Who I Am

This privacy policy is for my website, https://girlinthetiara.com.

Purpose

As the owner of this website, I make every effort to protect your privacy. On this page, I’ll explain the obligations & requirements of the user (that’s you), the website (https://girlinthetiara.com), and the website owner (that’s me) so we can stay as safe and sane as possible. In my case, this is probably a lost cause, but I still have high hopes for you.

I’ll also do my best to explain the way my site processes, stores, and protects user data and information. For the purposes of the GDPR, I am this website’s Data Controller. I am also the Chief Tiara Wearer, which isn’t saying much since both of my tiaras are cheap knockoffs from eBay. Still, it’s a start.

Personal Data Collected

Mailing List

Signing up for this is completely voluntary. To sign up, I only require an email address and a first name. I’ll never know if you use a fake name - feel free to do this if you don’t want me to call you by your real name. I will, however, call you by that name when I email you, so choose wisely.

My mailing list is run through MailerLite. As of May 2018, they are fully compliant with the latest GDPR requirements. If you want to be on my mailing list but don’t want to use the automated form, you can use the contact form on my site and give me your permission to add you to my list. I will save a PDF of that email as a record of your permission. I will then delete the original email to prevent data loss if my email account is ever hacked.

All subscriptions and communications regarding subscription details comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. Every email will have an unsubscribe link at the bottom. No personal details are shared or passed on to third parties. Period. You can read MailerLite’s privacy policy here.

Thanks to the lovely folks at MailerLite, the email newsletters I send you may track certain activities, including whether you opened the email and which links (if any) you clicked. This activity is stored in a MailerLite database, so I can view stats that tell me how uninteresting I am to my subscribers. This information is only used to refine future email sends so I can provide you with more relevant content based on your activity. You have the right to unsubscribe or request full deletion of your information at any time. You can unsubscribe via the link in the bottom of any email I send you. You can also email me via the contact form on my website to request full deletion of your subscriber information. I will then delete you from my MailerLite subscriber list.

Comments

When you leave a comment on the site, I collect the data you enter in the comment form, your IP address, and browser user agent string to help spam detection. If you’d rather not be identified, you can submit made-up information.

Contact Forms

Using this site’s contact form is completely voluntary. It requires an email address and a name, but if you don’t want a reply, you could always enter a false name and email address and I’d still get your message.

Every effort has been made to ensure the contact form is safe and secure, but please be aware that any use of that form is at your own risk.

Cookies

If you leave a comment, you can opt-in to save your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so you don’t have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, 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.

What Do I Do With Your Data?

I use your data to respond to comments and questions delivered through my contact form. If you signed up for my mailing list, I will email you with interesting royal stories every two weeks.

Site visitors' comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service before they go live.

I do not use the Facebook tracking pixel or Google Analytics or any on-site advertising at all.

How Long Do 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.

If you sign up for my mailing list, my mailing list service provider (MailerLite) retains your data as long as you choose to remain subscribed.

What Rights Do You Have Over Your Data?

If you have left comments on this site, 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 am obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes. You can do this by emailing me using the contact form on this site.

Additional Information

How I protect your data

I maintain electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with the GDPR to protect your data from accidental loss as well as unauthorized access, use, and disclosure. That being said, no one can 100% ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted online. I will take all reasonable steps to prevent this, but please be aware there are always risks.

For example, the contact form on my site DOES NOT store the information entered into my database. As soon as you submit that form, the entered information is only contained in the body of that email.

If you live in the European Union and choose to provide any personal info, it will be processed outside the European Economic Area (such as in the United States, where I live), and this may not provide the same level of data protection as in your jurisdiction.

Affiliate & Referral Links

This website may contain referral and/or affiliate links. The purpose of a referral/affiliate link is to reward the person who posted the link (usually monetarily) if the link clicker purchases a product at the destination URL. A common affiliate program is Amazon.com, which pays website owners a small commission for any items you purchase on Amazon when you click through from my site. Here is a current list of sites and products for which I’m an affiliate:

• Amazon. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

If I post a referral/affiliate link, I will always specify this is the case. This may appear in any or all of the following ways:

• In a parenthetical citation in a blog post or page
• In a tag that appears when you hover over a link
• In a disclaimer at the bottom of a blog post or page with any affiliate links
• At the top of a blog post or page with any affiliate links

Click these links at your discretion. I have no employment history or affiliation with Amazon or other affiliate program provider. I do not receive any identifying information about you. Honestly, I’ve never made a dime from affiliate programs, so I don’t know what happens when they work. Amazon’s program documentation tells me that I will only see a report of items purchased by people who clicked through from my site, and a total amount I will be paid as commission. I won’t know who purchased the item or have any identifying information about them. If you click an affiliate link, the price of any items you purchase at the destination site does not change. The destination site will simply reward me with a small percentage of their profit based on your total purchase amount.

Social Media

I include social media sharing buttons on this website to help users (that’s you) share my content directly from this site to selected social media platforms. My sharing buttons are NOT third-party plugin buttons, which is one more step I’ve made to keep your data out of the hands of unnecessary third parties. Although I would looooove for you to share my work, please use these social sharing buttons at your own risk. Be aware that the social network may track and save your request to share a web page through your account with that that social media platform. Use social media wisely and abide by all terms and conditions of use posted by the networks you wish to participate in.

My Contact Information

You can send me any questions or comments about this policy using the contact form on this site.

What’s Next?

Check out the blog for fascinating stories about royal women and their tiaras. And don’t forget to join my mailing list to get Grand Duchess Louise of Baden’s meatloaf recipe! It's finger-lickin’ good.