Privacy Policy
This policy matches the site as it is built: static pages, no analytics tag, and a contact form that stores a message only after it is written to a private database. No email is sent.
This policy describes the Hearthline website: static HTML pages, a search index that runs in your browser, and a contact form for corrections. It is written for readers in the United States.
Who operates the site
Hearthline is an information publication, not a repair contractor.
Hearthline does not publish a street address, a phone number, or an email address. Questions about a guide go through the contact form.
Information you send
If you use the contact form, you type a name, an email address, a subject, and a message, and you check a box saying this policy was read. Hearthline stores that message in a SQLite database on the same server, in a folder outside the public website, so a correction can be read later. The database also keeps the date and a hash of the network address, used only to limit repeated submissions. Hearthline does not sell that information and does not use it to build an advertising profile. Messages are kept for 24 months and then deleted, unless a shorter period is set in the private server configuration. Do not include passwords, payment card numbers, or government ID numbers.
Sending the form does not send an email. No mail server is connected. A message counts as received only after it is stored in that database. If storage fails, the form says so and does not claim the message was received.
Information collected automatically
The pages themselves do not run a first-party analytics product and do not set a tracking cookie. The company that hosts the files may keep ordinary server logs, such as IP address, user agent, and the URL requested, for security and operations. Those logs are controlled in the hosting account. Hearthline does not combine them with contact messages as a marketing list.
Cookies and similar storage
Reading a guide does not require an account, and the site does not set analytics or advertising cookies. The contact form asks the server for a short-lived session cookie so the next submit can be matched to that page. The cookie is named for the PHP session, is limited to this site, and is not used to track reading. Search and category filters use the page address and the index shipped with the site. They do not need a cookie. Details are on the cookie policy.
Fonts and links
Typefaces are self-hosted. The site does not load Google Fonts or other third-party font hosts. Some pages link to manufacturer support sites, the FDA, and the CPSC. Following those links is a request to that other site, under its own policy.
California privacy rights
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA, gives you rights to know, delete, and correct personal information a business holds, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. Hearthline does not sell personal information and does not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. To make a request, use the contact form and state that it is a privacy request.
Children
The guides are written for adults who maintain a household. The site is not directed at children under 13, and it does not knowingly collect their personal information.
Changes
If analytics, an embedded video host, or a mail server for the contact form is added, this policy has to change first, and the pages have to say so in plain language. This version is not a lawyer's opinion. The date of this version is October 23, 2026.