Privacy Policy
PauseGadget (pausegadget.com) is an independent guide edited by Finn Albar. This policy explains what the site and the services it relies on collect, why, and what you can do about it. There are no accounts, no newsletter, no comments, and no contact form, so the only personal information PauseGadget handles directly is an email you choose to send.
The short version
- Site search and the Dumbphone Finder run in your browser. The words you type in search are not sent to PauseGadget or to any third party.
- Google Analytics and Journey by Mediavine advertising follow a consent notice. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, the Google Analytics tag starts with analytics and ad storage denied and changes only after you consent. Elsewhere it runs by default, and you can turn it off with the tools under Your choices.
- Affiliate retailers and advertisers have their own privacy policies. Use the links below to read them or to opt out.
Information collected
Request data. The site is served by Cloudflare, which records standard request logs, such as the IP address, the page requested, the referring page, the browser, and the time, for security, abuse prevention, and performance. These logs are kept by Cloudflare under its own retention policy.
Analytics. Google Analytics 4 records the pages you view, how you arrived, your approximate location, your device and browser, and your interactions with the site: which Dumbphone Finder filters and sort options you use, and clicks on Buy buttons, review links, and article calls to action, plus page speed measurements (how quickly the page loaded, responded, and settled). Filter choices are recorded as named options, never as free text. Search terms and personal details are never sent to analytics. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, Google Analytics records this only after you accept analytics in the consent notice; elsewhere it records it unless you opt out or your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal.
Advertising. PauseGadget earns from display advertising delivered through Journey by Mediavine. Mediavine and its advertising partners may use cookies, device identifiers, your IP address, and browsing information to serve, measure, and, where the law and your choices allow, personalize ads. Mediavine also provides the consent notice and Grow, a visitor engagement tool.
Your consent choice. The consent tool stores your answer in a cookie or in browser storage on your device so that it does not ask on every page.
Email you send. If you email PauseGadget, it receives your email address and the message. It uses them only to reply and to fix the error or answer the question you raised. It does not add your address to any list, sell it, or share it, and it keeps the message only as long as needed for that purpose.
Preferences stored in your browser. The light and dark theme you choose is saved in your browser's local storage on your device. It is never sent to PauseGadget.
Cookies and similar technologies
PauseGadget does not set cookies of its own. Cookies and similar storage on the site come from the services described above:
- the consent tool, which remembers your consent choice;
- Google Analytics, after you consent in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, and by default elsewhere;
- Journey by Mediavine and its advertising partners, according to your consent choice;
- retailers and makers, after you leave PauseGadget by following a link (see Affiliate links and outside links).
How information is used
- To keep the site running, secure, and fast.
- To learn which guides, pages, and Finder tools are useful, and to improve them.
- To show and measure the advertising that pays for the site.
- To answer email and correct mistakes.
Email is not used for marketing, and analytics data is not combined with email you send.
Who receives information
Information goes to the providers that run the parts of the site described above: Cloudflare for hosting, delivery, and traffic statistics, Google for Google Analytics, Mediavine and its advertising partners for ads and the consent notice, and the email provider for the pausegadget.com mailbox. PauseGadget does not share information with anyone else except where the law requires it. These providers operate in the United States and other countries, so information may be processed outside the country where you live.
Site search and the Dumbphone Finder
Site search runs entirely in your browser against a static index of the site. Finder filters and sorting also run in your browser. When Google Analytics is active, the named filter and sort options you select are recorded as described above, and nothing you type into search is.
Affiliate links and outside links
Some Buy buttons are affiliate links, marked as sponsored in the page code. When you follow one, or any other link to a maker or retailer, you leave PauseGadget. The destination may set its own cookies under its own privacy policy, and an affiliate network may learn that your visit came from PauseGadget so it can credit a commission. PauseGadget does not receive your personal data from them.
Your choices
- Use the consent notice to accept or decline analytics and advertising storage. Clearing the site data for pausegadget.com in your browser resets your choice, and the notice appears again.
- Block or delete cookies and local storage in your browser. Every article and the Dumbphone Finder keep working; the theme you choose will not be remembered between visits.
- Install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on to stop Google Analytics on every site you visit.
- Opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies through the Digital Advertising Alliance or the Network Advertising Initiative, and use the ad privacy settings on your phone or browser.
When your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, PauseGadget's own code starts with analytics and advertising storage declined, wherever you are; you can still change it in the consent notice. The site's code does not read Do Not Track. Some of the services above may honor these signals under their own policies.
Your privacy rights
Depending on where you live, such as California and other US states, the United Kingdom, or the European Economic Area, you may have the right to know what personal information is held about you, to ask for it to be corrected or deleted, to withdraw consent, and to opt out of targeted advertising or the sale or sharing of personal information. PauseGadget does not sell the email you send. Advertising partners may collect information through cookies on the site, which some laws call sale, sharing, or targeted advertising. Use the consent notice and the opt-out links above to stop it. You will not be treated differently for using these rights.
The only personal information PauseGadget holds itself is the email you send, so requests about it go through the Contact page. For data held by Cloudflare, Google, or Mediavine, use their own tools and policies linked above.
Children
PauseGadget is written for adults and is not directed at children under 13. It does not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent an email, contact PauseGadget and it will be deleted.
Security
The site is static, has no user database, and is served over HTTPS. No method of transmitting or storing information is completely secure, so PauseGadget cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to this policy
This policy is updated whenever a service is added, removed, or changed. The date at the top shows the latest revision.
Contact
For questions about this policy or a request about your information, use the Contact page. Email is the only channel. See also the Disclaimer.