Last updated: August 22, 2026
Smart Stateside respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information may be collected when you visit smartstateside.com, how that information may be used, and the choices that may be available to you.
By using this website, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please discontinue use of the website.
Who We Are
Smart Stateside is an informational website available at: https://smartstateside.com
References to “Smart Stateside,” “we,” “us,” or “our” in this policy refer to the operator of this website.
Information You Provide Voluntarily
You may provide personal information when you contact us, submit a form, report a correction, or otherwise communicate with the website.
Depending on the form or method you use, this information may include:
- Your name
- Your email address
- The subject of your inquiry
- The contents of your message
- Any other information you choose to provide
Please do not submit passwords, Social Security numbers, financial account information, medical records, or other sensitive personal information through this website.
Information Collected Automatically
When you visit Smart Stateside, certain technical information may be collected automatically by our hosting provider, security tools, analytics services, advertising partners, or other service providers.
This information may include:
- Internet Protocol address
- Browser type and version
- Device type and operating system
- Approximate geographic location
- Referring website or page
- Pages viewed and links clicked
- Date and time of access
- Website performance and error information
- Cookie identifiers and similar technical data
The specific information collected depends on the services and features enabled on the website.
How We Use Information
We may use collected information to:
- Operate, maintain, and improve the website
- Respond to questions, feedback, and correction requests
- Understand how visitors use the website
- Diagnose technical problems
- Protect the website against spam, fraud, abuse, and security threats
- Develop and improve articles and website features
- Measure website and advertising performance
- Comply with applicable legal obligations
- Enforce our policies and protect our rights
We do not use contact-form information to send marketing messages unless you separately and clearly agree to receive them.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
Smart Stateside and its service providers may use cookies, pixels, local storage, web beacons, and similar technologies.
Cookies are small data files stored on or associated with your browser or device. They may be used to:
- Remember preferences
- Support essential website functions
- Maintain website security
- Understand traffic and visitor behavior
- Measure content or advertising performance
- Prevent fraud and abuse
- Deliver or personalize advertising where permitted
You can usually control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking certain cookies may affect the operation of some website features.
Where legally required, the website may present a consent tool that allows visitors to accept, reject, or manage non-essential cookies.
Analytics
We may use analytics services to understand general website traffic and performance. If analytics tools are enabled, they may collect information such as pages viewed, time spent on the website, referring pages, approximate location, browser type, and device information.
Analytics information is generally used in aggregated or statistical form to improve the website and understand which content is useful to readers.
Advertising and Google AdSense
Smart Stateside may display advertising, including advertising provided through Google AdSense or other third-party advertising networks.
Third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve advertisements based on a visitor’s previous visits to Smart Stateside or other websites. Advertising providers may also use cookies, web beacons, Internet Protocol addresses, device identifiers, and similar technologies to deliver, measure, limit, or personalize advertisements.
Google’s use of advertising cookies may allow Google and its partners to serve advertisements based on visits to this website and other websites.
Visitors may learn more about Google’s advertising practices and manage personalized advertising through Google’s advertising settings and privacy resources.
For more information about how Google uses information from websites that use its services, visit:
https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
Depending on your location, you may be given additional options to consent to or reject personalized advertising and other non-essential technologies.
Contact Forms
When you submit a contact form, the information you enter may be transmitted by email and may also be stored by the website, its hosting provider, or the form service used to process the submission.
We use this information to review and respond to inquiries, investigate correction requests, address website problems, and maintain reasonable records of communications.
Contact-form submissions may be screened by automated anti-spam or security services. These services may process technical information such as your Internet Protocol address, browser information, and message content to identify spam or abusive activity.
Comments
If commenting is enabled on an article, information entered into the comment form may be collected along with the visitor’s Internet Protocol address and browser information to assist with spam detection and moderation.
Approved comments may be publicly visible. Do not include private or sensitive information in a public comment.
An anonymized identifier created from your email address may be provided to an avatar service if that feature is enabled.
Embedded Content
Articles may include embedded content such as videos, images, maps, social media posts, or other materials hosted by third-party websites.
Embedded content generally behaves as though you visited the third-party website directly. Those websites may collect data, use cookies, add tracking technologies, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content, particularly if you are logged in to an account with that third party.
Smart Stateside does not control the privacy practices of third-party websites.
External Links
Smart Stateside may link to government agencies, utility providers, manufacturers, consumer organizations, retailers, or other external websites.
A link does not mean that we control or accept responsibility for the external website’s privacy, security, accuracy, or business practices. Review the privacy policy of any third-party website before providing personal information.
Affiliate Links
Some articles may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through an affiliate link, Smart Stateside may receive a commission without increasing the price you pay.
Affiliate networks or merchants may use cookies or similar technologies to track referrals and attribute eligible transactions. Articles containing affiliate relationships will include an appropriate disclosure.
How We Share Information
We may disclose information to service providers that help us operate the website, such as:
- Website hosting providers
- Email and contact-form providers
- Security and anti-spam services
- Analytics providers
- Advertising partners
- Technical support and maintenance providers
These providers may process information only as necessary to perform their services, subject to their own terms and privacy practices.
We may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law, respond to a lawful request, protect rights or safety, investigate fraud or abuse, or complete a business transfer involving the website.
We do not directly sell personal information for money. However, certain advertising or analytics practices may be considered “sharing,” “targeted advertising,” or a “sale” under the laws of some jurisdictions.
Data Retention
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including responding to inquiries, maintaining records, preventing abuse, resolving disputes, and meeting legal obligations.
Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information, the service involved, and the reason it was collected.
Data Security
We use reasonable administrative and technical measures intended to protect information under our control. However, no website, email transmission, database, or internet-based service can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
You submit information through the website at your own risk and should avoid sending sensitive personal information.
Your Privacy Choices and Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights concerning your personal information, such as the right to:
- Request access to certain personal information
- Request correction of inaccurate information
- Request deletion of certain information
- Object to or restrict certain processing
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
- Opt out of certain targeted advertising, selling, or sharing practices
- Submit a complaint to an appropriate privacy authority
These rights are subject to applicable laws, exceptions, and identity-verification requirements.
You may also manage cookies through your browser or through any cookie-consent controls displayed on the website.
To submit a privacy-related request, use the Smart Stateside Contact page. Please provide enough information for us to understand the request, but do not send sensitive identity documents unless specifically and securely requested.
Children’s Privacy
Smart Stateside is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly request or collect personal information from children under 13.
If you believe a child has submitted personal information through this website, please contact us so that we can review and, where appropriate, delete the information.
International Visitors
Smart Stateside is operated for an audience primarily located in the United States. If you access the website from another country, your information may be processed in the United States or in other countries where our service providers operate.
Data-protection laws in those countries may differ from the laws in your location.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may revise this Privacy Policy when the website, its services, or applicable requirements change.
The “Last updated” date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was most recently revised. We encourage visitors to review this page periodically.
Contact Us
If you have a question about this Privacy Policy or wish to submit a privacy-related request, please use the Contact page on Smart Stateside: https://smartstateside.com/contact/