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Privacy Policy

What I collect, why I collect it, and what I will never do with your data.

Effective date: June 14, 2026
Last updated: October 17, 2026

The short version

I do not sell your personal data, and I do not share it for money or for targeted advertising. I do not share your email with anyone outside the tools I use to run this site. You can unsubscribe from any email I send with one click. The rest of this page explains exactly what gets collected and why.

Who runs this site

This site, olegkovalov.com, is owned and operated by Oleg Kovalov, sole owner of Video Hook LLC, a single-member limited liability company based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA. For anything in this policy, "I", "me", and "my" mean Oleg Kovalov and Video Hook LLC. You can reach me using the details in the Contact section at the bottom of this page.

What this policy covers

This Privacy Policy covers visiting olegkovalov.com, reading articles, using the free tools, downloading resources, subscribing to the email list, and emailing me. The Shop currently previews upcoming products and does not accept orders or payments. Optional tips are paid on Ko-fi, not on this site.

What I collect and why

  • Email and signup details (your email address, and your name if you give it), so I can send you the resource you asked for and my newsletter.
  • Messages you send me (the content of your message and your email address), so I can reply.
  • Basic technical data (such as IP address, browser, and device type), collected through standard server logs, so I can keep the site secure and operational.
  • Page view totals (which pages were viewed and which website sent the visitor, as daily counts with nothing that identifies you), so I know what is worth writing more about.
  • Tip records (your name, email address, the amount, and any message), only if you choose to leave a tip, so I can keep business and tax records and thank you.
  • Order records (your name, email address, billing country and region, what you bought, the amount, and any tax), only if you buy something, so I can deliver your download, help you with it, and keep business and tax records.

Email addresses you submit

When you submit your email address through any signup form on this site, I store it in my email marketing tool, Kit (formerly ConvertKit), for the purpose of sending you the resource you requested, related follow-up emails, and a periodic newsletter. Kit stores your email on its servers, which may be located outside your country. You can read how Kit handles data in Kit's own privacy policy.

I use this email to send you the free download or content you signed up for. I may send you related follow-up emails introducing other relevant content. Every marketing email includes a one-click unsubscribe link and a valid physical postal address for the business. When you unsubscribe, I stop sending you marketing email. I do not sell, rent, lend, or otherwise share your email address with third parties, and I never sell or transfer the addresses of people who have unsubscribed.

Email you send me

The Contact page has no form. When you email me, your message and your email address arrive in my inbox (an iCloud mailbox for the olegkovalov.com domain). I use that information to reply to you. I do not add people who email me to the marketing email list unless you explicitly opt in.

Free tool questions and selections

The Camera Manual Assistant, Lens Advisor, and Gear Setup Wizard process your questions and selections in your browser. The current tools do not send those answers to this site's database. Earlier versions of the Camera Manual Assistant kept a short log of the camera, question, and time. That historical log remains restricted to site administration; new question logging is disabled. A question could include personal information if you typed it yourself, so please avoid entering confidential details.

Purchases

The Shop is a preview of products that are not yet available to purchase. WooCommerce and its payment integrations are inactive on the public site, so there is no active checkout collecting order or card details. Before sales open, this policy will identify the checkout provider, the information it collects, and the records I keep. Purchases made after following affiliate links are handled by the destination retailer under its own privacy policy.

Tips ("buy me a coffee")

If you choose to buy me a coffee from this site, the link takes you to my page on Ko-fi. You pay there, not on this site, and this site never sees your card details. To send a tip, you give your name and email address to Ko-fi and the payment company it uses (Stripe or PayPal), and you can add a message. From them I receive your name, email address, the amount, any message, and sometimes billing details such as your country or postal code. I use this only to keep business and tax records and to thank you. Their own privacy policies cover how they handle your payment. A tip is a voluntary payment to Video Hook LLC, a for-profit business. It is not a charitable donation and is not tax-deductible.

Analytics and tracking

I do not install Google Analytics or Meta advertising pixels on this site. Signup services, embedded videos, and linked retailers may process data under their own policies, as described below.

To see which pages get read, I use Koko Analytics, a visitor counter that runs on this site's own server and keeps its numbers in this site's own database. It stores daily totals only: how many times each page was viewed, and the name of the website a visitor came from (for example google.com or youtube.com, never the page you were on). The full address of the page that sent you is kept only until the counter adds it to that day's total, normally within a few minutes, and is then discarded. It does not record your IP address, your browser, or your device, and nothing is sent to any other company. It sets no cookie and cannot tell one visitor from another, so a repeat visit simply counts as another view. Visits by me while I am signed in are not counted. The totals are deleted automatically after three years.

What I do have is standard server logging through Hostinger, my hosting provider. Server logs record basic technical information such as your IP address, the pages you requested, and the time of your visit. These logs exist for security and abuse prevention, not for marketing, and they are governed by Hostinger's own privacy policy.

I also use Google Search Console to monitor how the site appears in Google search results. Google Search Console reports only aggregate, anonymized search data about queries and clicks. It does not set any cookies on visitors to this site, it does not identify individual visitors, and I cannot use it to track you personally.

Cookies

The site uses a cookie to remember your chosen light or dark theme. WordPress also uses necessary login cookies for site administration. The visitor counter described above sets no cookie. There is no active shopping cart or customer checkout on the public site.

  • Theme preference: the ok_theme cookie remembers the theme you select for up to one year.
  • Login: WordPress authentication cookies keep an administrator signed in.
  • Other services: Kit, Lemon Squeezy, embedded video providers, affiliate link services, and retailers may use their own cookies when you interact with those services. Their privacy policies apply.

You can control or disable cookies in your browser. Disabling them can prevent your theme choice from being remembered or stop an administrator from staying signed in.

Affiliate link tracking

When you click an affiliate link on this site (Amazon Associates, B&H Photo, or another partner), the destination retailer may set a tracking cookie that lets them credit me with the sale if you buy something. This cookie is set by the retailer, not by me, and the retailer's own privacy policy governs what happens with that data. For more on how affiliate links work, and for the required affiliate disclosures, see my Affiliate Disclosure page.

Some product links on this site are short links from Geniuslink (they start with geni.us). When you click one, Geniuslink sends you to the right store for your country, and sometimes shows a short page where you choose a retailer. To do that, Geniuslink processes basic information about the click, such as your approximate location and the type of device you use. Geniuslink's privacy policy applies to that information.

Embedded content from other sites

Articles on this site may embed videos from YouTube, social media posts, or other third-party content. Embedded content from other websites behaves exactly as if you visited that other website. These third parties may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content. In particular, YouTube embeds are subject to Google's privacy policy.

WordPress and hosting

This site runs on WordPress hosted with Hostinger. Standard server logs may be kept by the host, including your IP address, the pages you requested, and the time of your visit. These logs are used for security and abuse prevention. Hostinger's privacy policy applies to those server logs.

Who I share data with

I do not sell your personal data. I share data only with the service providers I use to run the site, and only so they can perform their service for me:

  • My email marketing provider, Kit (formerly ConvertKit), for the email list.
  • Apple iCloud for the business email inbox when you email me.
  • My hosting provider, Hostinger, which keeps standard server logs.
  • Affiliate networks and retailers (Amazon Associates, B&H Photo, and others) when you click an affiliate link, as described above.
  • Embedded-content providers (such as YouTube and social platforms) when you view embedded content.
  • Ko-fi and the payment company it uses (Stripe or PayPal), only if you choose to leave a tip, to process the payment.
  • Lemon Squeezy, my checkout provider and merchant of record, only if you buy something, to take the payment, handle tax, and deliver your download.

I may also disclose information if I am legally required to do so, for example to respond to a lawful request or to protect the security and rights of the site and its visitors.

I do not sell or share your personal information

I do not sell your personal information for money or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. I do not sell sensitive personal information. This site does not run an advertising-personalization service. You can use your browser's privacy controls and the choices provided by the external services you visit.

How long I keep your data

  • Email list subscriptions: until you unsubscribe or request deletion.
  • Email you send me: as long as needed to resolve your inquiry, then archived.
  • Historical tool questions: the small log from an earlier tool version is retained in restricted administration. You can contact me about a question you submitted. The current tools do not add new questions to that log.
  • Page view totals: daily counts with no personal data, deleted automatically after three years.
  • Tip records: as long as tax and accounting rules require.
  • Order records: as long as tax and accounting rules require.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of these rights. You can:

  • Unsubscribe from email at any time using the link in every email.
  • Request a copy of the personal data I hold about you.
  • Request that I correct any inaccurate personal data.
  • Request that I delete the personal data I hold about you, subject to legal retention requirements.
  • Opt out of tracking by using a tracker-blocker or by enabling Global Privacy Control in your browser.

To exercise any of these rights, contact me using the details below. I may need to verify your identity before I act on a request, and I will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights. Where the law in your state gives you the right to appeal a decision I make about your request, I will explain how to appeal when I respond to you.

International visitors (EU, UK, and elsewhere)

I operate this site from the United States, and visitors can access it from other countries. The current public site offers articles, free tools, downloads, newsletter signup, and contact by email. It does not sell products. Optional tips are paid on Ko-fi, not on this site.

I use the information you submit to provide the download or email you request, deliver and support anything you buy, reply to your messages, record any tip you choose to send, and keep the site secure. You choose whether to subscribe to marketing email and can unsubscribe using the link in each message. The providers and retention practices are described above. Those providers may process information in the United States or another country with different data-protection rules from your home country.

If you are in the EU or UK, you also have the rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, and port your personal data, to object to certain processing, to withdraw consent at any time, and to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority. You can manage cookies in your browser and use the privacy controls provided by services you choose to open.

Children

This site is intended for a professional, adult audience and is not directed to children. I do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 13 (or under the minimum age that applies in your country, for visitors outside the US). If you believe a child has submitted personal data through this site, contact me and I will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If I make a material change to this Privacy Policy, I will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify subscribers via the email list.

Contact

For privacy questions or to exercise any of the rights listed above, reach out via the Contact page or email me at oleg@olegkovalov.com. You can also write to me at: Oleg Kovalov, 921 E Dupont Road, PMB 821, Fort Wayne, IN 46825, USA. Phone: (260) 277-0090.