Who we are

Our Blog address is: https://merrielm.com.

Purpose of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy aims to inform you about personally identifiable information that may be collected by merrielm.com and how it may be used. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it.

Merrielm.com does not share with third-parties any personal information about your visit to this Blog other than would be required to analyse and optimise content to enhance your reading experience through the use of cookies. We will log your IP address, operating system type, browser type, referring website, pages you viewed, and the dates and times that you visited the Blog. Information about actions you take when using the Website, such as links clicked, may also be collected.

Cookies

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings. We may use both session cookies, which expire when you close your browser, and persistent cookies, which stay on your browser until deleted, to provide you with a more personalised experience on the Blog.

If you leave a comment on our 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 our login page (if any), we will set a temporary cookie 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 will 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 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.

Merrielm.com uses Google Analytics to track Blog usage and provide information such as referring websites and user actions on the Blog. Google Analytics may capture your IP address, but not your name, email address or other personal information. You may opt out of Google Analytics by clicking here.

Advertising

Merrielm.com uses third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Blog. These companies may use aggregated information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Websites in order to provide advertisements (Display Ads) about goods and services relevant to your interests. This Blog may also engage in re-marketing efforts with third-party companies, such as Google, Facebook, or Instagram. Based on your previous visits to the Website, these companies use cookies to serve ads to you on their platforms. If you would like to know more, please see: http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp. You may opt out of the Google Ad Network (Double Click) by clicking here.

Affiliate Links

Merrielm.com may also provide links to products and services available for purchase on external websites. Each product has been individually and independently selected for promotion by Merrielm.com. If you click on a link and subsequently make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

Communication

You may voluntarily submit your name or email address on this Website by leaving a comment, subscribing to a newsletter, or submitting a contact form. We may share your information with third parties when you explicitly authorise us to share your information.

Email Addresses

We may collect your email address, but only if you voluntarily provide it to us. This may occur, for example, if you sign up to receive an email newsletter, or enter a promotion. We will use your email address for the purposes for which you provided it to us, and also from time to time to send you emails regarding the Blog or other products or services that we believe may be of interest to you. You may opt out of such email communications at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” button in the email.

Your email address may also be shared with the technology provider we use in connection with the purposes for which you provided it, and that technology provider may also contact you from time to time. 

Merrielm.com uses ConvertKit for delivery of email updates and newsletters. We store your name and email address which you provide voluntarily, for purposes of delivering such communications. Please refer to ConvertKit’s privacy policy for further information.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the Blog we 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 anonymised 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 the Blog, 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 Blog.

Keeping Your information Secure

Merriellm.com supports The EU’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for a safe and secure browsing experience across the Internet which came into effect May 25, 2018. In addition to the above, we have implemented security measures we consider reasonable and appropriate to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. Please be advised, however, that while we strive to protect your personally identifiable information and privacy, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you disclose or transmit to us online and are not responsible for the theft, destruction or inadvertent disclosure of your personally identifiable information. In the event that your “personally identifiable information” (as the term or similar terms are defined by any applicable law requiring notice upon a security breach) is compromised, we may notify you by email (in our sole and absolute discretion) to the last email address you have provided to us in the most expedient time reasonable under the circumstances; provided, however, delays in notification may occur while we take necessary measures to determine the scope of the breach and restore reasonable integrity to the system, as well as for the legitimate needs of law enforcement if notification would impede a criminal investigation.

With whom do we share your data

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

Where your data is sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognise and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. 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 this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Disclaimer

This list of services supplied by merrielm.com and third-party providers used by the Blog may be amended from time to time in the Blog’s sole discretion.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on June 25, 2023. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly at erin@merrielm.com.