Privacy Policy for Patient Grower Guides

Effective Date: July 21, 2025

Hey there. Jason here from Patient Grower Guides.

Let’s be honest, privacy policies are usually a wall of text that nobody reads. They’re confusing, boring, and written by lawyers who probably bill by the word.

Our goal here is different. In the spirit of “Learning With Me,” I want to be completely transparent about what data this site collects and why. This page is my good-faith effort to explain it all in plain English.

The “Keep it Real” Version (The TL;DR)

If you don’t want to read everything, here’s the bottom line:

  • We track anonymous visitor stats. I use Google Analytics to see which articles are helpful and which ones aren’t. This tells me things like “lots of people in Ohio are reading the germination guide,” but it never tells me that you specifically read it. Your personal identity is not tracked.
  • If you contact me or comment, I’ll have the info you provide. If you leave a comment or send me an email through the contact form, I’ll obviously see the name and email you entered. I’ll only use it to respond to you. I will never sell your data—that’s a scumbag move.
  • This site is funded by affiliate commissions. If you click a link to a product (like a grow tent or a light) and make a purchase, I might get a small commission at no extra cost to you. This is tracked with a browser cookie. It’s how we keep the lights on around here.
  • We plan to use ads. To help grow the site, we’ll eventually use tracking pixels from services like Google and Facebook to show you ads. You can opt out of this kind of tracking (we’ll show you how below).
  • Basically, we’re trying to be cool about it. This site is for medical patients and veterans, and the last thing I want to do is violate your trust.

The Nitty-Gritty Details

For those who want a bit more detail, here’s a more structured breakdown of our privacy practices.

Who We Are

Our website address is: https://patientgrowerguides.com. This project is run by me, Jason Stepp, to document my journey growing medical cannabis and help others do the same.

Information We Collect (and Why)

When You Leave a Comment

When you leave a comment on an article, we collect the data shown in the comments form (typically your name and email address), and also your IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection. We don’t use this for anything else.

When You Use Our Contact Form

If you reach out through our contact form, we’ll collect your name, email address, and the message you send so that we can reply to your inquiry. We will not automatically add you to a marketing list.

Our Future Email Newsletter

We don’t have a newsletter set up yet, but we’re planning one! When we do, we will collect your name and email address so we can send you updates, new guides, and other info. You will only be added if you explicitly sign up, and every single email will have a clear “unsubscribe” link at the bottom.

The Automated Stuff (Log Files, Cookies, and Web Beacons)

Like almost every other website on the internet, we use tools that automatically collect some data.

Cookies: Not the Fun Kind

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer by your web browser. They’re like little digital post-it notes that help a website remember things. We use cookies for:

  • Running our analytics to see how the site is performing.
  • Tracking affiliate link clicks.
  • Serving relevant advertisements.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand our audience. This service uses cookies to collect anonymous data about your visit, such as what pages you viewed, how long you stayed, and your general geographic location (e.g., country/state). Again, this data is not personally identifiable. It helps us figure out what content is working so we can create more of it.

  • You can learn more about how Google uses this data here.
  • You can opt out of all Google Analytics tracking by installing their browser add-on, available here.

Affiliate Links

Patient Grower Guides is a reader-supported project. Some of the links on this site are “affiliate links.” If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, a cookie will be placed in your browser to track the sale, and we may receive a small commission. This comes at no additional cost to you and is a primary way we fund this project.

Advertising and Tracking Pixels

We plan to use third-party advertising services like Google Ads and Facebook Ads to help grow our community. These services use cookies and/or web beacons (pixels) to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website or other websites. This is sometimes called “remarketing” or “interest-based advertising.”

  • For example, after visiting our site, you might see an ad for Patient Grower Guides on Facebook or another website.
  • You can opt out of personalized advertising from hundreds of companies by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) Opt-Out Tool.

Your Rights & How to Control Your Data

Your privacy is your own. You have the right to control your data.

Opting Out

You have several ways to opt out of data collection:

  1. Analytics: To opt out of Google Analytics tracking across all websites, use the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
  2. Advertising: To opt out of interest-based advertising from major ad networks, use the DAA Webchoices Tool.
  3. Browser Settings: You can also configure your web browser to reject cookies, though this may cause some websites to not function correctly.

Accessing Your Data

If you have left a comment or used our contact form, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. To do so, please contact us at the email below.

Other Important Policies

Data Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information by using reputable hosting providers and security plugins. However, please know that no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. While we do our best, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Children’s Privacy

This website is intended for an adult audience (21 years and older). We do not knowingly collect or solicit any information from anyone under the age of 21. The content is for adults learning to cultivate their own medical cannabis in accordance with local laws.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

The internet and our project will continue to evolve. We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Effective Date” at the top of this page.

Questions? Contact Us!

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or just want to say hi, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Jason

jason@patientgrowerguides.com