Last updated: June 6, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how What to Check Before Buying collects, uses, and shares information when you visit or use WhatToCheckBeforeBuying.com.
What to Check Before Buying is an informational consumer website that publishes buying guides, checklists, and related content about product ownership issues such as batteries, parts, subscriptions, repairs, maintenance, warranties, recalls, app dependence, and hidden costs.
This Privacy Policy applies to this website and any pages on WhatToCheckBeforeBuying.com that link to it.
1. Information We Collect
We may collect information in the following ways.
Information you provide to us
You may choose to provide information when you contact us by email or, if added later, through a contact form.
This may include:
- your name, if you provide it;
- your email address;
- the content of your message;
- any other information you choose to include in your message.
Please do not send sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for your request.
Currently, this website does not offer user accounts, comments, newsletters, forums, ecommerce checkout, direct payments, user uploads, or a login system.
Information collected automatically
When you visit the website, certain technical information may be collected automatically by our website, hosting provider, WordPress, security tools, analytics tools if enabled, advertising tools if enabled, or other service providers.
This may include:
- IP address;
- browser type;
- device type;
- operating system;
- referring pages or links;
- pages visited;
- date and time of visit;
- general location information, such as country or region inferred from IP address;
- diagnostic, performance, security, and log information.
This information is used to operate the website, protect the site, understand site performance, troubleshoot problems, prevent abuse, and improve the website.
2. Cookies and Similar Technologies
This website may use cookies, pixels, tags, scripts, local storage, tracking links, click redirects, and similar technologies.
Cookies and similar technologies may be used for purposes such as:
- keeping the website working properly;
- website security;
- performance and troubleshooting;
- analytics, if enabled;
- advertising, if enabled;
- affiliate tracking, if affiliate links are used;
- embedded media, such as YouTube videos;
- cookie consent or preference tools, if installed.
Our Cookie Policy provides more detail about the types of cookies and similar technologies used on the website.
If a cookie consent banner or preference tool is installed, you may be able to manage certain cookie choices through that tool. You can also control or block cookies through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect how parts of the website work.
3. How We Use Information
We may use collected information to:
- operate and maintain the website;
- respond to emails, questions, corrections, source updates, or article suggestions;
- monitor website performance;
- protect the website from spam, abuse, security threats, or technical problems;
- understand which pages are useful to readers, if analytics tools are enabled;
- improve articles, navigation, layout, and website content;
- comply with applicable legal obligations;
- manage affiliate, advertising, analytics, support, or embedded-content tools if those features are enabled.
We do not sell products directly through the website. We do not directly process payments on the website.
4. Google Analytics and Analytics Tools
This website may use Google Analytics or similar analytics tools.
If Google Analytics or similar analytics tools are enabled, those tools may collect information through cookies or similar technologies, including information about your device, browser, pages visited, interactions with the website, approximate location, and other usage information.
We use analytics information to understand how visitors use the website and to improve the website’s content, layout, and performance.
We do not intentionally send names, email addresses, phone numbers, message content, or other directly identifying contact information to Google Analytics.
Google provides more information about how it uses information from websites and apps that use Google services here:
https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
Google Analytics advertising features, such as remarketing, demographics and interests reporting, or Google Display Network impressions reporting, are not currently used. If those features are used in the future, this Privacy Policy will be updated to reflect that use.
5. Advertising and Google AdSense
This website may use Google AdSense or similar advertising services.
If advertising is enabled, third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies or similar technologies to serve ads. These cookies may be based on your prior visits to this website or other websites.
Advertising cookies may be used to personalize ads, measure ad performance, limit repeated ads, and understand how users interact with ads.
If advertising cookies are enabled, we will use a cookie consent or preference tool where required. If we serve ads in regions where Google requires a certified consent management platform, we will use an appropriate certified consent tool.
Google provides more information about how it uses cookies in advertising here:
https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads
6. Affiliate Links
This website may use affiliate links.
If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links help support the website, but they do not control our editorial conclusions.
Affiliate links or affiliate networks may use cookies, tracking links, referral codes, click redirects, or similar technologies to track referrals and purchases.
Articles that contain affiliate links will include a clear disclosure in or near the article.
7. YouTube Embeds and Embedded Content
This website may embed YouTube videos or other third-party content.
Embedded content from other websites can behave as if you visited the third-party website directly. For example, if a YouTube video is embedded on a page, YouTube or Google may collect information when the video loads, when you interact with it, or when you are signed in to a Google account.
Third-party embedded content may use cookies, tracking technologies, or collect interaction data according to that third party’s own privacy policy and settings.
8. Buy Me a Coffee or Other Support Links
This website may link to Buy Me a Coffee or a similar third-party support or donation platform.
If you click a support link or interact with a third-party support platform, payments and related information are handled by that platform and its payment processors.
WhatToCheckBeforeBuying.com does not directly collect credit card numbers or process payments on the website.
Review the privacy policy and terms of any third-party support platform before using it.
9. Contact Forms and Email
Currently, visitors may contact What to Check Before Buying by email.
You can contact us at:
contact@whattocheckbeforebuying.com
For privacy-related questions or requests, contact:
privacy@whattocheckbeforebuying.com
If a contact form is added later, the website may collect the information submitted through that form, such as name, email address, message content, IP address, browser information, and spam-prevention data depending on the form plugin and security tools used.
10. How We Share Information
We may share information with service providers and third parties that help us operate, protect, analyze, or support the website.
These may include:
- website hosting providers;
- WordPress-related tools and plugins;
- security, spam-prevention, backup, or performance tools;
- analytics providers, if enabled;
- advertising networks, if enabled;
- affiliate networks or merchants, if affiliate links are used;
- embedded-content providers, such as YouTube or Google;
- email, contact form, or communication tools;
- support or donation platforms, if linked or embedded;
- legal, compliance, or professional service providers if needed.
We may also disclose information if required to comply with law, enforce site policies, protect rights and safety, respond to lawful requests, or address security or fraud issues.
We do not sell visitor personal information in the ordinary sense of directly exchanging personal information for money. However, some privacy laws define “sale,” “sharing,” or “targeted advertising” broadly. If advertising, analytics, affiliate tracking, or similar tools are enabled, those tools may involve data practices that are treated as “sharing,” “targeted advertising,” or similar terms under certain laws.
11. Third-Party Websites
The website may link to third-party websites, retailers, manufacturers, support pages, recall databases, affiliate merchants, YouTube, Google services, or other external resources.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, security, policies, or accuracy of third-party websites. When you click a third-party link, review that third party’s privacy policy and terms.
12. Data Retention
We keep information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
For example:
- email messages may be kept as long as needed to respond, maintain records, handle corrections, or protect the website;
- website logs may be kept by hosting, security, or performance tools for limited periods depending on provider settings;
- analytics, advertising, affiliate, or support-platform data may be retained according to those providers’ own settings and policies.
13. Security
We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to help protect the website and information associated with it.
However, no website, internet transmission, email system, hosting platform, plugin, or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You use the website and send information at your own risk.
14. Children’s Privacy
This website is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information through the website, contact us at privacy@whattocheckbeforebuying.com, and we will review the request.
15. Your Privacy Choices
Depending on where you live, you may have privacy rights regarding your personal information. These rights may include the ability to request access, correction, deletion, or other action regarding personal information we maintain about you.
To make a privacy request, contact:
privacy@whattocheckbeforebuying.com
We may need to verify your request before responding. We will consider and respond to privacy requests as required by applicable law.
You may also control certain information through your browser, device, Google account, cookie settings, ad settings, or third-party platform settings.
16. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control
Some browsers offer “Do Not Track” signals. At this time, the website does not respond to Do Not Track signals.
This website does not currently respond to Global Privacy Control signals. If that changes, this Privacy Policy will be updated to describe how Global Privacy Control is handled.
17. International Visitors
This website is operated from the United States and is primarily intended for a U.S. audience.
If you access the website from outside the United States, your information may be processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate. Privacy laws in those locations may differ from the laws where you live.
18. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the website, the tools we use, our practices, or applicable legal requirements.
The “Last updated” date at the top of this page will show when this Privacy Policy was last revised.
19. Contact Us
For privacy-related questions or requests, contact:
privacy@whattocheckbeforebuying.com
For general questions, corrections, source updates, or article suggestions, contact:
contact@whattocheckbeforebuying.com