This privacy policy was last updated on 16 July 2023.
Introduction
The owner and manager of ChellyWood.com is Youtuber, doll clothing designer, writer, and librarian/educator Chelly Wood. You can contact her at:
P.O. Box 45
Buhl, ID 83316
This website’s address is: https://chellywood.com.
What personal data do we collect, and why do we collect it?
If you subscribe to my website, you will be given the option to have a newsletter sent to the email you provide on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This will offer you a chance to see what topics were posted on the site during the time you set for newsletter emailings. This site subscription is optional, and you can visit the site any time without subscribing. These emails, which are provided by my web hosting service, have an automated “unsubscribe” feature at the bottom of each email. A lot of people prefer to subscribe to my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1, instead, which falls under the privacy policy of YouTube.
When you comment on ChellyWood.com, you will be asked to provide an email address and name. I use this information to get in touch with you if your comment requires a follow-up. For example, if you leave a comment asking, “Where’s the tutorial for the doll boots?” I may need to follow up with a clarification, asking which doll boots project you were referring to in your comment. Providing an email makes it easier for me to follow up your question to get clarification and hopefully get an answer to you.
When visitors leave comments on the ChellyWood.com site, WordPress will collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.
An anonymized 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, if you use one.
Information about visitors to my website may be shared with third party companies via our affiliate marketing program. See “Cookies and Affiliate Programs” below for more details.
Media
To participate in my “Share Your Creations” page, you must first contact me, using my contact form. Please explain in your contact message, that you would like to send me a photo of the doll clothes or craft project you’ve created. The contact information you send will appear in my email as an email message, and I will then reply using the email address you provide. Once I have replied, you may send me your photos. This policy is provided in greater detail here.
Please note that (to avoid digital viruses), I do not download the images you send; rather, I take a screenshot using Gmail’s preview feature. So if your image seems grainy on the “Share Your Creations” page, that’s why. I will not post the images you send without your consent. However, if you do not wish for me to post your images to the Share Your Creations page, please make that clear in your email so that there is no room for a misunderstanding.
If you send me messages containing images to upload to this website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included, just in case I use a downloaded image instead of a screenshot for some reason. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Also, please be clear in your communications, about who I should attribute the images to. If you do not wish for me to attribute the images to you by name, let me know who I should give credit to (an online pseudonym or business name, for example). Without these specifications, I may assume I’m free to use your name in the image’s caption, giving credit to the creator (you).
Contact forms
You can contact me using my Contact Form on the Contact page. As it says on most of my gallery pages, you’re welcome to use this form to submit pattern requests, but I do get A LOT of pattern requests! So submitting a request does not ensure that your pattern will one day be created and appear on this website.
However, as stated previously in this privacy policy, if you use my Contact Form to request a pattern, you will be asked to provide an email address and name. I use this information to get in touch with you if your request requires a follow-up (or to send you a polite response). I receive an email from you when you use this form, and again, I store these in my Gmail inbox in a “Fan Mail” folder, just in case I need to reply for some reason.
Cookies and Affiliate Programs
As of 28 March 2021, when you click links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include Amazon, JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores, Etsy, and the eBay Partner Network. My blog post from 9 April 2021 explains the financial reasons why I began affiliate marketing.
Here’s a list of the affiliate programs I will link to from time to time:
Etsy affiliate program through Awin
Amazon Affiliate/Associate Program
The links above will explain, in detail, how those affiliate programs work, so you can better understand how your personal information is used.
In brief, when my website offers you a link to a vintage pattern or doll you can buy on eBay, if you do buy that item, I will earn a percentage of the sale because my link referred you to that seller’s page.
The same is true of most affiliate programs… When I send you a link to miniature doll buttons on Etsy, if you choose to buy those doll buttons, I will earn a small percentage of that sale.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, just as explained previously.
This is done through cookies, which keep your information in a database, as explained in the linked affiliate program explanation pages above.
Furthermore, there are less intrusive cookies on my website, as follows…
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 “comment” cookies will last for one year.
Thumbnail images in my store (AKA the “Shop” page) do not represent actual products being sold through Affiliate Marketing. These thumbnail images are my own creations, using photos I’ve taken for various projects, combined with graphics (like frames and text) from my Canva Pro account. If you wish to see images of the actual products before purchasing, please use the links to navigate to the site where products are for sale via Affiliate Marketing.
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 into that website.
Analytics
I use the Jetpack site statistics for my site analytics. This tells me what search engine terms people are using to find my site, which of my sewing patterns are being most frequently downloaded, and where in the world most of my followers live (as a summary for all visitors). It also tells me which posts and pages are most popular for my visitors to view and which other websites are referring visitors to my site (For example, did the majority of visitors click on a link from Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter?), which helps me determine which of these websites is most helpful for me in terms of advertising platforms. These analytics are strictly a summary for all visitors, and do not pinpoint any single visitor.
I use WooCommerce’s default system to track sales information. It includes insights into top items sold in my online store (the “shop” page), top categories of items sold, total sale amounts, net sale amounts, how many visitors have viewed my online store, etc. It doesn’t show who has viewed which items, and I’m not using this information to manipulate sales in any way. In fact, on the advice of other WooCommerce users, I downloaded the Monster Insights plugin, but as of the latest update (see date at the top), I never finished setting it up because I thought it looked too manipulative. And that’s just not what this website is about.
WooCommerce Payment and Contact Information
There are various ways in which you may provide WooCommerce payment information and associated contact information. (WooCommerce is the app used by this website to run my store.) For example, if you buy something from ChellyWood.com’s “Shop” page (online store), WordPress and WooCommerce will collect information to process those payments and contact you. Information collected may include your name, credit card information, and contact information.
Your credit card information is not shown to the seller (that’s me, Chelly Wood), but your contact information is. WordPress and WooCommerce will also keep a record of the purchases you’ve made, just in case I, Chelly Wood, may have a question or may need additional details to make sure your ordered goods arrive safely and on time (for example, I may need to send you an invoice or give you a postal tracking number for your package). You may also provide WooCommerce (via Chelly’s online store) with financial details to set up a payments integration, like the email address for your Stripe or PayPal account or your bank account information. I, Chelly Wood, the seller on ChellyWood.com, can see the email address you provide and may use it to contact you with questions about your WooCommerce (“shop” page/ online store) order or orders, but I cannot see your payment information (like your PayPal account ID or your bank account information). Additionally, if you use WooPay to make purchases on this site, WordPress and WooCommerce will store the contact information and payment information you provide to that service, but I only have access to your contact information.
Who we share your data with
By default, WordPress does not share your data with any third parties. However, I use my statistics information (from the analytics section above) to help me promote my website. For example, when I’m trying to publish a book with a publishing house, I may tell them what part of the world most of my followers are coming from. This type of information is broad, encompassing the general population, rather than individual followers.
You should also visit the affiliate links I’ve provided in the “Cookies and Affiliate Programs” area above, to make sure you understand how third parties use your personal data.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize 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.
Sometimes I will also save a message you send me in a “Fan Mail” folder in my Google drive. I do this if I believe we may continue to correspond for some reason. For example, if you request that I design “A tennis dress pattern for a vintage Kenner Dusty doll,” I may save your email request in my Gmail folders until I’ve designed the pattern. Then, when I have completed the pattern design, I may email you to let you know that I’m planning to release the pattern you requested.
You should also visit the affiliate links I’ve provided in the “Cookies and Affiliate Programs” area above, to make sure you understand how third parties use and retain your personal data.
What rights you have over your data
According to WordPress and its general policies regarding 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.”
Other than the previously stated methods of data retrieval, I (Chelly Wood) wouldn’t know how to find most of your data! But if you requested that WordPress sent you information about its storage of your personal data, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. I mean hey… it is your data, right? So there you go!
You should also visit the affiliate links I’ve provided in the “Cookies and Affiliate Programs” area above, to make sure you understand what rights third parties have over your personal data.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments are checked through Akismet, an automated spam detection service. Also, when you submit a question, I get an email saying who you are and what your question was. So it sends that information to my Gmail inbox.
You should also visit the affiliate links I’ve provided in the “Cookies and Affiliate Programs” area above, to make sure you understand how third parties use your personal data.
Advertisers
You have probably noticed that ChellyWood.com uses ads. These ads help generate revenue every time a visitor views them on my website, and that’s a good thing! However I do not have any control over the advertisements themselves. These are controlled by Automattic Inc., the WordPress advertising platform. Click on this link to learn more about their privacy policy as an advertiser.
Most of my videos on this site are embedded from YouTube, and the ads on my own videos are through Google AdSense. (However if I embed someone else’s videos, I don’t have any knowledge of their ads and/or where they come from.) Here is the AdSense privacy policy for the ads featured on my own videos.
You should also visit the affiliate links I’ve provided in the “Cookies and Affiliate Programs” area above, to make sure you understand how third parties are used on this website as an advertising tool to generate income, to keep this website running.
Protecting your data / virus-free patterns
I use the WordPress default protection against data breaches. I also use a two-factor authentication when I access ChellyWood.com as an administrator. My home computers are all password locked, as is my phone, and our family uses a paid service to prevent access to our computers by outside parties. Hopefully this is enough to keep your data safe. I am the only person authorized to use this site as an administrator, and I never share my username or password with anyone.
I believe it is profoundly important to keep my computers virus-free, to avoid contaminating my free downloadable patterns, so I pay for a service that runs daily virus scans on all of my home computers. If there is ever a question of possible viruses which might contaminate my patterns, I avoid uploading patterns to this website until I have a chance to get my computer to a specialist who can clean it of any unwanted viruses. During these periods of “downtime,” you may see blog posts that offer the same old patterns again and again, without any new ones. Please be aware that I’m just one person running this website, and it’s important to avoid contaminating my free downloadable patterns, so when I go a few weeks without any new patterns, this may be why. (Or I might just be on vacation!)
WordPress does collect information about visitors who comment on Sites that use our Akismet anti-spam service (including this site). The information WordPress collects depends on how the User sets up Akismet for the Site, but typically includes the commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, and Site URL (along with other information directly provided by the commenter such as their name, username, email address, and the comment itself).
You should also visit the affiliate links I’ve provided in the “Cookies and Affiliate Programs” area above, to make sure you understand how third parties protect your personal data.
Questions? Concerns?
Feel free to contact me, using this contact form.