information about our visitors and do not sell or share the information with any other organization or for any marketing process without your consent.
We use industry accepted measures for securing personal information to avoid loss, misuse or alteration.
We collect information which includes IP address, browser type, ISP, time and date stamp, number of clicks, entering page and exiting page, user movement, demographic details and related information that have no link with personal identification.
We use cookies to gather information and record user specific data for customization of the site and also for providing content based on browser type and other data.
Our advertising partners use specific cookies, pixels or beacons to serve advertisements on our site. These help to provide relevant ads based on user data. You can opt out of these by visiting the advertiser’s site or installing an ad blocker on your web browser.
We do not have control over the cookies, pixels and beacons used by third party advertisers on our site. Our privacy policies do not apply to these third party advertisers. Any claims or conflict in relation with the privacy policies of third party advertisers should be handled between the user and the advertiser separately.
If you want to disable cookies, you can do it through your browser settings. More details about cookie management and related topics can be found in your browser settings.
You can delete web beacons by disabling the cookies, per the instructions in your browser settings.
Our Privacy Policy will change from time to time. By using our website, it is implied that you have read this Privacy Policy and have accepted it. Changes in this Privacy Policy might or might not be expressed elsewhere on the site.
Our site has plugins installed from other sites like Facebook, Google Analytics and others (including sites other than social media). The functionalities of these plugins are governed by those third party privacy policies and practices which you should learn by visiting their site.
We may share information that was collected from you to comply with government authorities for any legal proceedings or to conduct any related investigations.
If you have any queries about the privacy policies or related details, you can email us through our contact page.
Our website is not intended for use by children less than age of 16. By using our site, you are explicitly approving that your age is more than 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16. Our content is written for general audiences age 16 and older.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Blog Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Contact forms

Contact forms may be used to collect information including your name, email address, telephone, answers to questions in the contact form, and other relevant information. We may utilize this information to contact you for support or advertising purposes or to deliver digital content to you. We do not sell, rent or lease information collected in contact forms.

We only collect personally identifiable contact form information through a secure opt-in process. Data from our Contact Us page form is stored on our servers. If you wish to delete your data from our servers, please submit a request through that Contact page.

Data from email opt-in forms on our site is stored in a third party email service provider’s database. If you have opted-in through one of the third-party email provider’s forms on our site, you have the ability to opt-out of that email database using the service provider’s opt-out links. If you wish to update or delete your data from the service provider’s database, you can visit the service provider’s website and follow their procedures.

Cookies and Pixels

We use “cookies” and “pixels” on this site. These are pieces of data stored on a site visitor’s hard drive to help us improve your access to our site, identify repeat visitors to our site, and potentially display ads relevant to your web history.

Cookies are small text files that are used to store small pieces of information. They are stored on your device when the website is loaded on your browser. These cookies help us make the website function properly, make it more secure, provide better user experience, and understand how the website performs and to analyze what works and where it needs improvement.

For instance, when we use a cookie to identify you, you may not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. Cookies and pixels can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. Pixels may enable us to run ads tailored to your interest on ad networks and social media sites.

Our website uses first-party and third-party cookies for several purposes. First-party cookies are mostly necessary for the website to function the right way, and they do not collect any of your personally identifiable data. The third-party cookies used on our website are mainly for understanding how the website performs, how you interact with our website, keeping our services secure, providing advertisements that are relevant to you, and all in all providing you with a better and improved user experience and help speed up your future interactions with our website.

The types of cookies we use include:

Essential: Some cookies are essential for you to be able to experience the full functionality of our site. They allow us to maintain user sessions and prevent any security threats. They do not collect or store any personal information. For example, these cookies allow you to log-in to your account and add products to your basket, and checkout securely.
Statistics: These cookies store information like the number of visitors to the website, the number of unique visitors, which pages of the website have been visited, the source of the visit, etc. These data help us understand and analyze how well the website performs and where it needs improvement.

Marketing: Our website displays advertisements. These cookies are used to personalize the advertisements that we show to you so that they are meaningful to you. These cookies also help us keep track of the efficiency of these ad campaigns. The information stored in these cookies may also be used by the third-party ad providers to show you ads on other websites on the browser as well.

Functional: These cookies help certain non-essential functionalities on our website. These functionalities include embedding content like videos or sharing content of the website on social media platforms.

Preferences: These cookies help us store your settings and browsing preferences like language preferences so that you have a better and efficient experience on future visits to the website.

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will 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.

If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will 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, we will also set up several cookies 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.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Some of our business partners may use cookies on our site (for example, advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies.

Different browsers provide different methods to block and delete cookies used by websites. You can change the settings of your browser to block/delete the cookies. To find out more about how to manage and delete cookies visit https://allaboutcookies.org.

Email and Messaging Interactions

If you sign up for one of our email newsletters or text messaging lists, we may collect information about your interactions with our messages, such as whether you opened or forwarded the email or message or clicked on links contained in the email or message. This information is stored in our third-party email or text messaging provider, and may be used to sent you targeted information or offers relevant to your interests or behavior.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, PDFs, 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.

Analytics

Our site includes Google Analytics and/or other analytics tools that track user visits, time on site, and other metrics. The analytics scripts capture the search terms you used (if any), website you visited from (if any), your IP address, location, device and other non-personal identifying factors. We utilize these analytics to optimize our site for search and visitor engagement.

Links

Our website contains links to other sites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of websites to which our website links. We advise you to read the privacy statements of any sites we link to which may collect personally identifiable information.

Surveys & Contests

We may occasionally request information via surveys or contests on our website. Participation in these surveys or contests is voluntary. It is solely up to you whether to participate or not. Surveys and contests may require contact information, demographic information, or other information as a condition of your participation.

Log Files

Our website gathers data automatically and stores it in log files. This includes IP addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring pages, exit pages, operating system, date & time stamps, and click action data. We use this information to track user activity on the site, optimize site behavior, detect abnormalities, administer the site, and operate the site technically. We do not link this data to any personally-identifiable data collected on our site.

Device Identifiers

Computers and mobile devices have unique Device Identifiers that are often used for security, verification, location services and other functions. These Device IDs may be used by our third party advertisers to serve relevant advertisements to you and your device. We have no access or control over these Device Identifiers or their use.

Whom we share your data with

Visitor comments may be shared and checked through an automated spam detection service.

User visit data is captured and shared with Google Analytics (Google) and potentially other analytics platforms.

Your cookie, pixel and beacon data may be shared with website optimization services, online advertising networks, and social media sites.

Your contact form data may be shared and stored on our web servers or at a third-party email service provider.

Your payment data may be shared and stored with a third-party payment processor.

How long we retain your data

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.

If you opt-in through a contact form, your contact data may be retained in a third party email service provider’s database subject to that provider’s data retention policy. You have the ability to opt-out of that email database using the service provider’s opt-out links. If you wish to update or delete your data from the service provider’s database, please visit the service provider’s website and follow their procedures.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, have left comments on our site, have opted in to an email newsletter or text messaging list, you can request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes. To submit a request, please do so using our Contact Us form.

To learn more about how to manage your targeted advertising and opt-out choices please visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/.

GDPR Compliance

AutoPros.online is located in the United States and the content on our site is tailored to site visitors located in the United States. Under United States law our site does not fall under the legal jurisdiction of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). While we seek to treat our user’s data with appropriate data protections under United States law, we are not required to comply, nor do we seek to comply with GDPR. As such, individuals or organizations using this website should not assume that their rights under GDPR will be recognized or enforced.

Non-U.S. Users

We operate the AutoPros.online website from the United States. Any information we obtain about you in relation to the use of our website, email newsletters or other services may be processed and stored in the United States or other countries.

California Residents – Notice At Collection

Under California law additional privacy disclosures are required. California residents have specific rights about their personal information and how it is used. These fall under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA).

Categories of Personal Information We Collect

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, subsequently amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CCPA”) requires disclosures by category of personal information collected on our website.

Identifier (§1798.140 (v)(1)(A) and (B)) data such as: (i) contact information (e.g., name, mailing address, email address, phone number); and (ii) online identifiers (Device Identifiers, IP address,etc.). We obtain this data from: Cookies, pixels and similar functionality; advertising sites and apps; data and sales / marketing partners; social media services and websites. Our business or commercial purpose for collecting and/or sharing this data is: to communicate with you; for marketing and advertising; to allow our website, email and/or text services to function properly; to comply with relevant laws. We may provide this information to: business affiliates; parent or subsidiary companies; buyers of our website; advertising and marketing partners; social media platforms; government authorities to comply with our legal obligations and protect our legal rights.

Demographics (§1798.140 (v)(1)(C)) data such as gender, age, family status or income. We obtain this data from: submisstions directly from you; cookies, pixels and similar functionality; third party data providers; advertising sites and apps; data and sales / marketing partners; social media services and websites. Our business or commercial purpose for collecting and/or sharing this data is: to communicate with you; for marketing and advertising, including interest-based marketing; to comply with relevant laws. We may provide this information to: business affiliates; parent or subsidiary companies; buyers of our website; advertising and marketing partners; social media platforms; government authorities to comply with our legal obligations and protect our legal rights.

Personal Information under subdivision (e) of Section 1798.80 of the California Civil Code (§1798.140 (v)(1)(B)). This includes payment card numbers, account numbers, expiration dates and billing data. We obtain this data from: submisstions directly from you; your use of any payment form or third party payment processor form on our website. Our business or commercial purpose for collecting and/or sharing this data is: to charge you for products or services purchased from us; to comply with relevant laws and protect our rights. We may provide this information to: business affiliates; parent or subsidiary companies; buyers of our website; advertising and marketing partners; social media platforms; government authorities to comply with our legal obligations and protect our legal rights.

Commercial Information (§1798.140 (v)(1)(D)) including transaction data such as purchase activity, subscriptions, cancellations, shopping cart additions that are not purchased, and other commercial reasons. We obtain this data from: submisstions directly from you; your use of any payment form, shopping cart, subscription signup or other commercial software on our website. Our business or commercial purpose for collecting and/or sharing this data is: to charge you for products or services purchased from us; to sell and market to you, including follow-up campaigns for products or services you have not completed purchases for; to comply with relevant laws and protect our rights. We may provide this information to: business affiliates; parent or subsidiary companies; buyers of our website; advertising and marketing partners; social media platforms; government authorities to comply with our legal obligations and protect our legal rights.

Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity (§1798.140 (v)(1)(F)). This includes data about how you utilize and interact with our website, forms, email list or text marketing services; device, browser or operating system data. We obtain this data from: Cookies, pixels and similar functionality; advertising sites and apps; data and sales / marketing partners; social media services and websites. Our business or commercial purpose for collecting and/or sharing this data is: to communicate with you; for marketing and advertising; to allow our website, email and/or text services to function properly; to comply with relevant laws. We may provide this information to: business affiliates; parent or subsidiary companies; buyers of our website; advertising and marketing partners; social media platforms; government authorities to comply with our legal obligations and protect our legal rights.

Geolocation Data (§1798.140 (v)(1)(G)). This includes location information from your device or network connections, such as geographic coordinates, time, city or location services provided by a third party. We obtain this data from: Cookies, pixels and similar technologies; mobile devices; third-party location services; directly from you. Our business or commercial purpose for collecting and/or sharing this data is: to communicate with you; for marketing and advertising; to allow our website, email and/or text services to function properly; to comply with relevant laws. We may provide this information to: business affiliates; parent or subsidiary companies; buyers of our website; advertising and marketing partners; social media platforms; government authorities to comply with our legal obligations and protect our legal rights.

Inferences (§1798.140 (v)(1)(K)). This includes inferred conclusions based on data and patterns related to your preferences or interests. We obtain this data from: submisstions directly from you; cookies, pixels and similar functionality; third party data providers; advertising sites and apps; data and sales / marketing partners; social media services and websites. Our business or commercial purpose for collecting and/or sharing this data is: to communicate with you; for marketing and advertising, including interest-based marketing; to comply with relevant laws. We may provide this information to: business affiliates; parent or subsidiary companies; buyers of our website; advertising and marketing partners; social media platforms; government authorities to comply with our legal obligations and protect our legal rights.

For the categories of data above, we retain your data for as long as required or allowed by law. This includes retaining data for purposes of keeping historical records for accounting, tax and regulatory compliance, including record retention, fraud detection, protecting our legal rights and to provide information for communications and support requests with you.

As a California Resident you have the following rights related to your personal data under the CCPA:

Right to know and access your personal information.
Right to deletion of your personal information.
Right to correct your personal information.
Right to opt out. This includes the right to opt out of any sales campaigns or targeted advertising, and the right to limit how we process or utilize your sensitive personal information.
Right to be free of discrimination.

You may exercise any of these rights over your personal information by submitting a ‘CCPA Request’ on our Contact Us page. We may ask you to verify your identifying information, email address and/or telephone number to enable us to accurately locate your personal data and comply with your request. Please note that we will retain any personal information that we are required to retain by law, or to defend our legal rights.

Updates to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect customer feedback, legal changes or business changes. The time of latest update will be stated at the top of this Policy. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy and familiarize yourself with its contents.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by visiting our Contact Us page.