This page explains what information MagiRobo collects, why, and the choices you have. It is written in plain English. If anything here is unclear, reach out through the Contact page.
MagiRobo is a personal blog run by Andy Hopkinson. When this page says "we" or "us," it means MagiRobo.
The short version
MagiRobo is a blog, not a store. We do not ask you to create an account, and we do not sell your personal information. The data that gets collected comes from the everyday tools a blog uses: website analytics, advertising, an optional email newsletter you choose to join, and comments you choose to leave. Each of those is explained below.
Information we collect
We collect two kinds of information.
The first is information you hand us on purpose. That is your email address if you sign up for the newsletter, and whatever you type if you leave a comment or send a message.
The second is information collected automatically as you browse, the same way most websites work. That can include your rough location (country or region), the type of device and browser you use, which pages you visit, and how you got here. This is standard traffic data used to understand what readers find useful.
Cookies and similar technology
Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. MagiRobo and the services listed below may use cookies to remember your preferences, measure traffic, and, when advertising is turned on, show and measure ads. You can clear or block cookies in your browser settings at any time. Blocking some cookies may change how parts of the site work.
We group them into three kinds:
- Essential. Needed for the site to load, and to remember the cookie choice you made. These are always on.
- Analytics. Counts visits and page views so we know which posts are worth writing more of.
- Advertising. Lets ad partners show and measure ads, including ads chosen based on your interests.
Your cookie choice
The first time you visit, a banner appears. What it does depends on where you are.
If you are in Europe or the United Kingdom, nothing optional runs until you choose. Until you accept, Google Analytics runs in a mode that writes no cookie, and the advertising and social measurement scripts are not loaded onto the page at all.
Everywhere else, the banner tells you what is running and you can switch off analytics, advertising, or both. Nothing about that choice is sent to us. It is stored in your own browser.
You can change your mind at any time. The Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page reopens the banner and shows your current choices. Clearing your browser storage resets it, and the banner appears again on your next visit.
MagiRobo also respects the Global Privacy Control signal. If your browser or an extension sends it, analytics and advertising cookies start switched off without you doing anything.
Analytics
MagiRobo may use one or more analytics tools to understand how the site is doing. Depending on what is switched on in the site settings, that can include Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Plausible Analytics, the Meta (Facebook) Pixel, and verification tools from Google, Bing, and Pinterest. These tools tell us things like how many people visited a page and where readers came from. Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel use cookies. Plausible does not use cookies and does not collect personal data.
To learn more or opt out of Google Analytics across every site that uses it, you can install Google's browser opt-out add-on.
Advertising
When advertising is turned on, MagiRobo may show ads through Google AdSense and, in the future, other advertising partners. Ad networks like Google use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies lets it and its partners show ads to you based on your visits here and elsewhere on the internet.
You can control personalized advertising in Google's Ad Settings, and you can opt out of personalized advertising from many companies at aboutads.info or youronlinechoices.eu. If you are in the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, you will be asked for consent before personalized ads and related cookies load, and you can change that choice at any time.
Affiliate links
Some posts contain affiliate links. If you click one and buy something, MagiRobo may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate programs, including the Amazon Associates program, use cookies to credit the referral, and those cookies are set by the retailer when you click through, not by MagiRobo. Using these links is entirely optional. Every post that contains one carries a notice at the top, and product links are labeled where they appear. A commission never changes a review score or an honest opinion.
The newsletter
If you sign up for the newsletter, your email address is stored by our email provider only so we can send you the newsletter. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can leave at any time. We do not sell or rent your email address.
Comments
If comments are turned on, MagiRobo uses a third-party comment service to run them. Depending on which one is active, that may be Giscus (which is backed by GitHub and asks you to sign in with a GitHub account to comment), Cusdis (which lets you comment with just a name, no login), or Disqus. When you leave a comment, your comment and the details you provide are handled by that service under its own privacy policy. If you would like a comment you left removed, contact us and we will take care of it.
Children
MagiRobo is written for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
Your choices and rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to see the personal data held about you, ask for it to be corrected or deleted, or object to certain uses. To make a request, reach out through the Contact page and we will respond.
If you are in California, you have the right to know what personal information is collected, to ask for it to be deleted, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. MagiRobo does not sell personal information. Showing interest-based ads can count as "sharing" under California law, so switching off Advertising in Cookie settings is your opt-out, and the Global Privacy Control signal is honored as one too. We do not treat you differently for exercising any of these rights.
If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we rely on your consent as the legal basis for analytics and advertising cookies, and on our legitimate interest in running and securing the site for everything essential. You can withdraw consent at any time from Cookie settings without affecting anything that happened before you did. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
How long data is kept
Analytics data is kept for as long as the analytics tool retains it, which is set to the shortest practical period. Newsletter subscribers are kept until you unsubscribe. Comments stay with the comment service until you or we delete them.
Links to other sites
MagiRobo links out to other websites. Once you follow a link off this site, this policy no longer applies. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites, so it is worth reading their policies too.
Changes to this policy
We may update this page as the site grows or as the tools it uses change. When we do, we will update the date shown at the top.
Contact
Questions about privacy on MagiRobo can go through the Contact page.