Privacy Policy

About Us

Welcome to Grathoid.com. Contact us at info@grathoid.com.

Information We Collect and How We Use It

We collect and process personal information to improve your experience, analyze site performance, and deliver relevant ads. Here’s what we collect and how we use it:

• Comments: When you submit a comment, we collect the information you provide, including your name, email address, and website URL (if provided). This information is used to display your comment on our website.
• Browser Storage (Local Storage): To enhance your user experience, we offer the option to save your name, email address, and website URL within your browser’s local storage. This feature allows you to avoid re-entering this information when leaving future comments. Please note that this data is stored solely within your browser and is not transmitted to our servers.
• Gravatar: If you provide an email address, a hashed version of it may be sent to Gravatar to display your profile picture. Gravatar’s privacy policy can be found at: https://automattic.com/privacy/. A “hashed” version of your email address is a scrambled version that cannot be reversed and is used to identify your Gravatar image without exposing your actual email.
• Google Analytics: We use Google Analytics to analyze website traffic and user behavior. This service collects data such as your IP address, browser type, device information, and browsing activity. Google Analytics uses cookies (e.g., _ga) to track this information. With your consent, Google Signals may enhance this by linking data across devices (e.g., phone and laptop) for users signed into Google accounts, improving our understanding of user journeys. The legal basis for processing this information is your consent (via our cookie banner) or our legitimate interest in improving website performance and user experience, where applicable.
• Google AdSense: Google AdSense uses cookies (e.g., __gads) to serve personalized ads based on your browsing activity. With your consent, this may include combining Analytics data with ad profiles for more relevant ads. The legal basis for processing this data is your explicit consent via our cookie consent banner.
• User-Provided Data: If we upload additional data (e.g., customer lists) to Google Analytics, it may be combined with visitation data to enhance analytics and ad targeting. This is only done with your consent and disclosed here if implemented. Currently, we do not upload such data, but this feature may be enabled for future use.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We utilize cookies and similar tracking technologies (e.g., local storage, pixels) to enhance your browsing experience, analyze website traffic, and serve ads. Below is a detailed list of cookies we use, their retention periods, and purposes:

1. FCCDCF
   • Retention Period: ~12.8 months
   • Description: A consent management cookie that stores user preferences for cookie consent, in compliance with privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR/CCPA). It records whether you’ve accepted or rejected specific cookie categories.
2. FCNEC
   • Retention Period: 12 months
   • Description: An analytics cookie that tracks user behavior across sessions to optimize website performance and user experience.
3. __eoi
   • Retention Period: ~6 months
   • Description: An advertising cookie (End of Interest) that tracks user interests to deliver targeted advertisements. It includes a unique identifier and timestamps for ad-related activities.
4. __gads
   • Retention Period: ~12.8 months
   • Description: A Google advertising cookie that enables personalized ad delivery and measures ad performance. It connects your activity to Google’s advertising network.
5. __gpi
   • Retention Period: ~12.8 months
   • Description: A Google Publisher Identifier cookie that supports ad personalization and tracks user interactions across Google’s advertising ecosystem.
6. _ga
   • Retention Period: ~13.2 months
   • Description: A Google Analytics cookie that identifies unique users and tracks website usage patterns to analyze visitor behavior.
7. _ga_589GH0PP0B
   • Retention Period: ~13.2 months
   • Description: A Google Analytics session cookie that records session-specific data, such as page visits and time spent on the site.

Our cookie consent banner, powered by a Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF)-compliant Consent Management Platform (CMP), allows you to manage your preferences, accepting or declining cookies and tracking for various purposes (e.g., analytics, personalized ads). This includes consent for Google Analytics, Google AdSense, and advanced features like Google Signals. For a full list of purposes and vendors, see “Data Sharing” below. For detailed information on Google’s privacy practices, please refer to Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Managing Cookie Preferences

You can modify your cookie settings at any time by following this link: Cookie Settings. This allows you to opt in or out of specific purposes (e.g., analytics, ad personalization) and review vendors accessing your data.

Embedded Content

Our website may contain embedded content from third-party websites, such as videos or social media posts. These third-party websites may collect data about you, use cookies, or embed additional tracking technologies. Please review the privacy policies of these third-party websites for more information about their data collection and use practices.

Data Sharing

We share data with third parties as follows:

• Gravatar: Hashed email addresses for profile picture display.
• Google Analytics and AdSense: Analytic data with Google Analytics and, once approved, ad-related data with Google AdSense (under “Google Advertising Products”). This includes cross-device data via Google Signals and, if applicable, combined user-provided data, all based on your consent.
• Other Third-Party Vendors: Our CMP facilitates data sharing with up to 186 vendors (e.g., PubMatic, Magnite, LiveRamp) for purposes like ad serving, measurement, and personalization, as listed in our consent banner. You can view the full vendor list and manage preferences via the “Cookie Settings” link. Examples include:
  • Ad networks (e.g., The UK Trade Desk Ltd, TripleLift, Inc.).
  • Analytics providers (e.g., Comscore B.V., Nielsen Media Research Ltd.).
  • Data management platforms (e.g., LiveRamp, Oracle Data Cloud).
  • See the CMP’s vendor list for all entities, including “Google Advertising Products.” We do not share your personal information with other third parties, except as required by law or to protect our rights.

Data Retention

• Comments: Comments and their associated metadata are retained indefinitely to facilitate comment moderation and streamline future approvals. You have the right to request deletion.
• Google Analytics: Data is retained by Google for up to 26 months (or as configured in our Analytics settings). Specific cookies (e.g., _ga, _ga_589GH0PP0B) are retained for ~13.2 months.
• Google AdSense: Data retention aligns with Google’s policies (typically up to ~12.8 months for cookies like __gads).
• CMP Consent Records: Your consent choices are stored in the FCCDCF cookie for ~12.8 months to respect your preferences across visits.

Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Request access to or deletion of your comments and associated data.
• Manage your cookie and tracking preferences via our cookie consent banner (“Cookie Settings” link).
• Object to processing based on legitimate interest or withdraw consent at any time via the CMP. To exercise these rights, contact us at: info@grathoid.com. We will respond within one month, unless legally obligated to extend this period (e.g., under GDPR, up to 3 months for complex requests).

Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.

• Google Analytics and AdSense data is secured by Google per their policies.
• Our website is hosted by a secure hosting provider using industry-standard protections.

Data Transfer

• Google Analytics and AdSense data may be transferred and processed by Google in various locations, as outlined in Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.
• Other vendors in our CMP list (e.g., LiveRamp, PubMatic) may also transfer data internationally, subject to their privacy policies and your consent.
• Other data remains with our secure hosting provider unless shared as described.

Updates to This Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 13, 2025.
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.