Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information Free MA Hoist (www.freemasshoist.com) collects, how it is used, and the choices you have. Free MA Hoist is a free, independent study tool for the Massachusetts hoisting engineer exam. It is not affiliated with the Office of Public Safety and Inspections (OPSI) or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Information we store

The site is designed to work without an account, and most data stays on your own device:

• Local storage on your device. Your selected license restriction class, your chosen study hours per week, which sessions you have marked complete, and your acknowledgment of the cookie notice are stored in your browser’s local storage. This data lives on your device, is scoped to this site, and is not transmitted to us unless you choose to sign in. Clearing your browser data removes it.
• Optional account (sign-in). If you choose to sign in to sync progress across devices, we store your email address and your study progress using Amazon Web Services (Amazon Cognito for authentication and a database for progress). Sign-in is entirely optional and is only used to restore your plan on another device.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not run our own analytics or tracking beyond what is described here.

Cookies and advertising

Free MA Hoist is supported by display advertising. We use Google AdSense to serve ads. To do this, Google and its partners may use cookies and similar technologies:

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.
• Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
• You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ad Settings. You can also opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.
• For more on how Google uses information from sites that use its services, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services and Google’s advertising policies.

When you first visit, a notice at the bottom of the screen informs you of this use of cookies and local storage. Continuing to use the site indicates your acceptance.

Third-party services

The site is hosted on Amazon Web Services (Amazon S3 and CloudFront). Advertising is provided by Google AdSense. Optional sign-in uses Amazon Cognito. Each of these providers processes data according to its own privacy policy. Outbound links to official sources such as Mass.gov and OSHA.gov are governed by those sites’ own privacy policies.

Children’s privacy

This site is intended for adults preparing for an occupational license exam (the minimum age for a Massachusetts hoisting license is 18). It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Your choices

• You can use the entire site as a guest without signing in.
• You can clear local storage at any time through your browser settings.
• You can block cookies through your browser, though some features may not persist.
• You can opt out of personalized ads using the Google and aboutads.info links above.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the site evolves or as advertising and hosting providers change. The “Last updated” date above reflects the most recent revision.

Contact

Questions about this policy? See the contact page.