Privacy Policy

Who Is Responsible

This policy applies to benmcgary.com and is issued by JayBen LLC dba Ben McGary, the controller of the information described here. Written notice can be sent to 514 Americas Way #14796, Box Elder, South Dakota 57719. Privacy questions go to ben@benmcgary.com. By using this site you consent to the practices described here.

This site is a personal blog, a portfolio, and a place to reach me. It does not process payments and does not sell anything directly.

What You Give Me Directly

• First and last name.
• Email address.
• Phone number, job title, company, website, and any custom fields you add on the contact exchange card, all optional.
• The content of any message, review, or form you submit.
• Voice or video recordings you upload through the review intake, along with the transcript produced from them.

I do not collect this information unless you hand it over. Nothing on this site requires an account, and I do not ask for demographic data, financial data, or government identifiers.

What Is Collected Automatically

Standard server logs record your IP address, browser type and version, device type, language, referring address, requested pages, and access times. These keep the site running, defend it against abuse, and produce aggregate traffic counts.

Behavioral and Engagement Data

When you allow the analytics or marketing cookie categories, I measure how the site is actually used. That includes:

• Page views, entry pages, exit pages, and time on page.
• Scroll depth, clicks, taps, and hovers on interactive elements.
• Return visits and session counts, tied to a pseudonymous identifier rather than your name.
• Form starts, abandons, and submissions.
• Taps on my phone number, including click-to-call and copy actions, stored without any identifier.
• Email opens and link clicks inside messages I send you.
• First-touch referrer and campaign values, so a submission can be credited to the page that sent you.

How I Use It

• To operate and deliver what you asked for, including replying to messages.
• To send the notifications you signed up for, such as the Symptom Selling list and the newsletter.
• To publish a review you submitted, with the permission you gave at the time.
• To understand which writing is useful and which pages are broken.
• To detect, investigate, and stop abuse, spam, and fraud.
• To meet a legal obligation or respond to lawful process.

I do not sell your information. I do not rent or trade lists. I do not share your name, email, or phone number with an advertiser.

Legal Bases for Processing

Where the GDPR, the UK GDPR, or a similar law applies, these are the bases I rely on:

• Consent, for marketing email, analytics cookies, and advertising pixels. You can withdraw it at any time without affecting what happened before.
• Contract, for delivering something you requested, such as a data export.
• Legitimate interests, for security, abuse prevention, and basic aggregate measurement of a site I publish.
• Legal obligation, for retaining consent and unsubscribe records that prove compliance.

Email Lists and Double Opt-In

Every list on this site uses a double opt-in. You submit your address, I send a verification email, and nothing else is sent until you click the link inside it. An unconfirmed signup never receives marketing and is deleted automatically after 30 days.

Every message carries a one-click unsubscribe and a link to a preferences page where you choose topics individually: philosophy, truth, Symptom Selling, or sales notes and offers. Each change is stored with the wording you agreed to, the date, and the page it came from, and is applied to both the mail I send from this site and the campaigns running in my CRM. Turning every topic off removes you from all of it.

Email Delivery and Engagement Tracking

Messages I send include an invisible 1 pixel image and links that route through the sending platform before landing on the destination page. Loading the image records an open. Following a wrapped link records a click and the address of the page you asked for. The sending platform also reports whether a message was delivered, bounced, or reported as spam, and whether you unsubscribed.

I use this for 2 purposes: keeping the sending domain healthy by removing addresses that bounce or complain, and knowing which writing is worth continuing. Bounces and spam complaints trigger an automatic and permanent removal from every list.

Each event is stored against a one-way hash of your address and a masked version such as be•••@example.com, never the full address, alongside the message subject, the flow or campaign it belongs to, the link followed, and the mail client that reported it. These records are deleted after 24 months.

Who Else Touches Your Data

I use vendors for hosting, database, storage, email delivery, analytics, advertising measurement, and AI transcription. Each one is named on the subprocessor page with what it does, what it receives, and where it operates, plus a dated change log so additions are visible.

These providers may only use your information to perform the service and are required to keep it confidential. I may disclose information without notice when necessary to comply with law or legal process, to protect and defend my rights or property, or to protect the personal safety of users or the public.

Cookies, Pixels, and Similar Technology

Cookies, local storage, and pixels are used for essential function, preferences, analytics, and advertising measurement. Categories, individual cookies, durations, and browser controls are listed on the cookie policy. A Global Privacy Control signal from your browser is treated as an opt-out of analytics and marketing, automatically, before the banner ever appears.

International Transfers

The site is operated from the United States and data is stored on servers in the United States and on global edge infrastructure. If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, or Australia, your information is transferred outside your country. Where that transfer needs a safeguard, it relies on the Standard Contractual Clauses or an equivalent mechanism in the vendor's terms, alongside your consent for optional processing.

Security

Traffic is encrypted in transit with TLS. Data at rest sits in access-controlled managed infrastructure. Abuse counters store a one-way hash of an IP rather than the address itself. Admin areas require authentication.

No transmission over the internet can be guaranteed secure. There are security and privacy limits inherent to the internet that are outside my control, so while I take reasonable measures, I cannot guarantee the security of any information exchanged through this site.

Children

This site is not directed at children. I do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you are under 13, do not submit anything here. If you believe a child has submitted information, contact me and it will be deleted. If you are under 18, use this site only with a parent or guardian's permission.

How Long I Keep It

• Confirmed subscriber records: kept until you unsubscribe or request deletion.
• Unconfirmed signups: deleted automatically after 30 days.
• Review submissions, including audio and video files: kept while published, and removed in full on a verified deletion request.
• Abuse protection counters, which hold no address: deleted after 48 hours.
• Operational records with no address, meaning the deletion audit log, email delivery results, cookie consent events, and phone tap counts: deleted after 24 months.

Cleanup runs nightly, so nothing sits past its window. A confirmed deletion request removes every record tied to your address immediately, including uploaded media.

Your Rights

Wherever you live, you can ask me to access, correct, export, or delete your information, and you can withdraw consent at any time. Use the data export page for a copy as JSON or CSV, the data deletion page to erase it, and the contact page for anything else. Both self-service flows verify the address by email first, so nobody can act on your data by guessing your address.

United States

Under the CCPA and CPRA in California, and comparable laws in Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana, and other states, you may request the categories and specific pieces of personal information collected, request deletion, request correction, and opt out of sale, sharing, or targeted advertising. I do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined, and I do not use it for profiling with legal effects. I will not discriminate against you for exercising a right. An authorized agent may submit a request with written proof of authority.

Deletion may be refused only where the law allows, including where the information is needed to complete a transaction you asked for, to detect security incidents or protect against fraudulent or illegal activity, to debug and repair errors, to exercise free speech or another legal right, to comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act, to conduct public interest research with your consent, for internal uses aligned with your expectations, or to comply with an existing legal obligation.

Europe and the United Kingdom

Under the GDPR and the UK GDPR you have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection, including objection to direct marketing at any time. Where processing rests on consent you may withdraw it at any point. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national supervisory authority, or with the Information Commissioner's Office in the United Kingdom.

Canada

Under PIPEDA you may access the personal information held about you, challenge its accuracy, and withdraw consent subject to legal or contractual restrictions. Complaints can be raised with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Australia

Under the Australian Privacy Principles you may request access to and correction of your personal information, and complain about how it was handled. Unresolved complaints can be taken to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Links to Other Sites

This site links out constantly. I am not responsible for the content or the privacy practices of any site I link to. Read their policies before handing them anything.

Changes to This Policy

This policy will change when the services change, the vendors change, or the law changes. The current version is always posted here with the date it took effect. When a change is significant, I will place a notice on the site, email confirmed subscribers, or both, and the cookie banner will ask you to decide again. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

JayBen LLC dba Ben McGary
514 Americas Way #14796
Box Elder, South Dakota 57719
ben@benmcgary.com