Privacy policy

What this page covers

• This page covers this site only: the home pages, articles, list pages, and the online tools at www.casper.tw.
• Some tools also have their own privacy page, for example Sound Effects.
• Other services I run have their own policies. For example, privacy.casper.tw covers other software services. Those are separate websites, and their own policies apply.
• Under this domain there are also course examples and project pages published straight from GitHub repositories (the first part of the URL is the repository name). They don't use this site's layout, so the ad and analytics settings on this page may not apply to them. See each page for details.

I don't collect personal data myself

This site is static. There are no accounts, sign-ins or forms. I don't ask for your name, email address or phone number, and I don't keep a database of visitor data. The data listed below is collected and processed by the third-party services this site uses (Google, Meta, GitHub and Cloudflare) under their own policies. All I can see are aggregated reports, such as those in Google Analytics, not data that directly identifies you.

Ads and cookies (Google AdSense)

This site shows ads through Google AdSense. Google decides where ads appear and what they show; I don't pick them.

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this site or other websites.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
• You can opt out of personalized advertising in Google's Ads Settings. You can also opt out of third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising at www.aboutads.info.

Besides Google, other Google-certified ad networks may serve ads here through AdSense and use their own cookies. You can opt out the same way, or on each ad network's website. After you opt out you will still see ads, but they won't be chosen based on your browsing history. To learn how Google uses this data, see Google's pages on advertising and how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

If you visit from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, Google shows a consent message that asks whether you agree to the use of cookies and personalized ads.

The privacy policy, the contact page, the terms of use and the “page not found” (404) page don't load ads.

Traffic statistics (Google Analytics)

This site uses Google Analytics 4 to measure traffic: for example, how many times each page is viewed, which website you came from, your device and browser, and your approximate country or city. Google Analytics sets cookies in your browser (their names start with _ga) to tell visits apart.

• If you visit from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, analytics cookies are off by default (Google's consent mode). Google Analytics sets its cookies only after you agree in Google's consent message; until then, it sends Google cookieless pings, which Google uses for aggregated, modeled reports.
• I only look at aggregated reports, to see which articles help readers and what to write next.
• Events sent from tool pages don't include what you type or choose in a tool, such as a list of names for a draw. The one exception is the Sound Effects search page: the words you search for are recorded, as its privacy page explains.
• Event-level data is deleted automatically under the data retention setting in Google Analytics.
• If you don't want to be measured, install Google's Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, or block cookies in your browser.

Facebook (Meta Pixel and comments plugin)

• Meta Pixel (Facebook Pixel) loads on the home page, articles and list pages, but not on the tools, and not at all for visitors from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. It sends Meta the URL of the page you view, information about your browser, and your IP address. If you're logged in to Facebook, Meta may link these records to your account and use them to measure and deliver ads on Facebook and Instagram. I use it to understand readers who come from Facebook and how my promoted posts perform.
• Facebook comments plugin: the comment boxes under articles and on the About page are provided by Facebook. When the page loads, your browser connects to Facebook's servers, so Facebook may receive your IP address and browser information, and if you're logged in, which page you viewed. Comments you post appear publicly under your Facebook account and are stored by Facebook. To edit or delete a comment, use the comment box or Facebook itself. If you visit from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the comment box loads only after you click the button to show the Facebook comments.
• To control the data Meta uses for ads, go to Facebook's Accounts Center and adjust your ad preferences, including whether information that other businesses share with Meta about your activity is used to show you ads. For details, see the Meta Privacy Policy.

Hosting and connections (GitHub Pages and Cloudflare)

• This site's files are hosted on GitHub Pages. GitHub logs visitors' IP addresses for security purposes, whether or not you're signed in to GitHub. For details, see the GitHub General Privacy Statement.
• Connections to this site go through Cloudflare, which speeds up pages, caches files and blocks malicious traffic. The tools are also served by Cloudflare. Cloudflare processes connection data such as your IP address and browser information. When it detects suspicious traffic, it may set security cookies (for example __cf_bm or cf_clearance); these cookies are not used to track you across websites. For details, see the Cloudflare Privacy Policy.

Content embedded in articles

Some articles embed content from other websites, such as YouTube videos, SlideShare presentations, and code examples from CodePen and JSBin. Many images are stored on Google's Firebase Storage. When this content loads, your browser connects directly to those servers. They may receive your IP address and browser information and may set their own cookies, as described in each website's privacy policy.

What you can do

• Block or delete cookies in your browser settings, or use a private window. Articles still work without cookies, but external features such as Facebook comments may not appear.
• Use the settings mentioned above to turn off personalized ads, Google Analytics or Meta's ad tracking.
• If you have questions about this policy, email me at contact@casper.tw, or reach me through my Facebook page or on GitHub.

If you contact me

When you contact me by email, through my Facebook page or on GitHub, I see your email address or the name you use on that platform, and what you send me. I use it only to reply to you and to handle the issue you reported. I don't pass it on to anyone, and I don't use it to send marketing messages. Messages are kept in my email account, on Facebook or on GitHub, under each service's policy.

Changes to this policy

When this site's features or the third-party services it uses change, I update this page and the “Last updated” date at the top.