Last updated May 20, 2026
How we handle your information, in plain English.
We built Operation Arlene for people who are tired of being made to feel foolish online. The same care goes into how we handle your information. This page tells you what we collect, why we collect it, and what you can do about it.
What we collect
- Your email address, when you sign up for the monthly briefing or take a safety check.
- Account details (name, email, a password you choose) if you create an account to take a paid course.
- Course progress (lessons completed, quiz answers, time spent) once you start a course.
- Payment information when you buy a course. Stripe handles the payment; we never see your card number.
- Anything you choose to send us by email or through a form.
What we do with it
Your email goes to the briefing so we can send you the monthly note. We do not sell it. We do not rent it. We do not pass it to anyone outside the service that delivers our email.
Account details let you log back in and pick up a course where you left off. Course progress lets you see how far you have come and earn a certificate when you finish.
Payment information is sent directly to Stripe, which handles the transaction and returns a token to us so we can match your purchase to your account. Stripe follows the PCI security standard for storing card data.
Where your information lives
- The site itself is hosted by WP Engine in the United States. We have turned on the security settings our host recommends.
- Payment details live with Stripe.
- We do not use analytics tools that follow you across sites. No Facebook pixel. No Google Analytics. No advertising trackers.
Who sees it
- Michael Pilsner, plus any people he has explicitly authorized to help run the site.
- Our hosting company, which sees standard server logs (IP address, browser, page loaded). They do not use this for advertising.
- Stripe, when you make a purchase.
How long we keep it
- Briefing emails: until you unsubscribe.
- Account and course progress: as long as your account exists. Close it any time and the information goes too.
- Payment records: as long as US tax and accounting law requires, which is usually seven years.
- Form submissions you send us with a question or a scam tip: twelve months, then deleted.
Your rights
You can ask us what we have on you. Email michael@operationarlene.com and we will send you a copy of everything within thirty days.
You can ask us to delete it. Same email, same time frame. We will keep the bare minimum we are legally required to keep, such as records of a paid purchase, and tell you what was kept and why.
You can ask us to correct anything that is wrong. Tell us what is off, we will fix it.
You can ask us to send your information to another service in a portable file.
These rights apply to you wherever you live. California’s CCPA spells some of them out in more detail; we follow that standard for everyone.
Cookies
We use a small number of cookies (cookies are tiny files your browser stores). They keep you logged in if you have an account, and remember whether you have dismissed certain notices. We do not use cookies for advertising. We do not share cookie data with third parties.
“I saw this scam” counts
Some scam pages have a button that lets you tell us you have seen the scam recently. We count those clicks anonymously to help us prioritize what to write about next. We do not store anything that identifies you. The only thing your browser saves is a small marker that prevents you from being counted twice for the same scam in the same week. That marker holds no personal information.
Children
This site is written for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
Changes to this policy
If we change what we collect or how we handle it, we will update this page and put a note at the top with the new date. If the change is meaningful, we will email anyone whose information is affected.
How to reach us
Michael Pilsner. michael@operationarlene.com. We answer every message ourselves. There is no support team.