Privacy

What I collect and why

When you fill in a form. The site has four forms: contact, start a project, book a package, and the website questionnaire. Depending on the form, they ask for your name and email, and sometimes your phone number, business name, website and social media links, budget, timeline, how you heard about me, and details about your project. You can also attach files, like logos, photos or documents. I use all of this to reply to you, understand your project and prepare a quote. I don't need, and don't ask for, sensitive information. Please don't send passwords, card or bank numbers, ID documents or health information through a form or by email. If something like that arrives by mistake, I'll delete it.

When you email me. I get your email address, your message and anything you attach, and I use them to reply and help with your project.

When you become a client. I also keep your service agreement, quotes and invoices, which include your name, business name, email, phone and city and state. I keep a record of your payments. And I keep the materials you send for the project, like your text, photos, logos, product and price details.

When I work inside your accounts. Some projects need me to work in your domain, hosting or other accounts. You add me through each service's own invitation, never by sharing a password. I use that access only for your project, and you can remove it at any time. If your site collects information from your own customers, I may see some of it while I set things up or fix something. I use it only for that work, and your own privacy policy covers it.

When you visit the site. Like almost every website, the site gets some technical information from your browser, like your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit. Google Analytics and my hosting company collect this. The "Cookies and analytics" section below has the details. I use it to see how the site is used and to keep it working. I don't use it to figure out who you are.

If I contact you first. Now and then I reach out to a business I think I could help. When I do, I use only business contact details the business has made public.

The services that handle your information

I use a small number of established services to run the studio. Each one handles your information to do its job for me, under its own privacy policy and data-protection terms.

I never see or store your bank account or card numbers. Zelle is currently the only way to pay me; I'll update this page when I add other payment methods.

How I use AI tools

I use AI tools, currently Claude and ChatGPT, to help me plan, write and build. Sometimes that means entering what you've sent me: your form answers, project notes, and the text and images for your site. I review everything these tools produce before it reaches you.

Here's what I do to protect what you share:

• I've set these tools so what I enter isn't used to train their AI models.
• I enter only what the project needs.
• I don't enter payment details, passwords, or anything you've asked me to keep out.

These companies handle what I enter under their own privacy policies. They may keep it for a limited time: usually up to 30 days after I delete it, or longer if it's flagged for a safety review or the law requires it. A small number of their staff may review it for safety, abuse or legal reasons.

If you'd prefer I not use AI tools with your materials, tell me before we start. I'll let you know honestly whether that changes the timeline or price.

Cookies and analytics

I use Google Analytics to see how many people visit, which pages they look at, and which buttons they click. It sets two cookies, _ga and _ga_…, that let it tell visits apart. They last up to two years unless you clear them. Google uses your IP address to estimate your general location and to filter out spam, then discards it. I keep detailed Analytics data for 14 months. Because Google Analytics runs on many websites, Google can collect information about your activity over time and across different sites. I use it only to understand my own site. I have not turned on Google's advertising features, and I don't share Analytics data with Google for its own products.

• Google explains how it uses information from sites like mine at How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.
• You can block Google Analytics with Google's opt-out browser add-on, block or delete cookies in your browser settings, or use a privacy extension.

My hosting company, Netlify, measures how fast pages load using a small script that doesn't set cookies. Like any web server, Netlify also records technical request details, including IP addresses, and keeps them for a limited time.

One more thing stays in your browser. If you press "Pause motion" on a page with moving graphics, your browser remembers that choice until you close the tab. It's never sent to me.

The site has no advertising cookies, social media tracking, or ad pixels.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control: the site doesn't currently change what it does when your browser sends these signals. Since I don't sell your information or use it for ads, the signals have nothing to stop. The Google Analytics opt-out above is the way to turn off analytics.

I don't sell your information

I don't sell your personal information, and I don't share it for advertising. I share it only with the services listed above to run the studio, or if the law requires it, for example a valid court order. If you'd like to send a formal request not to sell your information anyway, email hello@emberwrightstudio.com and I'll confirm it in writing.

How long I keep it

I keep information only as long as I need it:

• Form submissions in Netlify: I delete them within 90 days of receiving them, once they're in my email.
• Inquiries that don't become projects: I delete the emails and files within 12 months.
• Project materials: kept during the project and for 12 months after launch, or longer while you're on a care plan, so I can help with questions and fixes. Then I delete them. Your finished site and its files are yours to keep.
• Agreements, quotes, invoices and payment records: kept for 7 years for tax and legal reasons.
• Resend: deletes its copies of emails after 30 days.
• Google Analytics: detailed data is deleted after 14 months.
• AI tools: I keep project chats while the project and any care plan continue, and delete them within 12 months after. The tools then remove them within about 30 days, except in the cases described under "How I use AI tools".
• Payments: your bank and Zelle keep their own records for as long as the law requires them to.

Seeing, correcting or deleting your information

Email hello@emberwrightstudio.com and tell me what you'd like: a copy of what I have, a correction, or deletion. I'll reply within 30 days. To protect you, I'll answer at the email address I have on file, or ask a simple question to confirm it's you. I don't charge for this, and asking won't change how I treat you.

Deletion has one limit: I have to keep records like invoices and signed agreements for tax and legal reasons. I'll tell you what I'm keeping and why, and delete the rest.

How I protect it

• The site uses HTTPS everywhere, and forms are spam-filtered.
• Every account that holds your information is protected with two-step verification, directly or through the Google account I sign in with.
• I'm the only person at Emberwright with access.
• Apart from the email and services listed above, project files are kept only on my own computer, which is password-protected and encrypted. I don't back them up to any cloud service.
• I never ask for your passwords, and I never store bank or card numbers.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal information, I'll tell you as quickly as I can, as the law requires.

Children

This site and my services are for businesses and adults. They're not meant for children under 13, and I don't knowingly collect information from them. If you think a child has sent me information, email me and I'll delete it.

Other websites

This site links to other sites, like my LinkedIn page and my clients' websites. Their privacy policies apply once you're there. The website I build for you is yours, and so is its privacy policy. This one covers only Emberwright.

Changes to this page

If I change how I handle your information, I'll update this page and the date at the top. If it's a significant change, I'll also say so on the site, and if you're a client I'll email you. If a change would let me use information you've already given me in a new way, I'll ask you first.