Disclaimers and Notices
This is the simplified disclaimer, terms of use, privacy policy, and more for this website.
My first book discusses privacy, and mentions that the average person agrees to hundreds of privacy policies and terms of use per year, without even reading them. My third book is about policies, my fourth is about cyberlaw.
Don't feel bad for not reading these policies, many are very long, and even if you read them not only would it cost you hundreds of hours of your life each year, but you still would not understand what you have agreed to.
Companies make money from information about you, and criminals want to steal information about you too. Thus privacy is a serious concern for all of us.
Hopefully this page is readable, informative, and even enjoyable. Comments and feedback are welcome.
Disclaimers and Terms of Use
Using this website constitutes agreement with the terms on this page.
Hopefully this site is helpful, but don't rely upon this information if you are in a situation requiring individualized assistance.
I do my best to ensure information I provide is accurate and helpful, and I continually update and revise. But you use this site at your own risk, I assume no liability. You waive all claims against me and my entities as a condition of using this site. I reserve the right to have unwritten rules and change the rules as needed.
Nothing in this site constitutes advice (consulting, legal or otherwise). No relationship (consulting, attorney-client, or otherwise) is established between us through your use of the site, and even if we communicate directly. Don't send me confidential information through this site or via email.
Any services provided would be through a formal agreement, and would be offered through either my consulting firm, or law firm. If we were to mutually agree on provision of services you would know that by the creation of a formal customized agreement and your payment of a fee to me. But until that, no relationship exists and no liability exists.
When the law is static, people disagree on it. And the law is not static, it changes. I try to keep up with updates, but cannot make a promise to do so. See the "last updated" date at the bottom of each page for a general idea as to whether the page has been updated.
I summarize information in the news and legal cases. Meaning a brief summary, not an exhaustive explanation of each sides' version of events. Either side (or all sides) to dispute might disagree with how I summarize it and the underlying facts. My summary is essentially my opinion of the matter and how best to simplify it for the reader, based upon information available to me, based on my preliminary review.
You have agreed I have no liability, and you have agreed to be a reasonable consumer of information on this website, so there would never be a reason or valid claim for which to sue me or my organizations. Still, any claims would be heard in a court in New York County, New York State, United States of America.
Privacy Policy
I respect the privacy of human visitors.
I don't keep much information relating to website visitors. If you contact me through the website contact form or email, I receive the information you have provided to me. I don't maintain a mailing list (maybe I should one day). I don't share your contact information with third parties unless I have your consent, or as required by law and the rules of professional responsibility, or if you are committing a crime or tort.
Also realize a lot of bots and spammers and marketers visit my site. Some are malicious, many send unwanted solicitations or fraudulent solicitations. That is part of the annoying, unsavory part of the internet.
My site uses cookies, and also uses various common analytics tools (e.g. Google Analytics, Jetpack), which are common website usage analysis tools. This helps me learn something about general website usage, but very little about individual users. Many of the other websites you visit use sophisticated technology to track you, identify you and your device, and learn about you. But here, what I use is pretty rudimentary and standard.
I do not pay a third-party vendor to annoy you with a cookie banner and various options when you visit this site. Choose your cookie settings within your own web browser and computer device. Whatever you choose, this site will probably work just fine.
Attorney Advertising (probably)
This is not my law firm's official website, but it is my main site now and I am an attorney. Since I am a practicing attorney, and I reference my legal services, this probably constitutes attorney advertisement.
I don't make any promises or claims, and if I have had successes in the past, that's no guarantee that every future case will also be a success.
Linked sites and my organizations
I have some links to external sites, such as where you can buy my book, where some of my externally published articles or courses are hosted, and many external references. When you leave this site and go to another site, you're in their hands and governed by their policies and terms of use.
I link to my other sites too, which have very similar policies and are:
https://bandlerlaw.com
https://bandlergroup.com
https://johnbandler.com (this site)
https://cybersecurityhomeandoffice.com/
Also, I link to the website for my latest book: https://cybercrimeinvestigationsbook.com/, a shared site with my co-author.
To comply with New York State laws and rules, I had to create two separate legal entities, one to practice law and provide legal services (Bandler Law Firm PLLC), and one to provide consulting services (Bandler Group LLC). Initially that seemed to indicate I needed two websites. And then it seemed good to have a website devoted to my book, and then one for me personally. Now I am the proud operator of four (five?) websites, learning more every day.
But really, this site at JohnBandler.com is now the main site for my work.
What did I miss or leave out?
I left many details out but would they be really helpful? You have seen privacy policies and terms of use that go on for dozens of pages. Almost no one reads them. I am not denigrating them, they are important, and could be subject to careful regulatory or legal review (if something goes wrong). But I tried to write text here that is reasonable and short.
This article is hosted at https://johnbandler.com/disclaimers-and-notices. Copyright John Bandler, all rights reserved.
Want to read more about privacy? See Privacy and Consumer privacy rights.
Want to learn about building your organization's governance documents, including policies and procedures? See my Policies and Procedures Book.
Want to learn more about cyberlaw and the issues of privacy, cybersecurity, speech online, and more? See my new book on cyberlaw.
Minutia
- Update dates: Generally, the bottom of the page indicates when the page was created, and when it was updated. Sometimes, a new page is created based on some of my older pages or older writings. The fact that a page was updated recently does not necessarily mean it is 100% current or perfect (see disclaimers above). If you see pages that have not been updated in a long time, consider whether the page (or site) is still being maintained, and whether it is becoming obsolete. Some principles are timeless, but others evolve. As always, be an informed, critical, reader and thinker. Check primary sources.
- Few hidden links (mostly spelled out):
- Generally, if I link to internal articles (within my site), you will see the article name, not the URL path. On occasion I spell out the URL path so it is available if printed to paper or as part of a course outline.
- Generally, if I link to external articles I spell out the URL path so you can see it before you click it. This makes it easier to see where you are going, and to search for the page if the URL path has changed. For some, seeing the whole link spelled out is clunky clutter, but it for me it is important information while surfing the internet.
- QR codes: I employ static QR codes in some of my writings and teachings. Static means there is no "middleperson" website that might collect additional data about you or your device. Static has fewer privacy implications compared to dynamic QR codes. If you arrive at this site via a QR code, I do not have analytics that tell me anything about your scanning of that QR code, just that you came to my website. See my article on QR codes.
- References and resources for my books: For my cyberlaw book, I created a suite of reference pages, one page for each chapter. It is an extensive resource I made available to the world. I can't guarantee it remains available nor updated forever, nor that it will maintain compatibility with future versions of the book.
Updated 01/05/2025.