Privacy Policy

This document was last updated on October 4, 2019.

Welcome to www.gardenofcommonground.com, the official website of The Garden of Common Ground. Misty Pennington, DBA The Garden of Common Ground, knows your right to privacy is important. This Privacy Policy governs the way this website collects, uses, maintains, and discloses information collected from users 

As you progress through this document, please note that the following terminology applies to any or all information referenced through this site.  The term “Visitor”, “Guest”, “You” or “Your” refers to you, the person visiting and navigating the pages contained within this website.  The term “Organization”, “Ourselves”, “I”, “We”, and “Us”, refers to Misty Pennington; DBA The Garden of Common Ground.

This privacy policy has been created to answer any questions you may have regarding our data collection and protection policies. We reserve the right to change this Policy as needed. As a service to our users, we will post the date of the most recent updates to this policy at the top of the page.

WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION IS COLLECTED?

The only personal information collected on this website is that which is provided by you in requesting information – such as your name, address, phone number, email address, IP address, and website address (if applicable).  This information is collected to provide you with a response to your online request through forms on our website or to track user activity through cookies to better improve user experience. 

If you make a purchase through our website, your transaction will be processed using PayPal, a secure third-party merchant service provider who will collect your personal information, complete the transaction and send you a receipt for your purchase using the email you provide. For United States Tax purposes, the Internal Revenue Service requires both the merchant provider and Misty Pennington to retain your purchase information for a minimum of 7 years but could be longer based on any legal requests. 

We ask that children under the age of 18 do not submit their information on this website. We do not encourage the collection of personal information of visitors of this site who are under the age of 18.  In accordance with the Federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), The Garden of Common Ground will never knowingly collect information from children 18 years of age or younger.  Parents with questions may contact us.

Non-Personal Information Collected.  We also collect non-personal information about Users including their IP address, browser name, the type of device you are using to access the site, the type of operating system you are using as well as the name of your Internet Service Provider.  This information may also include regional information tied to your IP address to identify the geographical use of our site.  This information is solely used to help us identify trends in the performance activity of our website to help us better improve the overall user experience.  Users may “opt-out” of this data being tracked by blocking cookies on their browser.

HOW IS YOUR INFORMATION USED?

General Usage

The personal information collected on this website is used to…

  • Personalize the user experience by using the information to understand how our Users as a group use the services and resources provided on our Site.
  • Improve our Site we may use the feedback you provide to improve our products and services.
  • Request for information or an appointment, or to purchase a product/service.
  • Send periodic emails and updates pertaining to the services they provide, training events offered, or inform you of critical technology updates necessary to protect you from cyber threats. It may also be used to respond to your inquiries, questions, and/or other requests.

Web Browser Cookies
Cookies refer to small files stored in the browsing history records stored by your preferred internet browser (Chrome, Safari, Bing, Yahoo, etc.).  Our website uses Google Analytics, a cookie that transmits website traffic data to Google in the United States.  Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.  We use these reports from Google Analytics to help us enhance the User experience on our website. You can Opt-Out of Google Analytics tracking here:  https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en 

Additionally, users can set their web browser to refuse cookies in general or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you do limit cookie usage, it is important to note that some parts of our website may not function properly.

For additional information on managing cookies, please select your browser and follow the link to their instructions on how to manage:

Memberships & Authorized Users
If you have an account on this site and you log in to this site for access to that account information, a temporary cookie will be used to help remember your login information.  It contains no personal information and is discarded when you close your browser.  If you choose “Remember Me”, your login will be 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.

Users that register on our website 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 data we hold about you.  This does not apply to data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Comments & Contact Forms

To limit SPAM interference and the need to manage that data, we have disabled the ability to leave a comment on our Blog.  Instead, we invite guests to join our Language of Nature Facebook Group where you can post comments to the articles we post there.   

We use several forms through our website to collect information for events or contact information.  The information you provide through our site is stored in the form plugin data.  It is reviewed monthly, downloaded, and deleted after verification to minimize the risk of data loss.  Automatic email notifications of form entries information are also included in our form process which includes your information being sent to key people in our organization with authorization to address your question/inquiry.  An additional email is sent to you for verification of the information which you submitted and instructions on who to reach in the event you want your data removed from our files.  This information may also be tied to our MailChimp account which is used to handle future notices or updates to the information you requested. Users can opt-out of these emails at any time by using the options at the bottom of the emails sent.   

Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location metadata (EXIF GPS) included.  Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Embedded Content
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 or are logged in to that website.

Emails
If a User decides to opt-in to our mailing list, they will receive emails that may include news, updates, related activities to our organization. If at any time the User would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, we include detailed unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email, additionally, the User may contact us via our Site. 

We use third-party service providers to help us operate the functions of our business. We may share your information with these third parties for the limited purposes identified below.  We encourage you to review their Privacy Policy and if you prefer we exclude your information from this provider; please contact us and we will review your request and how it impacts your relationship with us.

Advertising
Ads appearing on our site may be delivered to Users by advertising partners, who may set cookies. These cookies allow the ad server to recognize your computer each time they send you an online advertisement to compile non-personal identification information about you or others who use your computer. This information allows ad networks to, among other things, deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you. This privacy policy does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.

Google AdSense
Some of the ads may be served by Google. Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to Users based on their visit to our Site and other sites on the Internet. DART uses “non-personally identifiable information” and does NOT track personal information about you, such as your name, email address, physical address, etc. You may opt-out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html

Backups of Our Website
To ensure our ability to restore our website in the event of technical failure, cyber-attack, or other types of human error or act of God, we do make an archival copy of our website and store it both online and off-line solely for recovery purposes.  If you have submitted information through our web forms, your personal data may be included in these records which can be kept for up to one year then deleted and replaced with newer versions.  

LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
Users may find advertising or other content on our Site that link to the sites and services of our partners, suppliers, advertisers, sponsors, licensors, and other third parties. We do not control the content or links that appear on these sites and are not responsible for the practices employed by websites linked to or from our Site. In addition, these sites or services, including their content and links, may be constantly changing. These sites and services may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies. Browsing and interaction on any other website, including websites that have a link to our Site, is subject to your own risk or acceptance of that website’s terms and policies.

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR DATA
We take the protection of your data and your digital safety while using this website very seriously.  We have internal policies and controls in place to ensure that your data is retained appropriately and is not accessed except by authorized parties in the proper performance of their responsibilities with our organization.  

HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR DATA
Your data may be retained with us indefinitely, depending on the purpose for which it was acquired until you request it be deleted. In some circumstances, we are obliged to keep information for longer periods of time for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

YOUR RIGHTS
All Users have the right to request that we erase any personal data we hold about you.  Click here to request a copy of your data stored in the WordPress database (comments, orders, etc.). Any information associated with the email address you provide will be sent to you, and you may submit an additional request to have the data anonymized.

QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this site, please contact Misty Pennington at misty@gardenofcommonground.com.