DATA PROTECTION DISCLOSURE

The Laptop Socut DATA PROTECTION DISCLOSURE

Document Ref: DPD-TLS-2025

Last Updated: 26 December 2025

OVERVIEW OF DATA ARCHITECTURE

The Laptop Scout (the “Website”) operates under a “Privacy-First” technical framework. This Data Protection Disclosure (“Disclosure”) serves to provide a granular technical explanation of our data processing activities, specifically regarding the anonymisation and pseudonymisation of visitor traffic.

Our primary objective is to maintain a high-trust environment by ensuring that Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is neither ingested nor stored within our analytics or tracking telemetry.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF NON-PII TRACKING

We utilise Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and proprietary server-side logging. To maintain user anonymity, the following protocols are enforced at the code level:

  • IP Masking & Anonymisation: We have configured our tracking scripts to ensure that IP addresses are anonymised at the point of collection. Under this protocol, the final octet of the IP address is removed before any storage or processing occurs.
  • Automatic Data Redaction: Our analytics implementation includes an active redaction layer. This layer scans all outgoing metadata and URL strings to identify and purge any accidentally captured personal identifiers (such as email addresses or phone numbers) before they reach any third-party servers.
  • Granular Location Disablement: We have disabled high-resolution geographical tracking. Geographical data is limited to the city or country level to prevent the “stitching” of data that could identify a specific household or individual.

AFFILIATE LINKING AND TRANSACTIONAL TELEMETRY

The Website earns revenue through affiliate marketing (e.g., Amazon Associates). When a user engages with an affiliate link, the following technical process occurs:

  • Attribution Cookies: A small text file (cookie) is placed in the user’s browser. This cookie contains only a Unique Click ID and a Publisher ID.
  • Non-PII Nature: This cookie does not have access to the user’s name, payment information, or account credentials at the destination merchant.
  • Expiry: Attribution cookies are temporary and expire automatically within a period defined by the merchant (typically 24 hours to 90 days).

LOG FILE ANALYSIS AND SECURITY RETENTION

To maintain the integrity and security of the Website, our server logs certain non-identifying technical data. This is processed under the legal basis of Legitimate Interest.

  • Data Points: Request method (GET/POST), HTTP status codes, User-Agent strings, and referral URLs.
  • Purpose: Identifying and blocking malicious bot traffic, DDOS mitigation, and resolving 404/server errors.
  • Retention Period: Security logs are purged every 30 days and are never cross-referenced with marketing or analytics data.

USER EMPOWERMENT AND OPT-OUT MECHANISMS

We facilitate several methods for users to control their data footprint:

  • Global Privacy Control (GPC): Our Site is configured to respect GPC signals. If your browser sends a “Do Not Track” or GPC header, our tracking scripts will automatically be suppressed.
  • Browser-Based Opt-Out: Users may utilise the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on to prevent any data transmission to Google’s servers.
  • Cookie Management: Users may purge their browser cache or disable third-party cookies at any time without losing access to the Website’s content.

COMPLIANCE VERIFICATION

Our data protection practices are reviewed periodically to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Because we do not store PII, the risk to your individual rights and freedoms is mitigated to the lowest possible level.

CONTACT THE PRIVACY LIAISON

For technical inquiries regarding our data scrubbing methods or to request a summary of the anonymous data categories we track, please contact: