Privacy Policy

 

Introduction

The content on this blog is my own, excluding other sites where links lead. The stories, thoughts, photographs that I create are copyright protected in my name. The site itself is known as a Blogger site—owned by Google. I've recently installed a custom domain, which means I pay for a more streamlined Uniform Resource Locator or URL. I don’t collect anyone’s personal data besides their words, if they comment. Usually, people comment anonymously. I invite you to read my Privacy Policy, and if you have any further questions, please comment on a blog post. All comments get sent to me to moderate, so you can tell me not to publish it. I don't publish my email address, because when I used to do that, criminals had daily access to my inbox. I tried to install a Contact Page, but Blogger isn't letting me do that. Be assured that by leaving a comment, I'll get back to you. I've never had any problem with comments not getting to me. 

My most recent privacy policy update: September 7, 2025.

Grounds for the Processing of Your Data

As the owner of the domain on this particular Blogger site, personal and anonymous information collected, stored, used--and some of it shared by Google, which I'll explain--makes it possible for me to write. That is the reason, the grounding if you will, of my ownership of domain and use of the Google Blogger platform. That is more fundamental than policy, but so is your participation, which is more than information but involves it. All of it allows me to do photography, too, rather than to just file images away, and I thank you for that. As for the Privacy Policy, it's in place to help make you comfortable, and to satisfy your curiosity to the best of my ability at explaining data. The Privacy Policy is required by law on the behalf of website visitors or users; it's about you and it's about me respecting your privacy, which I'm fully committed to.

Personal Data

If you comment on a blog post, you'll leave your email address and possibly your name. If you leave any links, I will delete them. I don't know if your link is safe, and I'm not going to test it and find out! True, there are online services who can test a link for me, but I'm just not going to get that involved. Especially given the quality of most links that get left for me to delete. But legitimate comments I appreciate a great deal. They are truly personal data, and as soon as I've posted your comment, I delete your email address from my Outlook. I never share or sell your personal data! The only exception are my close friends--when they comment on a blog post, I don't delete their email address. 

Anonymous Data

Anonymous data is information the Google servers automatically collect when you visit Litton's Fishing Lines. Here is a link to Google's Privacy Policy. As I began to mention earlier, some of this anonymous data is stored in aggregate form, meaning that it's generally made all the more anonymous, but in the case of a legal investigation, it can made personally identifiable through sophisticated techniques. The aggregate data is shared with advertisers and other third parties by Google to provide and improve services, personalize content and ads, develop new services, and understand user behavior to ensure better performance. 

Specific anonymous data collected includes traffic and usage data for Blogger's built-in statistics. (I don't use Google Analytics.) Here are some traffic and data usage forms: Visitor counts, pageviews and engagement, time on page and clicks, referral sources (showing what website a visitor came from, which I never see).

Device and browser data: To optimize and troubleshoot its service, Google collects anonymous data about the devices and software used to access Blogger, which can include: Browser type and settings, device type and operating system, application version numbers. 

Location Data: Google anonymizes location data so a user's location in represented by an area of at least three square kilometers, not by an individual address. Data used to determine location includes IP address and nearby wi-fi access points and cell towers.

Cookies: I've never heard of a site not using cookies, and Blogger is no exception. I'll fill you in on them below.

Reasons for Data Collection

Be reassured that I don't share or sell personal or other information on my website; I don't even advertise on my websites. That's because you get a better experience without that annoyance. The essential anonymous information is collected to the website can function, although it goes a step further as Google uses anonymous information in aggregate form for those reasons mentioned under "Anonymous Data." Otherwise, inessential information is collected where a cookie banner isn't required by law and where the law requires a cookie banner and a visitor allows it. I have tested an overseas address and have seen the cookie banner for myself. The inessential information is used for the analytics I use inside the Blogger dashboard. 

Data Retention

Much of the data is retrained for various lengths of time in cookie form. Other data, such as account-level data, is retained for the length of time I use Google's services. That data will not be deleted until removed from my account. For yet other data pertaining to legal obligations, Google is required to keep it for extended periods. Information including financial record keeping, fraud prevention, and complying with regulatory requirements comprises that type of form. Otherwise, advertising data from server logs is automatically and anonymously deleted after shorter periods of time. 

How Data is Stored and Managed

I can say proudly that my website is a Google Blogger website, because I've held a Google account for years with virtually no problems, and the more I've looked into information technology to write this Privacy Policy, as well as the Privacy Policy for my Squarespace site, the greater my awe of Google. Blogger sites are stored on Google's globally distributed cloud server infrastructure. It's a network of thousands of data centers around the world. The management of this system ensures the high reliability and fast loading times I'm used to with my two Blogger sites. 

Regarding Personal Information, Google stores email addresses and IP addresses collected, but I never see IP addresses, which, according to some legal frameworks, are personal information. As I mentioned before, the email addresses I do deal with in posting comments, I delete once the comment is up. 

Google takes data and aggregates it. Personally identifiable information such as IP Addresses can be removed or modified, increasingly anonymized. Differential privacy adds noise to data by inserting statistical errors, making it more difficult to identify individual users while preserving the accuracy of the overall set of data. Furthermore, data collection is limited by use of artificial intelligence processes helping to preserve privacy by keeping data on the user's device.

Security

Google encrypts data at rest and in transit. At rest, data is encrypted with unique keys before it gets written to disc, which ensures it can only be accessed by authorized services. And in transit, Hypertext Protocol Secure (HTTPS) and Application Layer Transport Security (ALTS) secures data during transfer between users, websites, and Google's servers. That prevents interception. 

Google's many data centers are protected by physical security measures, including redundant power systems, fire suppression, advanced cooling, and nonstop monitoring to prevent unauthorized access and service disruptions. Speaking from my own experience, in 14 years of blogging, I've never known a single service disruption. 

User Rights

Your rights as a visitor to my website should assure you that your personal data will not be snatched away from you. The legal entities that assure you through the following statements number in the dozens. 

You have the right to access, which means you can request to the see the personal data the website has collected about you, if it's collected any. I'll respond if you address me, but if such is your concern, you must prove your identity, as I don't want to give someone else's situation away to a bad actor. 

You have the right to rectification or correction, which means that if personal data of yours is on my site, you can request me to fix it if it's incomplete or inaccurate. 

You have the right to have your personal data (email address, name, comments, or if I've photographed you or mentioned you in any of my posts) deleted. Be assured that I don't use Google Analytics, and that the analytics native to Blogger anonymizes and does not retain IP addresses: I do not collect IP addresses.

You have the right to opt out of the sharing of your personal data, but I share no personal data, besides what comments, images, words are read by readers. IP addresses pass through my site to Google's servers. I suggest you read Google's Privacy Policy if you're concerned about that. 

You do have the right to know about Google's data collection practices, as well as my own, which the Privacy Policies of Google and my own inform you about. 

You have the right to non-discrimination, which means no one will penalize you for exercising your rights.

You have the right to transparent disclosure about my website's data processing practices, and I hope I am writing both clearly and informatively about that! If you have any questions, contact me. I don't have any way I've been able find to embed an email address. As I wrote earlier, I don't make my email address visible, because I used to. And criminals flooded my inbox. If you need to contact me, simply leave a blog post comment with your email address, tell me not to publish it, and ask me your question. I don't actually see an email address in a comment, though it's embedded somehow, so I'll need your email address from you.

Children

I know it's an awkward subject for young people who want to read, but there are laws to protect you--as if you don't sense possible irony in that! I don't at all knowingly target any group but fishermen, and certainly non-fishermen are welcome, but I don't knowingly receive data from anyone under 18, and I ask anyone younger than 18 to please allow your parents to take control of that. When I grew up, being teenaged was quite an independent endeavor. But please, involve your parents if you use this website. It's worth being shared between you. 

International Data Transfer

Google Blogger is on the worldwide web, which means Google transfers data internationally. Data Privacy Frameworks include EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and UK Extension as a legal basis for transferring data from Switzerland to the UK to the U.S. Blogger also amounts to Adequacy Decisions by the European Commission, which identifies countries outside the European Economic Area that have adequate data protection laws, allowing for data transfers to those region. For transfers not covered by AC or data privacy frameworks, Google uses Standard Contractual Clauses, which are contractual commitments to protect data with functional data protection safeguards.

Law Enforcement

Data Google Blogger stores can become the subject of legal scrutiny. Copyright and intellectual rights are a concern. I've to confront a number of individuals who have stolen photos of mine. The naivety regarding personal property is appalling. If my website were hijacked, malicious actors having taken control of it (temporarily), then digital forensics experts in cooperation with law enforcement might access data on my site. Google has policy in place to handle law enforcement issues. 

Log Files and Cookies

Blogger features a dashboard for the administrator. That's me in the case of Litton's Fishing Lines. It records numbers of visits, what countries visits come from, device type visits come from, browser type visits come from. None of it identifies individual users. Anonymous information is stored in server log files, which may include IP addresses, browser type, basic IP information, operating system and date/time stamps used for site administration and analysis of blog usage, but as I've said before, I never see IP addresses and they're stored on Google servers.

Google may use cookies to provide easier and faster access to blog features such as logins and/or repeat visits. Cookies are tiny little text files stored on personal computers or mobile devices for reference purposes. The blog does not collect any personally identifiable information in cookies, but you can opt out of cookies by clearing them on your device. Where appropriate, Google provides a cookie banner.

Links to Third Party Websites

Very frequently, I link to other sites. My other Google blog, Fishing in New Jersey, does not link to other sites, although anyone is free to comment on Fishing in New Jersey. Links will not be tolerated in comments, because I will not be the first to see if a link is safe.

Simply be aware that when you click on links I provide, I am not responsible for the privacy practices and/or policies of any other websites than two Google Blogger sites I use.

In Summation

The main thing to keep in mind, I think, when we're dealing with information technology, which is what we're doing when online, is that we're dealing with a product of the human mind. The attitude we take can't be prescribed. It's up to each of us individually, but I may persuade and do persuade the interest, trust, respect, and even awe that speaks to the goodness of information technology--why else are we on these devices?--rather than suspicion, fear, distrust, resentment...and withering contempt.