Christine L Smith is operated by Christne Smith. Contact Email: [email protected]
As the operator of this blog, we are the Data Controller for purposes of GDPR and a Business for purposes of CCPA/CPRA and CalOPPA, responsible for the processing of any personal data collected through your visit to our site.
While we do not directly ask for or collect personal identifying information such as names, email addresses, postal addresses, or phone numbers from our visitors, certain data collected automatically by our third-party services is considered “personal data” under GDPR and “Personal Information” under CalOPPA, CCPA, and CPRA. This includes:
Online Identifiers: IP addresses (anonymized where possible), cookie identifiers, and other unique identifiers generated by Google Analytics and our affiliate partners.
Device Information: Browser type, operating system, and device type.
Usage Data: Information about how you interact with our blog, such as pages visited, time spent on pages, referral sources, and clicks on links (including affiliate links).
Internet Activity Information: Browse history on our site, search history on our site, and information regarding a consumer’s interaction with our website, application, or advertisement.
Sensitive Personal Information (SPI): We do not intentionally collect any “Sensitive Personal Information” as defined by CPRA (e.g., precise geolocation, financial account credentials, racial or ethnic origin, health information).
We process the personal data mentioned above for the following purposes, relying on the specified lawful bases under GDPR and legitimate business purposes under CalOPPA, CCPA, and CPRA:
Website Analytics (Google Analytics):
Purpose: To understand how visitors use our blog, identify popular content, improve website performance, and enhance user experience. This helps us make our content more relevant and useful.
Personal Data Processed: IP addresses (anonymized where possible), cookie identifiers, usage data, device information, and internet activity information.
Lawful Basis (GDPR):
Consent (for non-essential cookies): For the placement of Google Analytics cookies that are not strictly necessary for the functioning of the site, we rely on your explicit consent. This consent is obtained via a cookie consent banner. You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time.
Legitimate Interest (for minimal, aggregated data): For aggregated, anonymized analytics data that does not allow for individual identification, we may rely on our legitimate interest to monitor and improve our website’s performance and security.
Affiliate Marketing:
Purpose: To earn commissions when visitors purchase products through our affiliate links, which helps support the maintenance and content creation for this blog.
Personal Data Processed: Cookie identifiers (placed by affiliate networks to track referrals), sometimes IP addresses (used by affiliate networks for fraud prevention and tracking).
Lawful Basis (GDPR):
Consent (for most affiliate cookies): Most affiliate cookies are not strictly necessary for the core functionality of the blog and are primarily for tracking and marketing purposes. Therefore, we rely on your explicit consent for the placement of these cookies, obtained via our cookie consent banner. You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time.
What this means for you: When you click an affiliate link, a cookie may be placed by the affiliate partner. This cookie helps them attribute a purchase to our blog, allowing us to earn a commission. We do not receive any personal identifying information about your purchase from the affiliate partner. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party merchants you visit via our affiliate links, as their data collection and usage will be governed by their own privacy policies.
Under CCPA/CPRA, the “sale” of Personal Information is broadly defined to include transferring personal information for monetary or other valuable consideration. “Sharing” refers to disclosing personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
We do not “sell” your Personal Information in the traditional sense for monetary compensation.
We may “share” your Personal Information (e.g., cookie identifiers, IP addresses) through our use of Google Analytics for analytics purposes, which may be considered “sharing” for cross-context behavioral advertising under CPRA as it aids in understanding user behavior across different sites for advertising optimization.
Our affiliate marketing activities primarily involve you clicking a link which then takes you to a third-party merchant. While a cookie is set by the merchant or their affiliate network, we do not directly “sell” or “share” your Personal Information to these merchants or networks beyond this referral mechanism.
Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing: If you are a California resident, you have the right to opt-out of the “sale” or “sharing” of your personal information. We respect the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. If we detect a GPC signal from your browser, we will process it as a request to opt-out of the “sale” or “sharing” of your Personal Information.
CalOPPA requires us to disclose how our site responds to “Do Not Track” (DNT) signals.
We do not currently respond to “Do Not Track” (DNT) signals. This means that third parties may collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites when you visit our blog.
However, please note that we do respect the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a universal opt-out for California residents, as stated in Section 4. For non-California residents, and for managing all cookies, you can manage your preferences through our cookie consent banner or your browser settings, as detailed in Section 6.
Our blog uses cookies. Cookies are small text files placed on your device to help the site provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information, and provide anonymized tracking data to third-party applications like Google Analytics.
Types of Cookies Used:
Strictly Necessary Cookies: These cookies are essential for the website to function correctly (e.g., remembering your cookie consent preferences). They do not collect personal data and do not require consent.
Analytics Cookies: Used by Google Analytics to collect information about how visitors use our blog.
Affiliate/Advertising Cookies: Used by our affiliate partners to track referrals and attribute commissions.
Managing Your Cookie Preferences: You can change or withdraw your consent at any time by managing your browser settings. There you can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options. Please note that disabling cookies may affect your ability to interact with our blog and other websites.
We retain the non-personal and pseudonymized data collected via Google Analytics for a period consistent with Google’s data retention policies, typically up to 26 months, unless a shorter period is set. Affiliate cookie data retention is managed by the respective affiliate networks in accordance with their own policies.
In accordance with CPRA, we will retain Personal Information only for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, as outlined in this Privacy Policy. We do not retain Personal Information for longer than is necessary for our stated purposes.
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK, or California, you have certain rights regarding your personal data/information. We are committed to upholding these rights:
The Right to Be Informed: You have the right to know how your personal data is collected and used.
The Right of Access: You have the right to request copies of your personal data that we hold (primarily pseudonymized data in our case).
The Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete information.
The Right to Erasure (“Right to Be Forgotten”): You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
The Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
The Right to Object to Processing: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions (e.g., processing based on legitimate interest).
The Right to Data Portability: You have the right to request that we transfer your data to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
The Right to Lodge a Complaint with a Supervisory Authority: You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority in your country of residence if you believe your rights have been violated.
In addition to the rights above, if you are a California resident, you have the following specific rights:
Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and “sell” or “share.” This includes:
The categories of personal information we have collected about you.
The categories of sources from which the personal information is collected.
The business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information.
The categories of third parties to whom we disclose personal information.
The specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.
Right to Delete: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal information collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing: As described in Section 4, you have the right to direct us not to “sell” or “share” your personal information. We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a valid opt-out request.
Right to Correct Inaccurate Personal Information: You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information that we maintain about you.
Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information: As we do not collect Sensitive Personal Information, this right is not directly applicable.
Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA/CPRA rights.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided below. We will verify your request using reasonable methods, which may include matching information you provide with information we already have on file.
Our blog contains links to other websites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.
Our blog is not directed to children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data/information from children under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe that Christine L Smith has collected personal data/information from a child under 16 without your consent, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to remove that information from our servers.
As we use Google Analytics, data may be transferred to and processed in the United States, where Google LLC is based. When personal data is transferred outside the EEA/UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission, to protect your data as required by GDPR.
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Effective Date” at the top. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, your data protection rights, or our data processing practices, please contact us:
Email: [email protected]