Privacy Policy

Effective Date: [June 23, 2025]
Last Updated: [June 23, 2025]

Who We Are

Our website address is: https://markkorthuis.com. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring transparency about how we collect, use, and protect your personal information.

Contact Information:

  • Website Owner: Mark Korthuis
  • Email: markkorthuis@gmail.com

Information We Collect

Personal Information You Provide

  • Comments: Name, email address, website URL, and comment content
  • Contact Forms: Name, email address, phone number, and message content
  • Newsletter Subscriptions: Email address and name (if provided)
  • Account Registration: Username, email address, and any profile information you choose to provide

Information Automatically Collected

  • Technical Data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring website, pages visited, time spent on pages, and access times
  • Cookies and Tracking: We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your browsing experience (see Cookies section below)
  • Device Information: Device type, screen resolution, and other technical specifications

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

  • Website Functionality: To provide core website features and functionality
  • Communication: To respond to your inquiries, comments, and requests
  • Security: To protect against spam, fraud, and security threats
  • Analytics: To understand how visitors use our website and improve our services
  • Marketing: To send newsletters or promotional content (only with your explicit consent)
  • Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws and regulations

Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

We process your personal data based on:

  • Consent: When you explicitly agree to data processing
  • Legitimate Interests: For analytics, security, and website improvement
  • Contract Performance: To fulfill services you’ve requested
  • Legal Obligation: To comply with applicable laws

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Comment Moderation: All comments are subject to moderation and may be edited or removed at our discretion.

Media and File Uploads

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Important: Do not upload personal, confidential, or copyrighted material without proper authorization.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Essential Cookies

  • Comment Cookies: If you leave a comment, you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies for convenience. These cookies last for one year.
  • Login Cookies: Authentication cookies last for two days, with “Remember Me” extending this to two weeks.
  • Administrative Cookies: Temporary cookies for login page functionality and post editing (expires after 1 day).

Analytics Cookies

We may use Google Analytics or similar services to understand website usage. These services may set cookies to track your interactions with our site.

Third-Party Cookies

Embedded content from other websites (videos, social media, etc.) may set their own cookies. We have no control over these third-party cookies.

Cookie Management: You can control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

Third-Party Services and Data Sharing

Service Providers

We may share your information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in:

  • Website hosting and maintenance
  • Email delivery services
  • Analytics and performance monitoring
  • Security and spam protection
  • Payment processing (if applicable)

Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or to protect our rights, safety, or the rights of others.

Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of business assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no internet transmission is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Security Measures Include:

  • SSL encryption for data transmission
  • Regular security updates and monitoring
  • Access controls and authentication
  • Data backup and recovery procedures

Data Retention

  • Comments: Retained indefinitely to facilitate automatic approval of follow-up comments
  • User Accounts: Personal information retained while account is active, plus reasonable period for legal/administrative purposes
  • Analytics Data: Aggregated analytics data may be retained longer for business insights
  • Email Communications: Retained according to business and legal requirements

Your Rights

Under applicable privacy laws (including GDPR and CCPA), you have the right to:

Access and Portability

  • Request a copy of personal data we hold about you
  • Receive your data in a portable format

Correction and Updates

  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information
  • Update your account information at any time

Deletion and Erasure

  • Request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal retention requirements)
  • Withdraw consent for data processing

Restriction and Objection

  • Restrict processing of your personal data in certain circumstances
  • Object to processing based on legitimate interests

Complaints

  • File a complaint with relevant data protection authorities

To exercise these rights, contact us at markkorthuis@gmail.com.

International Data Transfers

If you are located outside of Canada, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in Canada where our servers are located. By using our website, you consent to this transfer.

Children’s Privacy

Our website is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected such information, we will take steps to delete it promptly.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable laws. We will notify you of material changes by:

  • Posting the updated policy on this page
  • Updating the “Last Updated” date
  • Sending email notifications for significant changes (if you’ve provided an email address)

Contact Information

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Email: markkorthuis@gmail.com
Website: https://markkorthuis.com

Response Time: We will respond to privacy-related inquiries within 30 days.