How We Handle Your Personal Information
This policy sets out what data we collect when you visit fishinglicenseguide.org/, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have under U.S. state privacy laws — California's CCPA and CPRA, Virginia's VCDPA, Colorado's CPA, Connecticut's CTDPA, Texas's TDPSA, Florida's FDBR, Oregon's OCPA, and the growing list of state laws that apply across the country. Read it alongside our Cookie Policy and Disclaimer.
What’s on this page
1. Who We Are
fishinglicenseguide.org/ is an independent informational and educational guide to fishing licenses across the 50 U.S. states. It is operated as a privately-owned editorial publication. We are not affiliated with any state fish and wildlife agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), NOAA Fisheries (NMFS), the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the U.S. Coast Guard, or any state or federal licensing authority.
For all privacy and data inquiries, contact: info@fishinglicenseguide.org
2. We Do Not Sell Licenses or Process License Purchases
Every fishing license sold in the United States is sold by a state fish and wildlife agency or its authorised vendor. We do not collect license fees, process license purchases, or maintain a license database. When you click through from our site to a state agency’s license-purchase page, the state agency (or its vendor) handles your purchase under the agency’s own privacy and security framework — not ours. We never see your name, address, payment information, license number, or fishing-license history.
3. FCRA Non-CRA Position
The U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.) regulates "consumer reports" used for "permissible purposes" — primarily employment, credit, insurance, and tenant screening. fishinglicenseguide.org/ does not assemble, evaluate, or sell consumer reports. We do not provide background checks, hunting/fishing license verification reports, or any kind of consumer report. Information published on our site is general informational content drawn from public state agency pages and authoritative public sources — it is not a "consumer report" in the FCRA sense.
4. What Information We Collect
We collect only what’s necessary to operate the site:
| Category | Examples | How collected |
|---|---|---|
| Server logs | IP address (truncated), user-agent, request path, response code, timestamp | Automatic, every request |
| Analytics | Page views, time on page, click paths, referrer (aggregated) | Google Analytics 4 if you consent |
| Cookie preferences | Your accept/reject choice for analytics and advertising | Cookie banner |
| Functional preferences | State preference, font size, accessibility preferences | Local browser storage |
| Email content | Anything you send to info@fishinglicenseguide.org | Direct email from you |
| Advertising data | Frequency capping, ad measurement | Google AdSense if you consent |
We do not collect: your name, address, date of birth, Social Security Number, driver’s license number, fishing license number, fishing license history, payment information, or any sensitive personal information unless you choose to email it. We do not require account creation. We do not run client-side fingerprinting beyond what is necessary for security and bot mitigation through Cloudflare.
5. Why We Collect It
- To operate the site — load pages, prevent fraud, mitigate bots and abuse
- To remember your choices — cookie consent, accessibility preferences, state preference
- To understand what’s useful — aggregate analytics on which state guides are read most and which questions readers come to us with
- To support display advertising — frequency capping and basic measurement, with personalised advertising only where you have consented
- To respond to your messages — when you email us
6. Legal Bases
Processing is based on the necessity of providing the requested service, our legitimate interest in operating the site safely and improving it, and your consent for analytics and advertising cookies. Where applicable U.S. state law provides additional rights, those apply (see Section 9).
8. How Long We Keep Information
| Data type | Retention |
|---|---|
| Server logs (security) | 30 days, then aggregated |
| Analytics data | 14 months (default GA4 retention) |
| Cookie consent record | 12 months from when set |
| Email correspondence | 3 years from last contact, then deleted |
| Functional preferences | Until you clear browser data |
9. Your Rights — U.S. State Privacy Laws
| State / Law | Citation | Key rights |
|---|---|---|
| California (CCPA / CPRA) | Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.100 et seq. | Know, delete, correct, opt-out of sale/sharing, limit use of sensitive information, non-discrimination |
| Virginia (VCDPA) | Va. Code § 59.1-575 et seq. | Access, delete, correct, portability, opt-out of targeted advertising / sale / profiling |
| Colorado (CPA) | C.R.S. § 6-1-1301 et seq. | Access, delete, correct, portability, opt-out of targeted advertising / sale / profiling |
| Connecticut (CTDPA) | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 42-515 et seq. | Access, delete, correct, portability, opt-out of targeted advertising / sale / profiling |
| Utah (UCPA) | Utah Code § 13-61 | Access, delete, portability, opt-out of targeted advertising / sale |
| Texas (TDPSA) | Tex. Bus. & Com. Code Ch. 541 | Access, delete, correct, portability, opt-out of targeted advertising / sale / profiling |
| Florida (FDBR) | Fla. Stat. § 501.701 et seq. | Access, delete, correct, portability, opt-out of targeted advertising / sale |
| Oregon (OCPA) | ORS Ch. 646A | Access, delete, correct, portability, opt-out of targeted advertising / sale / profiling |
| Other states | Various | Iowa, Tennessee, Indiana, Montana, New Jersey, Delaware, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rhode Island and others have or are implementing comparable laws |
To exercise any right, email info@fishinglicenseguide.org with subject line “Privacy rights request” and your state. We respond within the legally-required timeframe (typically 45 days).
10. Children & COPPA
fishinglicenseguide.org/ is not directed to children under 13. The U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA, 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506) imposes specific obligations on operators that knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Many states issue free or reduced-fee youth fishing licenses; the youth license itself is purchased by a parent or guardian on the state agency's site, not on ours.
11. Security
- HTTPS/TLS encryption for all site traffic
- Cloudflare for DDoS and bot mitigation
- Access controls — only authorised editorial staff can access logs and email
- Periodic security review of hosting and email infrastructure
- No on-site collection of payment card information, Social Security Numbers, driver’s license numbers, or fishing-license numbers
No internet transmission or storage system is perfectly secure. If we discover a breach affecting personal information, we will notify affected users in accordance with applicable state breach-notification laws.
12. Changes to This Policy
We update this policy when our practices change or when applicable laws change. Substantive changes are flagged at the top of the page with a new “Last reviewed” date and, for material changes, a notice on the site for 30 days.
13. Contact
For any privacy or data-rights question, email info@fishinglicenseguide.org with subject line “Privacy” or “Privacy rights request” plus your state. See Contact Us for the full list of channels.
Have a Privacy Question or Rights Request?
Email us with subject line “Privacy rights request” and your state. We respond within 45 days under most U.S. state privacy laws.
📧 info@fishinglicenseguide.org