I have put this privacy policy in place to be as transparent as possible about what data I collect from you and how it is used. I do collect names and email addresses any time someone leaves a comment, fills out a contact form, or signs up for my email newsletter. But please know that I will never sell, rent, or trade my email lists with any other company or organization for marketing purposes.
Here’s the rest of what you need to know about when and why I collect your personal information, how I use it, and the limited conditions under which I may disclose it to others.
Who I am
My name is Beth Terry, and I’m located in the United States. My website address is https://myplasticfreelife.com. This site is hosted by Bluehost, which is also located in the United States. Although I don’t specifically target users in the European Union, I do have some visitors from the EU and therefore am doing my best to comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you have questions about your privacy or the collection and storage of your data, please email me at privacy@myplasticfreelife.com.
Children’s Personal Information
I do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from users under the age of 13. If I find out that I have such personal information, I will take reasonable steps to delete it.
Cookies
This site uses cookies – small text files that are placed on your machine to help the site provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for store information for subsequent visits, and provide anonymized tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better. However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. I suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at the About Cookies website which offers guidance for all modern browsers.
Details about specific cookies and what they are used for are listed in the sections below. You may also scroll down to the bottom of this page to see a specific list of all the cookies used on this site.
What personal data I collect and why I collect it
Comments
When visitors leave comments on this site, I collect the data entered in the comments form, including the visitor’s name, email address, IP address, and browser user agent string. This data is used for managing comments and to help with spam detection.
In addition, you may opt to have your data remembered and automatically filled in the next time you comment by checking the box in the comment form. If you check this box, your name and email address will be saved in cookies in your browser. These cookies will last indefinitely or until you clear your browser cookies. If you don’t check the box, no cookies will be set.
Contact forms
If you submit a message to me through the contact forms on this site, I collect and store the data shown in the contact form and also your IP address. This data is used for managing messages and to help with spam detection.
Discussion Forum
If you submit a message through the Discussion Forum on this site, any information you enter into the message form is collected, stored, and publicized. I do not collect any other data from you, as all discussion participants use the forum as guests rather than logged in users. However, the forum will set a cookie in your browser to enable you to avoid re-typing your information on subsequent visits.
Spam Protection
In addition to the spam protection mentioned under “Comments” and “Contact Forms,” I use a third-party service called Google ReCaptcha, which analyzes the traffic of this website, potentially containing Users’ Personal Data, with the purpose of filtering it from parts of traffic, messages, and content that are recognized as SPAM.
Google reCAPTCHA (Google, Inc.) is a SPAM protection service provided by Google Inc. The use of reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google privacy policy and terms of use. Google reCAPTCHA sets cookies and collects usage data. The data is processed in the United States.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
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.
Vimeo is a third-party video content visualization service provided by Vimeo, Inc. that allows this website to incorporate Vimeo video content on its pages. If you visit a page on this site that contains an embedded Vimeo video player, Vimeo will set first-party cookies that it considers essential to the video player experience. Vimeo does not use third-party analytics or advertising cookies when its video player appears on a third-party website. The data is processed in the United States. Click here to read Vimeo’s Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Vimeo is a Privacy Shield participant.
YouTube is a third-party video content visualization service provided by Google Inc. that allows this website to incorporate Youtube video content on its pages. If you play a video via a Youtube player embedded on this site, Youtube will set cookies and collect usage data. The data is processed in the United States. Click here to read Google’s Privacy Policy. Google is a Privacy Shield participant.
Analytics
I use Google Analytics to analyze traffic to this website. For example, some of the information that is useful to me is how many people visit the site each day, what link they clicked on or search terms they used to find my site, what type of device and browser they are using, or where they are located geographically. This information is important for me to know in order to make the site useful to as many visitors as possible.
Google Analytics is a third-party web analysis service provided by Google Inc. (“Google”). Google utilizes the Data collected to track and examine the use of this website, to prepare reports on its activities and share them with other Google services. Although I don’t display Google ads on this site, it’s possible that Google may use the Data collected to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone.
Google Analytics sets cookies and collects usage data. The data is processed in the United States. Click here to read Google’s Privacy Policy. Click here to learn how to Opt Out of Google Analytics tracking cookies. Google is a Privacy Shield participant.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Email Subscriptions
I use the Feedblitz email service to send updates to subscribers when new content is published on this site. When you click the “Subscribe by Email” button on this site, you will be taken to a page on Feedblitz’s website to enter your name and email address to subscribe to my email updates. Feedblitz collects and stores your information on their site, and while I do not collect and store this data on my site, I do have access to your email address, subscription date, and any other information you provide during sign-up via Feedblitz’s service. Click the following links to read Feedblitz’s Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and How to Manage Your Cookie Settings. I will never share your personal Feedblitz data with any other party or use it for any other purpose than to send you updates related to this site and its mission.
Social Sharing
On this website, I include Social Media Buttons to enable you to share the content from this site on your social media channels. To protect your data, I use a solution called “Shariff”. The share buttons are implemented as static images, which contain a link to the corresponding social network site. If you click on such a button, you will be redirected to the respective social network site in the same way as normal links would do. Only then will the provider of the social network site get information about you (e.g. your IP address). If you do not click on such a share button, no data will be transmitted. Information about the collection and usage of your data on the social network sites can be found in the corresponding terms of use of the respective provider. More information about the plugin and the Shariff solution can be found here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/shariff/
On this website, I offer share buttons for the following services/companies: Facebook, GooglePlus, Pinterest, Reddit, Twitter.
Purchases via PayPal
If you purchase a signed copy of my book Plastic-Free through this website by clicking on a PayPal button, you will be redirected to the PayPal website to complete the transaction. I do not collect or store any personal information from you, but your data will be collected and stored by PayPal, and I will have access to your name, email address, and shipping address for the purpose of shipping your book to you and communicating with you about your purchase. Here is PayPal’s Privacy Policy.
Affiliate Links & Other Website Links
This site contains affiliate links, which means that when you purchase items via a product link or display advertisement on this site, I may earn a percentage. This is done after the user clicks on an affiliate link by placing a cookie in the user’s browser in order to track the referral from my site. (Not all of the product links on this site are affiliate links, but many of them are, so you should just assume that any product link is an affiliate link. Please read my full Advertising and Review Policy to understand my criteria for reviewing or promoting any product on this site.) Once you click through to the merchant’s site, you are subject to the privacy policies of that site. Here is a list of the affiliate programs I currently participate in:
- Share-a-Sale
- Rakuten Affiliate Network
- Awin
- eBay Partner Network
- Life Without Plastic affiliate program
- Amazon Services LLC Associates Program
Besides affiliate links, this site contains links to other websites of interest. Once you have used these links to leave MyPlasticFreeLife.com, you should note that I do not have control over those other websites. Therefore, I cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information that you provide while visiting such sites, and that such sites are not governed by this Privacy Policy. You should exercise caution and read the Privacy Policy applicable to the website in question.
Who I share your data with
I do not share your data with any other parties besides the service providers listed in the sections above.
How long I retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so I can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
If you send a message through a contact form, the message and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so I can refer back to your message in the future, just as if you had sent me an email directly.
For users that register on this website (if any), I also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). I and other website administrators (if any) can also see and edit that information.
If you sign up for the email list, your data is retained for as long as your subscription is active.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site or have left comments, sent a message through a contact form, or signed up for the email newsletter, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data I hold about you, including any data you have provided to me. You can also request that I amend or erase any personal data I hold about you. This does not include any data I am obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes. To request a copy of your data or that it be deleted, please email me at privacy@myplasticfreelife.com.
Where I send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
My contact information
Beth Terry, privacy@myplasticfreelife.com
Before using any page on this site, please review the Terms of Service and Advertising/Review Policy. Accessing MyPlasticfreeLife.com indicates acceptance of these policies.
Cookies used on this site
This list is a work in progress. I will change this message after I have found and listed all known cookies set by this site.
| Cookie Name | Description |
|---|---|
| comment_author_{HASH} comment_author_email_{HASH} |
Set by the WPDiscuz Comment Form (at the bottom of each page and post) to save your name and email address to avoid retyping it on future visits. These cookies will only be set if you click the checkbox to remember your data for the next time you comment. |
| _ga _gid _gat_gtag_<property-id> __utma __utmb __utmc __utmt __utmv __utmz |
Set by Google Analytics. Used to distinguish users and sessions, determine new session visits, throttle request rate, and store the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached this site. |
This policy will be reviewed regularly and updated when appropriate. It was last updated on September 30, 2018.