Privacy

We use your name and email to manage your license, provide access, send purchase and service messages, and respond to inquiries. We keep the records needed to manage your license and meet our legal obligations. Your assessment answers stay in your browser and are not sent to us. The contact and sign-in forms use Cloudflare Turnstile to keep out automated abuse. We use Google Analytics to understand which pages are read; in the UK and EU only after you agree, and anyone can turn it off.

Email and sign-in

We store the email address associated with your purchase or access permission so we can identify your license and send sign-in links. When you request a link, we use that address to help you access your edition without a password, after Cloudflare Turnstile confirms the request comes from a person (see Security and service providers). Links expire, and an essential access cookie keeps you signed in until it expires or is cleared.

For each purchase we keep the licensee’s name, email address, edition, purchase and expiry dates, and order reference. A second essential cookie holds a random identifier for your browser, so a purchase can be limited to a few devices. To apply those limits we keep, for 30 days, records of the browsers and network addresses used to sign in. These are stored as keyed hashes rather than as the addresses themselves. Sign-in links and purchase emails are sent through Amazon Simple Email Service.

We also use your email for receipts, access support, and important notices about your purchase or service. We may send an offer to upgrade your edition, with your existing payment credited toward it. Contact us if you do not wish to receive an upgrade offer. Purchasing an edition or requesting a sign-in link does not add you to a marketing mailing list.

Purchases and payments

Stripe processes payments for The Assurance Line. Its payment form appears in our checkout, and some payment methods may take you to Stripe or your bank to complete the payment. Payment details go directly to Stripe. Stripe collects the payment and billing details needed to process your transaction, prevent fraud, and meet its legal obligations. We share your email and licensee’s name with Stripe to associate the payment with your purchase. We do not receive or store full card numbers or card security codes. You can read the Stripe Privacy Policy for details of how Stripe handles your information.

We retain your name and email, the edition or service purchased, the amount and currency, payment status, and transaction references. We use these records to provide access, handle support, refunds, and disputes, and keep accounting records.

Cookies and site usage

Essential cookies support sign-in and access to licensed resources. They are separate from cookies used to measure readership or for advertising. Blocking essential cookies may prevent sign-in from working. Stripe’s payment form may also use cookies and similar technology for payment processing and fraud prevention, and Cloudflare Turnstile may use similar technology wherever a contact or sign-in form appears, to tell people from automated programs.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics, provided by Google, to understand which pages are read, how readers arrive, and where the site could be clearer. It records the pages you visit, the site or campaign that referred you, how you interact with a page (such as scrolling and following links to other sites), your browser, device, and language, and an approximate location, such as city or country, worked out from your network address. Google Analytics does not store that address.

It sets cookies (_ga and _ga_ followed by an identifier) that hold a random identifier, so repeat visits can be counted. They last up to two years unless you clear them. We use this information only in aggregate, to improve the site. We do not use it for advertising, and Google’s advertising features are turned off for this site. Google keeps the detailed records for 14 months. Google may process this information in the United States and other countries.

If you are in the UK or the European Union, Google Analytics stays off until you choose Accept, and nothing is sent to Google before then. Elsewhere it is on unless you turn it off. Wherever you are, you can accept or decline at any time through Cookie preferences at the foot of every page; declining stops it at once and clears its cookies. Your choice is remembered in your browser’s storage, not sent to us. You can also block cookies in your browser.

We never send Google Analytics your assessment answers, your name, email address, or phone number, sign-in links, or payment details. Page addresses are recorded without their query strings, except campaign tags and the edition being bought, so references from the payment page and sign-in are removed before anything is sent.

Visit counts

To see how many visitors reach each part of the site, such as the pricing page or checkout, we also count visits ourselves. Your browser keeps a random number for the visit in its session storage, which is cleared when you close the tab. It is not a cookie. We record only daily totals, such as how many visits reached the pricing page and which site or campaign they came from. We do not record your internet address, the pages’ full addresses, or anything that identifies you, and nothing we count is linked to you or your purchase. Visit counts follow the same choice as Google Analytics above: if you are in the UK or the European Union they wait until you choose Accept, and declining in Cookie preferences stops them.

Your assessment answers

Your answers to the free assurance check and full Self-Assessment are saved locally in your browser when browser storage is available. This lets you return on the same browser and device. We do not collect your answers or store them with your email or purchase. Signing in on another device does not transfer your answers.

Use Clear answers on the assessment page to delete them. Clearing your browser’s site data does the same, and they will not follow you to another browser or device.

Contacting us

When you contact us, we use your name, email address, chosen topic, and message to respond. If you include a phone number, we may use it to call you about your inquiry. If you arrive from Pricing, the selected edition or service is included with your message. Before it is sent, Cloudflare Turnstile checks that a person is using the form. We do not add you to a mailing list or use these details for marketing.

Messages are delivered by email and retained as correspondence while needed to handle your inquiry or maintain a record of our dealings.

Security and service providers

Hosting, email, payment, security, and analytics providers process information to deliver, protect, and improve the service. This can include your network address, browser information, and records of requests or sign-in activity used to operate the site and investigate abuse. We also keep aggregate operating metrics, such as request counts.

The contact and sign-in forms use Cloudflare Turnstile to check that a person, not an automated program, is sending them. Wherever one of those forms appears, it runs in your browser and sends Cloudflare information about your browser and device, including your network address. We receive only whether the check passed. See the Cloudflare Turnstile Privacy Addendum for details.

Service information is processed in Australia and the United States. Payment and security providers, including Stripe and Cloudflare, may also process it in other countries as described in their own privacy information. We use access controls and other safeguards appropriate to the information we hold.

We do not sell your personal information. We may disclose information when legally required or when necessary to investigate fraud, protect the service, or resolve a dispute.

How long we keep information

We keep email and license records while needed to provide and support your access. Purchase records may be retained longer for accounting, tax, refunds, disputes, or other legal requirements. Security records are kept for as long as needed to detect and investigate abuse. Google Analytics keeps detailed analytics records for 14 months.

When information is no longer needed, we delete it or remove the details that identify you. Copies in backups are removed as those backups expire. Providers may retain their own records for their legal obligations, as described in their privacy information.

Your choices and privacy requests

You can ask to access, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. Some records must be retained for legal reasons. If deleting your access details would prevent you from using your edition, we will explain that before proceeding.

Daniel Johns, publishing as The Assurance Line, is responsible for personal information handled by The Assurance Line. Send privacy questions, requests, or complaints through the contact page.

We will review your complaint and respond with the outcome or any further information needed. If it remains unresolved, you may raise it with the privacy regulator that applies to your circumstances.