Privacy Policy

1. Introduction and Scope

businessentitysearches.org/ ("we," "us," "our," or "the Site") is an independent informational website covering US business entity records, Secretary of State searches, federal registries, and corporate filings. This Privacy Policy describes the practices we follow when you visit the Site or contact us by email.

By using businessentitysearches.org/, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy and understand how information about you is collected and used. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, the simplest course of action is to discontinue use of the Site.

This policy applies only to businessentitysearches.org/. It does not apply to any third-party websites linked from our content, including Secretary of State databases, the SEC, the IRS, the USPTO, Google services, or any other external destination. Each operates under its own privacy practices, which we encourage you to review independently.

2. Information We Collect

We collect a limited set of information, broken into two categories: information you provide directly, and information collected automatically when you visit the Site.

2.1 Information You Provide Voluntarily

The only way you actively give us information is by emailing us. When you write — typically to flag a correction, suggest a topic, ask a research question, or submit a DMCA notice — we receive your email address and the content of your message. The Site has no signup forms, no comment sections, no account systems, no paid newsletters tied to personal data, and no checkout flows.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you load any page, certain technical information is captured automatically by our servers and the third-party services we use. This typically includes:

• Internet Protocol (IP) address, in full or truncated form depending on the service
• Browser type and version (for example, Chrome 124 on Windows)
• Operating system and device category (desktop, mobile, tablet)
• Referring URL — the page or search engine you arrived from, where available
• Pages viewed on our Site and time spent on each
• Approximate geographic location, derived from IP (typically city or region level)
• Date and time of your visit
• Screen resolution and language preferences
• Interaction events such as scroll depth and clicks on outbound links

We do not deliberately collect names, postal addresses, telephone numbers, government identifiers, payment card details, or any other directly identifying personal information through automatic means.

3. Cookies and Tracking

Cookies are small text files that websites place on your device to remember information between visits. We and our third-party partners use cookies, web beacons, pixel tags, and similar technologies to operate the Site, understand how it is used, and serve advertising. A full disclosure of every cookie set on the Site, with categories and durations, is published on our separate Cookie Policy.

3.1 Categories of Cookies Used

3.2 Managing Cookies

You have full control over cookies. Every modern browser allows you to view, block, or delete cookies on a per-site or global basis. Direct links to cookie settings:

• Google Chrome cookie settings
• Mozilla Firefox cookie settings
• Safari cookie settings (Mac)
• Microsoft Edge cookie settings

4. Advertising and Google AdSense

businessentitysearches.org/ displays third-party advertisements served primarily by Google AdSense and its associated networks. Advertising revenue is what allows the Site to remain free to use and to fund the verification work behind every guide.

4.1 How AdSense Works on This Site

Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on businessentitysearches.org/. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to this Site and to other sites on the internet.

• Third-party vendors, including Google, 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 it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
• Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
• Users may opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting aboutads.info (US) or youronlinechoices.com (EU/UK).

4.2 What Ads You May See

Ad content is selected by the ad network, not by us. We do not pre-screen or approve individual creative, and the appearance of an advertisement on this Site is not an endorsement of the advertiser, product, or service.

5. Web Analytics

We use web analytics services, primarily Google Analytics, to understand how visitors arrive at the Site, which pages are read most, and where the experience can be improved. Analytics tools collect information such as page URLs viewed, time on page, scroll depth, device type, and approximate location (city or region).

This information is aggregated and used to make editorial decisions — for example, identifying which guides need updating because they receive heavy traffic, or which topics are underserved. We do not use analytics data to identify individual visitors.

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the official Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

6. Third-Party Services

The Site uses or links to several external services that have their own privacy practices.

7. How We Use Information

The information we collect is used for a small set of clearly defined purposes:

• To deliver, operate, and maintain the Site and its content
• To understand which guides are most useful and where editorial improvements are needed
• To detect, prevent, and respond to abuse, security incidents, or technical errors
• To serve and measure third-party advertising in line with relevant ad network policies
• To respond to email enquiries, corrections, DMCA notices, and feedback you send us
• To comply with applicable legal obligations or respond to lawful requests from authorities

We do not sell personal information. We do not rent email lists. We do not use information collected on this Site to build standalone marketing profiles for our own products, because we do not sell any products or services.

8. Information Sharing

We share information only in the following limited circumstances:

• With service providers who operate the technical infrastructure of the Site under contractual obligations that limit their use of the data.
• With ad networks as described in the Advertising section.
• For legal compliance if we receive a valid legal request, court order, subpoena, or are required by applicable law to disclose information.
• To protect rights and safety where disclosure is reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, abuse, security threats, or violations of our terms.
• In connection with a business transfer if the Site is ever sold, merged, or restructured, in which case any information held would transfer to the successor under the same privacy obligations.

9. Your Privacy Rights (Universal)

Regardless of where you live, you have basic rights regarding the information we hold about you.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@businessentitysearches.org with the subject line “Privacy Request” and a brief description of what you are asking for. We respond within thirty days.

10. California Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), gives you the following rights:

• The right to know what categories and specific pieces of personal information are collected, used, disclosed, or sold
• The right to delete personal information collected from you (subject to legal exceptions)
• The right to correct inaccurate personal information
• The right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information
• The right to limit use of sensitive personal information
• The right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights

businessentitysearches.org/ does not sell personal information in the traditional sense. However, the use of advertising cookies that share information with third-party ad networks may be considered "sharing" under California law. You may opt out of this sharing by adjusting your cookie preferences and by visiting Google Ads Settings.

To exercise CCPA/CPRA rights, email info@businessentitysearches.org with the subject line “California Privacy Request.”

11. Other US State Rights

Several other states have enacted comprehensive consumer privacy laws (Virginia VCDPA, Colorado CPA, Connecticut CTDPA, Utah UCPA, Texas TDPSA, and others). The rights granted under these laws broadly mirror the CCPA — access, deletion, correction, and opt-out from targeted advertising and sale.

If you are a resident of any state with a comprehensive privacy law, you may exercise your rights by emailing us at info@businessentitysearches.org with the subject line “State Privacy Request” and identifying your state of residence.

12. GDPR Rights (EU/UK Visitors)

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), UK GDPR, and related laws give you specific rights:

• Lawful basis — Our lawful bases for processing are typically legitimate interest (in operating and improving the Site) and consent (for non-essential cookies, where required).
• Right of access to your personal data
• Right to rectification of inaccurate data
• Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”)
• Right to restrict processing
• Right to data portability
• Right to object to processing based on legitimate interest
• Right to withdraw consent at any time, where consent is the legal basis
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority in your country of residence

EU and UK visitors are typically presented with a cookie consent banner on first visit. You may decline non-essential cookies and your choice is respected.

13. Children’s Privacy (COPPA)

businessentitysearches.org/ is intended for a general adult audience and is not directed at children under the age of thirteen. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under thirteen, in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child under thirteen has provided personal information to us through the contact email, please write to info@businessentitysearches.org and we will delete the information as quickly as reasonably possible.

14. Data Security

We use commercially reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the limited information we collect, including HTTPS encryption for all pages, restricted server access, and use of reputable hosting and security providers. No system that transmits or stores data over the internet can be guaranteed one hundred percent secure, and we cannot make absolute guarantees about the security of information transmitted to or from our Site.

15. Data Retention

We retain different categories of data for different periods:

• Server log data is typically retained for up to ninety days for security and abuse-prevention purposes.
• Analytics data is retained according to the retention settings of the analytics provider, typically fourteen to twenty-six months in aggregated form.
• Advertising cookies follow the retention rules of the relevant ad network, set independently by Google or other partners.
• Email correspondence is retained as long as necessary to complete the conversation and any related editorial or legal follow-up.

16. International Data Transfers

The Site is operated and may store data in the United States. If you visit from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the US. By using the Site, you understand that your information may be processed in countries that may have different data-protection rules than your home country. Where required, we and our partners use appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses for cross-border transfers.

17. Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers transmit a “Do Not Track” (DNT) signal to websites. Because there is no industry-wide consensus on how to interpret DNT signals, the Site does not currently respond to them. We honor opt-out preferences expressed through standard mechanisms (Google Ads Settings, aboutads.info, the cookie consent banner, and applicable state-law opt-out signals such as the Global Privacy Control).

18. Changes to This Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the services we use, or applicable law. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, post a more prominent notice on the Site. Continued use of the Site after a change indicates acceptance of the revised policy.