Who I am
My name is Lauren Spear. My website address is: https://littlezotz.com
What personal data I collect and why I collect it
Comments
When visitors leave comments on LittleZotz.com I collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to LittleZotz.com, 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.
Contact forms
I use WPForms for my contact forms. I request users submit their email address only so I’ll have a way to write back to them. I don’t use/sell/share visitors’ email addresses.
Some contact forms may have an option for visitors to subscribe to my newsletter (sent using MailChimp). This is completely up to the visitor to subscribe and they will never be automatically subscribed to any list. To be extra sure that visitors didn’t accidentally opt-in, they’ll be sent an email via MailChimp to confirm that they do, indeed, want to hear from me.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on my site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit my login page, a temporary cookie is set to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we’ll also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may occasionally include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, social media feeds, 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.
Analytics
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.
For users that register on my website (if any), I also store the personal information they provide in their user profiles. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on LittleZotz.com, or have left comments, 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 erase any personal data I hold about you. This does not include any data I’m obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where I send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
I also tell advertisers (if any) how many clicks their ad received (if any) in the timeframe their ad was posted on LittleZotz.com (this information is anonymous and purely traffic/click numbers, and does not reflect who clicked what/when).
Your contact information
I never share or sell visitors’ personal information to anyone at any time.
LittleZotz.com authors choose exactly what information they want to be shown in their author profiles as they write/provide/edit that information themselves. By default, I keep authors/forum members’ personal information hidden — and encourage safety first! — but users are free to share what they want.
Additional information
What third parties I receive data from
I use Monster Insights/Google Analytics to receive information about my website’s traffic, traffic sources, keywords, and most popular content/pages. That sounds kinda scary and invasive, but it’s actually really basic and almost completely anonymous. Here’s what that looks like:
As shown in the photos above (screencapped March 2020), I can view how much traffic I’m getting to LittleZotz.com, how many people are new vs. returning readers, approximately which countries they came from, and which websites referred them here. I can’t see specifically who visited my website or their exact location.
My Affiliates
In order to fund LittleZotz.com, I have several sponsors/affiliate brands that I recommend. If a visitor clicks on one of my affiliate links, they’ll be taken to the affiliate’s (third-party) website. Each affiliate/sponsor/website has its own tracking/analytics/privacy policies, not connected with LittleZotz.com.
I label each and every affiliate link as an affiliate link so visitors are always aware what they’re getting themselves into.
Thus far, my affiliate brands are:
- ARK Therapeutic
KISS USA/imPRESS/JOAH- Papa & Barkley CBD
- GlassesShop.com
OneOdio Acoustic Technology Co.- Amazon Associates
I also link to my Ko-Fi page and PayPal account (to accept tips/donations), to YouTube videos, and to my social media profiles. As with my affiliates/sponsors, these third-party websites have their own tracking methods and privacy policies.
Updates
This page was last updated in July 2023. If/when any changes are made, I’ll update this space to reflect that information.
If you’re skeptical and think I forgot to update this page, feel free to give me a nudge — but, far more likely, nothing has changed. I love my website plugins, my affiliates/sponsors, and feel confident in my overall policies. I don’t anticipate needing to update this page very often. 🙂