Privacy policy

Summary

Mainstream Spectrum (https://mainstreamspectrum.com) does not ask you to create an account, does not sell personal information, and collects no personal data directly other than an email you choose to send us. The site is funded by advertising, and our advertising partners — principally Google — do set cookies and similar identifiers in your browser. Sections 3 through 6 explain what that means and how to switch personalized advertising off.

1. Who we are

Mainstream Spectrum is an independent online publication. For any privacy question or request, contact contact@mainstreamspectrum.com. We act as the data controller for the limited information described in section 2. Our advertising partners act as independent controllers for the data they collect through their own technologies.

2. Information we collect

• Information you send us. If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you write. We keep that correspondence only as long as needed to handle the matter, and we do not add you to any mailing list.
• Server and delivery logs. Our hosting and content-delivery providers process standard technical request data — IP address, user agent, referring page, requested URL, timestamp — to serve pages, guard against abuse and diagnose faults. These logs are retained for a short period by those providers and are not used to build profiles of readers.
• What we do not collect. We do not run a newsletter, comment system, login, or user profile. We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal information, and we do not sell or rent personal information to anyone.

3. Cookies and similar technologies

A cookie is a small file a site or a third party places in your browser. Mainstream Spectrum sets no advertising or analytics cookies of its own. Cookies you encounter here come from third-party services, above all our advertising partners. You can delete existing cookies and block future ones in your browser settings; the site remains fully readable with cookies blocked, though ads may be less relevant.

4. Third-party advertising, including Google

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior 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 this site and/or other sites on the internet.
• You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. Alternatively, you can opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalized advertising at aboutads.info, or, in Europe, at youronlinechoices.eu.
• Google’s own handling of data as an advertising partner is described in its privacy and terms for partner sites and its advertising cookies notice.
• Where third-party ad networks other than Google serve inventory on this site, they may also place cookies or use device identifiers, and each does so under its own privacy policy. Our authorized sellers are listed publicly in our ads.txt file.

5. Consent in the EEA, UK and Switzerland

Readers in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are shown a consent message before personalized advertising cookies are set, delivered through a certified consent management platform provided by our advertising partner. You may accept, refuse, or change your choice at any time through the privacy or consent link presented in that message, and refusing consent does not restrict access to any article.

6. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or port personal data about you, to object to or restrict its processing, to withdraw consent, and not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights. California residents additionally have the right to know what categories of personal information are collected and to opt out of its “sale” or “sharing” for cross-context behavioral advertising; because we do not sell personal information, that opt-out is exercised through the advertising controls in section 4. To make a request of us, email contact@mainstreamspectrum.com; we respond within the period required by applicable law. For data held by an advertising partner, submit the request to that partner directly.

7. Children

This site is written for a general adult audience. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email us and we will delete it.

8. External links

Articles link to primary sources and other third-party sites. Those sites have their own privacy practices, which we do not control and are not responsible for. Our terms and disclaimer page covers this in more detail.

9. Data location and security

The site is hosted on a global content-delivery network, so technical request data may be processed in the United States and other countries. Pages are served over HTTPS. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Changes to this policy

We will update this page if our practices change, and the “last updated” date above will reflect that. Material changes will be noted at the top of this page for a reasonable period.

11. Contact

Questions or requests about this policy: contact@mainstreamspectrum.com, subject line “Privacy request”.