Last updated: April 18, 2026
Why This Page Exists
Making Sense Of Security (makingsenseofsecurity.co) uses a number of third-party services and tools to operate our website, analyze traffic, deliver content, process payments, and serve advertisements. Some of these services may collect information about your visit.
This page lists every significant third-party service we use, what it does, what data it may collect, and where to learn more about that service’s privacy practices. We maintain this as a companion to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy so you always know exactly who touches your data.
Hosting and Infrastructure
Cloudflare, Inc. — Content delivery network, DDoS protection, web application firewall, and DNS. Cloudflare may process your IP address and request metadata to deliver content and protect the site. Cloudflare Privacy Policy
Our Web Host — Hosts the WordPress installation and database. Standard server logs include IP address, request paths, user agent, and timestamps.
Analytics and Performance
Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC) — Measures site traffic, user behavior, and conversions. IP anonymization is enabled. Google Privacy Policy
Google Search Console (Google LLC) — Provides aggregated search performance data. Does not expose individual user data to us.
Microsoft Clarity (Microsoft Corporation) — Session replay and heatmap analytics. Masks input fields by default to avoid capturing sensitive data. Microsoft Privacy Statement
Advertising
Google AdSense (Google LLC) — Displays contextual advertising. AdSense uses cookies and device identifiers to serve ads based on your interests, prior visits to our site, or other sites. You can opt out of personalized advertising at Google Ads Settings or via the Network Advertising Initiative. Google Advertising Privacy
Content Delivery and Embeds
YouTube (Google LLC) — Embedded video player for tutorials and guides. Uses the privacy-enhanced embed mode where possible.
Cloudflare Turnstile (Cloudflare, Inc.) — Bot protection on forms. A privacy-focused alternative to CAPTCHA.
Email and Newsletter
Beehiiv, Inc. — Email list management, newsletter delivery, and subscriber analytics. When you subscribe to our newsletter, your email address and signup context are processed by Beehiiv. Beehiiv Privacy Policy
Google Workspace (Google LLC) — Receives and processes email sent to our hello@ and privacy@ addresses.
Payments and Commerce
Payhip Ltd — Processes purchases of digital products, courses, and memberships offered by Making Sense Of Security. Payhip Privacy Policy
Stripe, Inc. — Payment processing (via Payhip). Stripe processes card data; we never see your full card number. Stripe Privacy Policy
PayPal Holdings, Inc. — Optional payment processor where offered. PayPal Privacy Policy
Security Tools and APIs
Have I Been Pwned (Superlative Enterprises Pty Ltd) — When you use our Data Breach Checker tool, your email address is sent to the HIBP API to check against known breach datasets. HIBP does not retain your query. HIBP Privacy Policy
Google Safe Browsing API (Google LLC) — When you use our Fake Website Detector tool, URLs you submit may be checked against Google’s Safe Browsing database.
IP Geolocation Providers (for example, ipapi.co) — When you use our IP Address Analyzer tool, IP addresses are queried against public geolocation databases.
OpenAI, Inc. and Anthropic, PBC — When you use our AI-powered tools (Scam Message Detector, AI Privacy Advisor, etc.), content you submit may be processed by large language models operated by OpenAI and/or Anthropic. We select vendors based on their enterprise data handling terms, and by default we disable training on customer data where the vendor offers that option. OpenAI Privacy · Anthropic Privacy
Affiliate Networks
Our use of affiliate networks is disclosed separately and in detail on our Affiliate Disclosure page. When you click an affiliate link, the destination merchant and the associated affiliate network may set cookies and collect information related to your click and any resulting purchase.
Social Media and Embeds
Social Media Platforms — We maintain presences on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Bluesky, and YouTube. Content you interact with on those platforms is governed by each platform’s privacy policy.
Social Sharing Buttons — We use privacy-respecting share buttons that do not load third-party scripts until you click them.
Customer Support and Communication
Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Forms) — Used for email communication, internal documents, and reader surveys.
Cookie and Consent Management
CookieYes Ltd — Our cookie consent banner and preference management. CookieYes Privacy Policy
Website Tools and Plugins
Rank Math (One SEO, Pvt. Ltd.) — SEO plugin. Does not transmit user-identifying data off-site by default.
WP Rocket (WP Media) — Performance caching plugin. Does not process personal data.
Wordfence (Defiant, Inc.) — WordPress security plugin. May process IP addresses and request metadata to identify attacks. Wordfence Privacy Policy
UpdraftPlus (Updraft WP Software Ltd) — Automated backups sent to Backblaze B2. Backblaze Privacy Policy
How to Opt Out or Limit Data Sharing
You have several controls:
- Cookie banner — adjust your preferences at any time via the “Cookie Settings” link in our footer.
- Do Not Track — we respect DNT signals where technically feasible.
- Global Privacy Control (GPC) — we honor GPC signals for opted-out advertising and data sales, per CCPA/CPRA.
- Advertising opt-outs — Google Ads Settings, NAI Consumer Opt-Out, DAA WebChoices
- Browser-level controls — use private/incognito mode, tracker-blocking extensions (uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger), and privacy-focused browsers (Brave, Firefox with strict tracking protection).
Updates
We review this disclosure quarterly and whenever we add a significant third-party service. The “Last updated” date at the top reflects the most recent revision.
Questions
For questions about any service listed here, or to exercise your data rights, contact us at hello@makingsenseofsecurity.co.
Companion to our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Terms & Conditions, and Affiliate Disclosure.