(January 4, 2019)
The European Union has rules requiring that web sites, such as my several blogs and other sites I control, notify visitors in the EU if the site they are visiting on the web (like you are at this moment) places cookies. These rules, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect in May, 2018.
My blog sites hosted by Google (blogspot.com) place cookies and collect data (see below) used by Google. I look at the visitor stats collected by Google out of curiosity to see where visitors are from. I can see where the visitor's internet service provider is, and some other information; I don't dig much below the surface of these data.
I have a few blog sites hosted on blogspot, which is part of Google. these blogs are:
- Read my Opinion (because you're entitled to it) - https://readmyopinion.blogspot.com/
- Derelicts on the Columbia River - a Paddling Adventure - https://columbia-derelicts.blogspot.com/
- Swimming with the Fishes, a travel blog - https://swimming-with-the-fishes.blogspot.com/
- The Museum of Sand in Portland, Oregon - https://museum-of-sand.blogspot.com/
Google has provided the following notification that appears when visitors in the European Union open one of my sites:
"This site uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and analyze traffic. Your IP address and user-agent are shared with Google along with performance and security metrics to ensure quality of service, generate usage statistics, and to detect and address abuse."
I also have a website titled "The Some Times" - http://the-some-times.online/index.html hosted by iPage, part of Endurance International Group. iPage also collects data and places cookies. The privacy policies of iPage are at this link.
Years ago, before blogspot offered visitor stats to me, I signed up for a service, Statcounter. Statcounter gathers information about visitors to some of my blog sites and displays it in ways that let me see where visitors are from, when they visited, how long the stayed, and other information. From their FAQ's, Statcounter states:
Statcounter is an anonymous web tracking service. We don't attempt to identify an individual person . Our focus is on what visitors to your website do, not who that visitor is.
Bottom Line: I do not collect or store any data from you. The services I use, such as blogspot, iPage and Statcounter collect data and place cookies when you visit my sites. The GDPR is about the storage of personal data, and the services I use are in compliance, as per their support websites, with GDPR.
As many of you know, I am trying to reduce collection of my own data by online services, so it is somewhat contradictory that I use services that collect data from me as well as you if you visit my websites. All I can do is be as careful as possible, comply with the law, and advise you to do whatever you feel you want to do to protect your data, such as blocking cookies and setting privacy items where they are provided. Being online comes with many benefits as well as risks and invasions. And yet, here we are.
And thank you for visiting my web sites!
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Years ago, before blogspot offered visitor stats to me, I signed up for a service, Statcounter. Statcounter gathers information about visitors to some of my blog sites and displays it in ways that let me see where visitors are from, when they visited, how long the stayed, and other information. From their FAQ's, Statcounter states:
Statcounter is an anonymous web tracking service. We don't attempt to identify an individual person . Our focus is on what visitors to your website do, not who that visitor is.
Bottom Line: I do not collect or store any data from you. The services I use, such as blogspot, iPage and Statcounter collect data and place cookies when you visit my sites. The GDPR is about the storage of personal data, and the services I use are in compliance, as per their support websites, with GDPR.
As many of you know, I am trying to reduce collection of my own data by online services, so it is somewhat contradictory that I use services that collect data from me as well as you if you visit my websites. All I can do is be as careful as possible, comply with the law, and advise you to do whatever you feel you want to do to protect your data, such as blocking cookies and setting privacy items where they are provided. Being online comes with many benefits as well as risks and invasions. And yet, here we are.
And thank you for visiting my web sites!
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