This Privacy Policy explains how Bioswale.org collects, uses, protects, and shares information when you visit our website. This page also explains how advertising, cookies, analytics, and similar technologies may work on this site. By using Bioswale.org, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
Last Updated: May 4, 2026
About This Privacy Policy
Bioswale.org is an independent educational website about bioswales, stormwater runoff, green infrastructure, native planting, landscape drainage, and related environmental design topics. We are not a government agency, engineering firm, contractor, permitting office, public works department, university department, or official stormwater authority.
This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through Bioswale.org. It explains what information may be collected, why it may be collected, how it may be used, how advertising services may process data, and what choices visitors may have.
We use this website to publish general educational content. We do not use the website to provide engineering services, legal services, construction services, project approvals, drainage inspections, or official regulatory advice.
Information We May Collect
Bioswale.org may collect limited information from visitors in several ways. Some information may be collected automatically when you visit the website. Other information may be provided directly by you if you contact us by email or use a form on the website.
The information collected may depend on your browser, device, privacy settings, cookie choices, location, and the services active on the website at the time of your visit.
Information Collected Automatically
When you visit Bioswale.org, certain technical information may be collected automatically by the website, hosting provider, security tools, analytics tools, advertising services, or other third-party services used to operate the site.
- IP address or approximate location information
- Browser type and version
- Device type, operating system, and screen size
- Pages visited on the website
- Time and date of visits
- Referring pages or search terms when available
- General interaction data, such as clicks, scrolling, or page loading behavior
- Cookie identifiers or advertising identifiers where applicable
- Technical logs used for security, troubleshooting, or performance monitoring
This information helps the website function properly, detect technical issues, understand general visitor activity, protect the site from abuse, and support advertising and measurement services.
Information You Provide Directly
You may choose to provide information directly when you contact us by email, send feedback, report an issue, suggest a topic, or communicate with us about the website.
- Your name, if you choose to provide it
- Your email address
- The subject and content of your message
- Any page title, URL, screenshot, or detail you include in your message
- Any other information you voluntarily send to us
Please do not send sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for your request. Bioswale.org does not need sensitive information to answer general website questions or review content feedback.
How We Use Information
We may use collected information to operate, maintain, improve, protect, and support Bioswale.org. We may also use information to communicate with visitors who contact us directly.
- To operate the website and display pages correctly
- To improve site speed, structure, readability, and user experience
- To understand which bioswale and stormwater topics readers find useful
- To detect spam, abuse, malware, automated traffic, or security risks
- To respond to emails, correction requests, privacy questions, or general inquiries
- To manage advertising and measure ad performance
- To analyze general traffic patterns and improve content planning
- To comply with applicable legal, technical, security, or policy requirements
We do not use visitor information to provide site-specific engineering advice, approve drainage projects, inspect bioswales, certify designs, or make official stormwater decisions.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
Bioswale.org may use cookies, pixels, tags, local storage, web beacons, device identifiers, and similar technologies. These technologies may be used by us or by third-party services that help operate, protect, measure, or monetize the website.
Cookies are small files stored on your browser or device. They can help a website remember preferences, support security, measure activity, load ads, prevent fraud, and improve the user experience.
Some cookies may be set directly by Bioswale.org. Other cookies may be set by third-party services, including advertising providers such as Google, analytics providers, security tools, or embedded content services.
You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking cookies may affect how parts of the website, advertising, analytics, or consent tools work.
Google AdSense and Advertising
Bioswale.org may use Google AdSense or similar advertising services to display advertisements. Advertising helps support the cost of running the website, including hosting, maintenance, writing, editing, and technical operation.
Third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to this website or other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables Google and its partners to serve ads to users based on visits to Bioswale.org and other sites on the internet.
Advertising cookies may be used for ad delivery, personalized advertising, non-personalized advertising, ad measurement, fraud prevention, frequency capping, reporting, and improving advertising systems.
Users may manage or opt out of personalized advertising through Google Ads Settings. Users may also manage cookies through their browser settings or device privacy settings.
Ads shown on Bioswale.org are separate from our editorial content. The appearance of an advertisement does not mean that Bioswale.org endorses the advertiser, product, service, contractor, claim, price, offer, or website shown in the ad.
Personalized and Non-Personalized Ads
Depending on your location, browser settings, consent choices, and ad provider settings, you may see personalized or non-personalized ads on Bioswale.org.
Personalized ads may use information about your visits to this and other websites to help show ads that may be more relevant to your interests. Non-personalized ads are not based on previous browsing behavior in the same way, but they may still use basic information such as page content, approximate location, device type, language, and time of visit.
Even when ads are non-personalized, cookies or similar technologies may still be used for basic functions such as ad delivery, reporting, frequency capping, fraud prevention, and security.
Third-Party Services
Bioswale.org may use third-party services to operate, protect, measure, improve, and monetize the website. These third parties may process certain information according to their own privacy policies and technical systems.
- Advertising networks and ad technology providers
- Website hosting providers
- Security and spam prevention tools
- Analytics or measurement services
- Performance and caching services
- Email or contact-related tools, if used
- Embedded media or external content providers, if used
Third-party services may collect information such as IP addresses, cookie identifiers, browser details, device information, page views, ad interactions, or other technical data. Bioswale.org does not control every data practice used by third-party providers.
Analytics and Site Measurement
Bioswale.org may use analytics or measurement tools to understand general visitor activity. These tools may help us learn which pages are visited, how users move through the site, which topics attract interest, and where technical issues may exist.
Analytics data may include page views, browser type, approximate location, referring pages, device type, time spent on pages, clicks, and general usage patterns. This information helps us improve content about bioswales, stormwater runoff, native plants, maintenance, green infrastructure, and related topics.
We use this information to improve the website, not to personally evaluate individual readers or provide individual project advice.
Email Communications
If you contact Bioswale.org by email, we may use your email address and message content to respond to your request. We may also keep a record of your message for administrative, safety, legal, or quality purposes.
We do not sell email messages sent to us. We do not use contact emails to provide engineering services, legal advice, project approvals, or official stormwater guidance.
If you contact us about a correction, topic suggestion, advertising question, privacy concern, or site issue, we may use your message to review and improve the website.
Contact Forms
If Bioswale.org uses a contact form, the information submitted through that form may be processed by the website, hosting provider, email service, spam prevention tool, or other technical services needed to deliver and manage the message.
Information submitted through a form may include your name, email address, message, IP address, browser details, submission time, and spam-checking data. This information may be used to respond to your message, prevent abuse, and protect the website.
Comments and User Submissions
If Bioswale.org allows comments or other user submissions, information you submit may be visible to other visitors depending on how the feature is configured. This may include your display name, comment text, and any information you choose to include.
Comments or submissions may also be checked by spam prevention tools. These tools may process technical data such as IP address, browser information, cookies, and submission patterns to detect spam or abuse.
Do not include private, sensitive, or project-specific information in public comments. We may remove comments or submissions that are spam, abusive, misleading, unsafe, unrelated, promotional, or otherwise unsuitable for the website.
How We Share Information
We may share limited information with third-party service providers that help operate, protect, measure, or monetize the website. These providers may include hosting companies, analytics tools, advertising networks, spam prevention services, security tools, and technical support services.
We may also disclose information if required to comply with applicable law, legal process, security needs, fraud prevention, policy enforcement, or protection of rights, safety, and website integrity.
We do not sell personal contact messages to third parties. We do not use visitor data to issue official project approvals, drainage certifications, engineering reports, or legal opinions.
External Links
Bioswale.org may contain links to external websites, advertisers, tools, references, or third-party resources. If you click an external link, you leave Bioswale.org and visit a website controlled by another party.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices, cookie use, data collection, advertising, content, policies, products, or services of external websites. You should review the privacy policy and terms of any external website you visit.
Data Retention
We may retain information for as long as needed for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. The length of time may depend on the type of information, the reason it was collected, legal requirements, technical needs, security concerns, and normal website operation.
Email messages may be retained for administrative or response purposes. Technical logs may be retained for security, troubleshooting, analytics, or hosting purposes. Advertising and analytics providers may retain information according to their own policies.
Data Security
We take reasonable steps to protect Bioswale.org and the information handled through the website. These steps may include hosting security, software updates, spam prevention, access controls, monitoring, and other technical measures.
No website can guarantee complete security. Internet transmission, hosting systems, third-party services, email communication, and browser technologies may involve risks. You should avoid sending sensitive personal information through ordinary email or website forms unless necessary.
Your Privacy Choices
You may have several choices regarding privacy, cookies, advertising, and personal information. The choices available to you may depend on your location, browser, device, consent tools, and applicable privacy laws.
- You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings.
- You can manage personalized ad settings through Google Ads Settings.
- You can use browser privacy tools, private browsing modes, or tracking protection features.
- You can choose not to contact us by email or form if you do not want to provide contact information.
- You can request information about certain personal data by contacting us, where applicable law gives you that right.
- You can ask us to delete or correct certain information you have provided directly, where applicable and technically possible.
Some choices may affect how the website works. For example, blocking cookies may affect advertising, analytics, consent preferences, embedded tools, or other site functions.
Privacy Rights by Location
Depending on where you live, you may have privacy rights under local, state, national, or regional privacy laws. These rights may include the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, object to, or receive information about certain personal data.
If you believe privacy rights apply to your use of Bioswale.org, you may contact us at support@bioswale.org. Please include enough detail for us to understand and review your request.
We may need to verify your request before taking action. Some requests may be limited by technical, legal, security, fraud prevention, or operational reasons.
Children’s Privacy
Bioswale.org is intended for a general audience interested in bioswales, stormwater runoff, green infrastructure, native planting, and landscape drainage. The website is not directed toward children as its main audience.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children for our own direct marketing purposes. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us so we can review the issue.
Sensitive Information
Please do not send sensitive personal information to Bioswale.org unless it is necessary for your request. Sensitive information may include government identification numbers, financial information, health information, precise location details, private property disputes, legal documents, or confidential project information.
Bioswale.org does not need sensitive information to provide general educational content. If your issue involves a property-specific drainage problem, legal matter, engineering question, permit issue, or safety concern, you should contact a qualified local professional or appropriate authority instead of sending sensitive details to us.
International Visitors
Bioswale.org may be visited by users from different countries. Privacy laws, cookie requirements, advertising rules, and user rights may vary by location.
By using this website, you understand that information may be processed in locations where our website, hosting provider, advertising providers, analytics tools, or other third-party services operate. These locations may have privacy rules that differ from those in your region.
Consent and Privacy Tools
Depending on your location and the tools active on the website, you may see a cookie banner, consent notice, privacy choices panel, or similar tool. These tools may allow you to accept, reject, or manage certain categories of cookies and advertising technologies.
Your choices may be stored through a cookie or similar technology so the website can remember your preferences. If you clear cookies, change browsers, use another device, or reset privacy settings, you may need to make your choices again.
Do Not Track Signals
Some browsers offer “Do Not Track” or similar privacy signals. Because there is no single universal standard for how all websites and third-party services must respond to these signals, Bioswale.org may not respond to every browser signal in the same way.
You can manage cookies, tracking, and advertising preferences more directly through your browser settings, device settings, consent tools, and advertising preference tools.
Affiliate Links and Sponsored Content
Bioswale.org currently focuses on educational content and advertising-supported publishing. If affiliate links, sponsored placements, paid reviews, or sponsored content are used in the future, we may update this Privacy Policy and relevant pages to provide additional disclosure.
Advertising displayed through ad networks is separate from editorial content. We do not present advertisements as engineering advice, official approval, legal guidance, or professional recommendations.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Updates may be made because of changes in website features, advertising services, analytics tools, cookie practices, legal requirements, security needs, or editorial operations.
The “Last Updated” date near the top of this page shows when this Privacy Policy was last revised. We encourage visitors to review this page occasionally to stay informed about how Bioswale.org handles privacy, cookies, advertising, and related technologies.
Contact Us About Privacy
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, privacy choices, cookie use, advertising technologies, or personal information connected to Bioswale.org, you can contact us by email at support@bioswale.org.
Please remember that Bioswale.org provides general educational information only. We do not provide engineering advice, legal advice, construction advice, project approvals, drainage inspections, or official stormwater guidance.