Privacy Policy

http://thechocolatecult.blogspot.com/ Privacy Policy

This privacy policy has been compiled to better serve those who are concerned with how their 'Personally identifiable information' (PII) is being used online. PII, as used in US privacy law and information security, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context. Please read our privacy policy carefully to get a clear understanding of how we collect, use, protect or otherwise handle your Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with our website.

The Chocolate Cult and Third Parties

This policy will use the words "we," "us," and "our" to refer to The Chocolate Cult, its writers, and its administrators.  So when you read about what we at the Chocolate Cult do in the sections below, keep in mind that this refers only to us.

We are not responsible for the actions of third parties, but we do want to help you understand how their actions may affect your privacy.  This blog is on Blogger, which is owned by Google, so Google's privacy issues are inextricably linked with ours.  Therefore, please refer to the "Third Party Privacy Issues" and "Google" sections below for more information about how they might collect and handle your personal information.

What personal information do we collect from the people that visit our blog?

At The Chocolate Cult, we do not require that our readers submit personal information. You can visit and read The Chocolate Cult completely anonymously if you like.

However, in order to respond to a blog post, you must be a registered user of Blogger or have an OpenID identity.  Please see the "Third Party Privacy Issues" section below for more information and links to their privacy policies.

If you register to win a giveaway or contest, we use Rafflecopter to administer those.  This third-party provider has its own privacy policies that may affect you.  Please see the "Third Party Privacy Issues" section below for more information.

We do use Google Analytics to collect statistics about page visits and Google AdSense to show advertisements to visitors.  Please see the "Google" section below for more information.

When do we collect information?

We collect information from you when you respond to a blog post or enter a giveaway or contest.

Google Analytics and Google AdSense record some information whenever you visit, though, so please see the "Google" section below for more information.

How do we use your information?

If you respond to a blog post, we may contact you privately at our discretion, but we will not send you unsolicited information unrelated to the contact.

If you enter a contest or giveaway, you accept that you might win, and if you win, we will have to contact you about how to claim your prize and provide some of your contact information to the prize provider.

How do we protect visitor information?

We do not store personal information.

Blogger's handling of visitor information is covered by its own policies; please see the "Google" section below for more information.

Do we use 'cookies'?

"Browser cookies" or just "cookies" are small amounts of information that web servers on the Internet can ask your browser to store for them, and your browser will only allow that same server to retrieve them.  Some sites may, for example, ask your browser to store the date and time of the last time you accessed the site.  We do not use cookies for tracking purposes.  Blogger, AdSense and Analytics may use them; please see the "Third Party Privacy Issues" and "Google" sections below for more information.

You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser (like Internet Explorer) settings. Each browser is a little different, so look at your browser's Help menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies.

If you disable cookies, some features will be disabled that make our site experience more efficient, and some of our services will not function properly.

Third Party Disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information unless we provide you with advance notice. This does not include website hosting partners and other parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others' rights, property, or safety.

However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.

Third party links

Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our website. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.

Google

We use Google Analytics to obtain statistical aggregate information about visitors to this blog.  We also use Google AdSense Advertising, but we do not have it linked to Google Analytics.  We do not use display advertiser features such as demographics and interest reports, nor do we use Google Display Network impression reporting.

Google's advertising requirements can be summed up by Google's Advertising Principles. They are put in place to provide a positive experience for users. https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/1316548?hl=en

Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our users based on their visits to our site and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

We, along with third-party vendors such as Google, use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) or other third-party identifiers together to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions, and other ad service functions as they relate to our website.

Opting out:

Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising initiative opt out page or permanently using the Google Analytics Opt Out Browser add on.

COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act)

When it comes to the collection of personal information from children under 13, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts parents in control. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule, which spells out what operators of websites and online services must do to protect children's privacy and safety online.

We do not specifically market to children under 13.

Fair Information Practices

The Fair Information Practices Principles form the backbone of privacy law in the United States and the concepts they include have played a significant role in the development of data protection laws around the globe. Understanding the Fair Information Practice Principles and how they should be implemented is critical to comply with the various privacy laws that protect personal information.

As we do not store any personal user information, there is no way for our data to be breached.  However, if Blogger or Google experiences a data breach and reports it to us, in order to be in line with Fair Information Practices, we will post a public notification within 1 business day.

We also agree to the individual redress principle, which requires that individuals have a right to pursue legally enforceable rights against data collectors and processors who fail to adhere to the law. This principle requires not only that individuals have enforceable rights against data users, but also that individuals have recourse to courts or a government agency to investigate and/or prosecute non-compliance by data processors.

Third Party Privacy Issues

This is a Blogger blog, and as such Blogger has its own privacy policy that you might want to check out. It is possible to reply to blog posts using an OpenID identity, so if you use it, you may want to check out OpenID's privacy policy.  Ads from Foodie Blogroll also have their own privacy policy they follow, so please check them out if you are concerned. When we run a giveaway using Rafflecopter they have their own privacy policy you might want to check out. Our FlagCounter app tracks IP addresses so we can see how many readers are from which nations. Otherwise The Chocolate Cult does not track your information, because we are trying to help you make better chocolate choices, not sell you products.

Contacting Us

If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy you may contact us using the information below.

http://thechocolatecult.blogspot.com/
thetammyjo@gmail.com

The Chocolate Cult
3532 E Park Ln
Bloomington, Indiana, USA 47408

Last Edited on 2023-11-27