Privacy Policy

What information we collect, why, how it's used, who it's shared with, and how to control or delete it.

The short version

• We collect the minimum information we need to run the site: page analytics, newsletter emails (when you subscribe), and messages you send us.
• Third-party ad networks and analytics providers use cookies to serve advertising and measure traffic. You can consent, refuse, or manage these through our cookie banner.
• We do not sell your personal data.
• You can request access, correction, or deletion of your data at any time by writing to privacy@statelawhandbook.com.

The rest of this page is the full detail.

Who we are

State Law Handbook (statelawhandbook.com) is operated by the site owner listed below. For the purposes of GDPR and similar regulations, the site owner is the data controller for information collected via this site.

What we collect

We collect three broad categories of information:

Information you give us directly

• Newsletter subscription: your email address when you subscribe to State Law Weekly.
• Contact form and email: your name, email address, message, and any other information you choose to include when you write to us.
• Digital product purchases: billing and delivery information for any product you buy from us — processed by our payment provider, not stored on our servers.

Information collected automatically

• Log data: IP address, browser type and version, referring page, pages visited, timestamps. Standard server logs.
• Analytics: anonymized page views, session duration, and interaction events via Google Analytics 4.
• Cookies and similar technologies: see the Cookie Policy for full details.

Information from third parties

• Ad networks and affiliate partners: when you click through an affiliate link, our affiliate partner may share information about whether that click led to a qualifying action (e.g., booked consultation), so we can be credited for the referral.

How we use it

• To run the site: serve pages, prevent abuse, monitor performance.
• To send the newsletter: deliver State Law Weekly to subscribers.
• To respond to you: reply to emails, contact form messages, and correction reports.
• To improve the site: understand which pages readers find useful, where they get stuck, and what topics to cover next. This work is done in aggregate — we do not build individual reader profiles.
• To serve advertising and affiliate offers: our third-party ad networks use cookies to serve ads relevant to reader interests, subject to your consent where required.
• To comply with law: respond to lawful requests, tax obligations, or court orders.

Legal basis for processing (EU/UK)

If you're in the EU or UK, we rely on the following legal bases:

Consent

For non-essential cookies and for the newsletter.

Contract

For any digital product you purchase from us.

Legitimate interest

For running the site, preventing abuse, and understanding aggregate reader behavior. You can object to this at any time.

Legal obligation

For responding to lawful requests and tax record-keeping.

Who we share it with

We share limited information with the service providers who help us run the site:

• Web hosting: our WordPress host, which stores the site and log data.
• Analytics: Google Analytics 4 (aggregated, IP anonymized).
• Advertising: AdSense, Ezoic, or Mediavine at different stages, which serve ads and use cookies subject to your consent.
• Newsletter delivery: Beehiiv, which stores subscriber email addresses and sends the newsletter.
• Affiliate networks: LegalMatch, Avvo, LegalShield, LegalZoom — when you click their links.
• Payment processing: for digital products, our payment provider handles billing data directly.
• Email: our email provider for editorial and contact-form messages.

Each of these providers has its own privacy policy governing how it handles data. We link to them where relevant on our Cookie Policy.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.

Cookies and tracking

Our full cookie disclosure is on the Cookie Policy page. In summary: we use essential cookies to run the site, analytics cookies to measure traffic (with your consent where required), and advertising cookies through third-party networks (with your consent where required).

Your rights

Regardless of where you live, you can:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Delete your data.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent (e.g., newsletter, non-essential cookies).
• Unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time — the link is at the bottom of every email.

To exercise any of these rights, write to privacy@statelawhandbook.com. We respond within 30 days.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA)

If you're a California resident, you have the following additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act:

• The right to know what personal information we collect about you.
• The right to delete personal information (with some exceptions).
• The right to correct inaccurate information.
• The right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information.
• The right to limit use of sensitive personal information.
• The right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

We do not sell personal information in the ordinary sense of the word. However, some advertising cookies used by our third-party ad networks may fall within the CPRA's broader definitions of "sale" or "sharing." You can opt out of these through our cookie banner or by using a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, which we honor.

To exercise your CCPA/CPRA rights, write to privacy@statelawhandbook.com. You may also designate an authorized agent to act on your behalf.

EU/UK residents (GDPR/UK GDPR)

If you're in the EU or UK, you have the rights described in "Your rights" above, plus:

• The right to data portability (receive your data in a machine-readable format).
• The right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.

Our lead supervisory authority arrangements will be updated once the site owner has selected an EU representative if required.

Children

State Law Handbook is written for a general adult audience. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 16. If we learn that a child under 16 has submitted information (for example, subscribed to the newsletter), we will delete it.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the information we hold. That includes HTTPS everywhere, access controls for editorial systems, and periodic security review of the hosting environment. No system is perfectly secure. If we ever have reason to believe your data has been compromised, we'll tell you as required by applicable law.

Retention

• Log data: up to 12 months.
• Analytics data: up to 14 months in Google Analytics 4 by default.
• Newsletter subscribers: for as long as you're subscribed; deleted within 30 days of unsubscription unless required for legal record-keeping.
• Contact/correction emails: up to 24 months.
• Purchase records: as long as required for tax and consumer law compliance (typically 6–7 years in most jurisdictions).

International transfers

State Law Handbook is operated globally. Data may be processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate. Where transfers of EU/UK personal data outside the EEA/UK are required, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

Changes to this policy

We update this policy from time to time. Material changes are highlighted at the top of the page, and the effective date at the top is bumped. Continued use of the site after a material update means you accept the updated policy.

Contact us

Privacy questions or requests: privacy@statelawhandbook.com.