Privacy, plainly.

Effective October 4, 2026. House Spill LLC operates housespill.com. This notice covers the website, its newsletter signup and privacy-request forms.

What we collect and why

Reader tools and audience measurement

The buyer checklist works without signing up. If you choose “Save on this device,” its project and checkbox selections are saved only in your browser. They are not sent to us or advertisers. A saved checklist is treated as expired after 30 days without use and cleared when the tool next checks it. You can clear it at any time using the tool’s clear button.

To improve the publication, we collect first-party aggregate counts of pages viewed, active-reading time milestones, scroll depth, related-story clicks, checklist use and ad views/clicks. The stored counters contain only the day, a predefined page, event type and, for ads, offer and placement. They do not contain your email, IP address, a visitor identifier, full browsing history or search/query text. Checklist answers are never included.

A last-visit date is stored in your browser, along with a temporary tab-session marker, to estimate returning-browser visits. Neither value nor a browser identifier is transmitted. Dates older than 30 days are discarded on the next visit. This is an approximate browser-level signal, not a profile of an identified person. Aggregate counts are retained for up to 400 days, with expired counts cleared on later measurement submissions.

Measurement requests use a separate salted, short-lived network hash for abuse prevention; those security buckets expire after two minutes and are cleared on subsequent accepted submissions. They are not stored with or joined to audience counts. Hosting still processes request information to serve the site. Global Privacy Control or our browser opt-out stops this audience measurement and clears its browser markers when the controls next run. Already aggregated counts cannot be tied back to remove one person’s contribution.

Optional Google Analytics

If you select “Allow analytics” in the footer, we load Google Analytics to measure visits, engagement and useful actions. It is off until you choose it. Google receives page paths, event names, browser/device information and request metadata, and uses first-party analytics cookies to distinguish browsers and sessions. We limit these cookies to 30 days. We do not send form contents, email addresses, checklist answers, URL query strings or URL fragments. Automatic form, site-search and outbound-link measurement is disabled.

Advertising storage, advertising user data and advertising personalization are denied in our tag configuration. Google signals are disabled in our tag. This is separate from our first-party aggregate counters described above. Reports cover consenting browsers and are not a complete count of all readers. Read how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

You can turn optional analytics off using the footer control. Our browser opt-out and Global Privacy Control override analytics permission. Turning it off prevents future collection and clears accessible Google Analytics cookies on this site; it does not delete previously collected Google records. Your analytics choice is stored in an essential first-party preference cookie for up to one year. Contact us about your information.

Who receives information

Authorized site operators and our hosting/database provider process information to operate the site and manage your requests. Newsletter signup is not a contractor quote request, and we do not provide the subscriber list to the advertisers in our stories. We may disclose information when legally required or to protect the site and its users. Google also processes optional analytics data when you allow it, as described above. We do not load third-party advertising pixels.

Advertising links and your choices

We earn money from advertising and referrals. When you choose a labeled ad link, it normally passes through our affiliate network before reaching the advertiser. The network and destination can receive your IP address, browser information, referral/click identifiers and information you choose to submit. Their websites may use cookies and have their own privacy practices. We do not send your newsletter email in an ad link.

California privacy law can treat certain disclosures for value as a “sale” and certain cross-context advertising disclosures as “sharing.” Rather than ask you to classify a link, we offer an opt-out: Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. With that preference or Global Privacy Control enabled, our ad links bypass our affiliate tracking redirects and open the advertiser’s direct site. The advertiser still receives information needed for your visit and controls its own website. We cannot delete or change records already held by another site.

Our site does not use cross-site behavioral advertising scripts. We honor the Global Privacy Control signal; the older Do Not Track signal is not used as a separate preference setting. Your browser can block cookies, but then a manually saved preference may not persist. No payment, signup or identity verification is required for the browser opt-out.

Access, correction and deletion

You can ask to access, correct or delete your information through our privacy request form. These request channels are available to all readers. California residents may have additional rights under the CCPA where it applies, including knowing the categories and specific information collected, its sources, purposes and recipients; deletion and correction; opting out of sale/sharing; and exercising rights without discriminatory treatment.

We may need to verify your control of the email address before disclosing, correcting or deleting records. An authorized agent may submit a request and identify that role; we may seek proof of authorization as permitted by law. We aim to respond within 45 calendar days and will explain any permitted extension. Deletion may preserve minimal records needed to honor an opt-out or satisfy legal obligations. A privacy request is not automatically a newsletter unsubscribe: unsubscribe here for an immediate opt-out.

Children and sensitive information

House Spill is intended for adults making consumer decisions. We do not knowingly collect newsletter information from children under 13 or knowingly sell or share personal information of anyone under 16. We do not ask for sensitive personal information or use it to infer characteristics about you. Contact us if you believe a child has provided information.

Changes and contact

We will update the effective date when this notice changes and provide additional notice where required for a material change. For privacy questions, alternative-format assistance or a request, use the form.