The Privacy Policy for this website
On this page, I will share with you those matters pertinent to our mutual rights and responsibilities where the use of this website and the underlying software is concerned. Please understand that I am not a professional website developer; that I’m learning everything as I go along – from the design and upkeep of this online resource to the ins and outs of social media cross-pollination.
If you have questions or suggestions, please SEND ME A NOTE. I’ll research the issue and get everything updated tout de suite.
Thank you!
Who am I?
I am a US citizen living on the outskirts of Atlanta Georgia (a major metropolitan area in the southernmost foothills of Appalachia). I’m the daughter of a long-and-proud military and folk-art heritage, the wife of a technomancy king, the mother of four (a multi-tour veteran, a writer, a mad scientist, and a fixer-uppit), and the grandmother of the cutest little princess that ever was born.
I started this website as a personal brag rag, of sorts – as a way to share with my family and friends the progress made on various creative projects across an irrepressible motley of hobbies and recreational outlets. In doing so, I discovered that it also functions as a soul-spring of well-distanced socialization – both with people new to my favored crafts, as well as my fellow artists, authors, and crafters (especially important during and post-pandemic).
Perhaps in the future, I’ll investigate this website’s potential as a means of passive revenue. When that time comes, I’ll update this Privacy Policy accordingly – via digital newsletters and social media posts – then suggest a quick re-read on your part, so you can remain informed of the changes I’ve made and understand how they might affect your participation with the published content.
Re. embedded content
Articles on this website may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves, in the same manner, as it would if you visited the other website directly. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Please understand that I do not control the associated Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. While I am careful to thoroughly review the pros-and-cons of plug-ins, services, and widgets before implementing their use on my blog, I claim no authority over their functioning, provide no guarantee of compatibility with your device or preferred method of browsing, nor can I perfectly vouchsafe their careful and considered stewardship of your browser cookies and/or personal data.
Always beware of where and what you share. 🙂
Re. spam control
As with all other user-entered data referenced in this Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, visitor-submitted content – of any variety – is checked via automated spam detection services. If you come across a page of my website that seems all-gibberish, please send an email to PRIVACY@BeckieSueDalton.com with the Subject header: SPAM SIGHTING!
Additionally, through the Akismet anti-spam service, we collect certain technical information about visitors who comment on this website. This information we collect typically includes the commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, and Site URL, along with any information directly provided by the commenter (such as their name, username, email address, and the comment itself).
Re. uploaded comments
When you – the visitors to my website – leave comments on any of the published posts, the WordPress software collects – on my behalf – the data shown in the comments form, the IP address of the device you’re using to access my website, and a browser user agent string to help spam detection. This allows me to receive your comment so that I may post a reply back to you.
When you post a comment, a hash (an anonymized string created from your email address) may be provided to the Gravatar service so that, after approval of your comment, your profile picture can be made visible to the public in the context of your comment. Their privacy policy and terms of service are HERE and HERE
Re. uploaded media
If you plan to share visual media on this website, it’s important that you’re aware of the recommendation by online security professionals to strip the embedded location data (EXIF GPS) from your images and videos prior to upload. If you’re unsure how to secure your files, a digital media expert can advise you on the best course of action. Regrettably, I am not that expert.
Re. browser cookies
When you visit the login page, the blog software sets a temporary cookie to see if your browser accepts them. It contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, the blog software sets several cookies to save your login information and screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days; screen options cookies last for one year. If you select “Remember Me,” your login data will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you leave a comment, you may opt-in to having your name, email address, and website saved within a “browser cookie.” Then, on your next visit, that saved data will inform the blog software of your legitimacy so that you’re not required to complete the form again just to leave a new comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you edit or publish an article, a separate cookie is set in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you edited. This cookie expires after one day.
Re. data retention period
If you leave a comment on this website, the words and the comment metadata are retained indefinitely. This allows the WordPress software to automatically recognize and approve any follow-up comments from you, instead of (potentially) pushing them to a moderation queue.
For users who register &/or log in to this website, the WordPress software retains, for your convenience, whatever personal information you’ve provided in your own user profile. All users can – at any time – view, edit, or delete the data they’re entered into their own profile (excepting usernames; as data-identifiers, they are unique and unchangeable).
As a matter of full transparency, my website administrator can also see and edit these same data bits. While xe can assist with these matters, xe charges an exorbitant amount per hour to do so, which makes technician-assisted profile-fiddling a luxury that I cannot offer my website visitors, at this time.
Re. won’t share or sell your data
Except for commentary designed for public consumption and any data intended by you to be publicly visible as part of your profile, the personal data you enter is only ever shared with you through the automated software included in the underlying WordPress suite.
If a password reset is requested of this software, the IP address of the requesting device will be included in the reset email. If you receive a notice of this sort without having requested a reset; it’s highly recommended that you perform an audit of your most visited sites and take the appropriate action to secure your logins, should you find something in that data amiss.
That said, there is a bit of necessary information sharing if you are making a purchase from this website (directly) or arranging a monetary transaction with one of my third-party providers (Etsy, Patreon, PayPal, Ravelry, SquareUp, etc.). This is discussed in the WEBSITE COMMERCE section (below).
Re. your data, your rights
If you’ve left comments or established an account on my website, you can request to receive, from the automated software system, an export of your personal data in our possession.
At any time, you may request that your personal data, in whole or in part, be expunged from our file storage system, excluding that data we are obliged to retain for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Re. Website Commerce
Through the WooCommerce plugin, we collect information about you during the checkout process at our online store.
We generally store information about you for only as long as we need the information for the purposes for which we collect and use it, and we are not legally required to continue to keep it. For example, we will store order information for ten (10) years for tax and accounting purposes. This includes your name, email address, and billing and shipping addresses.
If you create an account, we will store your name, address, email, and phone number, which will be used to populate the checkout for future orders. We will also store comments or reviews if you choose to leave them.
While you visit our site, we’ll track:
- Products you’ve viewed: we’ll use this to, for example, show you products you’ve recently viewed
- Location, IP address, and browser type: we’ll use this for purposes like estimating taxes and shipping
- Shipping address: we’ll ask you to enter this so we can, for instance, estimate shipping before you place an order, and send you the order!
- In addition to the discussion of Cookies (above), we use cookies to keep track of any Cart contents while you’re browsing our site.
When you purchase from us, we’ll ask you to provide information including your name, billing address, shipping address, email address, phone number, credit card/payment details, and optional account information like username and password. We’ll use this information for purposes, such as:
- Sending you information about your account and order
- Responding to your requests, including refunds and complaints
- Processing payments and prevent fraud
- Setting up your account for our store
- Complying with any legal obligations we have, such as calculating taxes
- Improving our store offerings
- Sending you marketing messages, but only if you specifically choose to receive them
Re, team member access
Our team members have access to the information you’ve provided to us so we can fulfill orders, process refunds, and support you as a customer. For example, both Administrators and Shop Managers can access:
- Order information like what was purchased, when it was purchased and where it should be sent, and
- Customer information like your name, email address, and billing and shipping information.
Re: sharing information for payments
Information is shared with those third parties who help us provide orders and store services to you. For instance, if you follow a link to my Etsy or Ravelry stores to purchase a PDF copy of one of my patterns, certain information is passed from my website to theirs. This could include, but may not be limited to, analytics, marketing, payment gateways, shipping providers, and third-party embeds.
Please see the Etsy Privacy Policy, the FineArtAmerica & Pixels Privacy Policy, or the Ravelry Privacy Policy for their specific details.
At this time, we accept direct payments through PayPal and Square. When processing payments, some of your data will be passed to PayPal or Square, including information required to process or support the payment, such as the purchase total and billing information.
Please see the Patreon Privacy Policy, the PayPal Privacy Policy, or the SquareUp Privacy Policyfor their specific details.
This Policy Page will be updated as other payment processing services are added (ApplePay, GooglePay, Cryptocurrency, etc.).
The complete internet address (URL) for this website is https://www.BeckieSueDalton.com
For questions about this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service, please contact PRIVACY@BeckieSueDalton.com