Your privacy matters to us

Welcome to Business Stats (businesstats.com, referred to as "we", "our" or "us"). Business Stats is an independent online publisher of business, economic and market statistics. We publish free, data-driven articles and interactive charts, and we fund this work partly through advertising.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit businesstats.com, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have. By using our website you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.

Because Business Stats is a content website, we collect only limited information. We do not require you to create an account to read our articles.

2.1 Information you provide to us

• Contact form and email: If you contact us, we receive your name, email address and the content of your message.
• Newsletter (if offered): If you subscribe, we store your email address and your content preferences.
• Feedback and correction requests: Any details you choose to send us about our data or articles.

2.2 Information collected automatically

• Device and browser data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, screen size, language and time zone.
• Usage data: Pages viewed, time on page, referring website, search terms used to reach us, and general interaction data.
• Cookies and similar technologies: Used for site functionality, analytics and advertising. See Sections 5 and 6.

2.3 Information from third parties

• Analytics providers: Aggregated usage statistics from Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity.
• Advertising partners: Google AdSense and other ad networks may provide aggregated reporting and use their own cookies as described in Section 6.

We use the limited information we collect for the following purposes:

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or a region with similar laws, we rely on these legal bases:

• Consent: For non-essential cookies, personalised advertising and newsletter emails. You can withdraw consent at any time through our cookie settings or by unsubscribing.
• Legitimate interests: For basic analytics, site security, and answering your enquiries, in a way that does not override your rights.
• Legal obligation: Where we must process data to comply with the law.

Cookies are small text files stored on your device. We use cookies and similar technologies to run the site, measure traffic and show advertising.

You can manage cookies through the cookie banner shown on your first visit, or through your browser settings. Most browsers let you refuse or delete cookies. Blocking essential cookies may affect how the site works. For general information about cookies, visit allaboutcookies.org.

Business Stats is supported by advertising. We work with third-party advertising networks, including Google AdSense, to display ads on our website.

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to Business Stats and other websites.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables Google and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to our site and other sites on the internet.
• These cookies may include the Google DoubleClick DART cookie and similar identifiers used to measure and personalise advertising.
• Some ads may be personalised based on your interests; other ads are non-personalised and based only on the content of the page and your general location.

6.1 How to control or opt out of personalised ads

• Manage Google ad personalisation at adssettings.google.com.
• Opt out of personalised advertising from many vendors at aboutads.info/choices and youronlinechoices.eu.
• You can also disable advertising cookies through our cookie banner or your browser settings.

We use two analytics tools to understand how visitors use Business Stats. We use this information only to improve our content, page speed and design.

7.1 Google Analytics

Google Analytics (connected through Google's Site Kit plugin for WordPress) collects information such as pages viewed, time on site, referring website, approximate location and device type. Reports are aggregated; we cannot identify individual visitors from them. You can opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

7.2 Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity shows us how visitors interact with our pages through heatmaps and session replays, for example where people click and how far they scroll. This helps us find layout problems and broken elements. Clarity masks text typed into form fields, and we do not use it to identify individual visitors. Microsoft processes this data as described in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

7.3 Search performance

We use Google Search Console to see which searches lead to our pages. This data is aggregated by Google and does not identify you.

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only in these limited cases:

• Service providers: Our web host and content delivery network (Hostinger), our email provider (Google Gmail), which receives messages sent through our contact form, and our analytics providers (Google and Microsoft), acting on our instructions.
• Advertising partners: Google AdSense and other ad networks, which use cookies as described in Section 6.
• Legal requirements: Where required by law or to respond to valid legal requests, protect our rights, or prevent fraud and abuse.
• Business transfers: If Business Stats is merged, acquired or sold, data may transfer as part of that deal. We would notify you first.

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the limited data we hold:

• Encryption in transit: The site is served over HTTPS (TLS).
• Access controls: Data is accessible only to people who need it to run the site.
• Trusted providers: We use reputable hosting, email and analytics providers.
• Monitoring: We monitor for abuse and security issues.

We keep personal data only as long as needed:

Under the GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA and similar laws, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Delete your data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to legal limits.
• Restrict or object to certain processing, including direct marketing.
• Withdraw consent at any time for cookies, ads personalisation or the newsletter.
• Data portability: receive your data in a common format where applicable.
• Complain to your local data protection authority.

To exercise any right, email us at our contact form. We aim to respond within 30 days.

Business Stats and its service providers may process data in countries other than yours, including the United States, United Kingdom and European Union. Where data leaves the EEA or UK, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as adequacy decisions or Standard Contractual Clauses to protect it.

Business Stats is intended for a general and professional audience. Our content is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them.

If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us at our contact form and we will delete it.

Our articles link to third-party sources such as statistical agencies, publishers and reference sites. These sites have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for their practices. This Privacy Policy applies only to businesstats.com.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example when we add or remove a service provider. When we make material changes we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, display a notice on the site. Your continued use of Business Stats after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us. We usually reply within one to two business days.