BabyMakers

Privacy policy

Last updated

This privacy policy explains what information BabyMakers ("we", "us") collects when you use BabyMakers (the "Site"), how we use it, and the choices and rights you have. It describes what the Site does today. When that changes, we will update this policy and its last-updated date.

Summary

  • You do not need an account to use the Site, and we do not offer one.
  • The calculators work out their results on our server from the dates and numbers you enter. Your entries travel in the page address, so they can appear in our host's standard access logs, as explained below. We do not save them in any record of our own.
  • We do not sell or share personal information. We do not currently show advertising. We count visits to pages and calculators in totals, on our own server, with no cookie and no visitor identified, as explained under "Visit counts".
  • If you write to us through the contact form, we keep your message so that we can answer it.

Information we collect

Calculator entries

The calculators ask for dates and numbers, such as the first day of your last period, your cycle length, the date of a scan or the date of an embryo transfer. When you submit a calculator, your browser sends your entries to our server as part of the page address, for example ?lmp=2026-06-08&cycle=28. Our server calculates the result and returns it on the page. The calculators do not ask for your name or any other detail that identifies you, and we do not keep a record of calculations or results.

Because your entries are part of the page address, copies of them exist in these places:

  • Your browser. Your browser history, and any bookmark or link you save or share, contains the address with your entries.
  • Server access logs. Like most websites, the Site is served by a hosting provider that records each request in standard access logs. A log entry includes the full page address, your IP address, the date and time, and your browser type. These logs are used to keep the Site running and secure.
  • Session record. To keep its forms secure, the Site opens a session for each visitor. The session record on our server holds a random identifier, your IP address, your browser type, a security token and the address of the last page you viewed, without the entries a calculator adds to that address. A session expires two hours after your last request, and expired session records are then deleted automatically.

Information your browser sends

Every request to the Site includes technical information, such as your IP address, your browser type and your preferred language. Where our network provider supplies it, our server also receives the country the request comes from. We use your preferred language and country to choose whether to show UK or US guidance first and, where possible, which emergency numbers to show. We do not store them against you. The only trace is the totals described under "Visit counts".

Visit counts

We count how the Site and its calculators are used, in totals, so that we can see which pages help and improve them. We do this on our own server. No cookie is set for it, and no other company receives the counts.

Each time a page is viewed, or a calculator is used, we add one to a counter. A counter is grouped by the day, the page, whether the visitor came from a search engine, a social network, another website or directly (and the name of that website, never its full address), whether the Site showed US or UK guidance, the country where our network provider supplies one, and whether the device is a phone, a tablet or a computer. For a calculator we also count which calculator was used, which method was chosen, whether it gave a result or asked for an entry to be corrected, the name of the field it asked to be corrected (for example "cycle length", never what was in it), and whether the form was started.

We also add up visits. A visit is the pages one browser loads with no gap of more than 30 minutes. For each visit we count the page it began on, the page it ended on, how many pages it had, how long it lasted, and the family name of the browser (for example Chrome or Safari, never its version). If a link to the Site carries a campaign tag (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign or ref) made of short, simple words, we count the tag. A tag that looks like an email address, a number or a name is thrown away, and no other part of a page address is read. We also count the addresses that were not found, by the page path only, so that we can mend broken links.

On most pages, a short script on the page sends one message to our own server when you leave it. The message says which page it was, which of a few bands your time on the page and how far you scrolled fell into, a rough class for the width of your window, how quickly the page loaded, and, on a calculator, that its form was touched. Each of these is added to a band. Nobody's time, scroll position or window size is kept, and the message never contains anything you typed.

A counter is a number, not a record of a person. We do not store your IP address, your browser's full details, a session or cookie identifier, any part of a page address after the page name other than the campaign tags described above, or anything you enter into or receive from a calculator. Your IP address and browser details are used once, to work out the type of device and the browser family, and to tell whether we have already counted a visit from you today. For that they are combined into a one-way code that is held in temporary storage on our server until the end of the day (always less than 24 hours), together with a note of the page your visit began on and when it last loaded a page, which is deleted 30 minutes after your last page. Neither is written to our database. The code changes every day, so we cannot recognize you from one day to the next. We also keep a live count of the last 30 minutes in the same temporary storage, and it deletes itself.

We do not count visitors whose browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal, and for them the script on the page does not run. We also do not count signed-in staff or automated crawlers. On pages about ectopic pregnancy and pregnancy loss, and on our safety page, we do not record where you came from at all, and the script does not run.

Messages you send us

If you write to us through our contact form, we collect your name, your email address, the topic you choose and your message. We also store a one-way hash of your IP address. The hash lets us limit abuse of the form without keeping the address itself. Please include health information in a message only if you want us to consider it. If you include it, we use it only to answer you.

Cookies

The Site sets only its own cookies. It does not set advertising or analytics cookies, and its pages do not currently load scripts, fonts or tracking pixels from other companies.

  • bm_market remembers whether you chose UK or US guidance. It is set only when you make that choice, and it lasts one year.
  • bm_safety_market remembers the nation or country you chose for emergency and urgent-care numbers. It is set only when you make that choice, and it lasts one year.
  • A session cookie connects your browser to its session record, described above. It expires two hours after your last request.
  • XSRF-TOKEN protects the Site's forms against cross-site request forgery. It expires two hours after your last request.

The two preference cookies hold only the code of the option you chose, such as "us" or "scotland". They are not encrypted, because they contain nothing secret, and they are not used to track you. You can delete cookies in your browser settings at any time. The Site will then return to its default choices.

How we use information

  • To calculate and show the results you ask for.
  • To remember the choices you make on the Site.
  • To count, in totals, how the Site and its calculators are used, so that we can improve them.
  • To keep the Site available and secure, and to detect and prevent abuse.
  • To answer your messages and requests.
  • To comply with the law.

We do not use your information to build a profile of you, and we do not make decisions about you by automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects.

How we share information

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as the California Consumer Privacy Act defines those terms. We have done neither in the past 12 months. We disclose personal information only:

  • to service providers that host the Site, deliver it over their network and handle our email, for those purposes only;
  • where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to protect the rights, safety or property of our visitors, of us or of others;
  • to a successor organization if the Site is sold or transferred, which will be bound by this policy for information collected under it.

Advertising and analytics

We do not currently show advertising on the Site, take part in affiliate programs, or use tracking pixels, session-recording tools or any analytics service run by another company. We count visits ourselves, in totals, as described under "Visit counts". If we introduce any of these, we will update this policy before we do. We will not place advertising, affiliate links or tracking pixels on pages about pregnancy loss or on pages whose main content is emergency help.

Consumer health data

Some US states protect "consumer health data", meaning personal information that is linked or reasonably linkable to a person and that identifies their past, present or future physical or mental health status. These laws include the Washington My Health My Data Act, Nevada Senate Bill 370 and the consumer health data provisions of the Connecticut Data Privacy Act. Information about fertility, menstrual cycles, conception and pregnancy can be consumer health data. This section is our consumer health data privacy policy under those laws.

  • What we collect. Calculator entries, which can reveal information about your fertility, menstrual cycle, conception or pregnancy, and any health information you choose to include in a message to us.
  • Why we collect it. Only to provide the result or the reply you asked for, and to keep the Site secure, as described above.
  • Where it comes from. Directly from you, when you use a calculator or send a message.
  • Who receives it. We do not sell consumer health data. The service providers that host the Site and handle our email receive it as our processors, to the extent that it appears in the access logs, session records and messages they handle for us. We have no affiliates with which we share it.
  • Consent. We collect and use consumer health data only as necessary to provide a service you have requested. We will ask for your consent before we collect or share it for any other purpose.
  • Your rights. You may ask us to confirm whether we hold your consumer health data, to give you a copy of it with a list of every third party and affiliate with which we have shared it, to delete it, or to withdraw a consent you have given. Send your request through our contact form, or by email at hello@babymakers.com. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

Calculator entries are not linked to a name, an email address or an account. We may therefore be unable to find entries that relate to you in access logs. If we cannot confirm that information relates to you, we will tell you.

Health information laws

We are not a healthcare provider or a health plan, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) does not apply to information you give the Site.

The Federal Trade Commission's Health Breach Notification Rule applies to vendors of personal health records, which are electronic records of a person's health information that draw on more than one source and are managed by or for that person. The Site does not keep a health record for you, and we do not consider the Rule to apply to it today. If we offer features that store your health information, such as accounts or saved results, we will assess them against the Rule before they launch, including its duty to notify you, the FTC and, in some cases, the media after a breach of unsecured health information.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, the law may give you the right to:

  • know what personal information we have collected about you, where it came from, why we collected it and to whom we disclosed it, and receive a copy of it;
  • correct inaccurate personal information;
  • delete personal information;
  • opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, targeted advertising and profiling, none of which we do;
  • limit the use of sensitive personal information, which we use only to provide the services you request;
  • not be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

California residents have these rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (together, the "CCPA"). Residents of other states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Oregon, Texas and Virginia, have similar rights under their own laws. We honor these requests from every visitor, wherever they live.

California disclosures

We collect, and in the past 12 months have collected, these categories of personal information as the CCPA defines them:

  • Identifiers: IP address, a session identifier and, if you contact us, your name and email address.
  • Internet or other electronic network activity: the pages you request, including calculator entries in the page address, and your browser type.
  • Sensitive personal information concerning health: calculator entries, and any health information you include in a message.

We collect this information from you and from your browser, for the purposes listed under "How we use information", and we disclose each category for a business purpose only to the service providers described above. We do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you. We do not disclose personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing.

The Site does not track visitors across websites. If your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal, we do not count your visit at all. We also treat a Global Privacy Control signal as a request to opt out of the sale and sharing of personal information, which we do not engage in.

You may use an authorized agent to make a request for you. We will ask the agent for proof of your signed permission, and we may ask you to confirm your identity with us directly.

How to make a request

Send your request through our contact form, or by email at hello@babymakers.com. Tell us which right you want to exercise and, if you can, when you used the Site. We will confirm that we have received your request within 10 business days and respond within 45 calendar days. If we need more time, we will tell you why and may extend that period once, by up to 45 more days. We do not charge for requests.

We must verify that a request comes from the person the information is about, or from their authorized agent. We will ask only for the information we need to do that, usually the email address you used to contact us.

If we decline a request, we will explain why. Where your state gives you a right to appeal, you may appeal by replying to our decision, and we will respond within the period your state's law sets. If we deny your appeal, you may contact your state attorney general.

How long we keep information

  • Session records: until the session expires, two hours after your last request, and then until they are deleted automatically.
  • Preference cookies: one year in your browser, unless you delete them sooner.
  • Access logs: for as long as our hosting provider keeps them for security and operations, after which they are deleted or overwritten.
  • Visit counts: for 800 days, and then they are deleted automatically. They identify no one and cannot be looked up by person.
  • Messages and privacy requests: for as long as we need them to respond to you and to keep a record of what we did. We keep records of privacy requests for at least 24 months, as the CCPA regulations require.

Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the information we hold. The Site is served over an encrypted connection, access to our systems is limited to people who need it, and staff accounts require two-factor authentication. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of information sent over the internet.

Children

The Site is intended for adults. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them, so the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) does not apply to it. If you believe that a child under 13 has sent us personal information, contact us through our contact form, or by email at hello@babymakers.com and we will delete it.

Visitors from the United Kingdom and the European Union

The Site is operated from the United States. If you visit from the United Kingdom or the European Union, the UK General Data Protection Regulation or the EU General Data Protection Regulation may also apply, and the following also applies to you.

  • Controller. BabyMakers is the controller of your personal data.
  • Legal bases. Calculator entries can reveal information about your health, which is special category data. We process them only when you choose to submit a calculator, to produce the result you asked for, and we rely on your explicit consent, which you give by submitting it. We process technical and session data on the basis of our legitimate interest in running a secure website, and messages in order to answer them, as a step you have asked us to take.
  • Your rights. You have the right to access, correct or erase your personal data, to restrict or object to its processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. You also have the right to complain to the data protection supervisory authority in the country where you live or work.
  • Transfers. Our servers and service providers may be located in the United States or other countries. Where UK or EU law requires it, we protect transfers of personal data with a safeguard that law recognizes, such as standard contractual clauses.
  • Cookies. The session cookie and XSRF-TOKEN are strictly necessary for the Site's forms. The two preference cookies are set only when you choose an option, to remember that choice.

Changes to this policy

We review this policy at least once every 12 months and update it when our practices change. The last-updated date at the top of this page shows when it last changed. If a change affects how we use information we already hold, we will post a notice on the Site before the change takes effect.

Contact

For questions about this policy, or to make a request, contact BabyMakers through our contact form, or by email at hello@babymakers.com.