Privacy Policy

This policy explains how GearPlain, the publisher of gearplain.com, handles information when you browse our articles or send a message through our contact form.

Information you choose to provide

The contact form asks for a message and topic. You may optionally provide your name and an email address if you would like a response. We receive only what you submit. Please do not include passwords, payment details, identity documents, or other sensitive information.

We use these messages to respond to questions, review corrections, address privacy requests, and manage legitimate editorial or business inquiries. We do not use contact submissions to enroll you in a marketing list.

Technical information and hosting

GearPlain uses Cloudflare to host and deliver the website and securely store contact submissions. Cloudflare may process technical information such as IP addresses, request times, browser information, and security signals to operate its infrastructure. See Cloudflare's privacy policy for its practices.

To limit repeated form submissions, the contact service derives a short-lived, one-way identifier from the requesting IP address and time window. The application does not store your raw IP address with your message. Rate-limit records are removed during routine processing after their window expires; hosting-level processing is separate.

Cookies, analytics, and search

We do not run advertising pixels, third-party analytics, behavioral advertising, or newsletter tracking. Website search runs in your browser over our published articles. Search terms may appear in the address of the page you visit and therefore in ordinary hosting requests; they are not sent to a separate search service.

Images and fonts are served with the site rather than embedded from third-party advertising or font servers. Our Cookie Notice describes the website's current use of browser storage.

Sharing and retention

We do not sell personal information. Service providers process information as needed to host the website and store correspondence. We may disclose information if required by applicable law or when reasonably necessary to protect the website, its readers, or others from misuse.

We keep correspondence only as long as it is reasonably needed to handle the request, follow-up matters, security concerns, or applicable obligations. You can ask us to delete a message through the contact form. Avoid sharing more information than is necessary for your inquiry.

Your choices

You can browse without creating an account or submitting personal details. Subject to applicable law, you may request access, correction, or deletion of information you have provided. Use the contact form and select “Privacy request.” Provide enough information to identify your earlier message, but do not send identity documents. We may need to verify a request before acting on it.

External links and international processing

Articles may link to external documentation and other websites. Their privacy practices apply after you leave GearPlain. Our infrastructure providers may process information in countries other than where you live.

Children and policy updates

GearPlain is intended for a general adult readership and does not knowingly solicit personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, use the contact form to request its removal. We update this policy when our practices change and identify the effective date on this page.