PRIVACY POLICY
WHO WE ARE
SANDYJOE.COM PRIVACY POLICY – I take privacy very seriously. We live in a digital age where personal data is constantly being collected and accumulated by corporations (because it’s extremely valuable to them) without users being given a clear indication of house it’s being used. Or even how to opt-out for that matter. I’m not a web genius by any means, I’m just a person who started blogging over a decade ago and still feel like a newb when it comes to the back end of things. With that said, I am to create the best experience possible when visiting my site. In all transparency, this is my plebeian understanding of it all. Can you tell this isn’t a copy and pasted privacy policy? 😅
COOKIES
Many of the cookies associated with this site are only active when you’re viewing this site while logged into your wordpress account. If you leave a comment on this site you may opt-in to saving your name, email, and website in the web cookies. This is further outlined below in the section about comments. These are for your convenience so that you don’t have to fill in details again on future visits. Other cookies are from plugins and the general running of this site.
Here is the breakdown of the different types of cookies being used here:
REQUIRED COOKIES
Required cookies are essential for my website to perform basic functions and are necessary for it to operate certain features. This type of cookie allow registered users to authenticate and perform account-related functions. For example, a typical function is preferences set by users (account name, language, and location.)
ANALYTICS & PERFORMANCE COOKIES
Analytics & performance cookies allow me to optimize site performance by collecting information on how users interact with my websites. This includes which pages are visited most, as well as other analytical data. I use these details to improve how my website functions and to understand how users interact with it. For example, if traffic to a specific recipe post is high, I know that it’s a type of post people are interested in seeing. My future content plans are guided by those analytics. Another benefit of these cookies is their ability to speed up the loading time on my site for repeat users. Pages you’ve previously visited are cached in your browser and will load faster.
ADVERTISING Cookies
Advertising cookies are set by my ad partners to provide you with relevant content and to understand that content’s effectiveness. They may be used to collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites. These cookies allow a profile to be built about your interests as well as enable personalized ads to be shown to you based on your profile. If this is your personal nightmare come to life – there are many ways to manage this. One of which is opting out via: youradchoices.com through their Opt Out Form. Adjusting these settings will control your interest-based ad cookie options for all your web browsing. Not just on my site.
GOOGLE ADSENSE
So far Google Adsense is the only advertising platform I’ve used. Here is How Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps. To see their privacy policy and cookie gathering information visit: policies.google.com/technologies/ads
They also include step by step instructions on how to adjust your settings when it comes to advertisements. In addition to that, if you still want to receive ads based on interest, you can personalize your choices here: myadcenter.google.com
For a comprehensive overview about cookies, check out aboutcookies.org. It’s an excellent resource on how to manage cookies on all major browsers as well as other helpful tips.
EMBEDDED CONTENT & THIRD PARTIES
Posts on this site can include embedded content such as videos, images, ads, playlists, etc. Embedded content from another website behaves in exactly the same way it would if you had visited the original website directly.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content. As an example, I have several blog posts with embedded YouTube videos throughout my site. Watching one of those videos with trigger Google/YouTube to collect data via that embedded video if you’re already logged into your Google/YouTube account in the same web browser.
EMBEDDED SITES INCLUDE (BUT AREN’T LIMITED TO):
– YOUTUBE – Understanding the basics of privacy on YouTube apps
– GOOGLE ADSENSE – How Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps.
– GOOGLE ANALYTICS / SITE KIT – Google’s Privacy Policy
– REWARDSTYLE – LTK Privacy Policy
– SPOTIFY – Privacy Policy
Plugins on this site include (but aren’t limited to):
– WORDPRESS – wordpress.org Privacy Policy
– JETPACK – Privacy Policy
– ASKIMET – Privacy Policy
– ELEGANT THEMES – Divi Theme Policy
– YOAST SEO – Privacy Policy
– LOGINIZER – Privacy
PR & GIFTED ITEMS
As a long time blogger, I am often sent items in pr packages from brands and agencies. I am under no obligation to post about them and do so of my own choosing. These gifts can come in the form of products, services, and trips. For posts about gifted services and trips, it will be made clear in the body of the post. Gifts such as clothing, home decor, accessories, etc will be indicated with a “c/o” next to each item. As for cosmetics, I will do my best to label them properly though it’s difficult to keep track of purchases vs gifted items. If it’s a newer launch, I will be able to tell and indicate it.
SPONSORED CONTENT
While I primarily write and produce regular content of my own volition, there are the odd sponsored posts. In a perfect world, I could create content without relying on advertisers. Unfortunately, I’m not independently wealthy so sponsored posts are one way I’m able to continue to support myself. With that said, I only work with brands I truly use and believe in. This is why paid posts are few and far between. Sponsored posts will be clearly indicated within the body of a post.
AFFILIATE LINKS
Another way in which I am able to generate income is through affiliate linking. While I appreciate when anyone does use my links, it’s obviously not mandatory.
WHAT ARE AFFILIATE LINKS?
Affiliate links are a monetized product link that, when clicked, will give me a small commission if a purchase is made on the retailers site (for a limited amount of time) at no cost to you. However, there are many instances when a commission will not be generated from a link even though it’s an affiliate one. One example is when a user has previously clicked on another site’s affiliate link for the same store and is still within the cached cookies time limit.
The percentages for commission can vary from less than 1% to 25%. I’ve personally never seen anything higher than that, but I assume it’s possible. Not every link on this site is an active affiliate link since brands are constantly starting and stopping agreements with affiliate marketing sites.
RewardStyle / COLLECTIVE VOICE
My primary affiliate link provider is RewardStyle. However, I have used Collective Voice (formerly ShopStyle) in the past as well. Visit the links below for more information about both of their privacy policies.
company.shopltk.com/ltk-privacy-policy
company.shopltk.com/ltk-cookie-policy
HOW CAN I AVOID AFFILIATE LINKS?
Most linked products here are affiliate so it’s safe to assume as much. If this bothers you, I recommend clearing your cache regularly in your web browser. Or copy/paste the item name into a new tab. However, many of the top links in search engine results are sponsored too.
MONEY SAVING COUPON PLUGINS ARE AFFILIATE MARKETING TOO
In addition to top search engine results being sponsored, coupon plugins like Honey are also part of affiliate marketing but on a much larger scale. Honey is able to offer a “free” service because of the profit it generates through affiliate commissions they receive from merchants when you make purchases while using their plugin. I recently learned the term false affiliate attribution which is a form of fraud and precisely the business model of coupon plugins. An informative blog post can guide a reader on a purchasing decision. When that reader follows an affiliate link from the informative blog post but decides to use Honey, the commision from the merchant is given to Honey despite the blogger triggering the sale. The sale is falsely attributed to Honey even though the real affiliate was the blogger.
USE CASH AND LEAVE YOUR PHONE AT HOME
Shopping in store is the only way to truly avoid affiliate links / third party monetized transactions but even that can only be achieved under narrow circumstances. Pay with cash, no rewards program card, get the physical receipt, and leave your phone at home.
CREDIT CARDS ARE STALKING YOU
Credit card providers and banks not only track your spending habits but they sell that information too.
REWARD PROGRAMS ARE STALKING YOU
Rewards programs track your purchases use that information to further market to you from their brand or any subsidiaries. They can also sell that information to other companies. Also, it’s usually a ploy to insure you will be a loyal repeat customer.
COMPANIES, IN GENERAL, ARE STALKING YOU
Whenever you’re asked if you’d like a digital receipt, it’s not because the company is overly concerned for the environment. It’s a marketing tactic masquerading as a green initiative. The company will take your contact info and start gathering purchasing data in addition to adding you to their marketing contact list. Companies that are part of a conglomerate of businesses will then share your contact info with their other brands etc. Your email will be passed around and sold while your inbox will become a dumping ground for emails imploring you to BUY. I’d love to see the yearly carbon footprint from a large company’s marketing email list.
YOUR DEVICES ARE STALKING YOU
Our smart phones and watches are truly what they say they are: smart. They track our locations, daily habits, and lord knows what else in order to sell us shit too. This is called Proximity Marketing.
Nothing is truly sacred anymore and I hope I didn’t just ruin your day. ❤️
Discount Codes
On occasion, I do have discount codes included in my posts. Not all coupon codes are strictly affiliate related which means that not all of them result in compensation towards myself. I will do my best to explicitly identify and differentiate between them. The different versions could be discount codes that:
– I profit from with a commission
– Are result of a partnership with a brand via a sponsored paid post but no commissions
– Solely benefit the consumer and I am in no way profiting from
COMMENTS
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as the visitor’s IP address, browser user agent string. The latter being used to help with spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) are provided to the Gravatar and Askimet service to see if you’re using it.
After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment. If you don’t have a profile, it will show up as a stock avatar.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT:
Gravatar service privacy policy
automattic.com/privacy/
Askimet screening service privacy policy
akismet.com/privacy
MEDIA
The majority of the media created and posted on this site is solely made by myself, Sandy Joe Karpetz, and is copyright. If an outsourced image is used, it will be clearly credited to the source. If you are interested in using my images, likeness, words, or any other asset I’ve created, contact me for permission.
WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS ON YOUR DATA
Requests for the removal/deletion of old comments you’ve left and the associated data attached to them can be sent via my contact page. In addition to that, if you have any questions related to personal data / cookies that haven’t been addressed to your satisfaction, please feel free to reach out as well.
For more details on your choices regarding use of your web browsing activity for interest-based advertising check out youradchoices.com
