Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Pro Mulch Calculator ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website at promulchcalculator.com. We provide free online mulch calculators and landscaping reference tools. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, store, and protect information when you visit our website.

If you have any questions about this policy, you may contact us at any time by email: [email protected]

2. Information We Collect

We collect two types of information: information you provide to us voluntarily, and information collected automatically when you use our website.

2.1 Information You Provide Voluntarily

We only receive personal information when you choose to provide it:

• Contact form or email: If you contact us via our contact page or email address, we receive your name, email address, and the content of your message. This information is used solely to respond to your inquiry.
• Feedback or suggestions: Any voluntary feedback, feature requests, or bug reports you submit.

We do not require an account to use any of our calculators. You can use every tool on this site completely anonymously, without providing any personal information.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, certain technical information may be collected automatically by our hosting infrastructure and analytics tools:

• Log data: Your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, and the date and time of your visit. This data is collected in server logs automatically and is used for security, debugging, and infrastructure purposes.
• Analytics data: We may use privacy-respecting web analytics to understand aggregate usage patterns - for example, which calculators are most popular and where users come from geographically. Where we use analytics, we configure it to anonymize IP addresses and disable cross-site tracking.
• Cookies and local storage: We use functional cookies and browser local storage to remember user preferences (such as your preferred units - feet vs. meters). We also use Google AdSense to display advertisements, and Google plus its advertising partners use cookies to serve and measure ads. See Section 5.1 for full details and opt-out options.

2.3 Calculator Inputs

All calculator inputs (measurements, depths, quantities, prices) you enter into any Pro Mulch Calculator tool are processed entirely within your browser using JavaScript. This data is never transmitted to our servers and is never stored, logged, or accessed by us in any form. When you close or refresh the page, all calculator inputs are discarded from your browser's memory.

3. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes only:

• To respond to your inquiries: Contact information you provide is used exclusively to respond to your messages and provide support.
• To improve our website: Aggregate, anonymized analytics data helps us understand which tools users find most valuable and identify areas for improvement.
• To maintain site security: Server logs and IP data may be used to detect and prevent unauthorized access, spam, or malicious activity.
• To comply with legal obligations: We may retain or disclose information if required to do so by law, court order, or governmental authority.

We display third-party advertisements through Google AdSense to keep our calculators free. We do not sell your personal information, engage in data brokering, or share your contact details with advertisers. Advertising cookies are managed by Google and its partners, as described in Section 5.1.

4. Cookies

Our website uses a minimal number of cookies. Here is what they do:

We use functional, analytics, and Google AdSense advertising cookies. We do not sell cookie data or share your personal contact details with advertising networks or data brokers. You control advertising cookies through the opt-out options in Section 5.1.

You can manage or delete cookies at any time through your browser settings. Removing functional cookies will reset your saved preferences but will not affect your ability to use any of our calculators.

5. Third-Party Services

5.1 Google AdSense and Advertising

We use Google AdSense, a third-party advertising service provided by Google LLC, to display advertisements on this website. Advertising revenue keeps our calculators free to use.

• Third-party cookies: Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of advertising cookies (including the DoubleClick cookie) enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this website and other sites on the internet.
• Personalized advertising: You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. You can also opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising at aboutads.info/choices and optout.networkadvertising.org.
• How Google uses data: For details on how Google collects and processes data when you use our site, see How Google uses information from sites that use its services.
• Consent for EEA, UK, and Switzerland users: Where required by law, we and Google request your consent before setting non-essential advertising cookies. You may withdraw or change your consent at any time through the cookie settings.

5.2 Other Third-Party Services

Our website may also use the following third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy:

• Web hosting and CDN: Our website is hosted on modern infrastructure providers that process connection metadata (IP addresses, request headers) in accordance with their own privacy policies.
• Font services (Google Fonts): We load the Inter typeface from Google Fonts. Google may log your IP address when your browser requests these fonts. Visit Google's Privacy Policy for details. Alternatively, fonts are also served from our own CDN to minimize third-party requests.
• Font Awesome (Cloudflare CDN): Icons on our website are served via Cloudflare's CDN. Cloudflare may log connection data. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.

Apart from Google AdSense advertising described in Section 5.1, we do not embed social media tracking pixels or third-party behavioral analytics on this website.

6. Data Retention

We retain data as follows:

• Contact emails: Messages you send us are retained as long as needed to resolve your inquiry, and deleted thereafter unless there is a legal reason to retain them.
• Server logs: Automatically collected server log data is typically retained for 30-90 days for security and debugging purposes, then deleted.
• Analytics data: Aggregate anonymized analytics data may be retained indefinitely as it contains no personal information.
• Calculator inputs: Not retained - processed only in your browser, never on our servers.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the information we do hold:

• Our website is served over HTTPS (TLS encryption) at all times.
• We do not store passwords, payment information, or sensitive personal data.
• Access to any stored data (contact emails, server logs) is limited to authorized personnel only.
• We do not store calculator inputs on any server infrastructure.

No method of data transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we take reasonable precautions, we cannot guarantee absolute security of information you transmit to us via email or contact forms.

8. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to access: You may request a copy of any personal data we hold about you.
• Right to deletion: You may request that we delete any personal data we hold about you. Because we do not create user accounts or store calculator inputs, there is typically very little (or no) personal data for us to delete.
• Right to correct: You may request that we correct any inaccurate personal information we hold.
• Right to opt out of analytics: You may use your browser's privacy settings, a browser privacy extension, or enable "Do Not Track" to opt out of any analytics collection.
• California residents (CCPA): You have the right to know what personal information is collected, the right to request deletion, and the right to opt out of any sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information under any circumstances.
• European residents (GDPR): You have rights under the GDPR including access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and the right to object. Our legal basis for processing the limited data we collect is either legitimate interests (server security) or fulfilling a contract (responding to your inquiry).

To exercise any of your rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Children's Privacy

Our website and tools are not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately at [email protected] and we will delete it promptly.

10. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to external websites such as retailers, landscape suppliers, or reference resources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those external sites. We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of any third-party website you visit.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or applicable law. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of the website after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us: