What this site collects, in plain English

This is my personal site. I’m Erik Leavell, a web designer and developer in Chelsea, Michigan. I collect as little as I can, I don’t sell anything I collect, and there are no ads or ad-tracking pixels here. If you have a question about any of this, email me at contact@erikleavell.com.

Analytics

I use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used. It records things like the pages you visit, how you got here (the site that linked to you, or a link tag), your device and browser, your approximate location (city level) and actions on the site, such as opening the contact form, the answers you choose in the website cost estimator, and whether a note was sent. Google Analytics sets cookies (named _ga and _ga_…) to recognize return visits.

I never send your name, email address or the text of your messages to Google Analytics.

The contact form and “Email it to me”

When you send a note, or ask for a copy of your estimate, what you type (your name, email address, message and estimator answers) is sent to my inbox through FormSubmit (formsubmit.co), a form-forwarding service. The note also says how your visit arrived and the first page you saw, so I know where you found me. I use this only to reply to you. I don’t add anyone to a mailing list.

Booking a call

The “Book a 15-minute call” link opens my booking page on Google Calendar. Anything you enter there is handled by Google under Google’s privacy policy, and the details come to me so we can meet.

Embedded content

The About page includes a Spotify playlist player. When it loads, Spotify may set its own cookies under Spotify’s privacy policy.

Stored in your browser

• A note of how your visit arrived, kept in session storage so the contact form can include it. It clears when you close the tab.
• If you turn analytics off (below), a small setting that keeps it off in that browser.

Your choices

• Turn analytics off in this browser. Google Analytics won’t load here again. Turn it back on.
• Block cookies or use a content blocker in your browser, or install Google’s Analytics opt-out add-on.
• Email contact@erikleavell.com to ask what I have from you, or to have your messages deleted.

How long I keep things

Emails and form notes stay in my inbox as long as they’re useful for our conversation and my business records. You can ask me to delete them at any time. Google keeps analytics data according to the retention setting on my Google Analytics property.

Changes

If anything here changes, I’ll update this page and the date at the top.