What Actually Happens When You Visit

Your browser stores small text files when you land on our site. These files remember things like your language preference or whether you've logged in before. Some persist for months. Others vanish when you close your browser.

We use these tracking mechanisms to understand how people move through our financial planning resources. Which pages do visitors actually read? Where do they get stuck? What content helps them make decisions about their economic future?

Not all tracking serves the same purpose. Some files are essential for the site to work at all. Others help us improve the experience. And yes, some exist purely for marketing purposes.

Types of Tracking We Use

Specific Data We Collect

Let me break down exactly what information these tracking mechanisms gather when you're on connectedintelligentenergy.com:

How Long We Keep This Data

Different tracking files have different lifespans. Session files disappear the moment you close your browser. Others stick around for 30 days, 90 days, or in some cases up to two years.

Our analytics data gets anonymized after 14 months. Marketing pixels from third parties follow their own retention schedules, which we don't control. That's why opting out of marketing tracking matters if privacy concerns you.

Essential operational files persist as long as necessary for security and functionality. These typically refresh every 6-12 months as you continue using the site.

Browser-Level Controls

You can also manage tracking directly through your browser settings. Here's how different browsers handle this:

Keep in mind that blocking all tracking might break some site features. Our resource downloads require functional tracking to work. Video content needs certain files to remember your playback position.

Third-Party Services We Use

Some tracking doesn't come directly from us. We use external services that place their own monitoring files:

• Google Analytics tracks aggregate visitor patterns and helps us understand content performance across our educational materials
• YouTube embeds install Google's tracking when you watch our financial planning tutorial videos
• Email service providers monitor whether you open newsletters and which links you click within them
• Payment processors need their own secure tracking to handle transactions for our paid resources

We've configured these services to respect privacy as much as possible while still providing necessary functionality. But they operate under their own privacy policies, which you should review if you're concerned about specific vendors.

Why We Actually Need This Data

I mentioned this earlier, but it's worth expanding on. We're not collecting data just because we can.

When we see that visitors spend 8 minutes reading our retirement savings guide but only 90 seconds on our investment basics page, that tells us something important. Either the investment content isn't meeting people's needs, or it's not reaching the right audience.

Geographic data helps us contextualize information for Taiwan's financial landscape. Tax regulations differ significantly from Western markets. Retirement planning strategies that work in the US don't always apply here. Knowing our audience location lets us provide genuinely useful guidance.

Marketing tracking helps us reach people who've shown interest in specific topics. If you've read three articles about emergency fund planning, seeing an ad for our comprehensive savings course makes sense. That's more useful than random financial ads that don't match your actual interests.

Your Rights Regarding Data

You have legitimate control over your information. Not just theoretical rights buried in legal language, but actual options:

• Request a complete report of what data we've collected about your visits to connectedintelligentenergy.com
• Ask us to delete your tracking history from our analytics systems (though aggregate anonymous data remains)
• Opt out of marketing tracking while still accessing our educational resources
• Update your communication preferences at any time through your account settings
• Export your data in a portable format if you want to keep records for yourself

To exercise any of these rights, contact us directly. We'll process your request within 15 business days. Some requests require identity verification to protect your privacy, which might add a few days to the timeline.

Changes to This Policy

This policy gets updated occasionally as we add new features or modify our tracking approach. We'll update the date at the top when changes occur.

Significant changes get announced through email to registered users. Minor clarifications or technical updates happen quietly. You can always check back here to see the current version.

We don't make changes that suddenly increase tracking without notification. If we start using new analytics tools or marketing platforms, we'll let you know and give you the option to opt out before implementation.