Effective and updated April 24, 2023

PRIVACY STATEMENT FOR AVERAGE ADVOCATE

SECTION 1 – OVERVIEW

Who is this?

This privacy policy (this “Privacy Policy”) describes how Average Advocate or Elisa Johnston (“we,” “us,” “I” or “www.AverageAdvocate.com”) maintains, uses and shares information that we may collect when you use our websites at www.AverageAdvocate.com (the “Sites”) and any products or services made available from time to time by means of any of the Sites (the “Products”). We refer to the Sites and the Products collectively in this Privacy Policy as the “Services.” By using any of the Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the provisions of this Privacy Policy.

How do I use your information?

When you purchase or agree to receive something from Average Advocate, as part of the buying, selling, or sending process, we collect the personal information you give us such as your name, number, address, payment information and email address (“Personal Information”).

When you browse any of our websites or our store, we also automatically receive your computer’s internet protocol (IP) address in order to provide us with information that helps us learn about your browser and operating system.

Email marketing (if applicable): With your permission, we may send you emails about our store, new products and other updates.

SECTION 2 – CONSENT

How do you get my consent?

When you provide us with personal information to receive anything in exchange for your information, including but not limited to freebies, giveaways, complete a transaction, verify your credit card, place an order, arrange for a delivery or return a purchase, we imply that you consent to our collecting it and using it for that specific reason only.

If we ask for your personal information for a secondary reason, like marketing, with no services in exchange for your information, we will still provide you with an opportunity to not receive further contact via your choice to continue any forms or registration.

Under new GDPR guidelines, you have:

  • The right to be informed – all organizations must be completely transparent in how they are using personal data (personal data may include data such as a work email and work mobile if they are specific to an individual).
  • The right of access – individuals will have the right to know exactly what information is held about them and how it is processed.
  • The right of rectification – individuals will be entitled to have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • The right to erasure – also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’, this refers to an individual’s right to having their personal data deleted or removed without the need for a specific reason as to why they wish to discontinue.
  • The right to restrict processing – an individual’s right to block or suppress processing of their personal data.
  • The right to data portability – this allows individuals to retain and reuse their personal data for their own purpose.
  • The right to object – in certain circumstances, individuals are entitled to object to their personal data being used. This includes, if a company uses personal data for the purpose of direct marketing, scientific and historical research, or for the performance of a task in the public interest.
  • Rights of automated decision making and profiling – the GDPR has put in place safeguards to protect individuals against the risk that a potentially damaging decision is made without human intervention. For example, individuals can choose not to be the subject of a decision where the consequence has a legal bearing on them, or is based on automated processing.

Registration: When you register on the Services, such as to subscribe to a newsletter, request information or access a Product, you will be asked to provide certain Personal Information, which we will use to fulfill your request.

Surveys: We may ask you to complete surveys or opinion polls from time to time. We only use the information that we collect from surveys in an aggregate manner, not in individually identifiable form.

Blogs and Forums: We may provide an opportunity for you to post information to blogs, forums or other public areas on the Services. By doing so, you consent to the posting of any Personal Information that you provide. You should be aware that such Personal Information can be read, collected, or used by other visitors to these public areas. We have no control over how these visitors use your Personal Information.

Inquiries: If you send us a comment or question or make an inquiry to customer support, we will retain the information that you provide to us for the purpose of responding to you, as well as for improving the Services and our customers’ use of our services.

Linking from Emails: If you link to any of our Sites from an email message from us, we will be able to identify your email address and associate that email address with the manner in which you use the Sites (e.g., which pages you visit or whether you make a purchase).

Visitors: If you are just visiting the Sites and not registering, requesting information, contacting us, or posting to a public area of the Services, and you did not access the Sites from a link contained in one of our email communications, we will not ordinarily collect any Personal Information about you except through web logs, as described below. In that case, we obtain the information that you provided and will use it to respond to your inquiry or fulfill your request if we can. We do not share any of this information with anyone else, except to respond to your request, if you consent, or as otherwise described in this privacy policy.

Web Logs: We maintain web logs that automatically record basic information about everyone who visits the Services. We use web log information to help us design our website, to identify popular features, to improve our services, and for other managerial and analytic purposes. We may also use web logs to help identify any person who may be misusing the Services. These logs contain:

  • The Internet domain from which you access the Services.
  • Your IP address.
  • The type of browser and operating system that you use.
  • The date and time you visited the Services.
  • The pages that you visited on the Services.
  • The address of the website you linked from to get to the Services.

Cookies: We use cookies, web beacons and similar technology to help you navigate the Services, to allow us to learn how you use the Services, and to improve the Services. Cookies are text files we place in your computer’s browser to store your preferences. Cookies, by themselves, do not reveal any Personal Information unless you choose to provide this information to us by, for example, registering at our Site. However, once you choose to provide Personal Information to the Services, this information may be linked to the data stored in the cookie. If you decide not to permit cookies on your computer, this may affect your ability to use the Services.

SECTION 3 – COMMUNICATION

We may use information that we collect from you for the purpose of communicating with you and responding to your inquiries. Those communications could, for example, take the form of service updates, promotions for products or services that we or one of our marketing partners provide, or e-newsletters.

Social Media: The Sites may include social media features, such as Facebook “Like” button and a “Share” button. These features may collect your IP address and which page you are visiting on the Site; and they may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the company that provides the feature.

If you choose to access, visit, and/or use any third-party social networking service(s) that may be integrated with our Sites, we may receive your Personal Data and other information about you and your computer, mobile, or other device that you have made available to those social networking services, including information about your contacts through those services. For example, some social networking services allow you to push content from our Sites to your contacts or to pull information about your contacts so you can connect with them on or through our Site. Some social networking services also will facilitate registration or enhance or personalize your experience on our Sites. This includes if you “follow,” “like,” or link your social networking account to our Sites. Your decision to use a social networking service in connection with our Sites is voluntary. However, you should make sure you are comfortable with the information your third-party social networking services may make available by reviewing privacy policies of those providers and/or modifying your privacy settings directly with those networking sites/services.

SECTION 4 – DISCLOSURE FOR LEGAL REASONS

We may disclose your personal information if we are required by law to do so or if you violate our Terms and Conditions. We also may disclose such information in response to a law enforcement agency’s request or when we believe such disclosure is appropriate to protect our legal rights or to safeguard anyone’s property or safety.

SECTION 5 – PAYMENTS

Our stores are hosted on other third-party websites with their own privacy policies, such as MailChimp, MailerLite, LeadPages.net, Zazzle.com, WooCommerence, Gumroad.com, Zippys.com, and Shopify Inc. They provide us with the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you.

Your data is stored through their data storage, databases and applications securely.

SECTION 6 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

In general, the third-party providers used by us will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to allow them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies in respect to the information we are required to provide to them for your purchase-related transactions.

For these providers, we recommend that you read their privacy policies so you can understand the manner in which your personal information will be handled by these providers.

In particular, remember that certain providers may be located in or have facilities that are located in a different jurisdiction than either you or us. So if you elect to proceed with a transaction that involves the services of a third-party service provider, then your information may become subject to the laws of the jurisdiction(s) in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

As an example, if you are located in Canada and your transaction is processed by a payment gateway located in the United States, then your personal information used in completing that transaction may be subject to disclosure under United States legislation, including the Patriot Act.

Once you leave our store’s website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or our website’s Terms and Conditions.

Links: When you click on links on our store, they may direct you away from our site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites and encourage you to read their privacy statements.

SECTION 7 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry best practices to make sure it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

SECTION 8 – AGE OF CONSENT

By using this site, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your state or province of residence, or that you are the age of majority in your state or province of residence and you have given us your consent to allow any of your minor dependents to use this site.

Children’s Privacy – We do not sell products or services to anyone under the age of thirteen (13). In accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), we will never knowingly request or solicit Personal Data from anyone under the age of thirteen (13) without verifiable parental consent. In the event that we receive actual knowledge that we have collected such Personal Data without the requisite and verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information from our database as quickly as is practical. We reserve the right to request proof of age at any stage so that we can verify that minors are not using the Sites.

All images of children are approved for use by their parents or stock photo websites.

SECTION 9 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

If our store is acquired or merged with another company, your information may be transferred to the new owners.

SECTION 10 – QUESTIONS AND WITHDRAWING CONSENT

How do I withdraw my consent?

If after you opt-in, you change your mind, you may withdraw your consent for us to contact you, for the continued collection, use or disclosure of your information, at anytime, by pressing the unsubscribe link on our emails, contacting us at elisa @ averageadvocate-dot-com or mailing us at: Average Advocate 10637 Caminito Duro, San Diego, CA, 92126, United States

California Privacy Rights – California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents to request and obtain a list of what Personal Data (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year and the names and addresses of those third parties. Requests may be made only once a year and are free of charge. Under Section 1798.83, California residents are entitled to request and obtain such information.

If you would like to: access, correct, amend or delete any personal information we have about you, register a complaint, or simply want more information contact our Privacy Compliance Officer at elisa @ averageadvocate-dot-com or by mail at Average Advocate:

[Re: Privacy Compliance Officer]

[10637 Caminito Duro, San Diego, CA, 92126, United States]

SECTION 11 – AFFILIATES 

We give honest reviews at this blog. If something is recommended, it is because Elisa or a guest bloggers believes it is worth recommending. If she is gifted something and it is featured, it will be clearly stated, along with sponsored posts. Elisa never receives editorial direction and all opinions are her own or guest bloggers. Affiliate links are also noted. Affiliate links will not affect you in any way. These just mean if you click on the link or learn about it through me, I might receive a small commission from your purchase.

SECTION 12 – COPYRIGHTS

All content belongs to Average Advocate unless otherwise noted. All original photography without attribution listed or used in design were originally retrieved free for public use at Unsplash.com. Feel free to use any images, ideas, or quotes from this blog, but please attribute it to Elisa Johnston and www.AverageAdvocate.com, linking back to the original post. If you wish to syndicate a post from this blog, please contact Elisa Johnston at elisa @ averageadvocate-dot-com for permission first.