Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Garage Playbook (“Garage Playbook,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information when you visit garageplaybook.com (the “Site”), use our free planning tools, subscribe to our newsletter, send us a question or correction, or contact us. It also explains the choices and rights you have. We wrote it to be read, not just filed away, so each section starts with a plain-English summary.

The short version: we collect only what we need to run a helpful publication. Our calculators run in your browser and do not send us what you type. We use your email address only for the purpose you gave it to us. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not “share” it for cross-context behavioral advertising. You can ask us to access, correct, or delete your information at any time.

1. Who we are

Garage Playbook is an independent, reader-supported publication about garage upgrades: garage doors and openers, floor coatings and tiles, storage and organization, heating, cooling and insulation, workshop setup, and garage projects and conversions in the United States. The Site is operated by Jeremy Jarvis in the United States, who is the “business,” “controller,” or “organization” responsible for your personal information under the laws described below.

2. What this policy covers

This policy applies to personal information we collect through the Site and through emails we send. It does not cover websites, products, or services operated by others, including merchants and affiliate networks we link to, social media platforms, or your internet or phone provider. Those organizations have their own privacy policies, and we encourage you to read them.

“Personal information” (sometimes called “personal data”) means information that identifies, relates to, or could reasonably be linked with you or your household or device. It does not include information that has been de-identified or aggregated so that it can no longer reasonably be linked to you.

3. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Newsletter: your email address and, if you choose, your first name, plus a record of your consent (date, time, and the page you signed up on).
• Reader questions: your email address, optional first name, the topic you choose, your question, and whether we may answer it anonymously in a future article.
• Corrections: the page you are reporting, your description of the problem, an optional source link, and, if you want a reply, your email address.
• Contact form and email: your name, email address, the topic you choose, your message, and anything else you decide to include.

Please do not send us sensitive information (for example health, financial account, or government ID information) through our forms or by email. We do not need it and will delete it if we receive it.

Information collected automatically

• Server logs: like nearly every website, our hosting provider automatically records technical information when you visit, such as your IP address, browser and device type, operating system, the page you requested, the referring page, and the date and time. These logs are used for security, troubleshooting, and preventing abuse.
• Analytics: we use Google Analytics 4 to understand, in aggregate, which pages and tools are useful. It collects information such as pages viewed, approximate location (derived from IP address, which Google Analytics 4 does not store or log), device and browser type, referring source, and interactions such as form submissions and clicks on affiliate links. See Section 9.
• Form security: to stop spam, our forms use a hidden field, a timing check, and a short-lived rate limit based on a one-way, salted hash of your IP address. The raw IP address is not stored with your submission, and the hash expires within an hour.

Information from others

Affiliate networks and merchants may report to us that a purchase or sign-up occurred after someone clicked one of our links, along with the order amount and commission. These reports do not identify you by name or contact details. If you link to or mention us on social media, we may see what you post publicly there.

4. Our calculators and tools

Our planning tools (garage heater size, epoxy coverage, floor tiles, lighting, opener selection, shelving load, overhead storage clearance, ventilation, air compressor CFM, conversion budget, parking fit, the Garage Makeover Plan Builder, and checklists) run entirely in your web browser. The numbers you type into them are not sent to us, stored by us, or shared with anyone. Closing or refreshing the page clears them. Analytics may record that a tool page was viewed or that a “Calculate” button was used, but not the values you entered.

5. How we use information

• To send the newsletter or waitlist emails you asked for, and to honor unsubscribe requests.
• To review reader questions and corrections, verify them against sources, and follow up if you asked us to.
• To answer your messages and requests.
• To understand which guides and tools help readers, and to improve them.
• To measure whether affiliate links and partnerships are working, which funds the Site.
• To keep the Site secure, prevent spam and abuse, and debug problems.
• To comply with legal obligations, enforce our Terms, and protect our rights and the rights of others.

We do not use your personal information to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you, and we do not build advertising profiles about you.

6. Legal bases for processing (EU, UK, and similar laws)

If laws such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK GDPR, or the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection apply to you, we rely on these legal bases:

• Consent for the newsletter, waitlist emails, and non-essential cookies or analytics where consent is required. You can withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier processing.
• Contract or steps you request to respond to your messages and to process submissions you send us.
• Legitimate interests in running, securing, and improving a free publication, measuring affiliate performance, and preventing abuse, balanced against your rights.
• Legal obligation where we must keep or disclose information to comply with law.

7. How we share information

We share personal information only as described here:

• Service providers (processors) who help us run the Site under contracts that limit their use of your information: our web host (Hostinger), our email service, Google (analytics), and our site security and spam-prevention tools.
• Affiliate networks and merchants receive the fact that a visitor clicked one of our links (through their own cookies or tracking parameters) so that referrals can be credited. We do not give them your name or email address.
• Legal and safety reasons: to comply with law, a subpoena, or other legal process; to respond to lawful requests from public authorities; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our readers, us, or others.
• Business transfers: if the Site is sold, merged, or transferred, personal information may transfer to the new owner, who must honor this policy for information collected under it.
• With your permission: for example, answering your question in a future article, without your name, if you allow it.

8. No sale, and no sharing for targeted advertising

We do not sell personal information for money or other valuable consideration, and we do not “share” personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under California and other US state privacy laws. We have not done so in the past 12 months. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16. If this ever changes (for example, if we add advertising), we will update this policy first and provide the opt-out links the law requires.

9. Cookies, analytics, and tracking technologies

Cookies and similar technologies (local storage, pixels, tags) are small pieces of data stored on or read from your device. We use them sparingly. Our Cookie Policy lists them in detail. In summary:

• Strictly necessary: WordPress may set cookies when you log in or submit a form, for security and to keep the Site working.
• Preferences: if you dismiss a banner, the Site may remember that for your browser session using session storage.
• Analytics: Google Analytics 4 sets first-party cookies to distinguish visitors and sessions. Logged-in editors are not tracked. You can opt out across websites with Google’s browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout, block cookies in your browser, or use Global Privacy Control.
• Affiliate cookies: when you click an affiliate link, the merchant or network may set a cookie on their own domain to credit the referral for a limited time.

10. Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track

We honor recognized Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals as a valid request to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information and of targeted advertising, as several US state laws require. Because we do not sell or share personal information for targeted advertising, honoring GPC does not change your experience, but we treat it as a standing opt-out in case our practices ever change. There is no single accepted standard for older “Do Not Track” browser signals; where technically possible we treat them the same way as GPC.

11. Affiliate links and third-party sites

Some links on the Site are affiliate links. When you click one, you leave our Site and the merchant’s or network’s privacy policy applies to what happens next, including any purchase. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. See our Affiliate Disclosure.

12. Email communications

We send newsletters only to people who asked for them, in line with the US CAN-SPAM Act and Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). Every marketing email identifies us, includes a valid postal address or other contact method as required, and has a working unsubscribe link that we honor promptly (and within the 10 business days required by law). Replies to your own messages are not marketing emails. We may use email service features that tell us whether a message was opened or a link was clicked; you can block this by turning off image loading in your email app.

13. How long we keep information

• Newsletter and waitlist records: until you unsubscribe, plus a suppression record of your email address so we do not email you again.
• Reader questions: up to 3 years, for editorial records.
• Corrections and contact messages: up to 3 years, then deleted, unless needed for an ongoing matter.
• Server logs: typically 30 to 90 days, according to our host’s settings.
• Analytics data: 14 months, then deleted by Google Analytics under our retention setting.
• Records needed for legal, tax, or dispute purposes: as long as the law requires.

14. How we protect information

We use HTTPS encryption for the whole Site, keep software updated, restrict administrative access, use unique credentials and application passwords for automation, and store only the information we need. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to protect your information and to limit what we hold in the first place.

15. Children’s privacy

The Site is intended for adult homeowners and renters and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 where local law sets a higher age) in line with the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and similar laws. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email privacy@garageplaybook.com and we will delete it.

16. Sensitive information

We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal information such as precise geolocation, government identification numbers, financial account credentials, health information, biometric data, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or citizenship status, and we do not use any such information to infer characteristics about you. Our calculators may ask for figures such as a budget or a loan amount, but those stay in your browser (Section 4).

17. International data transfers

We are based in the United States, and our service providers may process information in the United States and other countries. If you are outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in countries that may have different data protection laws from yours. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, or a provider’s certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and its UK and Swiss extensions.

18. Your rights in the United States

Depending on your state of residence, comprehensive privacy laws give you some or all of these rights. As of 2026 those states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, and more states continue to pass similar laws. We extend these rights to every reader, wherever you live.

• Know and access the personal information we have about you, and receive a copy in a portable format.
• Correct inaccurate personal information.
• Delete personal information we collected from or about you, subject to legal exceptions.
• Opt out of the sale of personal information, targeted advertising, and profiling in furtherance of significant decisions (we do none of these).
• Limit the use of sensitive personal information (we do not collect it).
• Non-discrimination: we will not deny you service, charge you a different price, or provide a different quality of service because you exercised a privacy right.
• Appeal: if we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision with “Appeal” in the subject line. We will respond within the time your state’s law allows (generally 45 to 60 days). If you are not satisfied, you may contact your state attorney general.

Nevada residents may submit an opt-out-of-sale request under Nevada law (NRS 603A) even though we do not sell covered information.

19. Additional notice for California residents

This section supplements the rest of this policy under the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (together, the “CCPA”).

Sources, purposes, and retention periods are described in Sections 3, 5, and 13. We do not sell or share personal information and do not use or disclose sensitive personal information. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request; we may ask the agent for signed permission and ask you to verify your identity directly. Under California’s “Shine the Light” law, you may ask whether we disclosed personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes; we do not.

20. Your rights in Canada

If you are in Canada, we handle personal information in line with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, for residents of Quebec, the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector as amended by Law 25. You may:

• Access and correct your personal information, and withdraw consent (subject to legal or contractual limits).
• Request information about how your information is used and to whom it is disclosed, including outside Canada.
• For Quebec residents: request data portability in a structured, commonly used technological format; be informed about any technology used to identify, locate, or profile you (we use none); and ask that information about you no longer be disseminated where the law allows.
• Complain to us first, and then to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or, in Quebec, the Commission d’acces a l’information.

The person responsible for privacy at Garage Playbook is Jeremy Jarvis, reachable at privacy@garageplaybook.com. Marketing email to Canadian readers is sent only with express consent under CASL.

21. Your rights in the EU, UK, and Switzerland

If the GDPR, UK GDPR, or Swiss data protection law applies to you, you have the right to access, rectify, or erase your personal data; to restrict or object to processing; to data portability; to withdraw consent at any time; and to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office). We do not have an establishment in the EU or UK; if the law requires us to appoint a representative, we will publish their details here.

22. How to exercise your rights

Email privacy@garageplaybook.com with the subject “Privacy request” and tell us what you would like us to do. To protect you, we will verify your request by asking you to confirm control of the email address associated with your information. We respond within 45 days (extendable once by 45 days where the law allows, with notice), within 30 days for Canadian and GDPR requests unless an extension is permitted, and free of charge unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive. To unsubscribe from emails at any time, use the link at the bottom of any message.

23. Data incidents

If we learn of a security incident that affects your personal information, we will investigate, take steps to contain it, and notify you and the appropriate authorities when and as required by applicable law, including US state breach notification laws, PIPEDA’s breach reporting rules, and the GDPR.

24. Automated decision-making and AI

We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects about you. We may use AI tools to help research and draft articles; a person reviews all published content, and those tools are not given reader personal information. See our Editorial Policy.

25. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when our practices or the law change, and show the new “last updated” date below. If a change materially affects how we use personal information you already gave us, we will notify you by email or with a notice on the Site before it takes effect and, where required, ask for your consent.

26. Contact us

Privacy questions and requests: privacy@garageplaybook.com. General questions: hello@garageplaybook.com. You can also use our contact form.

Effective and last updated: October 2, 2026. Questions about this page: hello@garageplaybook.com or privacy@garageplaybook.com. Garage Playbook is operated by Jeremy Jarvis from the United States.