Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Tom (the operator of ProsCost, referred to in this document as “we,” “us” or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects information when you visit or interact with the website located at https://proscost.com/ (the “Website” or “Service”).

By visiting or using the Website, you confirm that you have read this Privacy Policy and agree to the practices described in it. If you do not agree, please stop using the Website.

1. Who We Are and How to Reach Us

ProsCost is an independent publication that produces software reviews, comparisons, and curated deals and coupon codes. The Website is operated by Tom and is hosted on servers located in the United States.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or about how your information is handled, please use the form on our Contact Us page: https://proscost.com/contact-us/

2. Definitions

To make this document easier to read, the following terms have the meanings set out below:

“Personal Data” means any information that can be used, alone or together with other information, to identify a particular individual (for example, a name, email address, IP address, or online identifier).
“Usage Data” means information that is collected automatically when you use the Website, such as pages visited, time spent on a page, browser type, and device data.
“Cookies” means small data files placed on your device by a website. More information about how we use them is provided in our Cookie Policy.
“Service Provider” means a third party that processes data on our behalf, such as analytics providers, hosting companies, advertising networks, or email delivery platforms.
“You” or “User” means any individual who accesses the Website, whether as a casual reader, a newsletter subscriber, or any other type of visitor.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Information You Provide Directly

We only receive information you give us voluntarily. Examples include:

The content of any message you send through our Contact Us page (such as your name, email address, and the body of your inquiry).
Your email address if you choose to subscribe to a newsletter, request notifications, or sign up for any future feature.
Any comments, feedback, or other content you submit through forms on the Website.

You are not required to provide Personal Data to browse the Website. You only need to share information when you choose to interact with a feature that requires it.

3.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit the Website, certain technical information is gathered automatically by our hosting infrastructure and analytics tools. This may include:

Your Internet Protocol (IP) address.
The type and version of your browser and operating system.
The pages you view, the date and time of each visit, and the time you spend on each page.
The referring website or search query that brought you to ProsCost.
General device characteristics such as screen resolution and language preference.
Approximate geographic location derived from your IP address (typically at the city or region level).

We use this information to understand how the Website is used, to detect technical problems, to prevent abuse, and to improve the content we publish.

3.3 Information from Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use Cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies to operate the Website, remember your preferences, measure traffic, and — through advertising and affiliate partners — to track conversions on offers and coupon codes you click. The categories of Cookies we use, and how to control them, are explained in detail in our Cookie Policy.

3.4 Information from Affiliate and Advertising Partners

ProsCost participates in affiliate programs (see our Disclaimer Notice). When you click an affiliate link, the partner network may set its own cookies and may report aggregated or anonymized data back to us, such as whether a click resulted in a sale. We do not receive your payment card details or other sensitive information from these partners.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the information described above for the following purposes:

To deliver the Website and the content you request, and to keep it functioning correctly.
To respond to messages submitted through our Contact Us form.
To send newsletters, deal alerts, or product updates if (and only if) you have explicitly subscribed, with the option to unsubscribe at any time.
To measure how visitors find, navigate, and interact with our reviews and deals so that we can improve the editorial experience.
To detect, prevent, and investigate fraud, spam, abuse, security incidents, and violations of our Terms and Conditions.
To track which affiliate offers and coupon codes are useful to readers, so we can prioritize relationships that benefit our audience.
To comply with legal obligations and to enforce our agreements when necessary.

We do not use your information for any purpose that is incompatible with the reasons for which it was collected.

5. Legal Bases for Processing (For Visitors in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction whose laws require us to identify a lawful basis for processing Personal Data, we rely on one or more of the following:

Consent — for example, when you opt in to a newsletter or accept non-essential Cookies through our consent banner.
Legitimate interests — for example, securing the Website, preventing fraud, measuring aggregated traffic, and improving the content we publish, where these activities do not override your privacy rights.
Compliance with legal obligations — when we must keep or disclose information to comply with applicable laws.
Performance of a contract or pre-contractual steps — for example, when you ask us a question and we respond.

You can withdraw your consent at any time, and the withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew it.

ProsCost does not sell your Personal Data, and we do not rent it to advertisers, data brokers, or any other third party for monetary consideration.

We share information only in the limited circumstances listed below:

Service Providers — companies that help us run the Website, such as our hosting provider, content delivery network, analytics tools, email delivery service, security tools, and comment-spam filters. These providers may access your data only to perform tasks for us and are required to protect it.
Advertising and Affiliate Partners — advertising networks and affiliate platforms whose tags load on the Website may collect Cookie identifiers, IP addresses, and browsing information for the purposes of attribution, frequency capping, and ad measurement. Our Cookie Policy lists the categories involved and explains how to opt out.
Legal and Safety Reasons — we may disclose information if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to comply with a court order, subpoena, or other legal process; to enforce our Terms and Conditions; to protect the rights, safety, or property of ProsCost, our visitors, or the public; or to investigate suspected fraud or wrongdoing.
Business Changes — if the Website is ever transferred, sold, or merged into another business, the relevant data may be transferred as part of that transaction. You will be notified of any change in ownership or control that affects how your data is used.

We do not knowingly sell or share Personal Data of California residents in the manner regulated under the CCPA/CPRA, but please see Section 12 below for additional details.

7. International Data Transfers

The Website is hosted on servers located in the United States. If you are accessing it from outside the United States, the information collected through your visit will be transferred to and processed in the United States. By using the Website, you understand that your information may be processed in a country whose data protection laws may differ from those of your country of residence.

Where required by law, we take steps to ensure that international transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards, including standard contractual clauses where applicable.

8. How Long We Keep Your Information

We retain Personal Data only for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or for as long as required to meet our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

In practice:

Messages submitted through the Contact Us form are kept for as long as needed to address your inquiry and for a reasonable period afterward.
Newsletter subscription data is kept until you unsubscribe.
Aggregated analytics data, which does not directly identify you, may be retained for longer periods.
Server logs are typically rotated and overwritten on a short cycle.

When data is no longer needed, we delete or anonymize it.

9. How We Protect Your Information

We use commercially reasonable physical, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect the information we collect, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), restricted access to administrative areas, and the use of reputable Service Providers.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet and no method of electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, and you share your information with us at your own risk.

10. Children

ProsCost is intended for an adult audience. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in jurisdictions where that higher age applies). If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has submitted Personal Data to us, please contact us through https://proscost.com/contact-us/ and we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

11. Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights regarding your Personal Data:

Right of access — to ask whether we hold information about you and to receive a copy.
Right to correction — to request that inaccurate or incomplete data be updated.
Right to deletion — to request that we erase Personal Data we hold about you, subject to legal exceptions.
Right to restrict or object to processing — for example, in relation to direct marketing or processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to data portability — to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent — at any time, where processing is based on consent.
Right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority in your country.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us through https://proscost.com/contact-us/. We may need to verify your identity before responding, and we will do our best to reply within the time frame required by applicable law.

12. Notice for California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, gives you specific rights regarding your Personal Data.

12.1 Categories of Information Collected

Within the past twelve (12) months, we may have collected the following categories of Personal Data, as defined under the CCPA/CPRA:

Identifiers, such as IP address, online identifiers, and email address (when voluntarily provided).
Internet or other electronic network activity information, such as browsing history on the Website and interactions with our content and links.
Inferences drawn from the above — for example, the broad topics a visitor seems interested in, used to improve content recommendations.

We do not knowingly collect categories such as biometric data, precise geolocation, financial account information, or government identifiers through the Website.

12.2 Sources

We collect this information directly from you when you submit it, automatically when you use the Website, and from Service Providers and advertising partners who help us operate the Website.

12.3 Purposes

We use this information for the purposes described in Section 4 above.

We do not sell your Personal Data for money. However, the use of certain advertising or analytics Cookies may be considered “sharing” or a “sale” under the broad definitions used by the CCPA/CPRA. You can manage these technologies through the Cookie banner on the Website, your browser settings, or the opt-out resources listed below:

Network Advertising Initiative: https://optout.networkadvertising.org/
Digital Advertising Alliance: https://optout.aboutads.info/
European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance: https://www.youronlinechoices.eu/

12.5 Your California Rights

You have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of Personal Data we hold about you, and to opt out of any “sale” or “sharing” as defined under the law. You also have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising these rights. To exercise them, please contact us through https://proscost.com/contact-us/.

We will not respond to “Do Not Track” signals at this time, as no common industry standard has been finalized for them.

13. Third-Party Websites

The Website contains links to third-party websites, including affiliate partners, software vendors, and informational resources. When you click on a link to a third-party site, you leave ProsCost and become subject to the privacy policy and terms of that other site. We have no control over those websites and are not responsible for their content or their privacy practices. We strongly recommend that you read the privacy policy of every external website you visit.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example to reflect changes in the law, in our practices, or in the technologies we use. The “Last updated” date at the top of the page indicates when the latest version took effect.

We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of the Website after a revised Privacy Policy is posted means that you accept the changes. If a change is material, we will take reasonable steps to draw additional attention to it.

15. Contact

For any privacy-related question, request, or concern, please reach out through our Contact Us page: https://proscost.com/contact-us/