This privacy policy explains how CountertopSpec (www.countertopspec.com) collects, uses, and safeguards visitor information across all pages and equipment guides on our website, including our Espresso Prep hub. We maintain this privacy policy to comply with the Google AdSense Required Content Policy, the Amazon Associates Operating Agreement, the FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255), and international privacy laws including the GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and CalOPPA (Termly AdSense Privacy Guide).
1. Information We Collect Under This Privacy Policy
We collect two types of information when you visit CountertopSpec:
- Direct contact information: If you email our editorial desk at editor@countertopspec.com, we collect your email address, name, and message contents solely to reply to your question. We never sell, rent, or trade visitor email addresses to marketing lists.
- Automated server and log files: Like standard web servers, our hosting infrastructure records non-identifying technical log data when your browser requests a page. This includes your browser type, operating system, referring URL, anonymized IP address, date/time stamp, and crawl requests from search engines (Microsoft Bing, DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, OpenAI OAI-SearchBot, Perplexity PerplexityBot, and Anthropic Claude-SearchBot). We use log data to monitor uptime, prevent bot abuse, and fix broken links.
2. Google AdSense and Third-Party Advertising Cookies
CountertopSpec uses display advertising networks, including Google AdSense, to fund our equipment testing and keep our specification guides free to read. In accordance with the Google AdSense Required Content Policy, please note the following disclosures:
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies, web beacons, and similar identifiers to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to CountertopSpec or other websites on the internet.
- Google’s use of advertising cookies enables Google and its partners to serve personalized and non-personalized ads to visitors based on their visit to CountertopSpec and other sites across the web.
- You may opt out of personalized advertising at any time by visiting Google Ads Settings. Alternatively, you can opt out of third-party vendor cookies for personalized advertising by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out page at www.aboutads.info.
If you browse from the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, our cookie consent banner allows you to grant, customize, or withdraw consent for advertising and analytics cookies before personalized ad tags load.
3. Affiliate Links and Amazon Associates Disclosure
CountertopSpec participates in affiliate marketing programs, including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for websites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com (Iubenda Amazon Privacy Requirements).
Per Section 5 of the Amazon Associates Operating Agreement and the Amazon Associates Identification Requirement, we state across our website:
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
When you click an outbound affiliate link pointing to amazon.com inside any of our guides, including our Espresso Portafilters, Calibrated Espresso Tamper, Low-Retention Espresso Grinder, or Espresso Machine Upgrade Kit articles, Amazon places a referral tracking cookie on your browser (standard duration of 24 hours under the Amazon Associates Program Policies and April 14, 2026 Operating Agreement Updates) to credit qualifying purchases at zero extra cost to you.
In compliance with the FTC Endorsement Guides, every article containing affiliate links displays a clear disclosure above the fold prior to the first affiliate link. Read our full testing standards on our How We Review Kitchen Hardware and About CountertopSpec pages.
4. First-Party Performance Cookies and Browser Controls
Our site uses LiteSpeed Cache first-party cookies to serve static HTML pages quickly and store your cookie consent choices. You can disable, block, or delete cookies at any time through your browser settings (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, or Brave). Blocking cookies will not prevent you from reading our specification tables.
5. GDPR, CCPA/CPRA and Visitor Privacy Rights
Under this privacy policy, visitors residing in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, California, Virginia, Colorado, and other covered jurisdictions have the right to:
- Request access to or a copy of any personal data we hold about you.
- Request correction or deletion of your personal information.
- Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal data for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- Withdraw cookie consent at any time via our site consent banner.
CountertopSpec does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in the EEA). To exercise any data right or ask a question about this privacy policy, email editor@countertopspec.com.