LEGAL

Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 16, 2026

This website is operated by Garrett Sammons, an AI consultant and strategist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

I believe technology works best when it respects the people using it. That principle starts with how I handle your personal information. I collect only the minimum data required to communicate with you, protect the security of this site, and deliver my work. I do not sell your personal information, and I do not use advertising networks or invasive tracking scripts.

Information I collect

I collect information in two ways: information you choose to give me directly, and limited technical data required to run this website securely.

Information you provide directly

When you submit an inquiry through the contact form on this site, I ask for:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • Your message and project details

I use this information exclusively to read your message, evaluate your inquiry, and reply to you. If we choose to work together, this information becomes part of our professional correspondence.

Client portal

If we work together, I may set up a private client portal account for you on this site. The portal holds your name, email address and password (WordPress stores only a one-way hash of the password), your answers to any questionnaire I send you, and the files you upload.

Only you and I can open your portal pages, answers and files through the site. Uploaded files are stored outside the public web folder. When you submit a questionnaire, your answers are emailed to me and a copy goes to your email address.

If I send you an agreement to sign in the portal, the portal keeps a record of your signature: the name you type, your drawn signature if you draw one, the time, your IP address and browser, and a fingerprint of the agreement’s exact text. When you sign, we both get an email saying so. The agreement itself stays on your portal page, where you can print it or save it as a PDF.

If you pay through the portal, Stripe processes the payments. Your bank details go to Stripe, never to this site. The portal keeps each payment’s invoice number, amount, billing date and status, and, when automatic payments are on, your bank’s name and the last four digits of the account, so it can show you what you’ve paid and what’s coming. A few days before each scheduled payment, I email you a reminder with the date.

The portal also keeps a security log of activity on your account: sign-ins, page views, uploads, file removals, questionnaire submissions, proposal choices, agreement signatures, my file downloads and refused requests, each with the time and your IP address. The log holds no answers, file names or email addresses. I use it only to investigate security problems.

Technical data and security

When you visit this site, standard web servers automatically record basic technical data in server logs. This includes:

  • Your IP address
  • Your browser type and operating system
  • The pages you request and the time of your visit
  • Referring website addresses

I use this data solely to monitor server performance, diagnose technical errors, and defend against malicious traffic such as brute-force attacks and automated scrapers.

Cookies and consent

Cookies are small text files placed on your device. This website uses only strictly necessary cookies to function and defend against spam.

  • cookieadmin_consent: Records your cookie consent choices so the banner does not reappear on every page load. This cookie expires after 365 days.
  • cf_clearance: Set by Cloudflare Turnstile when you view or submit the contact form or sign in to the client portal. It verifies that a real person is interacting with the form rather than an automated bot. This cookie expires after 24 hours.
  • wordpress_logged_in_ and wordpress_sec_: Set only when a client signs in to the portal. They keep you signed in, are deleted when you close your browser, and stop working after two days.
  • wordpress_test_cookie: Set by WordPress when you sign in to the portal, to check that your browser accepts cookies. It is deleted when you close your browser.

I do not use third-party tracking cookies, behavioral profiling tools, or marketing pixels.

Global Privacy Control and your choices

This site respects the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. If your browser transmits a GPC signal, non-essential cookies remain disabled automatically.

You can review or change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking the “COOKIE SETTINGS” button at the bottom of any page.

Service providers

I work with a small number of trusted infrastructure providers to keep this site secure and reliable:

  • Web Hosting: HostGator hosts the website files and database on secure servers in the United States.
  • Bot Defense: Cloudflare Turnstile protects the contact form and the client portal sign-in against automated abuse and spam without using invasive CAPTCHA challenges or tracking your browsing history.
  • Spam Filtering: Akismet inspects contact form submissions to identify automated spam before delivery.
  • Email Delivery: FluentSMTP routes contact form inquiries and client portal emails through secure mail servers to my inbox.
  • Payments: Stripe processes client portal payments. It collects and keeps the bank details used to pay, under its own privacy policy.

Each provider accesses only the data necessary to perform its specific operational function.

How long I keep your information

I keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected:

  • Contact Inquiries: Retained while we discuss a prospective project or maintain an active professional relationship, after which inactive inquiries are archived or deleted.
  • Server Logs: Retained in accordance with standard hosting rotation cycles and deleted automatically.
  • Consent Records: Stored in the local database for 365 days, after which they expire and are cleaned automatically.
  • Client Portal Answers and Files: Kept while we work together. Within 30 days after our engagement ends, I delete them along with your portal account, after sending you a copy if you ask for one.
  • Signed Agreements: Kept as business records for six years after our engagement ends, including after your portal account is deleted.
  • Payment Records: Invoice numbers, amounts, billing dates and payment status are kept as business and tax records for seven years after our engagement ends. Your bank’s name and the last four digits of the account are deleted with your portal account.
  • Portal Security Log: Kept for 12 months, then deleted automatically.
  • Site Email Log: FluentSMTP keeps a copy of each email the site sends for 7 days, then deletes it automatically.
  • Backups: Copies of this information inside site backups are deleted on the backups’ normal rotation.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you reside, including under the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK GDPR, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), you have rights regarding your personal information:

  • Access: You can request a copy of the personal information I hold about you.
  • Correction: You can ask me to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
  • Deletion: You can ask me to delete your personal information, subject to any legal or contractual record-keeping obligations.
  • Withdraw Consent: Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
  • Non-Discrimination: You will never receive different service or pricing for exercising your privacy rights.

To exercise any of these rights, contact me directly at the address below. I respond to all verified requests promptly.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how your data is handled, you can reach me directly: