Privacy Policy

Who We Are

EveryMartian.com ("EveryMartian," "we," "our," or "us") is a faith-based website for men, written and operated by Steven D. Mikel in the United States. This policy explains what information we collect when you use everymartian.com and app.everymartian.com, why we collect it, and the choices you have.

Information You Give Us

When you comment on an article

• Your name and your comment. Once a comment is approved, both are shown publicly on the article. Please do not include anything in a comment you would not want the public to read.
• Your email address, if you comment without an account. It is required, but it is never displayed and never shared. We keep it only so we can reach you about your comment if we need to.

Every comment is reviewed before it appears. We may decline or remove any comment.

When you create an account

• A display name, your email address, and a password. We never store your password itself, only a one-way scrambled version of it (a "hash") that cannot be turned back into your password.
• With an account, we email you when your comment is approved or when EveryMartian replies to it, and we can send a password reset link when you ask for one.

When you contact us

The contact form sends us your name, email address, topic, and message by email so we can answer you. We use it only to reply to you.

Information Collected Automatically

• Analytics. We use Google Analytics, loaded through Google Tag Manager, to understand which pages are read and how people find us. It collects things like your browser and device type, approximate location (city or region), pages visited, and the website that sent you here. We see these as totals and trends, not as individual people. See Google Analytics below for details.
• Referring websites. When you arrive from a link on another website, we count the name of that website and the page you landed on, per day. No name, email, or IP address is stored with that count.
• Server and security logs. Like every website, our server records basic request information (IP address, browser, page requested, time). These logs are kept for about two weeks for security and troubleshooting. We also use IP addresses for a short time to limit repeated login attempts and to block spam.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information only to:

• Publish and moderate comments, and let you know about replies (account holders)
• Run your account and send the emails you ask for, such as password resets
• Answer your messages
• Understand what readers find helpful so we can write better content
• Keep the site secure and free of spam and abuse

We do not send marketing email, and we will never add you to a mailing list you did not ask to join.

We Never Sell Your Data

We do not sell, rent, trade, or license your personal information, and we never will. The things you give us directly (your name, email address, account, comments, and messages) stay with us. They are never given to advertisers, marketers, or data brokers.

The only outside companies that handle information for us are the service providers that make the site work:

• Our web hosting provider, which stores the site and its database
• Our email delivery provider, which sends account and notification emails
• Google, for Analytics and Tag Manager (explained in the next section)
• Content delivery networks that serve fonts and page scripts, and YouTube when you play a video embedded in an article

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our readers.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics runs in your browser and sends visit information (the pages you view, your device and browser, approximate location, and how you arrived) straight to Google. It never receives your name, your email address, or anything you type into a comment or form.

We have turned on Google Signals and Analytics' demographic reports. These let Google tell us, in totals only, things like the general age range and interests of our readers and whether people read on a phone or a computer. To do that, Google may connect visit information with a Google account you are signed in to, according to your own Google account settings. Google handles that information under its own privacy policy, and depending on your settings may use it in its services, including the ads Google shows you elsewhere.

No money changes hands, and none of your comment or account information is involved. Some state privacy laws, such as California's, still describe this kind of arrangement as "sharing" for advertising, so we want you to know about it and to have easy ways to say no:

• Global Privacy Control. If your browser sends this signal (Brave, DuckDuckGo, and Firefox with the setting on all can), our site automatically turns off Google's advertising features and Google Signals for your visits. We still count the visit, but it is not used for ads.
• Your Google account. Turn off personalized ads at My Ad Center. This applies everywhere Google is used, not just here.
• Opt out of Analytics entirely with Google's opt-out add-on, or by blocking cookies in your browser. The site works the same either way.
• Ask us. Email us and we will help with anything else.

Cookies

• Essential cookie. A session cookie keeps you signed in and protects our forms against forgery. The site cannot work properly without it.
• Analytics cookies. Google Analytics sets cookies to tell new visits from returning ones. You can block them or opt out as described under Google Analytics, and the site will still work.
• Embedded videos. YouTube may set its own cookies when you play a video.

How Long We Keep It

• Accounts are kept until you ask us to delete them.
• Comments, and a guest commenter's email, are kept as long as the comment exists.
• Contact form messages are kept in our email only as long as needed to help you.
• Server logs are kept for about two weeks.

Your Choices and Rights

No matter where you live, you can ask us to:

• Tell you what personal information we hold about you
• Correct it
• Delete your account, your comments, or your email address
• Not use your visits for advertising (see Google Analytics for the quickest ways)

Just email us at the address below. We will answer within 30 days and will not treat you differently for asking. Residents of California, Virginia, Colorado, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and other places with privacy laws have these rights by law, and we extend them to everyone.

Security

The site is served only over encrypted connections (HTTPS), passwords are stored as one-way hashes, and access to our systems is restricted. No website can promise perfect security, but we work to protect what you trust us with.

Children

EveryMartian is written for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13, and people under 13 may not create an account or comment. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to This Policy

If we change this policy, we will post the new version here and update the date at the top. We will never change it to allow selling the personal information you give us.

Contact Us

Questions or requests about your privacy:

Email: contact@everymartian.com
Or: use our contact form.