Privacy Policy & Advertising Disclosure

1. Overview & Data Philosophy

At FactNode ("we", "our", or "us"), we are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our readers across the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Australia, and worldwide. This Privacy Policy details how information is collected, processed, and protected when you visit and interact with our web application.

FactNode operates as a technical publication. We do not require account creation, logins, or credit card submissions to access our engineering essays and architecture benchmarks.

2. Third-Party Advertising (Adsterra & Partners)

To keep our research freely accessible, FactNode partners with third-party digital advertising networks, including Adsterra and associated programmatic advertising exchanges.

These third-party ad servers and networks utilize automated technologies—such as cookies, JavaScript tags (e.g., from abscloud.org and bauval.org), web beacons, and device identifiers—in the advertisements and sponsored content that appear on our web app. When these advertisements are rendered in your browser (including native banners, social bar alerts, and popunder units), they may automatically receive your IP address and standard network telemetry.

Please note that FactNode has no direct control over the third-party cookies or scripts utilized by independent advertising networks. We encourage readers to consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed guidance on their data practices and opt-out options.

3. Analytics & Performance Telemetry (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics 4 (Google tag G-SV3Q9TWX85) to monitor overall web application performance, measure pageview counts, analyze popular reading paths, and optimize site speed.

• Google Analytics gathers aggregated metrics such as browser type, operating system, referring URL, time spent on articles, and general country-level location.
• IP addresses are masked and anonymized before storage.
• You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking across all websites by installing the official Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

4. Cookies & Local Browser Storage

A cookie is a small text file placed on your device. We categorize storage mechanisms on FactNode as follows:

You can adjust or revoke your cookie choices at any time by clicking "Cookie Settings" in the footer of any page on this site.

5. Your Privacy Rights (GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA / CPRA & Australia)

Depending on your location, you hold statutory rights regarding your personal information:

• European Economic Area & United Kingdom (GDPR): You have the right to request access to any personal data, rectify inaccuracies, request deletion, restrict processing, and withdraw consent for advertising cookies at any time.
• California Residents (CCPA / CPRA): You have the right to know what personal information is collected, request deletion, and opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Digital Advertising Alliance Opt-Outs: You can manage personalized ad preferences through industry portals including the DAA WebChoices Tool and the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA).

6. Data Security & Retention

FactNode is transmitted strictly over encrypted HTTPS protocols (TLS 1.3). We do not retain server logs longer than necessary for operational diagnostics, rate limiting, and DDoS security.

7. Contact Our Privacy Team

If you have any questions or feedback regarding this Privacy Policy, your rights, or advertising disclosures, please contact: