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Zen Webmaster

Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 14, 2026

This policy explains what personal information zenwebmaster.com collects, why, who sees it and what choices you have. It is written in plain language on purpose. If something is unclear, write to me and I will explain.

1. Who I am

This website is run by Zen Webmaster, the business name of Maksym Ohorodnikov, a sole proprietor registered in France (SIREN 934 557 190). I work for small businesses in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. I decide how and why personal information is used on this site, so I am the responsible party, called “I” in this policy.

Privacy contact: support@zenwebmaster.com. I am the person responsible for privacy questions and requests.

2. What I collect

Information you give me.

  • When you use the free audit form or write to me: your name, email address, website address and whatever you put in your message.
  • When you become a client: contact and billing details, information about your business and website, and the content and files needed for the work.
  • If I work on your site, you may give me account log-ins (for example for your hosting, domain registrar or WordPress admin). I use them only to do the work you asked for.
  • If you fill in the optional project brief: your answers about your business, project and current website, any files you attach, your contact details and the language you used (see section 9).
  • Anything you send by email, including attachments.

Information collected automatically.

  • Like every web server, mine records technical details of each visit: your IP address, browser and device type, the pages requested and the time. These logs are used to keep the site working and secure.
  • Only if you accept analytics: Google Analytics records which pages you view, how you arrived (for example from a search result), your browser, device type and approximate location (country and city, worked out from your IP address, which Google Analytics does not store), and a random identifier kept in a cookie. I use it to see which pages help visitors. I do not combine it with your name or email address.

What this site does not do. It does not use advertising cookies or tracking pixels, and it does not load fonts or scripts from other companies. Apart from one small cookie that remembers your cookie choice, the site sets no cookies unless you accept analytics. The contact and audit forms do not save submissions in the website database; they are sent to me by email. The optional project brief is the exception (see section 9).

3. How I use information

  • To answer your questions and deliver your free audit.
  • To quote, carry out and support paid work, and to send invoices.
  • To keep records that tax and accounting rules require.
  • To protect the site and my systems from abuse, spam and attacks.
  • To comply with the law and to handle disputes.

I do not sell your personal information. I do not share it for advertising across other websites. I do not send marketing email unless you have asked for it, and every such message would include a way to opt out.

4. Cookies and analytics

When you first visit, a banner asks whether I may use Google Analytics. Accepting and declining are equally easy. Nothing is loaded from Google and no analytics cookies are set unless you accept. If you decline or ignore the banner, you are not tracked. Your choice is remembered in a cookie called zwm_consent for about six months, and you can change it at any time with the “Cookie settings” link at the bottom of every page. The project brief page also keeps a random draft number in your browser’s local storage, which is not a cookie (see section 9).

If your browser sends the Global Privacy Control signal, I treat it as a decline and do not ask again. I have not turned on Google’s advertising features or Google signals, so Analytics is used for statistics only. The full list of cookies is in the Cookie Policy.

5. Who I share information with

I share information only with companies that help me run the site and my business, and only as needed:

  • Hosting and email: the site and its mail server run on a hosting provider’s servers in the United States. Messages sent through the forms are delivered to my mailbox on that server, and project brief answers are stored on the same server.
  • Email forwarding: copies of messages sent to support@zenwebmaster.com are forwarded to other mailboxes I use, including a Google (Gmail) mailbox.
  • Domain and DNS services: to make the site reachable.
  • Google: if you accept analytics, Google LLC provides Google Analytics and processes the analytics data for me. Google’s own policies describe how it handles that data.
  • Payment processors: if you pay by card or similar methods, the payment is handled by the payment provider. I do not see or store your full card number.
  • Professional advisers and authorities: such as an accountant, or when the law requires me to disclose information.

If the business were ever sold or reorganized, information could be transferred to the new owner under the same protections.

6. Where information is processed

I work from France, and the site is hosted in the United States. Your information may therefore be processed in both countries, and analytics data (if you accept it) is processed by Google, including in the United States. Where the law requires safeguards for moving personal information between countries, I rely on appropriate measures such as contract terms with my providers.

7. How long I keep it

  • Questions and audit requests: as long as needed to answer you and for reasonable follow-up. You can ask me to delete them sooner.
  • Client records and invoices: for as long as tax, accounting and legal rules require.
  • Account log-ins you give me: only while the work lasts. When it ends I ask you to remove my access, and I delete any copy I hold.
  • Project brief and attached files: one year after the last change, then deleted automatically.
  • Analytics data: for no more than 14 months.
  • Server logs: for a short, rolling period.

8. Security

I protect information with encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls, separate accounts and regular backups. No system is completely secure, so I cannot promise absolute security, but I take reasonable care and I will tell you if something affecting your information goes wrong.

9. The project brief

The project brief is an optional questionnaire that helps me understand what you need before I reply. It lives on its own page and is not linked from the main menu.

What it collects. Your answers (your business, project, current website and wishes), your contact details (name, email, phone), the files you attach, the language of the questionnaire, your choice about being contacted, the dates it was started and changed, and a one-way hash of your IP address that is used only to limit abuse.

Automatic saving. Each answer is saved as soon as you move on to the next question, even if you never submit the brief, so you can come back and continue where you stopped. For this, a random draft number and a copy of your answers are kept in your browser’s local storage. It is strictly necessary for the questionnaire to work and is not used to track you.

Files. You can attach files to the brief, such as a logo, photos or documents. They are stored on the same server in the United States, outside the public part of the website: they cannot be opened through a link, and only I can access them. Each file is checked by its content when it is uploaded. Files are deleted together with the brief: with the “Delete my answers” button, on request by email, or automatically after one year.

Why I use it. To prepare a reply, quote or proposal at your request, and to keep an unfinished brief so you can continue it. I contact you about an unfinished brief only if you ticked the box that allows it, and you can withdraw that permission at any time.

Who sees it. The answers are stored on the server that hosts this site, in the United States. A notification with the content of the brief is sent to me by email. I do not sell or rent this information.

How long I keep it. One year after the last change, then it is deleted automatically. If the brief leads to a project, the information is kept as described in section 7 for client records.

Deleting your answers. You can delete all your answers at any time with the “Delete my answers” button at the bottom of the questionnaire, or by writing to support@zenwebmaster.com. Your other rights are described in section 10.

10. Your choices and rights

Wherever you live, you can ask me to tell you what information I hold about you, to correct it, to delete it, or to stop using it for a purpose you did not agree to. You can withdraw consent you have given and you can opt out of any email you receive from me. To make a request, write to support@zenwebmaster.com. I may need to confirm your identity first, and I aim to reply within 30 days. I will not treat you worse for using these rights.

11. If you live in California

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the CPRA, California residents have additional rights. In the last 12 months I may have collected these categories of personal information: identifiers (name, email address, IP address), commercial information (requests for services and records of paid work), internet activity (server logs), business and professional details you provide, and, if you are a client who gives me access to your accounts, account log-in details. I collect this from you, and from your device when you visit the site, for the purposes in section 3. I disclose it only to the service providers in section 5.

I do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined in California law. Analytics, if you accept it, is used only for statistics and not for advertising. I use account log-in details only to perform the services you request, and I do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you. You have the right to know, delete and correct your information, to limit certain uses of sensitive information, and to be free from discrimination for exercising these rights. You may also use an authorized agent to make a request for you. Use the email address above.

12. If you live in Canada

I handle personal information in line with the principles of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, for residents of Quebec, the rules in Law 25: I explain why I collect information, I collect only what I need, I ask for your consent, and I give you access to your information and the ability to correct it. You can withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual limits. If you are not satisfied with my answer, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or, in Quebec, the Commission d’accès à l’information. My privacy contact is in section 1. My services and this policy are in English; if you would like to deal with me in French, tell me.

13. If you live in the European Union, the EEA or the United Kingdom

Because I am established in France, European data protection law (the GDPR) applies to how I handle personal information, wherever you live. My legal bases are: performing a contract or taking steps you request before a contract (answering your inquiry, doing paid work); my legitimate interests in running and protecting my business (security, keeping records, answering questions); legal obligations (tax and accounting); and your consent where I ask for it. You have the rights in section 10, and also the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, to ask me to restrict processing, and to receive your information in a portable format. You can complain to a data protection authority, in France the CNIL (cnil.fr), or the authority in your own country.

14. Children

This site and my services are for businesses and are not directed at anyone under 16. I do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has sent me information, write to me and I will delete it.

15. Links to other sites

The site may link to other websites. I do not control them and I am not responsible for their privacy practices.

16. Changes to this policy

I may update this policy, for example when I add a new tool. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change is significant, I will say so on this page or by email to people I am working with.

17. Contact

Questions, requests or complaints about privacy: support@zenwebmaster.com. See also the Cookie Policy and the Terms of Service.