Privacy Policy

Publisher

Brillmark LLC

1. Who we are

Fanorate.com ("Fanorate," "we," "us," "our") is operated by Brillmark LLC, a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of California, with a place of business at:

Brillmark LLC
192 Benmore Dr, Hayward, CA 94542, United States
privacy@fanorate.com

We are dedicated to the responsible management of personal information collected through fanorate.com and related interactions. Our primary goals include:

• Enhancing the user experience by understanding customer needs and preferences.
• Providing timely support and responding to inquiries or service requests.
• Improving our products and services to meet evolving user demands.
• Conducting necessary business operations such as billing and account management.

We do not have a designated Data Protection Officer (DPO) but are fully committed to addressing your privacy concerns. Contact us at privacy@fanorate.com.

2. Scope of this policy

This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information when you visit fanorate.com, read our articles, sign up for our newsletter, contact us, or otherwise interact with the Site. It applies to this website only.

It does not apply to third-party retailers, affiliate networks, or other websites that you may reach by clicking a link on Fanorate — those services are governed by their own privacy policies.

This policy protects all stakeholders: website visitors, registered users, and customers.

3. Information we collect

A. Information you give us directly

• Your name, email address, and any message you send via our contact form, newsletter sign-up, or email.
• If you submit a correction or tip, any information included in the submission.

B. Information collected automatically

• IP address, browser type and version, device type and operating system, referring URL.
• Pages visited, time spent on pages, and approximate location derived from IP address.
• Collected via standard web server logs, cookies, and similar technologies. See Section 5 for details.

C. Information from analytics and affiliate tracking

• When you click an affiliate link, the destination retailer and affiliate network record that the click originated on Fanorate, along with the time and a non-personally-identifying tracking identifier.
• We receive aggregate, anonymized commission reporting from affiliate partners — we do not receive your name, address, payment information, or itemized order detail.

What we do NOT collect

We do not knowingly collect:

• Social Security numbers or government identification numbers
• Payment card information
• Precise GPS location
• Biometric data
• Information about a person's race, ethnicity, religion, health, sexual orientation, or political opinions

4. How we use information

We use the information described above to:

• Operate, maintain, and improve fanorate.com.
• Respond to your inquiries, fulfill your requests, and provide customer support.
• Send the Fanorate newsletter (only if you have opted in) and other communications you request.
• Measure and analyze traffic, content performance, and reader engagement.
• Detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent, malicious, or unauthorized activity.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Use.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not "share" your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA).

5. Cookies and tracking technologies

Fanorate uses cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to operate the Site, measure performance, and support our affiliate-tracking relationships. We use four categories of cookies:

• Essential cookies: Necessary for website functionality (authentication, security, session integrity). Do not require consent.
• Analytics and performance cookies: Collect aggregated information about how visitors use the Site to help us improve the editorial product.
• Functional cookies: Enable enhanced functionality and personalization, such as remembering your dark/light mode preference and dismissed notices.
• Advertising and targeting cookies: Used by affiliate partners and ad networks to attribute clicks and serve advertising.

On your first visit, a cookie consent banner lets you accept all cookies, reject non-essential cookies, or customize by category. You can revisit your choices at any time via the "Cookie Settings" link in the footer.

For a full inventory of specific cookies, retention periods, and opt-out controls, see our Cookie Policy.

6. Third parties we work with

We work with a limited number of third-party service providers and affiliate partners. Each is contractually obligated to handle data in accordance with applicable law and prohibited from using your personal information for purposes other than those we specify.

By category

Analytics: Google Analytics 4 — aggregate site traffic and content performance.

Newsletter and contact form processing: Web3Forms — receives newsletter sign-ups and contact-form submissions and forwards them to Fanorate's editorial inbox.

Hosting and CDN: Cloudflare — site delivery, security, and performance.

Affiliate networks: The affiliate networks and partners we currently work with are listed in our Affiliate Disclosure. When you click an affiliate link, you leave Fanorate and are subject to the destination's own privacy practices.

Maps and media: Google Maps, Google Fonts, YouTube — embedded map, font, and video display.

Social / advertising: LinkedIn Analytics, LinkedIn Ads, Meta (Facebook) — analytics and advertising.

Cloud infrastructure: Amazon Web Services — cloud computing and storage.

Anti-spam: Web3Forms' built-in honeypot — automated abuse prevention on forms; no separate CAPTCHA service is used.

We do not sell or rent your information to data brokers, marketers, or any other third parties.

Detailed service inventory

7. Data processing agreements

When we share your data with third-party service providers, we do so under Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) that ensure your information is managed in accordance with GDPR and other applicable data protection laws. These agreements require third parties to implement adequate technical and organizational measures to secure your data and restrict use to the purposes we specify.

We believe in transparency and providing you with control over your personal information. You will always be informed about significant changes to our sharing practices, and where applicable, you will have the option to consent to such changes.

8. Legal disclosures

We may disclose personal information when:

• Required by applicable law.
• Required to respond to a valid legal process (subpoena, court order, or government request).
• Necessary to investigate fraud or security incidents.
• Necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Brillmark LLC, our readers, or others.

9. Your rights — GDPR (EU / UK / EEA)

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

• Right of access (Art. 15): Request access to the personal information we hold about you and how we process it.
• Right to rectification (Art. 16): Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right to erasure (Art. 17): Request deletion when data is no longer necessary for the purposes collected, or where you withdraw consent.
• Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18): Request restriction of processing under certain conditions.
• Right to data portability (Art. 20): Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format and transmit it to another controller.
• Right to object (Art. 21): Object to processing, including for direct marketing purposes.
• Right to withdraw consent (Art. 7(3)): Withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
• Right to lodge a complaint (Art. 77): Lodge a complaint with your national data protection supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@fanorate.com with the subject line "Privacy Rights Request" and a description of the right you wish to exercise. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law (typically 30–45 days) and may need to verify your identity before fulfilling the request.

10. Your rights — US privacy laws (CCPA / CPRA and other states)

California residents (CCPA / CPRA)

• Right to Know: Request disclosure of what personal information we have collected, used, shared, or sold, and the purposes and sources.
• Right to Delete: Request deletion of personal information we have collected about you.
• Right to Correct: Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Right to Limit: Limit our use of sensitive personal information (e.g., precise location, health data) to specific permitted purposes.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing: Brillmark LLC does not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: You will not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights.

Sensitive personal data: We only process sensitive personal data with your prior consent for specific, clearly disclosed purposes. You may withdraw consent at any time by emailing privacy@fanorate.com.

Other US state residents

Residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have analogous rights under their applicable state laws, including rights to access, delete, correct, and opt out of certain processing.

Submitting and appealing requests

Submit a rights request by emailing privacy@fanorate.com with the subject line "Privacy Rights Request". We will compare the information you provide with our records to verify your identity and respond within the timeframe required by applicable law (typically 30–45 days).

To appeal a decision, contact us within 60 days of receiving our response via the same methods above. Include your original request, the date of our response, and a brief explanation of why you believe the decision was incorrect.

11. Children's privacy

Fanorate is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information to us, please contact us at privacy@fanorate.com and we will delete the information promptly.

This policy is intended to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

12. Data retention

We retain personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy or as required by law:

• Newsletter subscriber data: Retained until you unsubscribe.
• Contact form submissions: Retained for 12 months for follow-up and quality purposes.
• Server logs: Retained for 90 days.

After the applicable retention period, personal information is deleted or anonymized.

13. Data security

We use commercially reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption: Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest where applicable.
• Access controls: Access to personal information is limited to personnel and systems that require it.
• Reputable hosting partners: We use data hosting providers with stringent security certifications.

No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you have reason to believe your interaction with us is no longer secure, please contact us immediately at privacy@fanorate.com.

14. International transfers

Fanorate is operated from the United States. If you are accessing the Site from outside the US, please be aware that your information will be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those of your country.

For international data transfers involving EU/EEA/UK personal data, we ensure that such transfers comply with all applicable laws and maintain data protection standards equivalent to those required in the originating jurisdiction (e.g., through Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms).

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements, industry standards, or our business operations. When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the Effective date at the top of this page.
• Where appropriate, notify newsletter subscribers by email or post a notice on the site.

Your continued use of the Site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

16. Contact

For privacy questions, complaints, or to exercise your rights:

Brillmark LLC
Attn: Privacy
192 Benmore Dr, Hayward, CA 94542, United States
privacy@fanorate.com