Privacy Policy
This policy explains what information PlungeWise collects and how it is used. We aim to collect as little as possible.
Information we collect
PlungeWise is a content website. We do not ask you to create an account, and we do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information such as your name, email address, or precise location unless you choose to email us directly.
Analytics
This site uses Google Analytics 4 to understand which pages and tools people find useful. It records page views, and a small set of anonymous interaction events — for example that a comparison was built, that the cost calculator was completed, or that an outbound link to a retailer was clicked.
We deliberately restrict what is sent. Analytics events on this site carry only non-identifying labels: the page, the product or retailer involved, and the position of the link on the page. We do not send your name, email address, phone number, or any free text you type, and we do not attempt to identify individual visitors. Google may process a truncated form of your IP address in order to derive an approximate location such as country or city.
Analytics storage is switched off by default on this site. Until you accept in the cookie banner, Google Analytics runs without a cookie: a page view is counted, but nothing is stored in your browser that would let one visit be linked to the next.
Google acts as our analytics provider and processes this data on its own terms. You can read how Google uses data from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites, and you can opt out of Google Analytics entirely in every browser you use with Google's opt-out browser add-on.
Affiliate links and third parties
Some links on this site are affiliate links. When you click one and visit a retailer such as Amazon, that retailer's own privacy policy and cookies apply. We may receive a commission on qualifying purchases, but we do not receive your personal payment details. See our Affiliate Disclosure.
Cookies
The first time you arrive, a banner at the bottom of the screen asks whether you accept analytics cookies. Until you answer, nothing is written to your browser at all — no cookie, and no other form of browser storage.
If you accept, Google Analytics sets first-party cookies whose names begin with _ga, so that repeat visits within a period are recognised as the same browser rather than as separate people. They do not contain your name or your contact details.
If you decline, no analytics cookie is ever set. The visit is still counted, but only as an anonymous signal that a page was viewed, with nothing that ties it to anything you do later. This is Google's Consent Mode, and on this site it starts in the denied state: cookies stay off unless you turn them on.
Whichever you choose, your answer is remembered in your browser's local storage under the name pw_consent. It holds one word — granted or denied — and nothing else. That is what stops the banner from asking again on every page.
We run no advertising, remarketing or profiling cookies of any kind. Third-party services you reach through our links — retailers such as Amazon, for instance — set their own cookies under their own policies once you are on their site.
Your choices
You can change your answer whenever you like: the Cookie Choices link in the footer of every page re-opens the banner. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings, use browser privacy tools, or install Google's opt-out add-on linked above, at any time. Blocking analytics does not limit any part of this site — every page, guide and calculator works exactly the same with analytics blocked. If you have a privacy question, contact us at plungepicks@gmail.com.
Changes
We may update this policy as the site evolves. The "last updated" date above reflects the current version.