Privacy Policy

This policy explains what data is collected when you read blog.musicheadsafrica.com, who else receives data about your visit, how long it is kept, and what you can do about it.

Stateside Money is the data controller for the data described here. Requests and complaints go to [email protected].

What is not collected

There are no accounts, no login, no newsletter sign-up, no comments, no contact form and no payments on this site. There is nowhere to enter your name, address, date of birth, income, tax details, Social Security number, credit score or bank details, so none of it is collected.

Stateside Money does not sell or buy personal data, run a mailing list, or share reader data with lenders, tax preparers or insurers.

What is collected

Server logs. The hosting infrastructure records technical details of each request: IP address, date and time, the page requested, the status returned, the referring page, and the browser user-agent string. These keep the site running and secure, and catch scraping and denial-of-service attempts. They are not used to profile you and are not combined with advertising data.

Analytics. Analytics shows which guides are read and which searches bring people here. The data is aggregated: pages viewed, approximate country, device type, referral source, time on page. IP addresses are truncated or anonymised by the provider where that option exists. Analytics tells the site four hundred people read the VA funding fee guide last week; it does not say who they were.

Email you send. If you write to editor@ or [email protected], your message and address sit in that mailbox and are used only to reply.

Cookies

Cookies are small files a site or a third party stores in your browser. This site uses three categories: essential cookies set by the site, its hosting and its security layer so pages load and abuse is blocked; analytics cookies set by the analytics provider to tell a returning visit from a new one; and advertising cookies set by third-party vendors, described below. Only the advertising cookies are capable of following you between sites.

The Cookie Policy explains how to block each category and what stops working if you do.

Third-party advertising

This site is funded by advertising, which means third-party vendors serve the advertisements and process data about your visit.

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. That is what personalised advertising is: a vendor recognises a browser it has seen before and picks an advertisement to match.
• Google's use of advertising cookies, including the DART cookie, enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and other sites on the internet. The DART cookie holds no name or email address — it is a browser identifier.
• Vendors may also receive your IP address, the page you are viewing, approximate location, device type, and whether you clicked an advertisement.
• Vendors are independent controllers of what they collect; their own privacy policies govern it. Stateside Money cannot see it or delete it for you.

How to opt out

Three options, and they stack.

Google ad personalisation. Turn it off at google.com/settings/ads. Google still serves advertisements, but not selected from your browsing history.

Many vendors at once. Use the industry opt-out at aboutads.info, the Digital Advertising Alliance's choice page. The European equivalent is youronlinechoices.eu.

Block third-party cookies in your browser. The broadest option, and it does not depend on a vendor honouring an opt-out.

Opting out makes advertisements less relevant, not fewer, and the site still works.

Data retention

• Server logs: up to 30 days, then deleted. A log held for a security incident is kept until it closes.
• Analytics: aggregate reporting retained; visit-level records no more than 14 months.
• Email: kept as long as needed to deal with your message, deleted within 12 months unless it concerns a published correction.
• Advertising cookies: lifetimes are set by the vendor, not this site. Use the browser controls above.

Children's privacy

This site is written for adults dealing with tax filing, mortgages and health cover. It is not directed at children. No personal data is knowingly collected from anyone under 16, and there is no mechanism by which a child could submit any. If you believe a child has emailed an address above, write to [email protected] and it will be deleted.

Your rights in the UK and the EU

Under the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR you have the right to: ask what personal data is held and get a copy; have inaccurate data corrected; have data erased where there is no overriding reason to keep it; restrict or object to processing, including processing based on legitimate interests; withdraw consent for cookie-based processing at any time through your browser settings or the opt-outs above; receive your data in a portable format; and complain to a supervisory authority — in the UK the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, in the EU your national data protection authority.

The lawful bases are legitimate interests for server logs, necessary to run and secure the site, and consent for analytics and advertising cookies, which is why those can be withdrawn.

One practical limit. Because no account is held for you, a subject access request will usually find very little — at most a truncated log entry that cannot reliably be tied to you. Data held by advertising vendors must be requested from the vendor. Requests here are answered within one month.

Your rights in California

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended, you have the right to know what categories of personal information are collected and why; to access the pieces held about you; to request deletion; to correct inaccurate information; and not to be penalised for exercising those rights.

You also have the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. Stateside Money does not sell personal information for money, but the advertising cookies described above may constitute "sharing" for cross-context behavioural advertising. To opt out, use the Google and industry links above, block third-party cookies, or send a Global Privacy Control signal from a browser or extension that supports it — this site honours it where received.

The categories involved are identifiers, including IP address and cookie identifiers, and internet activity such as pages viewed and referring sites. No sensitive personal information is collected. To make a request, write to [email protected] with "CCPA request" in the subject. An authorised agent may act for you.

Changes to this policy

When this policy changes materially — a new category of data, a new vendor, a change to retention — the revised version is published here and the date at the top is updated, so you can see when it last changed. Continuing to use the site indicates acceptance. If you do not accept it, stop using the site and block its cookies.

Contact

Write to [email protected] for anything on this page: a data request, a question about advertising cookies, or a complaint. Email is read within five working days, and formal GDPR or CCPA requests are answered inside the statutory deadline.