Privacy Policy & Data Protection
At Smart Home HQ (accessible at smarthomehq.house), we are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy & Data Protection explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, how we protect it, and what rights you have when using our smart‑home guides, reviews, and resources.
Last updated: January 8, 2026
Who we are
Smart Home HQ (“we”, “our”, “us”) is a content website providing smart home tips, reviews, and guides. Our website address is https://smarthomehq.house.
Comments Privacy Policy & Data Protection
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media Privacy Policy & Data Protection
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Google Analytics
Our site uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc., to understand how visitors use our website. This service uses cookies to collect data such as IP address, general location, browser type, pages visited, and time spent on the site. This data helps us improve our website’s functionality and user experience.
Additionally, Google may use this data to contextualize and personalize ads on its own advertising network. You can opt out of Google Analytics data collection by:
- Installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on
- Adjusting your browser cookie settings
- By visiting Google’s Privacy & Terms page
The Google Analytics cookie persists in your browser for up to two years.
Privacy Policy & Data Protection – Cookies
IIf you leave a comment on our site, you may opt in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment
We use cookies for:
- Essential functionality: WordPress login and comment preferences
- Analytics: Google Analytics (see section above)
- Advertising/Remarketing: If applicable, third-party cookies for targeted ads
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. It contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. Selecting “Remember Me” will extend your login to persist for two weeks. Logging out of your account will remove the login cookies.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. It includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Who we share your data with
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset emails outlined in our privacy policy.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information per our privacy policy.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service per our Privacy Policy.
State privacy law compliance
As of January 2026, new U.S. state privacy laws are now in effect. If you have visitors from California, Indiana, or other states with comprehensive privacy lawsas detailed in our privacy policy, add:
Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your location, you may have specific rights regarding your personal data, including:
- The right to know what personal information we collect
- The ability to request deletion of your personal information
- Opt-out option for the sale or sharing of your personal data
- Protection from discrimination for exercising your privacy rights
To exercise these rights, please contact us at [email protected].
California specifically now requires data protection impact assessments and risk assessments for certain data processing activities. If you process sensitive data or use automated decision-making, mention this compliance.
Contact & data requests
For questions about this privacy policy or to submit a data access or deletion request, contact us at: [email protected]
Changes to this Privacy Policy & Data Protection
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date.