PRIVACY NOTICE

Last updated July 2024
 

Privacy Policy — Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at Ask The Stubborn Optimist (“Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our“). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. So, if you have any questions or concerns with regard to your personal information, please contact us at sara@askthestubbornoptimist.com

 

This privacy notice describes how we might use your information if you:

 
  • Engage with us in other related ways ― including any sales, marketing, or events

In this privacy notice, if we refer to:

  • “Website,” we are referring to any website of ours that references or links to this policy.
 
  • “Services,” we are referring to our Website, and other related services, including any sales, marketing, or events.
The goal of this privacy notice is to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have in relation to it. So, if there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please end the use of our Services right away.
 

Please read this privacy notice carefully, as it will help you understand what we do with the information that we collect.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

Personal Information You Disclose to Us.

In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.
 

We collect personal information that you freely provide to us. This includes when you register on the Website, express an interest in gaining information about us, when you take part in activities on the Website, or when you otherwise contact us.

 
We receive your email address and your first name unless you include more information by choice. We will not contact you unless you have expressed explicit interest in being a subscriber and receiving email communication from us.
 
If you at any point want to withdraw your information and/or stop receiving email notifications from us, please send us an email at sara@askthestubbornoptimist.com and we will satisfy our request.
 
Therefore, all personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate. Additionally, please notify us of any changes to such personal information.
 
In Short:  Some information — such as your browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Website.
 
We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the Website. Despite this, the information does not reveal your specific identity but may include device and usage information. For example, this may be your browser and device details (for instance, mobile or desktop), operating system, or language preferences. It may also be your country, information about how and when you use our Website, and other technical information.
 
Furthermore, this information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Website, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.
 

The information we collect includes:

  • Log and Usage Data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information. Our servers automatically collect this data when you access or use our Website which we record in log files. As a result and depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your device information, browser type, and information about your website activity.
  • Location Data. We collect location data such as information about your device’s location, which can be either specific or not so specific. Furthermore, how much information we collect depends on the type and settings of the device you use to access the Website. For example, we may use GPS and other technologies to collect data that tells us your current location/country. You can also opt out of allowing us to collect this information. You can do this by either refusing access to the information or by disabling your Location setting on your device.
 

2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short:  We process your information for purposes based on real business interests, the fulfillment of our contract with you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent.
 
We use personal information collected via our Website for a variety of business purposes described below. Your personal information is used for real business interests. For example, in order to enter into a contract with you, with your consent, and/or for compliance with our legal duties. See the specific processing grounds we rely on next to each purpose listed below.
 

We use the information we collect or receive:

  • Request feedback.

    • We may use your information to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Website.

  • To enable user-to-user communications.

    • We may also use your information in order to enable user-to-user communications with each user’s consent.

  • To manage user accounts.

    • Likewise, may use your information for the purposes of managing our account and keeping it in working order.

  • To send administrative information to you.

    • Additionally, we may use your personal information to send you product, service, and new feature information. We may also send you information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.

  • To protect our Services.

    • Further, we may use your information as part of our efforts to keep our Website safe and secure.

  • To enforce our terms, conditions, and policies for business purposes, to comply with legal requirements, or in connection with our contract.

  • To respond to legal requests and prevent harm. 

    • If we receive a legal request, we may need to inspect the data we hold to determine how to respond.

  • Administer prize draws and competitions.

    • Further, we may use your information to carry out prize draws and competitions when you participate in our competitions.

  • To deliver and facilitate the delivery of services to the user.

    • We may use your information to provide you with the requested service.

  • To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users.

    • We may then use your information to respond to your questions and solve any potential issues you might have with the use of our Services.

  • To send you marketing and promotional communications.

    • We and our third-party marketing partners may use the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes. Due to this, you can opt out of our marketing emails at any time. We use MailChimp to create our email campaigns.
  • Deliver targeted advertising to you. 
    • We may also use your information to develop and display personalized content and advertising based on your interests and/or location and to measure its effectiveness.

  • For other business purposes. 

    • Finally, we may use your information for other business purposes such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, and determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns. Due to this, we are able to evaluate and improve our Website, products, marketing, and your experience.

3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?

In Short:  We only share information with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services, to protect your rights, or to fulfill business obligations.
 
We may process or share the data that we hold based on the following legal basis:
  • Consent: We may process your data if you have given us approval to use your personal information for a specific purpose.
  • Legitimate Interests: We may also process your data when it is reasonably necessary to achieve our real business interests.
  • Performance of a Contract: Where we have entered into a contract with you, we may process your personal information to satisfy the terms of our contract.
  • Legal Obligations: We may reveal your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process.
  • Vital Interests: We may also disclose your information where we believe it is necessary. For instance, if we need to look into, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies or suspected fraud. This may also include situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in a legal case in which we are involved.

More specifically, we may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:

  • Vendors, Consultants, and Other Third-Party Service Providers. We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf. Accordingly, they require access to such information to do that work. Examples include payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service, and marketing efforts. We may allow certain third parties to use tracking technology on the Website. In short, this will allow them to collect data on our behalf about how you interact with our Website. Specifically, this information is used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, pages, or features, and better understand online activity.
  • Safeguard Your Personal Information. We do not share, sell, rent, or trade any of your information with third parties for their promotional purposes. We have contracts in place with our data processors, which are designed to help safeguard your personal information. So, this means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we tell them to do so. They will also not share your personal information with any organization apart from us. Furthermore, they commit to protect the data they hold on our behalf and to retain it for the period we decide.
  • Third-Party Advertisers. We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit or use the Website. These companies may then use information about your visits to our Website and other websites that are contained in web cookies and other tracking technologies. Furthermore, they do this in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you.

4. WHO WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH?     

In Short:  We only share information with the following third parties.
 
We only share and disclose your information with the following third parties. If we have processed your data based on your consent and you wish to revoke your consent, please then contact us using the contact details provided in the section below.

  • Advertising, Direct Marketing, and Lead Generation

Google AdSense

  • Communicate and Chat with Users

MailChimp
 
  • Data Backup and Security
Google Drive Backup

  • Functionality and Infrastructure Optimization

Google Cloud Storage, AWS
 
  • Web and Mobile Analytics
Google Analytics, WordPress Stats

  • Website Hosting

WordPress.com

  • Website Testing

Google Website Optimizer, Jetpack, Hummingbird
 

5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

In Short:  We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law.
 
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice. That is unless a longer holding period is required or permitted by law. Next, no purpose in this notice will require us to keep your personal information for longer than the period of time in which users wish to interact with us.
 
Finally, when we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will delete such information. However, if this is not possible, then we will securely store your personal information and keep it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
 

6. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

In Short:  We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.
 
We have added appropriate technical and organizational security designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security, and then improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information.
 
Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, communication of personal information to and from our Website is at your own risk. For this reason, you should only access the Website within a secure environment.
 

7. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short:  In some regions, such as the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK), you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or cancel your account at any time.
 
In some regions (like the EEA and UK), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; and (iv) if applicable, to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. To make such a request, please use the contact details provided below. Then we will consider and act upon any request in agreement with related data protection laws.
 
Additionally, we are relying on your consent to process your personal information. You have the right to remove your consent at any time. Please note however that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal. It will also not affect the processing of your personal information due to lawful processing grounds other than consent.
 
If you are a resident in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: https://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm.

If you are a resident of Switzerland, the contact details for the data protection authorities are available here: https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html.

If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at sara@askthestubbornoptimist.com.
 

Account Information

If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can:
  • Contact us using the contact information provided.
Upon your request to cancel your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, we may keep some information in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, enforce our Terms of Use, and/or comply with related legal requirements or investigations.
 
Opting out of email marketing: You can unsubscribe from our marketing email list at any time. First, click on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send or contact us using the details provided below. You will then be removed from the marketing email list.
 
However, we may still communicate with you. For example to send you service-related emails that are necessary for the administration and use of your account, to respond to service requests, or for other non-marketing purposes. To otherwise opt-out, you may:
  • Email us at sara@askthestubbornoptimist.com

8. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

Most web browsers, some mobile operating systems, and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track (DNT) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference to not collect and monitor data about your online browsing activities. At this stage, no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized.
 
As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. So, if a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice. 

9. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

In Short:  Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.
 
California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge. For instance, this can be information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes. Our users may also request and obtain the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.
 
If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Website, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Website. To request removal of such data, first please contact us using the contact information provided below. Next, please also include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. Then, we will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Website. However, please be aware that the data may not be completely removed from all our systems (e.g. backups, etc.).
 

CCPA Privacy Notice

The California Code of Regulations defines a “resident” as:
 
(1) every individual who is in the State of California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose.
(2) every individual who is domiciled in the State of California who is outside the State of California for a temporary or transitory purpose.
 
All other individuals are defined as “non-residents.”
 
If this definition of “resident” applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal information.
 

What categories of personal information do we collect?

 
We have collected the following categories of personal information in the past twelve (12) months:
 
Category Examples Collected

A. Identifiers
Contact details, such as real name, alias, postal address, telephone, mobile contact number, or email address.
 
YES
 

B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute
Name and contact information.
 
YES
 

C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law
Gender and date of birth.
 
YES
 

D. Commercial information
Transaction information, purchase history, financial details, and payment information.
 
NO
 

E. Biometric information
Fingerprints and voiceprints.
 
NO
 

F. Internet or other similar network activity
Browsing history, search history, online behavior, interest data, and interactions with our and other websites. Also applications, systems, and advertisements.
 
YES
 

G. Geolocation data
Device location.
 
YES
 

H. Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information
Images and audio, video or call recordings created in connection with our business activities.
 
NO
 

I. Professional or employment-related information
Business contact details in order to provide you with our services at a business level. Could be job title as well as work history and professional qualifications if you apply for a job with us.
 
YES
 

J. Education Information
Student records and directory information.
 
NO
 

K. Inferences drawn from other personal information
Inferences are drawn from any of the collected personal information listed above to create a profile or summary. For example, an individual’s preferences and characteristics.
 
NO
 
 
 
We may also collect other personal information outside of these categories in instances where you interact with us in-person, online, or by phone or mail in the context of:
  • Receiving help through our customer support channels.
 
  • Participation in customer surveys or contests.
 
  • Facilitation in the delivery of our Services and to respond to your inquiries.
 
 
You may contact us by email at sara@askthestubbornoptimist.com.
 
If you are using an authorized agent to exercise your right to opt-out we may deny a request if the authorized agent does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf.
 

Will your information be shared with anyone else?

 
We may reveal your personal information with our service providers only in accordance to a written contract between us and each service provider. Each service provider is a for-profit company that processes the information on our behalf.
 
We may use your personal information for our own business purposes. For instance, we may use it for internal research regarding technological development and demonstration. This is not considered to be “selling” of your personal data.
 
Ask The Stubborn Optimist has revealed the following categories of personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve (12) months:

 

  • Category B. Personal information, as defined in the California Customer Records law, such as your name and contact information.
The categories of third parties to whom we share personal information for a business or commercial purpose can be found under “WHO WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH?“.
 
Ask The Stubborn Optimist has not sold any personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve (12) months. Ask The Stubborn Optimist will not sell personal information in the future belonging to website visitors, users, and other consumers.
 

Your rights with respect to your personal data

 

Right to request deletion of the data – Request to delete

 
You can ask for the deletion of your personal information. If you ask us to delete your personal information, we will respect your request and delete your personal information. This may be subject to certain exceptions provided by law. For instance, this could be the exercise by another consumer of their right to free speech, our compliance requirements resulting from a legal obligation, or any processing that may be required to protect against illegal activities.
 

Right to be informed – Request to know

 
Depending on the circumstances, you have a right to know:
  • whether we collect and use your personal information.
 
  • the categories of personal information that we collect.
 
  • the purposes for which the collected personal information is used.
 
  • whether we sell your personal information to third parties.
 
  • the categories of personal information that we sold or disclosed for a business purpose.
 
  • the categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold or disclosed for a business purpose.
 
  • the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling personal information.
In agreement with applicable law, we are not obligated to provide or delete consumer information that is de-identified in response to a consumer request or to re-identify individual data to verify a consumer request.

Right to Non-Discrimination for the Exercise of a Consumer’s Privacy Rights

We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your privacy rights.

Verification process

Upon receiving your request, we need to first verify your identity to determine you are the same person with whom we have the information in our system. These verification efforts require us to ask you to provide information so that we can match it with the information you have previously provided us.
 
For instance, depending on the type of request you submit, we may ask you to provide certain information so that we can match it with the information we already have on file. Additionally, we may then contact you through a communication method that you have previously provided to us. We may also use other verification methods as the case requires.
 

We will only use the personal information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. To the extent possible, we will avoid requesting additional information from you for the purposes of verification.

 
If, however, we cannot verify your identity from the information already maintained by us, we may request that you provide additional information. This is then used for the purposes of verifying your identity and for security or fraud-prevention purposes. Finally, we will delete such additional provided information as soon as we finish verifying you.
 

Other privacy rights

You may:
 
  • object to the processing of your personal data.
 
  • request correction of your personal data if it is incorrect or no longer relevant, or ask to restrict the processing of the data.
 
  • designate an authorized agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorized agent if they do not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf. This must be in accordance with the CCPA.
 
  • request to opt out from future selling of your personal information to third parties. Upon receiving a request to opt out, we will then act on the request as soon as we can. In any event, we aim to act on your request no later than 15 days from the date of submission.

To exercise these rights, you can contact us by email at sara@askthestubbornoptimist.com. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you.  

 

10. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?     

In Short:  Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.
 
We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the new version will be effective as soon as it is live. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you by posting a notice of such changes. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
 

11. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?     

Have questions or comments about this notice? You may email us at sara@askthestubbornoptimist.com.
 

12. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?     

Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you. You may also change that information, or delete it in some circumstances. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please submit a request form by clicking here.

 

This privacy policy was created using Termly’s Privacy Policy Generator.

 

privacy, Blog ATSO, Green leaves with dark green shadows

Green leaves with dark green shadows

COOKIE POLICY

Last updated April 30, 2022
 
This Cookie Policy explains how Ask The Stubborn Optimist (“Company“, “we“, “us“, and “our“) uses cookies and similar technologies to recognize you when you visit our websites at http://www.askthestubbornoptimist.com, (“Websites“). It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control our use of them.
 
In some cases we may use cookies to collect personal information, or that becomes personal information if we combine it with other information.
 

What are cookies?

 
In short, cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They are also widely used by website owners in order to make their websites work. They are also used to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.
 
“First-party cookies” are set by the website owner. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third-party cookies”. Third-party cookies enable third-party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website. For instance, this could be advertising, interactive content, and analytics. The parties that set these third-party cookies can recognize your computer both when it visits the website in question and also when it visits certain other websites.
 

Why do we use cookies?

 
We use first and third-party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Websites to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” or “strictly necessary” cookies. Other cookies also allow us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Online Properties. Third parties serve cookies through our Websites for advertising, analytics, and other purposes. This is described in more detail below.
 
The specific types of first and third-party cookies served through our Websites and the purposes they perform are described below.

How can I control cookies?

 
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your cookie rights by setting your preferences in the Cookie Consent Manager. The Cookie Consent Manager allows you to select which categories of cookies you accept or reject. Thus, essential cookies cannot be rejected as they are strictly necessary to provide you with services.
 
If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our website though your access to some functions and areas of our website may be restricted. You may also set or edit your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser to browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.
 
In addition, most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of targeted advertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or http://www.youronlinechoices.com.


Essential website cookies:

 
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our Websites and to use some of its features, such as access to secure areas.

 

Name: __tlbcpv
Purpose: Used to record unique visitor views of the consent banner.
Provider: .termly.io
Service: Termly View Service Privacy Policy
Country: United States
Type: http_cookie
Expires in: 1 year
 
 

What about other tracking technologies, like web beacons?

 
Cookies are not the only way to recognize or track visitors to a website. We may use other, similar technologies from time to time, like web beacons. These are tiny graphics files that contain a unique identifier that allows us to recognize when someone has visited our Websites or opened an e-mail including them. This allows us, for example, to monitor the traffic patterns of users within our website.
 
This also allows us to deliver or communicate with cookies and to understand whether you have come to the website from an online advertisement on a third-party website. Additionally, this allows us to improve site performance, and to measure the success of email marketing campaigns. In many instances, these technologies rely on cookies to function properly, and so declining cookies will restrict their functioning.
 

Do you use Flash cookies or Local Shared Objects?

 
Websites may also use so-called “Flash Cookies” (also known as Local Shared Objects or “LSOs”). In addition to other things, these are used to collect and store information about your use of our services, fraud prevention, and other site operations.
 
If you do not want Flash Cookies stored on your computer, you can adjust the settings of your Flash player to block Flash Cookies storage using the tools contained in the Website Storage Settings Panel. You can also control Flash Cookies by going to the Global Storage Settings Panel and following the instructions.
 
Please note that setting the Flash Player to restrict or limit the acceptance of Flash Cookies may reduce or stop the functionality of some Flash applications. This may include Flash applications used with our services or online content.
 

Do you serve targeted advertising?

 
Third parties may serve cookies on your computer or mobile device to serve advertising through our Websites. Then, these companies may use information about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide relevant advertisements about goods and services that you may be interested in. They may also use technology that is used to measure the effectiveness of advertisements. They accomplish this by using cookies or web beacons to collect information about your visits to this and other sites. This helps them to then provide related advertisements about goods and services of potential interest to you. However, the information collected through this process does not allow us or them to identify your name or contact details. Additionally, this does not allow us to collect other details that directly identify you unless you choose to provide these.
 

How often will you update this Cookie Policy?

 
We update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational or legal reasons. So please revisit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies.
 
The date at the top of this Cookie Policy is when it was last updated.
 

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include added content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Furthermore, added content from other websites acts in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, add additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that included content. This may also include tracking your interaction with the content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

 

Where can I get further information?

 
If you have any questions, please email us at sara@askthestubbornoptimist.com. You can also send post to:
 
Ask The Stubborn Optimist
685 Lawrence Street
Lowell, MA 01852
United States
This cookie policy was created using Termly’s Cookie Consent Manager.