Privacy Policy

This policy explains what Guided Fixes does with information when you read guides, rate them, send us a message or use the optional Google features. We have written it in plain language.

Who we are and how to reach us

Guided Fixes is an independent website of guides for computers, phones and connected devices. Its web address is guidedfixes.com. In this policy, "we" and "us" mean the person or group that runs the site.

To ask a question about this policy or to make a privacy request, contact us using contact@guidedfixes.com. If you use the contact form, choose the topic A privacy request.

What information we handle

The table lists each kind of information this site handles, what it is, where it is kept, why we use it and how long we keep it. The sections after the table explain each part in plain words.

The two Google rows apply only if the site operator has switched that feature on and your browser does not send Global Privacy Control.

When you read the site

Like any website, the servers that host this site record basic details of each request. These are your IP address, your browser and device type, the pages you ask for and the time. We use these logs to deliver the site and keep it secure. Our hosting provider keeps them under its own log policy.

If you use the search box, the words you type become part of the address of the results page, for example /search/?q=printer. Like any other page request, it appears in the server logs. The search itself runs in your browser, using a list of guides that the site sends to you.

The tools that handle ratings and contact messages do not save your IP address in our database. They keep only a scrambled code made from it (a hash), described below, to limit abuse. The hosting provider's logs still record your IP address for every request, as described above. When you follow a link to another website, that website's own privacy policy applies.

Delivery and security services

Pages and files on this site may be delivered through a content-delivery and security service, such as Cloudflare, that sits in front of our hosting provider. If this site uses one, the service handles the same technical details as the hosting provider: your IP address, your browser and device type, and the pages and files you request. It uses them to deliver the site faster and to block attacks and automated abuse. It may set its own security cookies, for example a cookie that helps tell people from automated bots. It passes your requests on to our hosting provider, which records them as described above, and it tells our server your IP address so that the abuse limits below can use it, again only as a scrambled code. What the service itself does with this information is governed by its own privacy policy, not by this one. For Cloudflare, see Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.

Some web hosts also add their own performance-monitoring script to the pages they serve. If our host does, that script is loaded from the host's servers, it is not part of this site's code, we do not control it, and the host's privacy policy applies. It can see the same technical details as the host (your IP address, your browser and the pages you open).

When you rate a guide

You do not need an account to rate a guide. When you send a star rating, your browser sends the site the guide, your rating and an anonymous token that your browser made at random. Your browser makes the token the first time you send a rating.

The server turns the token into a one-way code (a hash) using a secret key. It then saves the rating with that code and the time. It does not save the token itself.

The code lets us count one rating per visitor for each guide, and lets you change your rating later. It cannot be turned back into your token, and it holds no name, email address or IP address. Visitors can see only totals: the average, the number of ratings and how many ratings each star level received.

"Anonymous" has limits. The site does not link a rating to your name or email address, and we do not use the hosting provider's logs to find out who rated. But those logs record the IP address and time of every request, including the one that sends a rating, so we cannot promise that no one could ever connect a rating to a connection by comparing times. The logs do not show which guide you rated or which stars you chose.

When you add private feedback

You can add a private note with your rating. We call it feedback. It is optional and can be up to 1,000 characters long. We save the text with your rating in the database. Each time you add or change a note, the site also sends us an email that contains the guide, your rating and your text. The email does not include your IP address or your anonymous token.

Feedback is private. It is never shown on the site. The text is saved and emailed exactly as you type it, so anything personal you write in it, such as a name, an email address or a phone number, is stored and emailed too. The text is erased from the database 180 days after you first rated that guide, even if you changed the note later. The email stays in our mailbox until we delete it. If you send a new note for the same guide, it replaces the earlier text in the database. Please do not put personal details, passwords or payment details in feedback.

When you use the contact form

The form asks for your name, your email address, a topic and your message. It also asks you to confirm that you have read this policy. The form sends these details to us in one email. The message is not saved on the site, and the contact tool does not record which page you sent it from. The hosting provider's logs may show the page you came from, as for any request. Because the email carries your name, your email address and your message, it contains personal information, and so may anything else you choose to write in the message.

We use your details only to read and answer your message. The email stays in our mailbox for as long as we need it to answer you. We delete it if you ask. The mail systems that carry the message, such as the mail server at our hosting provider, may keep their own copies under their own policies.

How we limit spam and abuse

The site limits how many ratings and messages can be sent from one place in an hour or a day. To do this it keeps a scrambled version (a hash) of your IP address, made with a secret key. When you rate a guide, it also keeps a scrambled version of your anonymous token, so that one browser cannot send too many ratings.

It does not keep the address or the token itself. The scrambled codes kept for these limits are deleted after 2 days. The site clears them when someone sends a rating or a message, at most once an hour, so on a very quiet site they can stay a little longer. They are used only for these limits.

The token's scrambled code is the same code that is saved with your rating, so that copy stays as long as the rating does (see the table above). It is a code, not the token, and it holds no name or address.

The rating and contact forms also have a hidden field that people never see, and the contact form sends how long you took to fill it in when JavaScript is on. They help the site ignore automated spam. Neither is saved.

What your browser stores

The code of this site does not set cookies. It uses your browser's local storage for three items.

• edu.prefs holds your theme (automatic, light or dark) and your text size. It is saved when you change either setting.
• edu.vid holds the random anonymous token used when you rate guides. Your browser makes it the first time you send a rating.
• edu.rated holds a list of the guides you have rated and the stars you gave. It is saved when you send a rating.

These stay in your browser until you clear this site's data. Your browser sends the anonymous token to the site only when you send a rating. The Cookie Policy explains each item and how to remove it. The site still works if your browser blocks storage, but it will not remember your choices.

If a delivery and security service sits in front of this site, it may set its own security cookies, which this site's code does not control. See "Delivery and security services" above.

Optional Google features

The site operator can switch on two optional features that use Google. They are off unless the operator turns them on. When a feature is on, a notice about it appears in this section. If you see no notice for a feature, it is not switched on for this site.

Here is how each feature works when it is switched on.

• Google reviews. This feature shows reviews that people have posted on Google for the business or place the operator has linked to this site. When the reviews section scrolls into view, your browser loads Google's Maps JavaScript API and asks Google for the reviews. Your browser also loads reviewers' profile photos from Google. Google receives your IP address, browser details and the website you are on, as it would from any site that uses its services, and its code may store or read information on your device. We do not keep a copy of the reviews.
• Google tag. This feature loads Google's tag as soon as a page opens. The tag measures visits and the performance of ads. Google receives your IP address, the pages you view, the page you came from and details of your browser and device, and the tag can set cookies.

Neither feature loads if your browser reports Global Privacy Control to the page (see "Your choices" below). What Google does with the data it receives is governed by Google's Privacy Policy, not by this policy, and we do not control it.

What we do not use

This site does not use user accounts, newsletters, social media buttons or widgets, external fonts or files loaded from other content delivery networks. A delivery and security service may sit in front of this site, as described under "Delivery and security services" above. This site also does not use session replay tools or fingerprinting (recognizing a device by its settings). It does not use advertising networks, apart from the optional Google tag described above. The only outside code that this site itself adds to its pages is Google's, and only if the operator switches on a Google feature. Code that our web host or a delivery service adds to the pages it serves is described under "Delivery and security services" above.

How we use and share information

Why we use information

We use information only for these purposes:

• to deliver, secure and maintain the site
• to show average star ratings on guides
• to improve guides, using the feedback you choose to send
• to prevent spam and abuse
• to read and answer your messages and requests
• to remember your display choices in your own browser
• if switched on, to show Google reviews and to measure visits and ad performance with the Google tag

Who receives information

• Our hosting provider runs the servers. It keeps the server logs and stores the site's database.
• A delivery and security service, such as Cloudflare, if the site uses one. It passes your requests to the hosting provider and handles the same technical details (see "Delivery and security services" above).
• Email services carry and store contact messages and feedback emails, including the mailbox where we read them.
• Google receives data from your browser only if an optional Google feature is on and your browser does not send Global Privacy Control.

We do not give information to anyone else, except where the law requires us to.

We do not sell your information

We do not sell your personal information. We do not give it to advertisers, we do not profile visitors, and this site shows no ads.

The exception to watch is the optional Google features. If the operator switches one on, your browser sends data to Google as described above, and Google uses it under its own privacy policy. We do not control what Google does with it. Depending on how the Google tag is set up in the operator's Google accounts, some privacy laws could treat that as "sharing" for advertising. You can stop it by sending Global Privacy Control or by using a content blocker.

International transfers

Our hosting provider and the email services we use may process information on servers in other countries, and Google processes data around the world. Those countries may have different privacy laws from yours. If this concerns you, send only what we need to reply to you, and contact us with any questions.

Keeping information safe and deleting it

Automatic deletion

The site deletes two kinds of information on its own. Feedback text is erased from the database 180 days after you first rated that guide. The scrambled codes made from your IP address and your anonymous token, kept for the abuse limits, are deleted after 2 days.

The site does this cleanup in the background when someone sends a rating or a message, at most once an hour. On a very quiet site, a code or an old note can therefore stay for a little longer than the stated time.

Star ratings stay until we remove them or you ask us to. Other information we hold, such as a contact message or a feedback email in our mailbox, is deleted when you ask, as described under "Your privacy rights" below. Backups that our hosting provider may make of the database or of mail can hold older copies for a while after we delete something.

How we protect information

The ratings database is kept outside the public part of the web server. It holds scrambled codes, not raw IP addresses or raw anonymous tokens, together with any feedback text you wrote. Contact messages are sent by email and are not saved on the site. No system is completely secure, so we cannot promise perfect protection.

Your choices

• Use the site without giving us anything. Reading guides needs no personal information. Rating, feedback and the contact form are all optional.
• Change your rating or your note. Send your rating again and the new rating replaces the old one. If the note box is empty when you do, the note saved in our database is erased. An email copy that we already received stays in our mailbox until we delete it.
• Clear your browser data. Clearing this site's data in your browser removes the local storage items.
• Block scripts. You can use your browser settings or a content blocker to stop Google's code from loading.
• Send Global Privacy Control. See below.

Global Privacy Control

Global Privacy Control (GPC) is a setting in some browsers and browser extensions. It tells websites that you do not want your personal information sold or shared. You can read more at globalprivacycontrol.org.

When your browser sends GPC, this site does not load the optional Google features. Google's tag and Google's Maps code are not loaded, and if the Google reviews area is on, it shows only two links to Google. You do not need to do anything else.

The site looks for the signal in the page itself, as your browser reports it to web pages. Firefox has a setting for GPC, Brave and the DuckDuckGo browser turn it on by default, and some browser extensions add it to other browsers. If a browser or extension sends the signal to servers but does not report it to web pages, this site cannot see it. In that case, use a content blocker to stop Google's code.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, privacy law may give you rights over your personal information. We handle requests from anyone in the way described here, wherever you live.

What you can ask for

• Access. Ask whether we hold personal information about you, and for a copy of it.
• Correction. Ask us to fix information that is wrong.
• Deletion. Ask us to delete information we hold about you.
• Objection or restriction. Ask us to stop or limit how we use your information.
• Portability. Ask for the information you gave us in a common format, where the law gives you this right.
• Opting out. We do not sell personal information. The only data your own browser sends to another company because of this site is what it sends to Google when an optional Google feature is on. You can stop that by sending Global Privacy Control or by using a content blocker.

We will not treat you differently because you use any of these rights.

How to ask

1. Open the contact page and choose the topic A privacy request. You can also write to us using contact@guidedfixes.com.
2. Say what you want: access, correction, deletion, objection or another request.
3. Tell us what the request is about, so we can find it. For a contact message, give the email address you used and roughly when you wrote. For a rating or feedback, give the name of the guide and your anonymous token (see below). For a note you wrote, you can also quote a few words of it.
4. Wait for our reply. We may ask you to confirm that you control the email address you wrote from. We will never ask for a password or payment details.

Ratings and your anonymous token. Ratings are anonymous, so we cannot tell which one is yours unless you give us your anonymous token. It is the value stored under the key edu.vid in your browser's local storage for this site.

Your browser's developer tools show it, usually under a tab called Application or Storage. If you cannot find it, tell us and we will explain what we can and cannot do.

Please be aware of what this means. A person cannot be identified from an anonymous rating. If you cleared your browser data, or sent the rating from another browser or device, the token is gone and we cannot find your rating. We will not try to match ratings to people using logs or times, because that would mean collecting more about you. We can then do nothing about that rating, and we will say so. Anyone who has your token could ask about your rating, which is why we ask for it only in order to find the rating.

What to expect

• We aim to reply within 30 days. If a request is complicated and needs longer, we will tell you why within that time.
• Requests are free. If a request is clearly unfounded or excessive, the law may let us refuse it. If we do, we will tell you why.
• If we cannot find any information about you, we will say so. This can happen with ratings, because they are anonymous.
• If the law requires us to keep something, we will tell you what and why.
• If you disagree with our answer, reply and ask us to look again. You can also complain to your local data protection authority or, in the United States, to your state's attorney general.

If you are in the EU or the UK

If you are in the EU or the UK, the GDPR or the UK GDPR may give you rights that include access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection and data portability.

These laws also give you the right to complain to a supervisory authority. In the UK this is the Information Commissioner's Office. In the EU you can find your national authority on the European Data Protection Board's list of members. We would like the chance to put things right first, but you can complain at any time.

If you are in the United States

Privacy laws in California and some other states may give you rights. These can include the right to know what personal information a business collects. They can also include the right to ask for it to be deleted or corrected, and to opt out of its sale or sharing. These laws can also protect you from unfair treatment for using your rights.

We do not sell personal information. If an optional Google feature is on, your browser sends data to Google, which is described above, and some state laws could treat the Google tag as sharing for advertising. You can stop it with Global Privacy Control. We do not ask for sensitive personal information. Please do not include any in your feedback or messages.

Children

This site is general reference material and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, tell us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We update this policy when the way the site handles information changes, for example when an optional feature is switched on or a new feature is added. The "last updated" date on this page shows when it last changed. The site has no accounts or mailing list, so we cannot tell you about changes directly. Please check this page from time to time.

If you have a question about this policy, contact us using contact@guidedfixes.com.