
# Privacy Policy

Collective Toolbox is committed to protecting individual privacy and securing the personal information made available to us when you visit CollectiveToolbox.com, interact with our online services through the Collective Toolbox or other software, or visit Collective Toolbox pages hosted by other sites (such as our official profiles on social networking sites). This Privacy Policy describes what information is made available to Collective Toolbox and how that information is used and retained, and provides information on:

*   Information we receive (when you provide it, visit CollectiveToolbox.com, receive email updates, or interact with official Collective Toolbox presences on third-party sites)
*   How this information is used
*   Sharing of this information
*   Data retention
*   Third-party tools and sites
*   Children and privacy
*   Security

If you have questions about this policy or suggestions for its improvement, please let us know at [info@collectivetoolbox.com](mailto:info@collectivetoolbox.com).

## Information Received and Retained by Collective Toolbox Online Platforms, Network Services, and Software

### Information You Give Us

You do not have to provide Collective Toolbox with any personal information or create a user account to access some information on CollectiveToolbox.com. However, for some services, we may require the creation of an account, or need some personal information from you such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, billing details, and other contact or identifying information about yourself or others that you choose to provide or authorize us to collect.

### Visits to CollectiveToolbox.com

When you visit CollectiveToolbox.com, basic information such as the following may be automatically received and stored by the web servers hosting CollectiveToolbox.com:

*   The originating Internet Protocol (IP) address;
*   The internet domain name;
*   Information about your computer or mobile set-up (e.g., type and version of web browser, operating system, screen resolution, and connection speed);
*   The pages on CollectiveToolbox.com that you visit;
*   The internet address, or URL, of the website that connected you to our site, if you accessed CollectiveToolbox.com via a link on another page (i.e., “referral traffic”); and
*   The amount or content of data transmitted from CollectiveToolbox.com to your computer.

Collective Toolbox also uses web measurement and customization technologies (such as “cookies”). You can choose not to accept cookies from any website, including CollectiveToolbox.com, by changing your browser settings. 

### Email Subscriptions

In order to manage Collective Toolbox email subscription lists, we may retain the names and email addresses of our email subscribers, as well as other information they may have shared with us (e.g., addresses and phone numbers), logs of emails we send, and automatically generated email data used to improve our email communications. This automatically generated email data (generated through simple tools such as “pixel tags” and link redirects) may include:

*   The recipient’s email client;
*   Whether the email was opened;
*   If a link in the message was clicked;
*   Whether an email was delivered;
*   If the email was forwarded; and
*   If the email was printed.

If, at any time, you wish to stop receiving our messages, simply click on the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each email message.

### Third-Party Websites

Collective Toolbox may maintain official pages or accounts on third-party websites in order to better engage with the public. Your activity on those sites is governed by the third-party website’s security and privacy policies. Users of third-party sites often share information with the general public, user community, and/or the third-party operating the site. Consequently, you should review the privacy policies of third-party sites before using them and ensure that you understand how your information may be shared and used. You should also adjust privacy settings on your account on any third-party site to match your preferences.

For aggregate statistical analysis and to improve the quality of our services, we may integrate web measurement tools with our social media pages. These tools enable basic analysis of social media traffic (such as the number of people visiting a certain page) and do not collect personally identifiable information.

## How Information is Used

If you choose to provide us with information, we may use that information to contact you or to provide you the information or services you requested. In order to serve you better, we may analyze multiple sources of data you have provided (for example, to look up whether you previously contacted Collective Toolbox about the same topic so that we do not send you a duplicative response). We may also use messages or comments collected through CollectiveToolbox.com or official social media pages for our own purposes, such as to inform policy decisions or in public advocacy.

We may use data you provide and automatically generated data for statistical analysis to assess, for example, what information is of interest to users, technical design specifications, and system performance. This allows us to make general improvements to our site, service, and software as well as to offer tailored content to email subscribers (e.g., a follow-up message to subscribers interested in a specific topic based on information they have provided or automatically generated data). We may also use your information in order to detect, prevent, and respond to security issues and other harmful or unlawful activities on the Site. For resume information submitted, your information may be used for employment consideration.

## Sharing of this Information

Information you share with Collective Toolbox (directly or via third-party sites) may be treated as public information. We generally limit our collection and retention of personal data where reasonably possible, but we do not guarantee deletion or restricted access unless we state otherwise.

You acknowledge that any data that you provide to us may be subject to disclosure.

You are responsible for securing any user data you submit to us, including applying encryption or other controls as appropriate for your needs or as required by any applicable laws.

We may disclose information you have provided or automatically generated information in cases including but not limited to:

- in response to requests from law enforcement, government agencies, copyright owners, or other third parties,
- in cooperation with legal process, 
- to protect CollectiveToolbox.com and Collective Toolbox services and software from security threats.

We might not contest requests for information, and we might not attempt to assess the legal merit or legitimacy of requests for information. We may share logs, user data, or other information we possess when compelled by law or to protect the security of the site.

Collective Toolbox may use a third-party analytics provider to analyze data from cookies or logs. We do not currently sell user data for commercial purposes.

## Data Retention

We may retain information for as long as necessary to provide services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, or as otherwise required by law. In some cases, some data may be retained indefinitely.

## Third-Party Tools and Sites

### Links to External Sites

CollectiveToolbox.com and other Collective Toolbox platforms and pages may link to websites created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations and individuals. When you follow a link to an external site, you are leaving CollectiveToolbox.com and are subject to the external site’s privacy and security policies. We do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information contained on an external site. We also do not endorse the site’s sponsor, any views they express, or any products or services they offer.

### Collective Toolbox Pages on Third-Party Websites

Your activity on third-party website sites is governed by the third-party website’s security and privacy policies. 

### Collective Toolbox Content Embedded in Third-Party Sites

In some instances, a third-party website may feature embedded Collective Toolbox content served by CollectiveToolbox.com. The embedded CollectiveToolbox.com content automatically generates Collective Toolbox server logs (see Visits to CollectiveToolbox.com) and may set a Collective Toolbox cookie.

### **Third-Party Services**

Certain features of this website utilize third-party API Services, frames, or integrations. By interacting with embedded or linked third-party content on this site, you acknowledge that the use of such Services is subject to the terms and policies of those third parties.

## Children and Privacy on CollectiveToolbox.com

We believe in the importance of protecting privacy online. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs information gathered online from or about children under the age of 13. Verifiable consent from a child’s parent or guardian is required before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from a child under age 13. Our site is not intended to solicit information of any kind from children under age 13. If you believe that we have received information from or about children under age 13, please contact us at [info@collectivetoolbox.com](mailto:info@collectivetoolbox.com).

## Security

We take reasonable precautions to protect our site and information automatically collected by CollectiveToolbox.com or voluntarily submitted to CollectiveToolbox.com. For example, we restrict access to personally identifiable information to employees, contractors, and vendors who require access to this information in order to perform their official duties.

We also utilize commonly used practices and technical controls to protect the information in our possession or control, along with CollectiveToolbox.com itself. These practices and controls include, but are not limited to encrypting the transfer of personal information over the internet via Transport Layer Security (TLS).

## Updates to This Privacy Policy

We will revise or update this policy from time to time. If we make significant changes to how we handle personal information, we will post changes to the policy on our site and change the date updated. We will try to provide additional notice in advance (e.g., a disclaimer on our website or an email to subscribers) if material changes are being made.

Updated: December 16, 2025

## Glossary

Internet Protocol (IP): A computer’s IP address establishes its location on the internet and allows other computers, such as those hosting CollectiveToolbox.com, to send it content and other information.

Domain name: For example, “example.com” if you use a private Internet access account, or “example.edu” if you are connecting from a university’s domain.

Cookies: A small piece of data sent from a website and stored in a user’s web browser while the user is browsing that website.

Device token: A unique string used to identify devices.

Email client: The email client is the program used to access and manage a user’s email (e.g., Thunderbird, KMail, Outlook).

## CollectiveToolbox.com Cookies

CollectiveToolbox.com uses the following cookies:

**Single-session cookies** are used for technical purposes, such as enabling better navigation through the site, facilitating the use of user accounts, and generating aggregated statistics about how the website is used. Single-session cookies may use a unique identifier, but do not publicly expose personal information.

**Multi-session or persistent cookies** are used to recognize a computer that has previously visited CollectiveToolbox.com, which can improve a user’s experience, for example, by continuing preference settings from previous visits.

**CollectiveToolbox.com currently uses the following cookies:**

*   CollectiveToolbox.com currently uses single session and multi-session cookies to ensure that CollectiveToolbox.com displays correctly and to provide the services, and may also use them to measure website metrics, such as which pages are popular and how often people visit the website.

These cookies are used to maintain your logged-in session and do not record content you enter. They do not collect additional personal information for advertising purposes, nor do they track interactions outside of CollectiveToolbox.com and other Collective Toolbox sites/pages.

This list does not include cookies associated with third-party content or functionality included on CollectiveToolbox.com (see Third-Party Cookies).

## Cookies for Email Subscribers

In order to improve email subscribers’ experience and the overall quality of our services, we may use cookies to measure the effectiveness of our email communications and to better tailor email content. Specifically, we may connect the data showing that an email subscriber clicked a link in an email to a subsequent action taken by that individual on Collective Toolbox website, such as completing a webform.

Because this links cookie data with an individual user, we would only connect cookie data to individual users who have consented and opted in to receiving emails. 

For data captured in this manner, we would restrict access to individual-level information to employees, contractors, and vendors subject to non-disclosure requirements who require access to this information in order to perform their official duties and exercise controls to limit what data they can view based on the specific needs of their position.

## Third-Party Cookies

Some pages on CollectiveToolbox.com may include web content or functionality from third parties, such as embedded videos hosted by non-CollectiveToolbox.com services.  

These third parties may use web measurement and customization technologies (such as cookies) in conjunction with the provision of this content or functionality. You should consult the privacy policies of these third parties for further information. We do not knowingly use third-party tools that place a multi-session cookie prior to the user interacting with the tool, for example by playing an embedded video. If you become aware of a third-party tool on CollectiveToolbox.com that places a multi-session cookie prior to any user interaction, please contact us at [info@collectivetoolbox.com](mailto:info@collectivetoolbox.com).

## How to Manage Cookies

Visitors can control aspects of website measurement and customization technologies used on CollectiveToolbox.com and still have access to comparable information and services on CollectiveToolbox.com.

You can choose not to accept cookies from any website, including CollectiveToolbox.com, by changing the settings of your browser. You can also delete cookies stored in your browser at any time.

For more information about cookies, including how to delete them from your computer and configure your browser to refuse them from CollectiveToolbox.com or any other site, visit the following resource, or refer to your individual browser settings for additional information on disabling cookies:

https://www.usa.gov/optout-instructions
