Privacy Policy

Who runs this site

The Crow's Signal is a one-person consulting practice operated by Art Nikashin from Kazakhstan. Throughout this policy, "we," "us," and "our" refer to that practice.

For any privacy question or request, contact [email protected].

What this site collects

Call booking (Calendly)

The Book a Call page embeds the Calendly scheduling widget. When you book a call, Calendly collects the information you submit (name, email, and any context you add) and shares it with us so we can prepare for the call. Calendly's handling of that information is governed by their own privacy policy.

Contact forms (Formidable Forms)

Any contact form on this site is powered by Formidable Forms. Form submissions are stored on this site's own database, not on a third-party server. We collect whatever you choose to enter into the form, typically your name, email, and a short message.

Form submissions are retained for up to 12 months and then deleted, unless an active engagement makes longer retention necessary or you ask us to delete them sooner.

Server logs

Our hosting provider keeps standard request logs that may include IP address, user agent, request path, and timestamp. These logs exist for security, abuse prevention, and basic operational visibility. We do not use them to build profiles of visitors. Logs are retained for up to 30 days and then rotated.

Analytics (Google Analytics 4 via Google Tag Manager)

This site uses Google Analytics 4 (GA4), loaded through Google Tag Manager. Google Analytics records anonymized data about pages you visit, the device and browser you use, the city and country your IP resolves to (the full IP is not retained), and how you arrived at the site. We use this only to understand which essays people read and how visitors find the site. We do not use it for advertising.

Google Tag Manager is a tag container that loads Google Analytics. It does not collect data on its own.

You can opt out of Google Analytics on every site you visit by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

The newsletter is not yet live. When it launches, this section will be updated to disclose the email-service provider, what we store (email address, signup date, broad geography), and how you can unsubscribe.

How we use what we collect

We use the information you submit through Calendly or a contact form to:

respond to your inquiry,
prepare for and conduct a scheduled call,
follow up after a call if you asked us to,
send a small number of related emails about the work you asked about.

We use Google Analytics data only to understand which content readers find useful and how they arrive at the site. We do not sell your information. We do not share it with advertisers. We do not use it to target you on other platforms.

Third-party services we use

The site relies on the following third parties:

Calendly for call scheduling. Loaded only on the Book a Call page. Privacy: calendly.com/privacy.
Google Analytics 4 for site analytics, loaded via Google Tag Manager on every page. Privacy: policies.google.com/privacy.
Google Tag Manager as the tag container that loads Google Analytics. Privacy: policies.google.com/privacy.
Formidable Forms as the contact form plugin. Submissions live on this site's own database, not on a third-party server.
Cloudways, which hosts the site on DigitalOcean infrastructure and keeps standard server logs.

These third parties are bound by their own policies, not ours. When you interact with their components, their policies apply in addition to this one.

Cookies

This site sets analytics cookies through Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, and Formidable Forms may set a short-lived anti-spam cookie when you submit a form. Calendly sets its own cookies when its widget loads on the Book a Call page. For the full list and how to control them, see the Cookie Policy.

Your rights

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland (GDPR)

You have the right to:

access the information we hold about you,
have it corrected if it is wrong,
have it deleted,
have it ported to another service,
object to or restrict how we use it,
withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, email the address above. We respond within 30 days. If you believe we are mishandling your information, you have the right to complain to your local data-protection authority.

If you are a California resident (CCPA / CPRA)

You have the right to know what personal information we collect, to request deletion, to correct inaccurate information, and to opt out of any sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.

Children

This site is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone in that age range. If you believe a child has submitted information through Calendly, contact us and we will delete it.

International data transfers

The Crow's Signal is operated from Kazakhstan and serves clients globally. Information you submit may be processed in Kazakhstan (where the operator is based), in the United States (where Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Calendly run), and in any other country where those service providers operate. The data-protection laws of these countries may differ from those of your country of residence. By using the site, you accept this transfer.

Security

We take reasonable measures to protect information submitted through the site, including using HTTPS for transport. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

Retention

Calendly bookings, prep notes, and call follow-up emails are retained for as long as the relationship is active and for a reasonable period afterward for record-keeping. Server logs are retained per the host's standard policy. You can ask us to delete any of the above at any time.

Changes to this policy

When we change this policy, we update the Last updated stamp at the top of this page. Material changes will also be flagged in the next email if you are on the newsletter at the time. The current version is always the one published at this URL.

Contact

Questions, requests, or complaints: [email protected].

The Crow's Signal · operated by Art Nikashin · international consultancy serving the United States and beyond