# Privacy Policy Source: https://www.chicagolandcoders.com/privacy-policy/ **Effective November 7, 2026** This policy explains what this website collects, why, who else handles it and what you can ask us to do with it. It covers chicagolandcoders.com and the messages, calls and bookings that start here. ## Who we are Chicagoland Coders is a technology and marketing agency based in Evanston, Illinois 60202, and we’re responsible for the information described here. If you have a question about your information, write to us through the [contact page](https://www.chicagolandcoders.com/contact/), email us through the contact form at https://www.chicagolandcoders.com/contact/ or call us by booking a time at https://calendly.com/ivayloguenkov/30min?hide_gdpr_banner=1. ## The short version - We collect what you choose to send us, plus the technical details every web server records. - We count visits with Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel, so we can see which pages people read and which of our ads brought them here. What you write to us never goes to Google or Meta. - We don’t sell your information. The Meta Pixel lets us show our ads to people who have visited, and you can switch it off (see “How to turn them off” below). - Wherever you live, you can ask to see, correct or delete what we hold about you. ## What we collect, and when ### When you send the contact form The form asks for your name, your email address and a message. On the Contact page it also asks for your company and the kind of project you have in mind. When you press send, the message is emailed to our inbox, and a copy is stored in the website’s database (through the Contact Form 7 and Flamingo plugins) so nothing is lost if an email goes astray. The database also records the time, the page you sent it from, your IP address and your browser’s user-agent string, which is the line that names your browser and operating system. We send you one short email to confirm that your message arrived. To keep spam out, the form checks how quickly it was filled in and has a hidden field that only robots fill. It also counts how many messages arrive from one connection so it can stop a flood. That count is kept under a scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address rather than the address itself, and it clears after 15 minutes. Messages the spam checks reject aren’t saved with the others. ### When you book a call Bookings run on Calendly. The calendar loads from Calendly’s servers when you open it. When you book, Calendly collects your name, your email address and any answers you give, then passes them to us so we can hold the call. Calendly handles that information under [its own privacy notice](https://calendly.com/legal/privacy-notice), and the cookies it may set inside the booking window fall under that policy too. ### When you email, call or text us We receive what you send and the address or number it comes from, and we use it to reply. ### When you visit Every website runs on a server that records each request: your IP address, the page asked for, the time, the page that linked you here and your browser’s user-agent string. Our hosting provider keeps these logs, and we use them only to keep the site working and secure. The site sits behind Cloudflare, which delivers it quickly and filters out attacks and automated traffic. To do that, Cloudflare processes each request and may set a small security cookie, such as `__cf_bm`, that helps it tell people from bots. The site needs these cookies to run safely, and they aren’t used to follow you around the web. The Digital experiences page has switches that turn its 3D scenes and motion on or off. Your choice is saved in your own browser’s local storage so the page remembers it, and it never leaves your device. Our fonts and the site’s own scripts load from our server, so a visit doesn’t tell a font service that you were here. Three things load from other companies: Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel, described next, and Calendly, which loads only when you open the calendar. ### Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel Google Analytics 4 shows us how many people visit, which pages they read and where they came from. The Meta Pixel tells Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, that someone visited, so we can see which of our Facebook and Instagram ads lead to inquiries and show our ads to people who have already been here. Both load from Google’s and Meta’s servers a moment after the page appears. They receive the address of the page, the page that sent you here, your browser and device type, and your IP address (Google says Google Analytics 4 doesn’t log or store IP addresses). They also hear about three actions: sending the contact form, booking a call in the calendar, and using our email, phone or text links. For those we send only that the action happened and on which page. Your name, your message and the address or number you used stay with us. Google Analytics sets cookies named `_ga` and `_ga_` followed by our account ID, which last up to two years. The Meta Pixel sets a cookie named `_fbp`, plus `_fbc` when you arrive from one of our Meta ads, and both last 90 days. If you’re logged in to Facebook or Instagram in the same browser, Meta may connect the visit to your account. Google handles this data under [its policy for sites that use its services](https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites), and Meta under [its privacy policy](https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/). Neither tool runs when our own team is logged in to the site, so our visits don’t skew the numbers. ### How to turn them off - **Global Privacy Control.** If your browser sends this signal, neither Google Analytics nor the Meta Pixel loads on this site. Brave and DuckDuckGo send it by default, and Firefox has a setting for it. - **Google Analytics.** Google’s [opt-out browser add-on](https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout) stops Google Analytics on every site you visit. - **Meta.** In [your Meta ad preferences](https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences) you can stop ads based on your activity on other sites, and under [your activity off Meta technologies](https://accountscenter.facebook.com/info_and_permissions/off_facebook_activity) you can see and disconnect what sites like ours have sent. - **Ad industry tools.** The Digital Advertising Alliance’s [opt-out page](https://optout.aboutads.info/) covers many ad companies in the US, and [Your Online Choices](https://www.youronlinechoices.eu/) does the same in Europe. - **Your browser.** A content blocker that stops third-party scripts keeps both tools from loading, and the site works the same without them. ## What we don’t do We don’t sell personal information, and writing to us doesn’t put you on a mailing list. What you type into the contact form isn’t sent to Google, Meta or any other advertising or analytics company. Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel are the only measurement and advertising tools on the site, and if we add another one, we’ll update this page before it goes live. ## Why we use it, and our legal basis We use your information to answer you, to prepare and discuss a proposal you asked for, to keep a record of our conversations with clients and prospective clients, and to keep the site secure and free of spam. Data protection law in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland requires a legal basis for each use. Ours are: - **Steps you asked for before a contract:** replying to your inquiry and preparing a proposal or a call. - **Legitimate interests:** keeping business records, protecting the site from abuse, keeping it running, and measuring how the site and our advertising perform with Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel. We’ve weighed these against your privacy, and they use only the information described above. You can object to the measurement at any time with the options under “How to turn them off”. - **Legal obligations:** keeping the records the law requires, such as invoices once you become a client. We don’t make decisions about you by automated means alone. ## Who else handles it We share information only with the companies that help us run the site and the business: - Our hosting provider runs the website and its database, and its mail server sends the emails the contact form produces. - Cloudflare delivers and protects the site. - Calendly runs bookings. - Google receives visit data through Google Analytics. - Meta receives visit data through the Meta Pixel. Meta also uses that data for its own purposes, such as measuring and delivering ads, under its own privacy policy. - Our email provider carries and stores the email we send and receive. We’ll also disclose information when the law requires it, for example under a court order, or when it’s needed to protect our rights or someone’s safety. If Chicagoland Coders were ever sold or merged, the records would pass to the new owner under the promises made here. ## Where it’s stored We’re in the United States, and our service providers store and process information in the US and other countries. If you write to us from outside the US, your information travels here to reach us. Where the law requires it, our providers’ standard contractual safeguards cover that transfer. ## How long we keep it We keep an inquiry while we’re talking with you and afterwards as a business record. If you become a client, we keep project records for as long as the work and the law require. If the conversation doesn’t turn into work, you can ask us to delete your messages at any time, and we will. The spam counter clears after 15 minutes. Google Analytics keeps the detail of each visit for up to 14 months, and after that only totals remain. Our hosting provider, Cloudflare and Meta keep their logs and data for the periods their own policies set. ## Your rights Wherever you live, you can ask us what we hold about you, ask for a copy, and ask us to correct it or delete it. We’ll answer within 30 days, and asking won’t change how we treat you. ### California and other US states Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia and other states with privacy laws have the right to know what personal information a business collects and how it’s used, to get a copy, to have it corrected or deleted, and to opt out of its sale, its sharing for targeted advertising and profiling. We don’t sell personal information or profile anyone. Because the Meta Pixel lets us show our ads to people who have visited, some state laws count it as sharing for targeted advertising. To opt out, turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser, and neither the Meta Pixel nor Google Analytics will load here; the other options under “How to turn them off” work too. You can make a request yourself or through an authorized agent, and if we turn a request down, you can appeal by replying to our answer and we’ll review it again. ### The European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland You have the right to access your data, to correct it, to have it erased, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to receive it in a portable format. You can also complain to the data protection authority where you live, though we’d like the chance to sort it out with you first. ### How to ask Write to us through the [contact page](https://www.chicagolandcoders.com/contact/) or email us through the contact form at https://www.chicagolandcoders.com/contact/. So that we only hand your information to you, we may ask you to confirm the request from the email address we have on file. ## Security The whole site runs over an encrypted HTTPS connection. Stored messages sit in the website’s database behind a login that only our team holds, and the spam checks run on our own server. No system is perfectly secure, so we collect only what we need to reply and do the work. If a breach ever affects your information, we’ll tell you as the law requires. ## Children This site is for businesses and isn’t directed at children. We don’t knowingly collect information from anyone under 13, or under 16 in the EU and UK. If you think a child has sent us information, tell us and we’ll delete it. ## Links to other sites Some pages link to other websites, such as Calendly or sites we’ve built for clients. Those sites have their own privacy policies, and this one doesn’t cover them. ## Changes to this policy When we change how the site handles information, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. If a change affects what we collect, such as adding a new analytics or advertising tool, we’ll post it here before it takes effect. ## Contact Chicagoland Coders, Evanston, Illinois 60202, United States. Email us through the contact form at https://www.chicagolandcoders.com/contact/, call us by booking a time at https://calendly.com/ivayloguenkov/30min?hide_gdpr_banner=1, or use the [contact page](https://www.chicagolandcoders.com/contact/).