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Privacy Policy

Updated: Jul 26, 2026

Effective date: July 25, 2026

Who we are (controller): The operator of pcbuildhelper.com ("we", "us"). Contact: help@pcbuildhelper.com.

pcbuildhelper.com is a PC-building guide and price-comparison site. We keep data collection minimal: we have no user accounts, no newsletter, and no forms — we never ask for your name or email, and we do not collect personal information you type in, because there is nowhere to type it.

1. What we collect, why, and on what basis

We collect the following, and nothing else:

  • Analytics data — pages viewed, approximate region, device and browser type, scroll depth, product-link clicks, and a random cookie identifier (_ga, _ga_*). Source: Google Analytics 4, only after you consent. Purpose: understanding which guides and builds are useful. Legal basis: consent (Art. 6(1)(a)). Retention: analytics cookies up to 2 years; Google Analytics reporting data per our retention setting.
  • Advertising data — ad cookies and device identifiers used by Google AdSense and its certified ad partners. Source: Google AdSense, only with consent in the EEA and UK, or until you opt out in US states. Purpose: funding the site through ads, with personalization only where permitted. Legal basis: consent (Art. 6(1)(a)). Retention: set by Google, per Google's cookie documentation.
  • Consent record — your cookie choice (pcbh_consent_v1), set when you choose in our banner or Google's consent message. Purpose: remembering your decision. Legal basis: legal obligation and legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(c), (f)). Retention: 1 year.
  • Site preferences — sort order, view options, and compare selections kept in your browser's localStorage. Purpose: making the site remember your interface choices. Legal basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)). Retention: until you clear your browser storage.
  • Server logs — IP address and browser user-agent in hosting request logs kept by Vercel, our hosting provider. Purpose: delivery, security, and abuse prevention. Legal basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)). Retention: per Vercel's log-retention defaults.

We do not collect names, emails, payment details, or account data. We never sell personal information for money.

2. Advertising, "sharing", and your opt-out rights

We show ads through Google AdSense. Where ads are personalized, Google and its certified partners use cookies and device identifiers to select ads based on your activity across sites. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act this kind of cross-context behavioral advertising counts as "sharing" personal information, even though no money changes hands for it.

You can opt out at any time:

In the EEA, UK and Switzerland, personalized ads are only served after you consent via the consent message; you can change or withdraw that choice with the Cookie settings link in our footer.

Cookies and similar storage are set only as described in our Cookie Policy. In the EEA, UK and Switzerland, analytics and advertising cookies require your consent: nothing is set until you choose, either in Google's consent message or in our banner. Elsewhere, US state privacy law applies an opt-out model, so these cookies are set by default and you can turn them off whenever you like. Where we cannot tell which applies, we default to the stricter consent-first setting. The controls are the same either way: use Cookie settings in the footer at any time; on withdrawal we push a denied consent state and delete our analytics cookies. We also honor the Global Privacy Control browser signal automatically.

4. Who receives data

  • Google (Google Analytics, Google AdSense and certified ad-tech partners) — see section 2.
  • Vercel Inc. — hosting; processes request logs (IP, user-agent) to serve the site.
  • Sanity AS — our content CDN serves page content and images; it sees the requester's IP transiently as part of delivery.
  • Authorities, where the law requires it.

We have no other recipients; we run no email lists and no CRM.

5. International transfers

Google and Vercel process data in the United States. Google relies on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses for transfers of European data; see Google's data-transfer documentation.

6. Your rights

If you are in the EEA or UK: you may request access, rectification, erasure, restriction, and portability, may object to processing based on legitimate interest, and may withdraw consent at any time (Art. 15-21 GDPR). You may also lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

If you are a California resident (CCPA/CPRA): you may request to know, delete, and correct personal information, and to opt out of sharing (section 2). We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information, and we will never discriminate against you for exercising any right.

To exercise any right, email help@pcbuildhelper.com. We verify requests using the information the request itself concerns (for example your cookie identifiers) and respond within the legally required window: 45 days under the CCPA, one month under the GDPR, extendable as the law allows. Authorized agents may submit requests on your behalf with proof of authorization.

7. Children

pcbuildhelper.com is a general-audience site and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

8. Changes

We will post any changes here and update the effective date. Material changes to how we use data will be reflected in the consent flow where required.