Subscriptions FAQ and Privacy Policy

by Bruce Achterberg on May 9, 2010

* Click one of the questions to jump to its respective answer.

Questions about privacy and what I send you

General questions about subscribing

If you have any other questions, please contact me.

This page was last updated on: 13 June 2010 (GMT+10).
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What is your subscriptions privacy policy?

I will not rent, sell, or share your email address with anyone.

I won’t spam you, either.

You can always unsubscribe if and when you want to (and if you like, re-subscribe at any time). If you have any issues unsubscribing, please contact me.

Be aware that if you subscribe via email, you’re essentially sharing your email address with me and Feedburner (a service by Google that sends out my blog posts when you subscribe via email).

Be aware that while I am responsible for my actions, I can’t really monitor (and take responsibility for) services like Feedburner or the actions of other people, and while I select the services I use with care and won’t deliberately rent, sell, or share your email address with other people, I don’t feel I can guarantee 100% privacy or security. Generally, I’ve found Feedburner to be pretty good, but do what feels right to you. If you’d rather not subscribe via email (and thus, share your email address), you can still subscribe via RSS or follow me on Twitter.

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When I subscribe (via email, RSS, or Twitter), what happens—what do you send me?

When you subscribe to my blog via email, RSS, or follow me on Twitter, you will be notified of any new content or services I share.

Specifically:

  • If you subscribe via email

    • … when I publish a new blog post or article, Feedburner will send a copy to your email address (in the form of an email). At the moment I plan to use my blog to share content and make announcements about anything new I’m doing or offering.

    • Note #1: if you ever want to unsubscribe from email updates, there will be a link in each email Feedburner sends you which you can use to unsubscribe. If you have problems unsubscribing, please contact me (I’ll always honour requests to unsubscribe).
    • Note #2: in the rare instance I need to contact you about your email subscription, I may send you an email using the email address you used to subscribe (but if I ever do that, it will be a rare occurrence).
    • Note #3: also, be aware that once Feedburner has sent you an email containing a blog post or article I’ve published, if I ever make changes to that blog post or article, you’ll have to refer to my website for the most up-to-date version. Generally I won’t make massive changes to something I’ve published, but be aware that the most up-to-date version of anything I publish can be found on my website.

  • If you subscribe via RSS

    • … your RSS reader will notify you when I publish a new blog post or article, or fetch you a copy of it (depending on what type of RSS reader you use, and assuming your RSS reader is working. If you’re using an RSS reader it may notify you of, and fetch new blog posts; if you’re using an RSS widget, it may just notify you when I publish new blog posts).

    • If you subscribe via (i.e. follow me on) Twitter

      • … I’ll make a tweet (i.e. an update on Twitter) with a link to any new blog posts and articles (and any other from of content) I publish. You’ll also receive other tweets I make (including any retweets I share).

    When I launch something new (such a new service) I may announce it to smaller groups at first before I announce it “publicly” to everyone, but rest assured, if you’ve subscribed via email or RSS, or if you follow me on Twitter, when I’m ready to share something (publicly) with everyone, you’ll be notified when I do.

    At the moment I’m not sure how frequently I’ll make publish content to my blog. We’ll see how things evolve over time.

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    Why subscribe? What are the benefits?

    You can always periodically check my websites for updates, but if you subscribe (either via email, RSS, or if you follow me on Twitter), each time I publish a new article or blog post on my blog, you’ll be notified. This saves you from having to manually check my website for updates (unless you like doing that :) ).

    Subscribing is a good way to keep in touch with me via my website and be notified of new content I share or announcements I make about anything new I’m offering or doing (such as new services, products, or events).

    You’re always welcome to unsubscribe (or if you like, re-subscribe) at any time.

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    Does it cost anything to subscribe?

    Subscribing is free-of-charge.

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    Do you (or will you) offer a subscriber incentive—a free bonus for people who subscribe?

    At the moment I’m not sure. I like the idea of a subscriber incentive, but don’t want people to have to subscribe to get it (some people might want the incentive, but not the subscription). We’ll see how things go.

    If I ever do offer some sort of subscriber incentive, I’ll do what I can to announce it and make it available to people who have already subscribed, so relax, you won’t have to re-subscribe to get it or worry about missing out.

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    Do you have a question that I haven’t answered here? If so, please contact me.