Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 18, 2026
Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 2026
This Privacy Policy describes how Golem Forge (operating at golemforge.top) collects, uses, and shares your personal information when you visit or interact with our blog. We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and relevant US privacy frameworks.
Blog owner / data controller: Golem Forge
Contact email: [email protected]
Postal address: 243 Second Ave, Dallas, Texas 83116
This policy applies solely to the blog at golemforge.top — a publication focused on editing tips, tools, and industry insights. We do not operate an online store, and we never ask for payment card details or require you to create an account to purchase anything.
1. Information We Collect
We collect information in the following ways:
1.1 Information you provide directly
- Contact form: When you send us a message via the contact form, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your message. We use this only to respond to your inquiry.
- Comments: When you leave a comment on an article, we collect your name (or pseudonym), email address, and the comment text. Your email is kept private and is not publicly displayed. We may also store your IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
1.2 Information collected automatically
- Cookies and similar technologies: We use cookies, small text files stored on your device, to improve your experience. These include:
- Essential cookies – necessary for the blog to function (e.g., comment session cookies).
- Analytics cookies – to understand how visitors use our site (see Section 3).
- Advertising cookies – used by third-party ad networks (see Section 4).
- Log data: Our server automatically records information such as your browser type, operating system, referring URL, IP address, and the pages you visit. This data is anonymized where possible.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the collected data for the following purposes:
- To operate, maintain, and improve the blog.
- To respond to your inquiries submitted via the contact form.
- To display and manage comments on articles.
- To analyze traffic and reader behavior (e.g., which articles are most popular).
- To show relevant advertisements (including personalized ads, if you consent).
- To comply with legal obligations and protect our rights.
3. Analytics
We use third-party analytics services (such as Google Analytics or similar) to collect standard internet log information and details about visitor behavior. These services use cookies and similar technologies to help us analyze how users interact with the blog. The information generated (including your truncated IP address) is transmitted to and stored by the analytics provider on servers in the United States (or other countries). We use this data solely in aggregated, non-personally-identifying form.
You can opt out of analytics cookies by adjusting your browser settings or using the opt-out tools provided by the analytics service (e.g., Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on).
4. Third-Party Advertising & Personalized Ads
We may display advertisements on golemforge.top through third-party ad networks, including but not limited to Google AdSense. These ad networks use cookies, web beacons, and/or device identifiers to:
- Measure the effectiveness of ads.
- Prevent the same ad from appearing too often.
- Show you ads that are more relevant to your interests (personalized advertising).
These technologies collect information such as your IP address, browser type, device identifiers, the pages you visit on our site, and other anonymous data. This information may be combined with data from other websites you visit to build a profile of your interests.
4.1 Your Choices Regarding Personalized Ads
You have control over how ad networks use your data:
- Google Ads Settings: Visit adssettings.google.com to manage or disable personalized advertising from Google.
- Industry opt-out: Visit optout.aboutads.info (Digital Advertising Alliance) or optout.networkadvertising.org to opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies.
- Cookie consent: When you first visit our site, you will see a cookie consent banner. You can accept or decline non-essential cookies (including advertising cookies) at any time by adjusting your preferences via the consent tool.
If you choose to disable personalized ads, you will still see ads, but they will be less relevant (contextual ads based on the page content).
5. Cookies – Detailed Information
Below is a summary of the cookies that may be set when you use golemforge.top:
5.1 Essential / Functional Cookies
- Comment session cookies: Set when you leave a comment, so you don’t have to re-enter your details. Expires after a few months.
- Cookie consent cookie: Remembers your cookie preference (accept/decline).
5.2 Analytics Cookies
- Set by Google Analytics (or similar): _ga, _gid, _gat. Used to distinguish users and throttle request rate. Expire between 24 hours and 2 years.
5.3 Advertising Cookies
- Set by Google AdSense and other ad partners: e.g., __gads, IDE, AID. Used to serve personalized ads and measure ad performance. Expire up to 13 months.
You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. Please note that blocking essential cookies may affect the functionality of the blog.
6. Data Sharing & Disclosure
We do not sell your personal information. We may share your data in the following circumstances:
- Service providers: With trusted third parties who help us operate the blog (e.g., hosting provider, analytics and ad networks). These providers are contractually bound to protect your data.
- Legal compliance: If required by law, court order, or governmental authority, or to protect our rights, property, or safety.
- Aggregated data: We may share non-personally-identifying, aggregated statistics (e.g., “our most popular article this month”) with partners or the public.
7. Data Retention
We retain your personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:
- Contact form submissions: Retained for up to 12 months after the last correspondence.
- Comments: Retained indefinitely unless you request deletion. You may ask us to remove your comment and associated data at any time.
- Analytics data: Retained in aggregated form for up to 26 months.
- Advertising data: Managed by the ad networks according to their own retention policies.
8. Your Rights (GDPR & Other Laws)
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK, or other regions with similar laws, you have the following rights:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification: Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal obligations.
- Restriction: Limit how we process your data in certain circumstances.
- Data portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests (including analytics and advertising).
- Withdraw consent: If you previously consented to cookies or personalized ads, you may withdraw that consent at any time via the cookie consent tool or by contacting us.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
9. Children’s Privacy
Our blog is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us immediately, and we will delete it.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Material changes will be notified via a prominent notice on the blog or by email (if we have your contact information).