Privacy Policy and Terms of Service

Data collection, how we collect it, and its purpose

Left✊ to Our Own Devices collects limited personal data to enable site functionality, including site diagnostics and sending newsletters. Data collected includes:

IP addresses, user agents, and connection information
- These data are collected via applications necessary to run the Ghost platform and serve it over the internet. These data are collected for the diagnosis of technical issues and may be used for analytics to help better design the site. They are not used for personalization. These logs are rotated weekly and logs are retained for two weeks.
Email addresses to send newsletters and allow comments, on an opt-in basis
- Users who opt in to receive a newsletter or comment on posts supply an email address to allow for receiving newsletters and posting comments. Emails are retained for as long as the user wishes to receive newsletters or comment on the blog. Signing up for a newsletter is considered opt-in. Users who have opted in can disable emails, deactivate their account, or opt out at any time by clicking the "Account" button and following the relevant steps. Emails will not be used for marketing purposes or sold.
Comments and other user-contributed content
- Signed-in users have the right to contribute content in the form of comments on posts. Any identifiable information voluntarily supplied by the user is considered to be an opt-in contribution on their behalf and they retain the right to delete it at any time. Comment data will not be sold or used for marketing purposes

Third-party Services

By opting in for the newsletter, you consent to having your email processed by Mailgun Technologies, Inc., the default mailing list service used by the Ghost platform. Left✊ to Our Own Devices does not use the Click Tracking or Open Tracking features of this platform. Left✊ to Our Own Devices does not use third-party analytics or tracking services. Left✊ to Our Own Devices may use third-party Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to accelerate delivery of necessary assets to ensure the blog is functional and secure. In such a case, your IP address may be transmitted to the third-party service.

Left✊ to Our Own Devices sets essential cookies to track user sign-in. The site does not use tracking or analytics cookies.

Policy on AI

Left✊ to Our Own Devices does not use AI to generate text or image content, unless it is necessary for an article or post engaging with the topic of AI generated content or commentary about generative AI.

Left✊ to Our Own Devices cannot fully prevent AI bots from scraping the site and using posts, comments, user-submitted images, or other data from being leveraged in their training algorithms. We do not like this, but this is a tradeoff that is begrudgingly and temporarily accepted to allow for the content to remain free to all readers. Left✊ to Our Own Devices reserves the right to change the policy of open access at any point.

Changes to Privacy Policy

Left✊ to Our Own Devices will announce any substantive changes to this Privacy Policy and reserves the rights to make changes to better serve user needs and user privacy.

Code of Conduct

By commenting on posts, you agree to abide by a Code of Conduct. This includes, but is not limited to, refraining from posting:

hateful content, including but not limited to hate towards or bias or discrimination against people based on ethnicity; race; religious background; gender, gender identity, gender presentation or sex; migration background; social class; caste; nationality; disability status; conviction status; sexuality or sexual orientation; education status; or others;
illegal content;
sexual abuse imagery including child sexual abuse material, or links thereto;
copyrighted works, or links thereto;
computer viruses or malware, or links thereto; and
any other content that a reasonable person would believe endangers other users or their user experiences, or the site and its writers and administrators.

We invite all users to post with a curiosity and openness to people with experiences different than their own and encourage users to build a better internet through their actions and deeds.

Left✊ to Our Own Devices reserves the right to delete any comments deemed in violation of this policy, without warning or explanation, and to block or ban any user found to by violating them willingly.

Code of Conduct violations can be reported by sending an email to ltood@proton.me with a link to the offending content. Left✊ to Our Own Devices will review all such cases but cannot guarantee to respond individually to each.

Contact Information

For more information, deletion requests, or general inquiries, please contact Left✊ to Our Own Devices at ltood@proton.me.