Effective date: October 27, 2026
This policy explains how Ban the Bots (banthebots.org, "the Website", "we") handles information about visitors. Ban the Bots is run by Jonathan West of Layer3Labs.
Information we collect
- Analytics. We use Google Analytics to count page views and understand which pages are useful. It sets cookies and records data such as your approximate location, device, browser and the pages you view.
- Advertising. Ads on the Website are served by third-party ad partners, which may use cookies and similar technologies. See the Mediavine section below.
- Site search and tool usage. When you use the site search or an interactive tool, we log the search term or tool interaction, the page path, and a random visitor ID stored in your browser. We use this to learn what readers look for and what the Website is missing. It is not tied to your name or email.
- Newsletter. If you subscribe, your email address is stored with our email provider, Buttondown, so we can send the briefing. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
- Contact and feedback forms. If you send us a message, we receive your name, email address and message so we can reply.
How we use it
We use this information to run and improve the Website, send newsletters you asked for, reply to messages, and show advertising that pays for the Website. We do not sell your name, email address or messages.
Cookies and your choices
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. You can opt out of Google Analytics with the Google Analytics opt-out add-on, and manage Google ad personalization at Google Ad Settings. Opt-out options for interest-based advertising are listed in the Mediavine section below.
Your privacy rights
Depending on where you live (for example the EU, UK, or US states such as California), you may have the right to access, correct or delete personal information we hold about you, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for targeted advertising. To make a request, use our contact page. Where required, a consent or opt-out tool is shown when you visit the Website.
Children
The Website is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. The effective date at the top shows when it last changed.
Contact
Questions about this policy: use our contact page.
Mediavine Programmatic Advertising (Ver 1.1)
The Website works with Mediavine to manage third-party interest-based advertising appearing on the Website. Mediavine serves content and advertisements when you visit the Website, which may use first and third-party cookies. A cookie is a small text file which is sent to your computer or mobile device (referred to in this policy as a “device”) by the web server so that a website can remember some information about your browsing activity on the Website.
First party cookies are created by the website that you are visiting. A third-party cookie is frequently used in behavioral advertising and analytics and is created by a domain other than the website you are visiting. Third-party cookies, tags, pixels, beacons and other similar technologies (collectively, “Tags”) may be placed on the Website to monitor interaction with advertising content and to target and optimize advertising. Each internet browser has functionality so that you can block both first and third-party cookies and clear your browser’s cache. The "help" feature of the menu bar on most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to receive notification of new cookies, how to disable existing cookies and how to clear your browser’s cache. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, you can consult the information at All About Cookies.
Without cookies you may not be able to take full advantage of the Website content and features. Please note that rejecting cookies does not mean that you will no longer see ads when you visit our Site. In the event you opt-out, you will still see non-personalized advertisements on the Website.
The Website collects the following data using a cookie when serving personalized ads:
- IP Address
- Operating System type
- Operating System version
- Device Type
- Language of the website
- Web browser type
- Email (in hashed form)
Mediavine Partners (companies listed below with whom Mediavine shares data) may also use this data to link to other end user information the partner has independently collected to deliver targeted advertisements. Mediavine Partners may also separately collect data about end users from other sources, such as advertising IDs or pixels, and link that data to data collected from Mediavine publishers in order to provide interest-based advertising across your online experience, including devices, browsers and apps. This data includes usage data, cookie information, device information, information about interactions between users and advertisements and websites, geolocation data, traffic data, and information about a visitor’s referral source to a particular website. Mediavine Partners may also create unique IDs to create audience segments, which are used to provide targeted advertising.
If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices to opt-in or opt-out of this data collection, please visit National Advertising Initiative opt out page. You may also visit Digital Advertising Alliance website and Network Advertising Initiative website to learn more information about interest-based advertising. You may download the AppChoices app at Digital Advertising Alliance’s AppChoices app to opt out in connection with mobile apps, or use the platform controls on your mobile device to opt out.
For specific information about Mediavine Partners, the data each collects and their data collection and privacy policies, please visit Mediavine Partners.