This notice describes how Alex Woolfson, or Alex for short, collects and uses data about you.
Who is Alex Woolfson?
Alex Woolfson writes and publishes stories, including the currently running webcomic, The Young Protectors. The website address for The Young Protectors is https://youngprotectors.com (and it’s referred to as “this site” in this Privacy Policy since that’s where this page is hosted.)
Alex Woolfson sets only his own privacy practices, not the privacy practices of his readers or others who visit and/or post on this site.
How does Alex collect data about me?
Alex collects data about you:
- when you browse his Web sites
- when you create and use an account on this Web site (including when you connect a Patreon account)
- when you send him email (including through a Contact Form)
- when you sign up for one of his mailing lists
- when you open, click, or reply to an email from one of his mailing lists
- when you purchase a product from his store
Alex does not buy or otherwise receive data about you from data brokers.
What personal data does Alex collect and why does he collect it?
When you visit one of Alex’s Web sites, whether you have an account or not, the Web site uses cookies, server logs, and other methods to collect data about what pages you visit and when.
Alex uses data about how you use the website to:
- optimize the website, so that it’s quick and easy to use
- diagnose and debug technical errors
- defend the website from abuse and technical attacks
- compile statistics on website popularity, and post/page popularity
- compile statistics on the kinds of software and computers visitors use
- customize and target advertising for services like Facebook
- customize emails and posts for those who are subscribed to his mailing lists
- reduce the frequency of pop-ups and other ads for repeat visitors or Patrons
Alex usually stores data about how you use one of his Web sites in identifiable form for just a few weeks. In special circumstances, like extended investigations about technical attacks or for those subscribed to his mailing lists, Alex may preserve log data longer, for analysis and to customize the reader/subscriber’s experience. Alex will store aggregate statistics about use of each Web site for as long as the Web site is hosted, but those statistics don’t include data identifiable to you personally.
Alex collects account data
Some features of this Web site, such as viewing Patreon-only pages and adding comic page transcripts, require an account.
To sign up for an account, whether directly, or through a third-party sign-in (such as Patreon), WordPress requires a user name, and an e-mail address.
Alex uses your account data to identify you on the Web site, and to give you access to pages and features not available to the general public.
Alex may use your account e-mail address to:
- reset your password and help keep your account secure
- contact you in special circumstances related to your account
- contact you about legal requests, like DMCA takedown requests
You may provide additional data for your account, like a short biography, your full name, or a profile picture in the profile settings page for your account. You don’t have to provide this additional information, and you can erase it at any time.
Alex stores your account data as long as your account remains open.
Comments
This site currently uses the Disqus online public comment sharing platform as well as a self-hosted Discourse forum for public comments.
Disqus is a third-party service that stores data on their own servers. You can view their Privacy Policy here.
Disqus also sends a copy of the text of each comment along with the commenter’s Disqus username to the database of this site and to one of Alex’s email addresses. As of the time of this writing, the commenter’s IP address and email address are obscured by Disqus before being sent to Alex.
Those who are logged into The Young Protectors Community (TYPC for short), Alex’s self-hosted Discourse forum, can also leave public comments on this site. Logged-in TYPC users can view the Privacy Policy of The Young Protectors Community here.
Contact forms
Alex keeps contact form submissions indefinitely for reader/customer service purposes, but he does not use the information submitted through them for marketing purposes.
Cookies
To improve your experience on Alex’s sites, his sites use ‘cookies’. Cookies are an industry standard and most major web sites use them. A cookie is a small text file that Alex’s site may place on your computer as a tool to remember your preferences. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of Alex’s Web sites.
If you have an account and you log in to this site, this site 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, this site 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 are a subscriber of one of Alex’s mailing lists, this site might set a cookie to disable subscription pop-ups and forms for list(s) you are already subscribed to (so you won’t be annoyed by them), as well as to track what pages you have visited on Alex’s websites (so he can customize and personalize what emails he sends to make them more relevant to you.)
Alex’s Web sites use Google Analytics which also set cookies. You can opt out of Google Analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript, or use the opt-out service provided by Google- external site.
Embedded content from other websites
Pages and posts 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. Alex does not have control over what these other sites do.
Analytics
Alex’s Web sites use Google Analytics, a service which transmits Web site traffic data to Google servers in the United States. Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. Alex uses reports provided by Google Analytics to help him understand website traffic and webpage usage. He has set up his Google Analytics implementation on this site to Anonymize IP Addresses to increase your privacy.
By using this or other of Alex’s Web sites, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner described in Google’s Privacy Policy- external site and for the purposes set out above. You can opt out of Google Analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript, or use the opt-out service provided by Google- external site.
Patreon features on this Web site
In order to enable you to use this website with Patreon services, the site saves certain functionally important Patreon information about you in this website if you log in with Patreon.
These include your Patreon user id, Patreon username, your first, last names and your vanity name. Additionally, the id of your campaign at Patreon and your campaign’s Patreon URL are also saved.
If you request that your data be deleted from this website, this data will also be deleted and Patreon functionality will not work. You would need to register on this website and log in to this website with Patreon again in order to re-populate this data and have Patreon functionality working again.
Mailing Lists
Alex uses Mailchimp, MailerLite and ConvertKit to deliver emails to subscribers of his mailing lists.
All his lists are “double-opt-in,” which means to be subscribed you have to have first entered your email address in sign-up form and then, afterwards, confirmed your subscription by clicking a link in a follow-up confirmation email. Unsubscribe links are included in every email he sends through his mailing lists—you can opt-out at any time.
If you are a mailing list subscriber, Alex gathers information on you when you open, click, or reply to an email from one of his mailing lists. He uses that information to verify email deliverability and engagement, as well as to personalize the interactions he has with you.
If you are a subscriber of one of Alex’s mailing lists, Alex’s Web sites might set a cookie to disable subscription pop-ups and forms for list(s) you are already subscribed to (so you won’t be continually annoyed by those pop-ups/forms), as well as to track what pages you have visited on Alex’s websites (so he can customize and personalize what emails he sends to make them more relevant to you.)
You obviously cannot subscribe to Alex’s email mailing lists without providing your email address. However, you may provide additional, optional data for your mailing list subscriber profile, such as your first name, when you subscribe or by using the Update Your Profile link at the bottom of every email. You don’t have to provide this additional information, and you can edit or erase it at any time.
If you have subscribed to one of Alex’s mailing lists, you may request to have your information deleted by contacting him at https://youngprotectors.com/contact-alex/ with that request.
Facebook Pixel
Like many websites, this site uses the “visitor action pixels” from Facebook Inc. This is a small piece of Java script code which is integrated into the site which allows user behavior to be tracked.
Alex uses Custom Audience pixels to record information on how visitors use his website and also to measure the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes. This pixel records and provides Facebook with information concerning the browser setting of the user, http headers, button click data, a hashed version of their Facebook ID, and the URL which is being visited. Each Facebook user thus possesses a clear and device-independent Facebook ID, whereby it is possible to address the user on the social network Facebook and to recognize them, so that Alex can target his visitors or similar visitors for advertising purposes by means of Facebook ads. After 180 days, the user information is deleted until the visitor accesses his website again.
No personal information is disclosed to Alex Woolfson in relation to the individual website visitors and Alex can only solicit website customer target groups once the target customer group has reached a critical mass in terms of numbers. The data collected in this way is anonymous to Alex, i.e. he does not see the personal data of individual users. However, this data is stored and processed by Facebook, which is why he is informing you, based on his knowledge of the situation. Facebook may link this information to your Facebook account and also use it for its own promotional purposes, in accordance with Facebook’s Data Usage Policy https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.
You can use the Off-Facebook Activity tool to see which of the websites you’ve visited use Facebook Pixels, and also to stop Facebook from collecting that information on a site-by-site basis. To do that for this site:
- Go to the Off-Facebook Activity tool
- Click Manage Your Off-Facebook Activity to see a list of every Web site that uses Facebook Pixel that you’ve visited
- Click “youngprotectors.com” in that list which will open a pop-up window
- Click “Turn off future activity from youngprotectors.com” in that pop-up window
You can also use a browser plugin to block Java scripts.
Where does Alex store data about me?
Aside from encrypted backups stored with Amazon Web Services as well as locally in San Francisco, this site stores all data in Knownhost’s data center in Seattle, WA, USA.
Does Alex comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation?
Alex respects privacy rights under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Information that GDPR requires Alex to give can be found throughout this privacy notice.
How long does Alex retain my data on this site?
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so comments can be restored regardless of what commenting platform Alex chooses to use.
For users that register on this website (including with Patreon), Alex also stores 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. Alex stores your account data as long as your account remains open.
How can I change or erase data about me on this site?
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data Alex holds about you, including any data you have provided to him. You can also request that Alex erase any personal data he holds about you. This does not include any data Alex is obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
If you wish to close your account on this site, please contact Alex Woolfson at https://youngprotectors.com/contact-alex/ with that request.
Who does Alex share my data with?
Alex does not sell or give information about you to other companies or services. However, Alex does use services from other companies on his Web sites. The companies behind those services may collect data about you on their own, for their own purposes. Some of these services may be used to collect information about your online activities across different websites. All of these services are based in the United States, except for MailerLite which is based in Vilnius, Lithuania and Shopify which is based in Ottawa, Canada.
| Service | Privacy Notice | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Akismet | https://automattic.com/privacy/ | reduces spam posts |
| Google Analytics | https://www.google.com/analytics/terms/ | Compiles visitor statistics. You can opt out of Google Analytics using a browser extension. |
| Amazon Web Services | https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/ | Provides cloud servers and services, in service regions across the world, to back up data from Alex’s Web sites. |
| Knownhost | https://www.knownhost.com/privacy-policy.html | Hosts Alex’s yaoi911.com, amwcomics.com, and alexwoolfson.com domains |
| Digital Ocean | https://www.digitalocean.com/legal/privacy/ | Hosts the TYPC Discourse forum and stores backups of that forum. |
| Apple Push Notification Service | https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/ | Sends push notifications to users of the Discourse iOS app. |
| Google Cloud Messaging | https://policies.google.com/privacy | Sends push notifications to users of the Discourse Android app. |
| https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy | Used as a login option for comments as well as for providing targeted promotions on the Facebook site. Alex also has a Facebook Page. | |
| ConvertKit | https://convertkit.com/privacy/ | Email service provider for Alex’s newsletter subscribers and Patrons. |
| MailerLite | https://www.mailerlite.com/legal/privacy-policy | Email service provider for subscribers of webcomic page updates provided via email (RSS-to-Email) |
| Mailchimp | https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/ | Email service provider for Alex’s newsletter subscribers. |
| Shopify | https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy | E-commerce platform for Alex’s store |
Other individuals and companies may also reuse data about you that Alex publishes, such as your posts to public forums.
Third Party Advertising
This site has third-party advertising companies serving ads to you when you visit. These companies may store information about your visits here and to other websites in order to provide you with relevant advertisements about goods and services. For example, if they know what ads you are shown while visiting this site, they can be careful not to show you the same ones repeatedly.
These companies may employ cookies and other identifiers to gather information which measures advertising effectiveness. The information is generally not personally identifiable unless, for example, you provide personally identifiable information to them through an ad or an email message.
They do not associate your interaction with unaffiliated sites with your identity in providing you with interest-based ads.
This site does not provide any personal information to advertisers or to third party sites. Advertisers and other third-parties (including the ad networks, ad-serving companies, and other service providers they may use) may assume that users who interact with or click on a personalized ad or content are part of the group that the ad or content is directed towards (for example, readers in the Pacific Northwest who read certain types of articles). Also, some third-party cookies may provide them with information about you (such as the sites where you have been shown ads or demographic information) from offline and online sources that they may use to provide you more relevant and useful advertising.
To learn more about what options you have about limiting the gathering of information by third-party ad networks, you can consult the website of the Network Advertising Initiative.
You can opt out of participating in interest-based advertising networks, but opting out does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the companies from which you opted out will no longer customize ads based on your interests and web usage patterns using cookie-based technology.
How To Opt Out Of Interest-Based Advertising
Opting Out of Interest-Based Advertising Services: This website is a member of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) and adheres to the NAI Codes of Conduct as described on the NAI website. This website also adheres to the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) Self-Regulatory Principles. For a description of the DAA Program, please visit the DAA website.
Opting Out of Interest-Based Advertising by Third Parties: To find out more about interest-based advertising on the internet and how to opt out of information collection for this purpose by companies that participate in the Network Advertising Initiative or the Digital Advertising Alliance, visit NAI’s opt-out page or DAA’s Consumer Choice Page.
“Do Not Track”
California law requires Alex to let you know how he responds to web browser Do Not Track (DNT) signals. Because there currently isn’t an industry or legal standard for recognizing or honoring DNT signals, he doesn’t respond to them at this time. He awaits the result of work by the privacy community and industry to determine when such a response is appropriate and what form it should take.
How can I contact Alex about privacy?
You can send questions and concerns to:
Alex Woolfson at https://youngprotectors.com/contact-alex/
How can I find out about changes?
This version of Alex’s privacy questions and answers took effect January 5, 2022.
Alex will post the next version at https://youngprotectors.com/privacy-policy. Alex may change how he announces changes in future versions.
In the meantime, Alex may update his contact information without announcing a change. Please refer to https://youngprotectors.com/privacy policy for the latest contact information at any time.
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