Disclosure of Affiliate Status
We want you to feel that our blog is trustworthy and useful. Any financial gain we make on Birding Tools’ pages, products, and services will be openly disclosed to you.
Affiliate Links
Birding Tools has financial relationships with some of the merchants mentioned on this website. We participate in various compensation programs through advertising, affiliate programs, or otherwise. This is done to help fund the continued maintenance and running of our website.
While we may receive a commission if those links are utilized, our advertisement of compensation programs is made at no additional cost to you. You are not obligated to click on any link or buy any products that are advertised.
Any references to third-party products or websites are subject to change without notice. Please do the appropriate research before participating in any third party offers.
GDPR Compliance
Birding Tools abides by GDPR regulations. If you wish to have your information removed, please get in touch with us. Once you opt-out of our mailing list or contact forms, you are permanently removed – you will only be added to our mailing list again if you re-opt-in to our mailing list. You may opt-out of our mailing list at any time.
Birding Tools does not share your contact information with third parties, nor do we resell any personal data provided to us. If you gave us your name, it is only used to personalize emails and newsletters.
We use your private data only to offer a personalized experience on our blog. We use cookies to track analytics as well as to personalize ads.
You have the right to be informed regarding how the data is collected and used, have access to the data about you, ask us to change the data about you, and ask us to delete the data about you.
Additionally, if you are a European resident and have purchased something from Birding Tools, we note that we are processing your information in order to fulfill contracts we might have with you, or otherwise to pursue our legitimate business interests listed below.
Privacy Policy (Birdingtools.com)
This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit or make a purchase from the Birding Tools website (the “Site”).
Personal Information We Collect
When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Site, we collect information about the individual web pages or products that you view, what websites or search terms that referred you to the Site, and information about how you interact with the Site. Your information is anonymized and only viewable aggregately. We refer to this automatically-collected information as “Device Information.”
We collect Device Information using the following technologies:
Cookies: “Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. Users may, at any time, prevent the setting of cookies by Birding Tools by using a corresponding setting of your Internet browser to permanently disable cookies. 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. Set cookies may be deleted any time via the Internet browser. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
Log files: “Log files” track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.
Web beacons, tags, and pixels: “Web beacons,” “tags,” and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.
Additionally, when you make a purchase or attempt to make a purchase through the Site, we collect certain information from you, including your name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including credit card numbers), email address, and phone number. We refer to this information as “Order Information.”
When we talk about Personal Information in this Privacy Policy, we are talking both about Device Information and Order Information.
How Do We Use Your Personal Information?
We use this Personal Information to:
- Communicate with you via newsletters and in response to your comments or inquiries;
- Process your payment information and provide you with invoices and/or order confirmation;
- Screen our orders for potential risk, fraud, or unauthorized and illegal activity; and
- When in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services. Emails and newsletters always have an easy opt-out button.
We use the Device Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Site (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Site, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising campaigns).
Sharing your Personal Information
We share your Personal Information with third parties to help us use your Personal Information, as described above. For example, we use ConvertKit to deliver newsletters and email updates, and Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Site.
Please refer to the third-party’s privacy policy for further information.
Finally, we may also share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant, or other lawful requests for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights.
As described above, we use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on the 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.
Data Retention
When you place an order through the Site, we will maintain your Order Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information.
If you provide us with your Personal Information by opting-in to a newsletter or to receive our emails, we will maintain your Personal Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information.
Minor’s Information
Birding Tools does not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from minors under the age of 18. If a parent or guardian believes the Site has personally identifiable information of a minor under the age of 18, please contact us immediately. We will remove this information from our records as quickly as possible.
Changes to this Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons.
Contact Information
If you have questions about our Disclosure and Privacy Policy, please get in touch with us.
[This Disclosure and Privacy Policy was updated in March 2021]