Privacy Policy

Last Updated: September 15, 2025

1. INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how Authorguard.net (“we,” “our,” “us”) collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information obtained from users (“you,” “your”) of our website located at www.authorguard.net (the “Website”) and our search services to aid in copyright protection (collectively, the “Services”).

This Policy is designed to comply with the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), C.R.S. §6-1-1301 et seq., and other applicable privacy laws. We have written this Policy in clear, plain language to make it accessible and understandable. By accessing or using our Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

This Policy applies to information we collect:

• On our Website
• Through our Services
• In email, text, and other electronic communications between you and our Services
• When you interact with our advertising and applications on third-party websites and services

This Policy does NOT apply to information collected by:

• Us offline or through any other means not specified in this Policy
• Any third party, including through any application or content that may link to or be accessible from our Services

2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

2.1 Personal Data Provided by Users

We collect basic personal data that you voluntarily provide to us when you:

• Register for an account
• Use our Services
• Subscribe to our communications
• Request information or assistance
• Complete surveys or respond to questionnaires

The personal data we collect may include:

• Contact information (such as name, email address, phone number)
• Account credentials (such as username and password)
• Basic demographic information (such as age range, location, profession)
• Service preferences and settings
• Communications with us

We do NOT collect sensitive personal data, including but not limited to:

• Government-issued identification numbers
• Financial account information (except as necessary for payment processing)
• Precise geolocation data
• Racial or ethnic origin
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Health information
• Biometric data
• Sexual orientation or gender identity

2.2 Automatically Collected Data

When you access and use our Services, we may automatically collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including:

• Device information (such as your IP address, browser type, operating system)
• Usage details (such as traffic data, logs, and other communication data)
• Information collected through essential cookies and similar technologies

This information helps us maintain the security and operation of our Services, analyze usage trends, and improve user experience.

2.3 Payment Processing Data

When you make payments through our Services, we use Stripe as our payment processor. We do not collect, store, or process your payment card details. This information is provided directly to Stripe, whose use of your personal information is governed by their privacy policy. We receive only limited information from Stripe to confirm your payment status and maintain your transaction history.

3. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We use the information we collect about you for the following purposes:

3.1 Providing and Improving Our Services

• To provide you with the Services you request
• To create and maintain your account
• To process and complete transactions
• To provide customer support and respond to inquiries
• To improve our Website and Services
• To develop new products, services, features, and functionality

3.2 Communications

• To communicate with you about your account or transactions
• To send you technical notices, updates, security alerts, and support messages
• To respond to your comments, questions, and requests
• To provide you with information about our Services

3.3 Security and Protection

• To detect, prevent, and address technical issues
• To protect the safety, integrity, and security of our Services
• To investigate and prevent fraudulent transactions, unauthorized access, and other illegal activities
• To verify your identity when necessary

3.4 Legal Compliance

• To comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, or governmental requests
• To enforce our Terms of Service and other agreements
• To protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of our users or others

We process your personal data only as necessary to fulfill these purposes and as permitted by applicable law. We do not use your personal data for targeted advertising or profiling purposes.

4. COOKIES AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES

4.1 Essential Cookies

We use only essential cookies on our Website. Essential cookies are strictly necessary for the Website to function properly and securely. These cookies enable basic functions like page navigation, secure areas access, and service provision. The Website cannot function properly without these cookies.

Our essential cookies may:

• Remember that you are logged in
• Ensure your information remains secure between pages
• Enable the functionality of shopping carts (where applicable)
• Allow you to access your account
• Maintain your preferences during your current visit
• Distribute server load to keep the site available
• Remember your cookie consent preferences

4.2 Cookie Management

Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings preferences. However, if you limit the ability of websites to set cookies, you may worsen your overall user experience and/or lose access to certain features of our Website that require cookies to function.

4.3 Do Not Track Signals

We honor Do Not Track (“DNT”) signals and do not track, plant cookies, or use advertising when a DNT browser mechanism is in place.

5. INFORMATION SHARING AND DISCLOSURE

5.1 No Sale or Sharing of Personal Data

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for their marketing purposes or for any other commercial purpose. We do not disclose your personal data to any third parties except as described in this Privacy Policy.

5.2 Service Providers

We may disclose your personal data to trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our Website, conducting our business, or providing services to you. These service providers have access to your personal data only to perform specific tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose. Our service providers include:

• Stripe (payment processing)
• Web hosting and cloud service providers
• Customer support services
• Email delivery services
• Analytics providers (using anonymized data only)

5.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your personal data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency). We may also disclose your personal data to:

• Enforce our Terms of Service and other agreements
• Protect and defend our rights or property
• Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Services
• Protect the personal safety of users of the Services or the public
• Protect against legal liability

5.4 Business Transfers

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email and/or a prominent notice on our Website of any change in ownership or uses of your personal data, as well as any choices you may have regarding your personal data.

6. DATA RETENTION

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider:

• The amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data
• The potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure
• The purposes for which we process the data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means
• Applicable legal requirements

When we no longer need your personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, we will securely delete or anonymize it. If this is not possible (for example, because your personal data has been stored in backup archives), we will securely store your personal data and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

Specific retention periods include:

• Account information: Retained for the duration of your account plus 30 days after account closure
• Transaction records: Retained for 7 years for tax and accounting purposes
• Communications: Retained for 2 years from the date of communication
• Website usage data: Retained for 90 days in identifiable form

7. YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

Under the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) and other applicable laws, you have certain rights regarding your personal data. These include:

7.1 Right to Access

You have the right to request information about the personal data we have collected about you, including:

• Categories of personal data collected
• Specific pieces of personal data collected
• Sources from which personal data was collected
• Purposes for which personal data is processed
• Categories of third parties with whom we share personal data

7.2 Right to Delete

You have the right to request that we delete any personal data we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions. We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us to:

• Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal data
• Provide a good or service that you requested
• Take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you
• Comply with a legal obligation
• Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities
• Debug products to identify and repair errors
• Exercise or defend legal claims

7.3 Right to Correct

You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal data that we maintain about you. Upon receiving a verifiable request, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to correct the inaccurate personal data as directed.

7.4 Right to Opt-Out

You have the right to opt out of:

• The processing of your personal data for purposes of targeted advertising
• The sale of your personal data
• The processing of your personal data for purposes of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you

However, as stated in this Policy, we do not engage in targeted advertising, sell personal data, or conduct profiling.

7.5 Right to Data Portability

You have the right to request a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format that allows you to transmit the data to another entity.

7.6 How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise the rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us by:

• Emailing us at: services@authorguard.net Your request must:
• Provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected personal data
• Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it

We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal data if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal data relates to you.

To exercise the rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us by: We will respond to verifiable consumer requests within 7 days of receipt. If we require more time (up to 45 days total as permitted by law), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.

We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

8. UNIVERSAL OPT-OUT MECHANISMS

We honor universal opt-out mechanisms that communicate your choice to opt out of the processing of personal data for purposes of targeted advertising or the sale of personal data. When we receive such a signal, we will treat it as a valid request to opt out.

Recognized universal opt-out mechanisms include:

• Global Privacy Control (GPC)
• Other mechanisms that meet the technical specifications established by the Colorado Attorney General

We implement technical measures to process universal opt-out signals in a frictionless manner and do not require additional steps beyond the initial opt-out signal. We do not:

• Charge a fee for processing opt-out requests
• Change your experience or access to our Services based on your opt-out choice
• Display notifications, pop-ups, or other interruptions in response to opt-out signals

9. CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

Our Services are not directed to children under 18 years of age, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 18. If we learn we have collected or received personal data from a child under 18 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information.

If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 18, please contact us at services@authorguard.net.

We implement measures designed to prevent children under 18 from providing personal data through our Services, including:

• Clear statements in our Terms of Service that users must be 18 or older
• Age-gating mechanisms where appropriate

10. DATA SECURITY

We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures designed to secure your personal data from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. These measures include:

• Encryption of personal data in transit and at rest
• Secure servers with restricted access
• Access controls and authentication procedures
• Regular security assessments and testing
• Employee training on data protection and security
• Physical security measures for our facilities

Despite our efforts, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

In the event of a data security breach that involves your personal data, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by the Colorado Data Security Breach Notification Law, C.R.S. §6-1-716, and other applicable laws. We will provide this notification in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay.

11. THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Our Services may contain links to third-party websites, products, or services. These third parties have separate and independent privacy policies. We have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our Services and welcome any feedback about these sites.

When you use Stripe for payment processing, your information is subject to Stripe’s privacy policy and terms of service. We recommend reviewing these policies before providing your information to Stripe.

We ensure that our service providers, including Stripe, maintain appropriate safeguards for your personal data as required by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), 15 U.S.C. §6801 et seq., and other applicable laws.

12. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

We primarily store and process your personal data within the United States. However, we may transfer your personal data to service providers or other third parties that may be located in other countries. When we transfer personal data internationally, we take steps to ensure that your personal data receives an adequate level of protection, including through:

• Contractual provisions requiring third parties to protect your personal data
• Selection of service providers with appropriate technical and organizational security measures
• Compliance with applicable data transfer mechanisms

By using our Services, you consent to the transfer of your personal data as described in this Privacy Policy.

13. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post the revised Privacy Policy on our Website with an updated “September 15, 2025” date.

We will notify you of any material changes by:

• Sending an email to the email address you have provided
• Displaying a prominent notice on our Website
• Other appropriate means

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your personal data.

14. CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

Email: services@authorguard.net

Mailing Address:

Authorguard.net

5283 Smokehouse Lane

Colorado Springs, CO 80917

We are committed to working with you to resolve any complaints about our collection or use of your personal data. If you have a complaint, please contact us first and we will respond within 7 days.

15. EFFECTIVE DATE

This Privacy Policy is effective as of September 15, 2025.