Privacy Policy
This policy explains what personal information TechUpscale collects, why, who receives it, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have. We collect as little as we can: you can read every story on TechUpscale without giving us any personal information.
At a glance
- Reading TechUpscale requires no account and no personal details.
- If you subscribe to our newsletter, we keep your email address and your topic choices, and we measure whether our emails are opened and clicked.
- Advertising and retargeting tools (Meta, LinkedIn and X) load only if you choose “Accept all”, and never if your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal.
- We do not sell your personal information for money, and we do not upload subscriber email addresses to advertising platforms.
- You can change your cookie choice at any time using “Cookie settings” at the bottom of every page, and unsubscribe from any email with one click.
1. Who we are
TechUpscale (techupscale.com) is operated by EverSterling Holdings LLC, based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States (“TechUpscale”, “we”, “us”). We are responsible for the personal information described in this policy (under European and UK law, we are its “controller”).
Contact for privacy questions and requests: info@techupscale.com
Postal address: TechUpscale, 4850 Sweetwater Valley Rd, Austell GA 30106
2. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Newsletter signup: your email address, the topics and frequency you choose, the page where you signed up, the date and time you signed up and confirmed (double opt-in), and a one-way scrambled (hashed) form of the IP address used to sign up, kept as a record of your consent.
- Comments: if you comment on a story, the name and comment you give are published with it; your email address and IP address are stored with the comment for moderation and abuse prevention and are never shown. If you tick the box, your name and email are remembered in a cookie on your device for your next comment. Comments are kept while the story is online unless you ask us to remove yours. We do not use Gravatar.
- Comment spam check: when you start writing a comment, Cloudflare Turnstile (by Cloudflare, Inc.) checks that you’re a person, usually without any challenge. It loads only on the comment form, and only once you start typing; Cloudflare processes technical information such as your IP address and browser signals for this check under its own privacy policy, and it is not used for advertising.
- ChatUpscale: if you start a thread or reply in our chat rooms, the name and message you give are published; your email address and IP address are stored for moderation and abuse prevention and are never shown. Moderators may edit or remove posts. Ask us to remove yours at any time.
- Emails you send us (tips, corrections, advertising enquiries): your name, email address and whatever you choose to include.
Information collected automatically
- Server and security logs: like every website, our hosting provider’s servers record technical information when you visit: your IP address, browser and device type, the page requested, the referring page and the time. These logs are used to deliver the site, keep it secure and fix problems.
- Anti-abuse and view counting: to stop spam signups and inflated “most read” counts, we briefly store a scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address, for up to one hour. It is not linked to your identity.
- Newsletter engagement: our emails contain a small image that tells us when an email is opened, and links that record when they are clicked. We use this to keep our list healthy (for example, pausing emails to people who stop reading) and to improve the newsletter.
- Analytics: if we have enabled Google Analytics 4, it measures how the site is used (pages read, approximate location derived from IP address, device type). Before you consent, Google Analytics runs in “Consent Mode” without analytics or advertising cookies and sends limited, cookieless signals that Google uses for aggregate, modelled measurement. After “Accept all”, it may use cookies.
- Heatmaps and session recordings (only after “Accept all”): if enabled, Microsoft Clarity records how pages are used (clicks, scrolling, mouse movement and page content, with text you type into forms masked) so we can improve the site’s layout. Microsoft processes this under its own privacy statement and uses it to improve its products.
- Advertising and retargeting (only after “Accept all”): the Meta Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag and X Pixel, if enabled, record visits and actions such as newsletter signups and which section you read, so we can show TechUpscale ads to past visitors and measure our campaigns. These companies may combine this with information they already hold about you under their own privacy policies.
- Preferences stored on your device: your cookie choice, whether you have subscribed, your light/dark display setting, and which sections you read (used to suggest relevant newsletter topics). The section list stays in your browser and is not sent to us, except as a single “top interest” value to Google Analytics if you accept analytics.
Information from third parties
We do not buy personal information. If you interact with TechUpscale on social networks (X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok), those networks share only aggregate statistics with us; their own privacy policies govern your use of them.
3. Cookies and similar technologies
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Duration | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
tu_consent |
TechUpscale | Remembers your cookie choice | 180 days | After you choose |
tu_sub |
TechUpscale | Remembers that you subscribed, so we don’t keep asking | 1 year | After you subscribe |
tut-theme, tu_interests (local storage) |
TechUpscale | Light/dark setting; sections you read | Until you clear your browser storage | When you use the site |
| WordPress login cookies | TechUpscale | Keep editors and staff signed in | Session up to 14 days | Staff only |
Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*) |
Readership measurement | Up to 2 years | Only after “Accept all” | |
Meta Pixel (_fbp), LinkedIn Insight Tag, X Pixel |
Meta, LinkedIn, X | Retargeting and ad measurement | Set by each company (typically 3 months to 2 years) | Only after “Accept all”, and never with Global Privacy Control |
| TradingView market widget | TradingView | Displays the stock ticker on our homepage | Set by TradingView | When the homepage ticker loads |
You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page, or by deleting cookies in your browser.
4. How we use information, and our legal bases
- To send the newsletters and alerts you asked for, including welcome and re-engagement messages (legal basis in the EU/UK: your consent).
- To run, secure and improve the website, prevent abuse and fix problems (our legitimate interest in operating a secure, reliable service).
- To measure readership in aggregate (your consent for analytics cookies; our legitimate interest for cookieless, aggregate measurement).
- To advertise TechUpscale to people who have visited our site (your consent).
- To answer your messages and handle corrections, tips and advertising enquiries (our legitimate interest, or steps you asked us to take).
- To meet legal obligations, such as keeping records of unsubscribes and responding to lawful requests.
We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects.
5. Who we share information with
- Service providers who process information on our behalf under contract: Hostinger (web hosting); our email delivery provider Brevo; Google (Analytics); Microsoft (Clarity).
- Advertising partners (Meta, LinkedIn, X), only through their tags when you choose “Accept all”, as described above.
- Privacy check tool: our Privacy check page shows you your own IP address and what your browser shares. Your address is sent back only to you and is not saved by TechUpscale (our host’s standard server logs record visits to every page, as described above); the other checks run only in your browser.
- News submissions: if you send us news through our Submit news page, we store your name, email, organisation, role and what you send so our editors can verify and report it. We don’t publish your contact details, or your name if you ask us not to, and we delete declined submissions after 12 months.
- Translation: some stories are available in French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, translated by TechUpscale. If you choose another language, or a page we have not translated, from the Translate menu, the page is translated by Google Translate: your browser then loads Google’s translation service, which receives the page’s text and your IP address, and a cookie (googtrans) remembers your language. Nothing is sent to Google unless you choose a language, and choosing English turns it off.
- Embedded content: the homepage stock ticker is provided by TradingView. When it loads, your browser connects to TradingView, which receives your IP address and device information and handles it under its own privacy policy. If an author has no uploaded photo, their picture may be loaded from Gravatar (Automattic), which receives your IP address.
- Legal and safety: when required by law, court order or to protect the rights, property or safety of TechUpscale, our readers or others.
- Business transfers: if TechUpscale is sold, merged or reorganised, information may transfer to the new owner under this policy.
Not shared: we do not sell personal information for money, and we do not upload subscriber email lists to advertising platforms. Crypto prices (from CoinGecko) are fetched by our own server, so your browser does not contact CoinGecko. We use an AI service (Anthropic) to help draft news stories from public sources; no reader or subscriber personal information is sent to it.
6. How long we keep information
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Newsletter signups never confirmed | Deleted after 30 days |
| Active subscribers | Until you unsubscribe |
| Subscribers paused for inactivity | Deleted after 24 months without engagement |
| Unsubscribed email addresses | Kept only in a suppression list, so we never email you again |
| Email open and click records | 13 months |
| Hashed IP addresses used for anti-abuse and view counting | Up to 1 hour |
| Server logs | As set by our hosting provider Hostinger. |
| Emails you send us | As long as needed to respond and keep a record of the conversation, generally no more than 3 years |
7. Your choices and rights
Choices available to everyone
- Cookies: choose “Essential only” or “Accept all”, and change it any time with Cookie settings.
- Global Privacy Control: if your browser or extension sends a GPC signal, we treat it as an opt-out of advertising tracking: the Meta, LinkedIn and X tags never load for you.
- Do Not Track: browsers’ older “Do Not Track” setting has no agreed standard, so we rely on Global Privacy Control instead.
- Email: every email has a one-click unsubscribe link and a link to change your topics and frequency.
- Your data: you can ask us to tell you what we hold about you, give you a copy, correct it or delete it, by emailing info@techupscale.com.
Residents of US states with privacy laws
Depending on where you live (for example California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas or Oregon) and whether the law applies to us, you may have the right to know, access, correct, delete and receive a portable copy of your personal information; to opt out of the sale of personal information, of “sharing” or processing for targeted (cross-context behavioural) advertising, and of profiling; and to appeal our decision on your request. We do not sell personal information for money. Our retargeting tags may be treated as “sharing” or “targeted advertising” under some of these laws; you can opt out by choosing “Essential only”, or by using Global Privacy Control. We do not collect sensitive personal information and we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.
California notice. In the past 12 months, where applicable: we collected identifiers (email address, hashed IP address), internet activity (pages read, email engagement), approximate location derived from IP address, and inferences (topic interests). Sources and purposes are described above. We disclosed internet activity and identifiers to advertising partners through their tags, only after consent, and to the service providers listed in section 5.
Residents of the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland
You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to the processing of your personal information, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect processing before withdrawal). You can complain to your local data protection authority. Where we transfer your information outside your country, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms offered by our providers.
How to make a request
Email info@techupscale.com with the subject “Privacy request”. We may ask you to confirm your identity, for example by replying from the email address you subscribed with. You may use an authorised agent where the law allows. We respond within the time required by law (for example 45 days under California law, one month in the EU/UK). If we decline your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision; we will respond to appeals within the time the law requires.
8. Security
We protect information with encrypted connections (HTTPS), restricted staff accounts two factor authentication, hashed IP addresses, signed email links, security headers and regular updates. No system is perfectly secure. If a security breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the authorities where required by law, including under Georgia’s data breach notification law.
9. Children
TechUpscale is a news site for adults and is not directed to children under 13 (under 16 in the EEA and UK). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has subscribed, contact us and we will delete their information.
10. Links to other websites
Our stories link to their original sources, such as government agencies and companies, and to social networks. Those sites have their own privacy practices, which this policy does not cover.
11. International readers
TechUpscale is operated from the United States, and our service providers may process information in the United States and other countries. Privacy laws there may differ from those where you live.
12. Changes to this policy
We will post any changes on this page and update the date at the top. If we make a significant change to how we use subscriber information, we will tell subscribers by email before it takes effect.
13. Contact
EverSterling Holdings LLC
TechUpscale, 4850 Sweetwater Valley Rd, Austell GA 30106
Email: info@techupscale.com