Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 2026 - Written by a human, for humans.

I'm Chris. I run this site solo, and I take your privacy seriously - not because a lawyer told me to, but because I'd want the same courtesy if the roles were reversed. This page explains what data gets collected when you visit chrisbmn.com, why it's collected, and what you can do about it.

Who Is Responsible for This Site

Chris Budde - an IT infrastructure engineer and general technology enthusiast operating this site as a personal project. This is not a business entity. Contact: privacy@chrisbmn.com

What Data Is Collected

I collect as little as possible. Here's what actually happens:

When you browse the site

No account is required. No login. No tracking pixels baked into the page HTML. However, third-party services I use (detailed below) do collect anonymized usage data - things like which pages were visited, approximate geographic region, browser type, and session duration. This data is aggregated and does not identify you personally.

When you use the contact form

If you reach out via the contact form, I collect your name, email address, and the contents of your message. This is used solely to respond to you. It is not added to any mailing list, sold, shared, or used for marketing. Once your inquiry is resolved, I don't hold onto it longer than necessary.

Theme preference

If you toggle between light and dark mode, that preference is saved to your browser's localStorage. This stays on your device - it never leaves your browser and I never see it.

Third-Party Services

I use a small number of external services to run this site. Each one has access to some data as a result of how the web works. Here's what each one does:

Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)

I use Google Analytics to understand how people use the site - which posts get read, where traffic comes from, how long people stick around. All data is anonymized and aggregated. IP addresses are anonymized. I do not use this data for advertising.

Google Analytics sets cookies in your browser to track sessions. You can opt out at any time using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, or by using a browser extension like uBlock Origin. See Google's Privacy Policy for full details.

Google reCAPTCHA

The contact form uses Google reCAPTCHA v2 to filter out spam. reCAPTCHA analyzes your browser behavior to determine whether you're human (you almost certainly are). This analysis is subject to Google's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

BunnyCDN

Static assets - images, fonts, stylesheets - are served through BunnyCDN, a content delivery network. CDNs route requests through servers geographically close to you to make pages load faster. BunnyCDN may log basic request metadata (IP address, asset requested, timestamp) for operational purposes. No personal data is shared with them beyond what your browser sends with any normal web request. See BunnyCDN's Privacy Policy.

Font Awesome

Icons on this site are loaded from Font Awesome's CDN. Your browser makes a request to their servers when the page loads. See Font Awesome's Privacy Policy.

webtools.chrisbmn.com

My webtools site at webtools.chrisbmn.com is a collection of IT and security utilities. No account is required. No cookies are set. No analytics runs on the tools site. Here's specifically what happens with the data you submit to each category of tool.

Tools that make outbound requests on your behalf

Many tools work by having the server fetch or connect to the target you specify rather than your browser doing it directly. This means the target host sees the webtools server's IP address, not yours. The input you provide (a domain, hostname, or URL) is used to make that request and then discarded. Nothing is logged or stored. Tools in this category include:

  • SSL Certificate Checker & SSL/TLS Grade Analyzer - connects to the hostname's port 443 to retrieve the TLS certificate and HTTP response headers.
  • HTTP Headers Viewer & Redirect Chain Checker - fetches the URL you provide.
  • Port Checker - opens a TCP connection to the host and port you specify.
  • CDN Cache Tester - fetches the URL you provide and inspects caching headers.
  • security.txt Validator - fetches /.well-known/security.txt from the domain you submit.
  • Website Screenshot - fetches and renders the URL you provide server-side.
  • DNS Lookup, Reverse DNS, WHOIS, Email Deliverability, DMARC Analyzer, ASN Lookup - queries DNS resolvers and WHOIS servers for the domain or IP you submit. No third-party API is involved beyond the standard DNS/WHOIS infrastructure.

Tools that use third-party APIs

Two tools send your input to an external service to fulfill the request:

  • IP Address Lookup - the IP address or hostname you enter is sent to ip-api.com to retrieve geolocation and ISP data. See ip-api.com's terms.
  • My IP Address - your public IP address (detected from the incoming request) is sent to ip-api.com to display your location and connection details.

The Paste tool

The Paste tool stores submitted content on the webtools server for up to 30 days, after which it is automatically deleted. Pastes are not password-protected. Anyone who has the paste URL can read it. Do not paste passwords, private keys, personal data, or anything you would not share publicly. Paste content is not indexed by search engines and is not read or reviewed by me, but it is stored in plaintext on the server's filesystem.

The CSR Generator

The CSR Generator creates a private key and Certificate Signing Request using PHP's OpenSSL extension. The private key is generated in server memory, returned to your browser, and immediately discarded. It is never written to disk, never logged, and never transmitted anywhere. You are solely responsible for saving and securing the private key once it is displayed.

Tools that run entirely in your browser

The following tools perform all computation client-side in JavaScript. Nothing you enter is ever sent to the server:

  • Password Generator - uses crypto.getRandomValues() in your browser. No input, no network request.

Tools that process data on the server with no external calls and no storage

The following tools receive your input, process it server-side, return the result, and retain nothing: Hash Generator, JWT Decoder, Base64 Encode/Decode, URL Encode/Decode, Regex Tester, UUID Generator, Text Diff, Unix Timestamp Converter, CIDR/IP Range Builder, Cron Expression Builder, Subnet Calculator, SMTP TLS Report Analyzer, User Agent Parser, and HTTP Status Codes reference.

Server access logs

Like any web server, the hosting provider may retain standard access logs that include IP addresses, URLs requested, and timestamps. These are used for security and diagnostics and are not used for any analysis or profiling on my part.

Cookies & Local Storage

This site uses a minimal set of cookies and browser storage:

  • Google Analytics cookies (_ga, _gid, etc.) - set by Google to track sessions anonymously. Expire after 2 years (_ga) or 24 hours (_gid).
  • reCAPTCHA cookies - set by Google on pages with the contact form. Used to distinguish humans from bots.
  • Theme preference - stored in localStorage, not a cookie. Never transmitted to any server. You can clear it any time by clearing your browser's site data for chrisbmn.com.

There are no advertising cookies, no cross-site tracking cookies, and no third-party social media pixels on this site.

Data Sharing

I do not sell your data. I do not share it with advertisers. The only third parties that receive any data are the services listed above, and only as a byproduct of using them to run the site. No exceptions.

Data Retention

  • Contact form submissions - kept only as long as needed to respond to your inquiry, then deleted.
  • Analytics data - retained by Google per their standard retention settings (up to 26 months by default). I don't control this beyond what Google's dashboard allows.
  • Server logs - my hosting provider may retain basic access logs for a short period for security and diagnostics. I don't use these for any analysis.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights regarding your personal data - including the right to access, correct, or request deletion of information you've provided. Since I collect very little to begin with, most requests are straightforward. To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@chrisbmn.com and I'll handle it personally. No automated systems, no ticket queues - just me.

Children's Privacy

This site is not directed at children under 13 and I do not knowingly collect data from minors. If you believe a child has submitted information through the contact form, please reach out and I'll remove it promptly.

External Links

This site links to external websites. Once you leave chrisbmn.com, this privacy policy no longer applies. Those sites have their own policies - worth reading before you hand over any personal information.

Changes to This Policy

If I make significant changes to how data is handled, I'll update this page and the "last updated" date above. Nothing will change quietly.

Questions

If anything here is unclear, or you have a concern I haven't addressed, reach out: contact form or to privacy@chrisbmn.com. I'll respond like a person, because I am one.