Privacy Policy
Please read this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service carefully before using this Web site.
This Privacy Policy applies to the Website https://theypromisedsnacks.com (the “Website”) operated by They Promised Snacks™ on behalf of Elizabeth Szalajko (“Elizabeth” and collectively “we,” “our” or “us”), as well as to the services and information available via the Website, including Elizabeth’s email newsletter (collectively, the “Services”) (the Services, together with our Website, are referred to as the “Platform”). This privacy policy describes how we collect, use, and disclose information, governs how we treat this information, and lets you know your associated rights.
1. Navigating this Privacy Policy
To help you navigate our privacy policy, we have divided the policy into numbered sections and provided a set of definitions in Section 18 (Definitions) to allow easy reference to key concepts. The sections are as follows:
1. Navigating this Privacy Policy
3. The Information We Collect
4. How We Collect This Information
5. How We Use This Information
6. How We Share This Information
7. How We Safeguard the Information We Collect
8. Our Retention Of Data
9. Accuracy And Minimization of Data
10. Accessing And Updating Your Information
11. Your Right To Opt-Out, Object To Processing And Delete Information
12. Advisory Regarding Participation By Children And Teens
13. Relationship To Terms Of Service; Incorporation Of Terms Of Service
14. Notice Of Privacy Rights To California Residents
15. Complaints
16. Changes To This Privacy Policy
17. Contact Us
18. Definitions
2. Your Consent To This Privacy Policy
You indicate your consent to the terms of this privacy policy in different ways, depending on your relationship to the Platform. The procedures for consenting to this privacy policy are less formal if you are a Website visitor and more formal if you are, or are seeking to become, a participating user.
2.1 Consent by Website Visitors. We have structured our Website so that, as a casual Website visitor, you are able to come to our Website and review selected information about our Services without providing us with any Personally Identifiable Information. By accessing and using our Platform as a visitor, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood this privacy policy and agree to be legally bound by it.
2.2 Consent by Participating Users. In order to receive Elizabeth’s email newsletter, and participate in certain of our other Services (such as providing public comments via the website), you must (a) complete the registration process at our Platform (which consists primarily of providing your email address and, optionally, your name); (b) be age 18 or older; and (c) indicate your consent to this privacy policy in the manner we specify during the registration process.
3. The Information We Collect
Our Platform gives Elizabeth opportunities to communicate with people interested in his blog, comics, information products, and his other activities and interests. The Platform also provides you with opportunities to participate in exchanges on these topics, and to receive additional information on all of the above. To provide these Services, and to otherwise conduct our business via the Platform, we rely on information provided by and collected from our users. This information consists of the following:
3.1 Personally Identifiable Information. We collect certain information that identifies you as an individual (collectively, “Personally Identifiable Information”). The only Personally Identifiable Information we collect is your email address.
3.2 Non-Personally Identifiable Information. We also collect technical and device-related information that is not Personally Identifiable Information, but instead identifies or may reasonably be used to identify a particular user device (collectively, “Non-Personally Identifiable Information”). Non-Personally Identifiable Information is typically collected automatically by technical means, and for purposes of our Platform consists of the following:
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Device identifiers, such as cookies;
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Device information, such as hardware and software settings;
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IP addresses and log information, such as your device’s name, the type and version of your web browser, and referrer addresses that can function to identify a user device; and
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Tracking information that we collect, or that third parties collect.
3.3 Anonymous Information. Our Platform also collects, processes, and/or uses information that does not identify you or your devices, including Personally Identifiable Information that has been made anonymous by: (i) removing identifying fields and aggregating the information with other information so that individual subjects of the information cannot be re-identified, or (ii) anonymizing the information with techniques that remove or perturb the identifying data so as to prevent re-identification of the anonymized information (collectively, “Anonymous Information”). Information that meets these criteria might include, for example, demographic information, statistical information (e.g. page views and hit counts), and general tracking information.
4. How We Collect Information
We collect the above information through the following means and technologies:
4.1 Registration. In order to provide you with the Services, we need to collect Personally Identifiable Information consisting of your email address. Accordingly, when you register to receive the Services, you provide this Personally Identifiable Information.
4.2 User-Generated Content. We give you the ability through the Platform to engage with Elizabeth and others in public exchanges, and these include opportunities for you to provide comments, reviews, recommendations, and other input via the Platform (collectively, “User-Generated Content” or “UGC”). Please understand that, if you include Personally Identifiable Information in User-Generated Content, others will be able to read, collect, re-publish, and otherwise freely use the Information. We are not responsible for Personally Identifiable Information you decide to include in UGC, and we will not take down, remove, or edit User-Generated Content, except as required by Applicable Law. If you include in your User-Generated Content any Personally Identifiable Information relating to others, you represent that you have full permission and authority to do so.
4.3 Contests, Special Offers, and Surveys. On occasion, we will provide you with the opportunity to participate in a contest, receive a special offer, or provide us with feedback via a survey. To make these Services available to you, we will use the email address and name you provided us when you registered (as set out in Section 2.2 (Consent by Participating Users)).
4.4 Beacons and Tags. The Platform may use certain data collection technologies that rely on (i) beacons; (ii) pixel tags and object hyperlinking tags, and (iii) other means to link an object to an Internet address, a remote software application, a remote database, or other remote means of receiving or processing information. We may use these technologies to tell us what parts of our Platform have been visited or to measure the effectiveness of searches that users perform on our Platform. These technologies also enable us to send email messages in a format users can efficiently read, to learn whether these email messages have been opened, and to help ensure, for example, that our messages are of interest to our users. These technologies provide us with Anonymous Information, Non-Personally Identifiable Information and, in certain instances, Personally Identifiable Information.
4.5 Device Identifiers; Logs; IP Addresses. To determine whether your device is supported by our Platform, we may collect certain information about your device and network, including your IP address, your operating system and browser, your device model, information about the your use of the Platform, as well as the presence of any software that our Platform may require to operate with your device, or other third party software or mobile apps on your device. We automatically receive and record this information in log files, and this is generally Non-Personally Identifiable Information.
4.6 Cookies. A cookie is a small amount of data which is sent to your browser from a website’s computers and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies can be used to provide you with a tailored user experience and to make it easier for you to use a website upon a future visit. We may include cookies on our Platform and use them to recognize you when you return to our Platform. You may set your browser so that it does not accept cookies; however, you may need to enable cookies on your web browser if you wish to access certain personalized features of our Services. Cookies are a form of Non-Personally Identifiable Information. Please visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org/ and https://cookies.insites.com/disable-cookies/ for more information on how you can disable some or all cookies. For more information, please refer to our Cookie Policy.
4.7 Click-Throughs. We may send email messages or display links that use a “click-through URL” linked to our Platform or to another resource. When you click one of these URLs, you pass through our web server before arriving at the destination website page or other resource. Click-throughs may use and collect Anonymous Information and Non-Personally Identifiable Information. We may track this click-through data to help determine interest in particular topics and measure the effectiveness of our user communications.
4.8 Advertising Technology. The Services may include use of banner ads and other vehicles for presenting advertising content, and for serving and/or targeting ads, promotions, and other marketing messages, including through use of user profiles, online behavioral advertising methods, and related technologies. These ads may be provided, in some cases, by a third party service, as discussed in Section 6 (How We Share This Information). An advertiser, as described in Section 6.2 (Third Party Advertising), may place or utilize its own cookie or other identifier on your device, and may use Anonymous Information about your visit to our Platform, such as the number of times you have viewed the ad, as well as applicable Non-Personally Identifiable Information.
5. How We Use This Information
We use the information we collect or process, including Anonymous Information, Non-Personally Identifiable Information, and Personally Identifiable Information, as permitted under Applicable Law, including where the use is based on (a) the consent you provide to us at the point of collection as set out in Section 2.2 (Consent by Participating Users); (b) performance of our agreement to provide you with the Services; (c) compliance with our legal obligations; and/or (d) our Legitimate Interests, as well as a third party’s Legitimate Interests. More specifically, we use the information we collect for some or all of the following:
| Our Use of the Information | The Basis of Our Use |
| To provide you with the Services you request and, specifically, to allow Elizabeth to send you email with information, for example, about his articles, comics, information products, and news. | Performance and management of our agreement with you |
| To allow you to participate in contests, special offers, and surveys | Performance and management of our agreement with you |
| To allow you to post User-Generated Content | Performance and management of our agreement with you your Consent |
| To respond to your inquiries | Performance and management of our agreement with you |
| To customize your visit to and use of the Platform | To customize your visit to and use of the Platform |
| To determine which services and content (including marketing content) might interest you |
Your consent
Our Legitimate Interests
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| To inform you of products and services that we think (or our marketing partners think) would be appealing to you, whether the goods or services are provided by us or by others and whether the goods are services are available via our Platform or via some other channel (including channels operated by third parties); this includes information in the form of recommendations and endorsements that Elizabeth might provide |
Your consent
Our Legitimate Interests
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| To track access to and use of our Platform, and conduct data and other analyses, including anonymization and aggregation of Personally Identifiable Information | Our Legitimate Interests |
| To perform internal administration, auditing, operation, and troubleshooting for our Platform | Our Legitimate Interests |
| To engage in the activities specified in Section 6 (How We Share This Information) |
Our Legitimate Interests Compliance with our legal obligations Performance and management of our agreement with you
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| To evaluate and improve our Platform and our communications, and to develop and test new services and content | Our Legitimate Interests |
| To comply with Applicable Law | Compliance with our legal obligations |
6. How We Share This Information
We value your privacy, and we share the information we collect only in the manner set out below.
6.1 Our Service Providers. We engage third parties to perform functions on our behalf, and these may include maintaining the Platform, collecting information, responding to and sending email or other messages, and other functions useful to our business. In this capacity, we may provide service providers with Personally Identifiable Information, Non-Personally Identifiable Information, and Anonymous Information as applicable. The following are examples:
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We use service providers (a) to fulfill your orders (where applicable), (b) to provide customer service (where applicable), (c) to process and distribute email, including Elizabeth’s email newsletter, (d) to process and display users’ blog posts; and (e) to manage promotions, special offers, and similar activities. These service providers generally require access to your Personally Identifiable Information in order to perform these services.
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We use analytics service providers to assist us in understanding and using Non-Personally Identifiable data. A service we use in this regard is Google Analytics, and information concerning how Google uses the information is available at https://policies.google.com/privacy/partners, and opt-out options specific to Google Analytics are available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
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We may use service providers to anonymize and aggregate Personally Identifiable Information in order to generate Anonymous Information.
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We may engage service providers to analyze the interests and attributes of our users and, using techniques based on Anonymous Information and Non-Personally Identifiable Information, identify others who might share those interests and attributes. We then use this information to reach out to relevant market segments to provide them information concerning the Platform.
We do not permit our service providers to use the information we give them for any purpose other than providing services to us.
6.2 Third Party Advertising. We may share Non-Personally Identifiable Information and Anonymous Information with third parties for their marketing purposes and activities. These marketing activities may take place on our Platform or via online services, mobile apps, traditional channels, and other methods independent of our Platform. These activities may involve a third party placing its cookies, beacons, and/or tags on our Platform, in the manner specified in Section 4.4 (Beacons and Tags) and 4.6 (Cookies). We do not sell or transfer your Personally Identifiable Information to, and do not share, swap, or exchange your Personally Identifiable Information with, any third party for such third party’s advertising or marketing purposes.
6.3 Questions of Harm; Legal Process. We may disclose your Personally Identifiable Information and Non-Personally Identifiable Information to third parties, including law enforcement agencies, attorneys, and private investigator organizations, where it is necessary, or where we have a good faith belief that it is necessary:
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To comply with legal process;
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To protect and defend our rights and property, including the Platform and associated content;
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To protect against misuse or unauthorized use of our Services;
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To protect the personal safety or property of Platform users or the public, including your personal safety or property (it being understood that we assume no duty to provide, or monitor the need for, such protections);
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To cooperate with public and government authorities including, where required, authorities outside your jurisdiction
While you are not able to opt out of this use of information, we will take reasonable steps to limit such use, and disclose only the information we reasonably believe is necessary for the above purposes. If we receive legal process calling for the disclosure of your Personally Identifiable Information, we will attempt to notify you within a reasonable amount of time, unless such notification is not permitted.
6.4 Transfer of the Platform. We shall be entitled to transfer information that we collect (including Personally Identifiable Information) to a third party in connection with a reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition (including a disposition in connection with a bankruptcy or similar proceedings) of all or substantially all assets or stock of the business unit or division responsible for the information under this privacy policy; provided the acquiring third party has agreed to safeguard your Personally Identifiable Information with protections that are compatible with those set out in this privacy policy.
7. How We Safeguard the Information We Collect
We recognize the sensitivity of our users’ Personally Identifiable information and we have put in place security systems designed to prevent unauthorized access to or disclosure of this information. Our security systems include physical, technical, and administrative information security controls, and we take commercially reasonable steps to secure and safeguard such Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with Applicable Law.
8. Our Retention of Data
We retain Personally Identifiable Information for the period of time necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we obtained the Personally Identifiable Information and consistent with Applicable Law. We use the following criteria to set our retention periods: (a) the duration of our relationship with you; (b) the existence of a legal obligation as to the retention period; and (c) the advisability of retaining the information in light of our legal position (for example, in light of applicable statutes of limitations, litigation, or regulatory investigations).
9. Accuracy And Minimization of Data
We take reasonable steps (a) to maintain the accuracy of the Personally Identifiable Information we process; and (b) to limit the Personally Identifiable Information that we process to that which is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which we obtained the information. In this regard, the Personally Identifiable Information reasonably required in order to provide our Services is your name and email address, and we limit our collection of Personally Identifiable Information accordingly.
10. Accessing And Updating Your Information
If you would like to review, correct, or update the Personally Identifiable Information that you have provided to us, or if you would like to request an electronic copy of this Personally Identifiable Information for purposes of transmitting it to another company (to the extent Applicable Law provides you with this right to data portability) you may make such requests by emailing us at info [at] theypromisedsnacks [dot] com.
11. Your Right To Opt-Out, Object To Processing, And Delete Information
11.1 Unsubscribing to Email. If you no longer wish to receive email messages from us, you can opt out of this Service by either (1) following the “unsubscribe” instructions located near the bottom of each email message, or (2) emailing us at info [at] theypromisedsnacks [dot] com.
11.2 Deleting Information. If you request, we will take reasonable steps to remove your name and email address from our databases, within the time frames (if any) set out in Applicable Law. Please understand, however, that if you request the deletion of your information, you will no longer be able to receive our Services. In addition, it may be impractical (or essentially impossible) to remove the requested information completely, due to requirements promulgated by Applicable Law, and/or data backups and records of deletions. As such, certain Personally Identifiable Information may remain in our databases following the deletion of your account; we will continue to treat the remaining information (if any) in accordance with this privacy policy.
11.3 Objections. If you object to our processing of your Personally Identifiable Information, and a request for us to delete this information is not, in your view, sufficient, please contact us as provided in Section 17 (Contact Us).
11.4 Anonymous Information. We will not delete Anonymous Information from our database, and nothing in this privacy policy restricts our use of Anonymous Information.
12. Advisory Regarding Participation By Children And Teens
Under U.S. Federal Law (as reflected in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), WE DO NOT COLLECT OR STORE ANY PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION FROM INDIVIDUALS THAT WE KNOW ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 13. If you wish further information concerning privacy policies in general, and concerning online social networking and safety, you should visit the following website: http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/index.html.
13. Relationship To Terms Of Use; Incorporation Of Terms Of Use
This privacy policy must be read in conjunction with our Terms of Service, and the provisions of our Terms of Service are incorporated herein. To the extent the Terms of Service conflict with the terms of this privacy policy, the terms of this privacy policy will control.
14. Notice Of Privacy Rights To California Residents
California law requires certain businesses to respond to requests from California users who ask about business practices related to disclosing Personally Identifiable Information to third parties for direct marketing purposes. The California “Shine the Light” law further requires us to allow California residents to opt out of certain disclosures of Personally Identifiable Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. As noted in Section 6.2 (Third Party Advertising), we do not disclose the Personally Identifiable Information we collect to third parties for advertising purposes.
15. Complaints
We want your feedback. If you have a suggestions on how we can improve our Services or complaints you would like us to address, please contact us at the address set out in Section 17 (Contact Us). If you are a California resident, you may report complaints to the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. Other states may provide similar avenues for lodging complaints. Please check with your state’s consumer protection authority.
16. Changes To This Privacy Policy
From time to time, we may change this privacy policy for our business purposes and to comply with changes in Applicable Law. In the event of any substantive or material changes, we will communicate these changes to you by posting the updated privacy policy on the Platform and/or notifying you of the change via the Platform, email, or other methods. Your continued use of the Platform following such notice constitutes your agreement to follow and be bound by the updated privacy policy.
17. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, the Platform, or your dealings with this Platform, please contact us. You may contact us, for any reason, using the contact information below:
18. Definitions
Below are definitions applicable throughout this privacy policy.
18.1 “Anonymous Information” has the meaning set out in Section 3.3 (Anonymous Information). If you are protected by the GDPR with respect to our use of your information, the term “Anonymous Information” has the same meaning as information generated by a “pseudonymisation” processes, as that term is defined under the GDPR.
18.2 “Applicable Law” means statutes, regulations, and any other laws that apply to the Website, the Services, or the Platform. For example, if you are protected by the GDPR with respect to our use of your information, the term “Applicable Law” includes the GDPR.
18.3 “GDPR” means the European Union General Data Protection Regulation.
18.4 “Legitimate Interest” means, for purposes of the GDPR, that there is a good reason for the processing your Personally Identifiable Information, and that the processing is carried out in a way that minimizes impacts (if any) on your privacy rights and interests. The term “Legitimate interest” also refers to our use of information in ways that you would reasonably expect, based on your relationship to us. For example, there is a Legitimate Interest in collecting and processing your Personally Identifiable Information: (a) to safeguard our Platform, networks, content, and related information and resources; (b) to administer and generally conduct our business; and (c) to prevent fraud.
18.5 “Non-Personally Identifiable Information” has meaning set out in Section 3.2 (Non-Personally Identifiable Information).
18.6 “Personally Identifiable Information” has meaning as set out in Section 3.1 (Personally Identifiable Information). If you are protected by the GDPR with respect to our use of your information, the term “Personally Identifiable Information” has the same meaning as the term “personal information” under the GDPR.
18.7 “Platform” has the meaning set out in the introductory paragraph.
18.8 “Services” has the meaning set out in the introductory paragraph.
18.9 “User-Generated Content” or “UGC” has the meaning set out in Section 4.2 (User-Generated Content).