Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 09/08/2024

Who We Are
Our website address is: https://clocked-out.com. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that your personal data is handled in a safe and responsible manner. This policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect your data.

Disclaimer

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by CompTIA. CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, and all other CompTIA certification names are registered trademarks of CompTIA, Inc.

Information We Collect

Personal Data
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when interacting with our website, such as:

Contact details (name, email address, etc.)
Account details (username, password, etc.)
Comments and other user-generated content
IP addresses and browser details for security and spam detection

Automatically Collected Data
We may collect non-personal information about your browsing behavior, such as:

Cookies and tracking technologies (for authentication, session management, etc.)
Analytics data to understand user interaction and improve the website’s functionality

Payment Information

When you purchase products from our website (e.g., swag), we collect personal information such as your name, billing address, and payment details. This data is securely transmitted to trusted third-party payment processors, such as Stripe or PayPal, and is not stored on our servers. These payment processors adhere to high security standards to protect your information.

We do not store or process any payment information directly. For more information about how your payment data is processed, please refer to the privacy policies of our third-party payment providers.

Legal Basis for Processing Data

We process your personal data based on:

Consent: When you voluntarily provide data or accept cookies.
Contractual Necessity: Data needed to fulfill services you requested (e.g., account creation, purchases).
Legitimate Interest: For purposes that are reasonably necessary for the operation of our website, such as enhancing user experience and security.
Compliance with Legal Obligations: Where we are required to collect and store data to comply with applicable laws.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect:

Data shown in the comments form
Visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection

An anonymized string created from your email address (a “hash”) may be provided to the Gravatar service to check if you’re using it. The Gravatar service’s privacy policy is available here. After approval, your profile picture will be visible in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors can extract this data from images on the site.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to:

Maintain sessions and save login preferences
Enhance user experience through personalized content
Track usage via analytics for site improvements

You can manage or disable cookies in your browser settings. Disabling cookies may impact the functionality of our site.

Data Sharing & Third Parties

We may share your personal data in the following situations:

Service Providers: We may share your data with trusted third-party service providers to support our website operations (e.g., cloud hosting, data analytics, customer support).
Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required by law or in response to legal processes, including requests from public authorities.
Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your data may be part of the assets transferred.

We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.

Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, apps, or social media platforms. These third-party sites have their own privacy policies and practices, which we do not control. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these external sites before providing them with any personal information.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party websites and apps. Any interaction with these sites is solely at your own risk.

Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves as if the visitor has visited that site. These sites may collect data, use cookies, and monitor your interaction with embedded content.

International Transfers

If you’re accessing the site from outside the United States, please be aware that your data may be transferred to and processed in the U.S., where data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction. We implement appropriate safeguards to ensure that your data is protected.

Data Retention

We retain your personal data as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy or as required by law. Specifically:

Comments and metadata are retained indefinitely for continuity and spam protection.
Account data is retained until you delete your account, except where required for legal obligations or legitimate interests.

Data Security

We take the security of your data seriously. We implement technical and organizational measures such as encryption, secure server connections (SSL), and regular security audits to protect your data from unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction.

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Your Data Rights

You have certain rights over your personal data, such as:

Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Correction: Request corrections to inaccurate or incomplete data.
Deletion: Request the deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
Data Portability: Request to receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
Restriction: Request the restriction of processing under certain conditions.
Objection: Object to the processing of your data for legitimate interest purposes.

You can exercise these rights by contacting us at support@clocked-out.com.

Children’s Privacy

Our services are not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have collected such information, please contact us, and we will promptly delete it.

Use of AI for SEO and Content Optimization

We use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to enhance our content’s search engine optimization (SEO), improve grammar, and adjust formatting. These AI tools operate on publicly available content and do not access, process, or store personal data.

Changes to This Policy

We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time. Changes will be posted on this page, and the effective date will be updated. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your data.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or your data rights, please contact us at:
Email: support@clocked-out.com