Who we are

Or more accurately, “Who I am”. Because this website, address: GoutPal.net, is owned and operated by Keith Taylor. I must start by saying that I am not a huge fan of Privacy Pages. Because they tend to be rambling, lists of clauses that don’t mean a lot and are boring. However, I am a fan of respecting your privacy, so I’ll do my best to explain how my website affects you.

What personal data I collect and why I collect it

Your Messages

The first thing you have to be aware of is that this is a public forum. So nothing that you write here, is private. Similarly, no photos or other files that you upload are private. However, the only personal information I need from you is a name and email address. Also, if you log in via a social media account, my software will show the picture you use as your profile photo. Lastly, if you change your mind about anything that you pass to me for publication, you can email my help desk and I will delete it, or remove personally identifying information as soon as I can. There is a link to my help desk or a Feedback Form on every page.

Name, email address, and photo

I’m aware that health issues might be embarrassing to be associated with. So if that affects you I recommend that you create an email address that you only use for this forum, and use a false name. Personally, I like Gmail for email, but you are free to use any service that you like.

As far as your email address is concerned, I will only use it to contact you about GoutPal and I will never pass it on to any third party. Except that it will be stored in the records of companies that I use to email you. However, I only use reputable services such as Google, Gravatar, Freshdesk, Zoho, MailerLite, Helpy and similar services that I may choose when appropriate. I check that any such service does not share any email addresses.

IP Address

Your IP address is set by your Internet Services Provider and it might be fixed, or it might change each time you connect to the Internet. Normally, I disregard IP addresses. However, if you abuse my website by posting illegal or immoral messages, or if you try to gain access to accounts that are not yours, I will use your IP address to ban you. Also, if I have time, I will report the abuse to your provider and appropriate regulatory bodies.

Media

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.

Cookies

Cookies are the name given to small files of information used by Internet software to save some of your preferences so that you don’t have to keep entering them each time you visit. All modern browsers allow you to block them. But that might stop some features of GoutPal.net from working as intended.

Analytics

I use Google Analytics to help me evaluate which topics are judged by visitors to be most interesting. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. However, you can opt-out of Google Analytics if you want.

Avertising

• Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your previous visits to this website or other websites.
• Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to my sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
• You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Ads Settings and www.aboutads.info.)

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site or have left public messages, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data I hold about you, including any data you have provided to me. You can also request that I erase any personal data I hold about you. But I cannot erase any data I am obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Please remember that I aim to protect your privacy at all times. So if you have any concerns, please post them in the forum or use my help desk (via the Feedback form below).

Leave Privacy Policy to read more about GoutPal.net.