Privacy Policy

Who we are

At Chronic Sex (CS), accessible from chronicsex.org, one of our main priorities is the privacy of our visitors. This Privacy Policy document contains types of information that is collected and recorded by CS and how we use it.

You can learn more about Grayson here.

This Privacy Policy applies only to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they shared and/or collect on CS. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website.

Consent

By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms.


Information Collected + Why

The personal information that you are asked to provide, and the reasons why you are asked to provide it, will be made clear to you at the point we ask you to provide your personal information.

If you contact us directly, we may receive additional information about you such as your name, email address, phone number, the contents of the message and/or attachments you may send us, and any other information you may choose to provide.

We use the information we collect in various ways, including to:

  • Provide, operate, and maintain our website
  • Improve, personalize, and expand our website
  • Understand and analyze how you use our website
  • Develop new products, services, features, and functionality
  • Communicate with you, either directly or through one of our partners, including for customer service, to provide you with updates and other information relating to the website, and for marketing and promotional purposes
  • Send you emails
  • Find and prevent fraud

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help 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. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

We collect information about visitors who comment on Sites that use our Akismet anti-spam service. The information we collect 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).

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website. You can find out how to remove that data here.

Contact forms

Information collected through contact forms is only used to respond to data from said forms. Your personal information is not saved.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Like any other website, CS uses ‘cookies’. These cookies are used to store information including visitors’ preferences, and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users’ experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors’ browser type and/or other information. A cookie ID is a unique identifier of the cookie. It consists of a character string through which Internet pages and servers can be assigned to the specific Internet browser in which the cookie was stored. This allows visited Internet sites and servers to differentiate the individual browser of the data subject from other Internet browsers that contain other cookies. A specific Internet browser can be recognized and identified using the unique cookie ID.

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 cookies will last for one year.

You can, at any time, prevent the setting of cookies through our website by means of a corresponding setting of the Internet browser used, and may thus permanently deny the setting of cookies. Furthermore, already set cookies may be deleted at any time via an Internet browser or other software programs. This is possible in all popular Internet browsers. If the data subject deactivates the setting of cookies in the Internet browser used, not all functions of our website may be entirely usable.

You can learn more about cookies here.


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 tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to other advertisers or websites. Thus, we are advising you to consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information. It may include their practices and instructions about how to opt out of certain options. You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options. To know more detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers, it can be found at the browsers’ respective websites.

Amazon Partner program

On this website, we’ve integrated Amazon components as a participant in the Amazon partner program. The Amazon components were created by Amazon with the aim to mediate customers through advertisements on various websites of the Amazon group in return for the payment of a commission. By using the Amazon components, the controller may generate advertising revenue.

Amazon sets a cookie in your information technology system. The definition of cookies is explained above. With each call-up to one of the individual pages of this site, the Internet browser on the information technology system of the data subject will automatically submit data for the purpose of online advertising and the settlement of commissions to Amazon through the respective Amazon component. During the course of this technical procedure, Amazon receives personal information that is used to trace the origin of orders from Amazon, and as a result, to allow the accounting of a commission. Among other things, Amazon may understand that you have clicked on an affiliate link on our website.

You may, as stated above, prevent the setting of cookies through our website at any time by means of a corresponding adjustment of the web browser used, and thus permanently deny the setting of cookies. Such an adjustment to the Internet browser used would also prevent Amazon from setting a cookie on the information technology system of the data subject. In addition, cookies already in use by Amazon may be deleted at any time via a web browser or other software programs.

Jetpack

We’ve integrated Jetpack, a WordPress plug-in that provides additional features to the operator of a website based on WordPress. Jetpack allows the Internet site operator an overview of the visitors of the site. By displaying related posts and publications, or the ability to share content on the page, it is also possible to increase visitor numbers. In addition, security features are integrated into Jetpack, so a Jetpack-using site is better protected against brute-force attacks. Jetpack also optimizes and accelerates the loading of images on the website.

The operating company of Jetpack Plug-Ins for WordPress is the Automattic Inc., 132 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94107, UNITED STATES. The operating enterprise uses the tracking technology created by Quantcast Inc., 201 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, UNITED STATES.

Jetpack sets a cookie on the information technology system used by the data subject. The definition of cookies is explained above. With each call-up to one of the individual pages of this Internet site, the Internet browser on the information technology system of the data subject is automatically prompted to submit data through the Jetpack component for analysis purposes to Automattic. During the course of this technical procedure, Automattic receives data that is used to create an overview of website visits. The data obtained in this way serve the analysis of the behavior of the data subject, which has access to this site and is analyzed with the aim to optimize the website. The data collected through the Jetpack component is not used to identify the data subject without a prior obtaining of a separate express consent of the data subject. The data comes also to the notice of Quantcast. Quantcast uses the data for the same purposes as Automattic.

The data subject can, as stated above, prevent the setting of cookies through our website at any time by means of a corresponding adjustment of the web browser used and thus permanently deny the setting of cookies. Such an adjustment to the Internet browser used would also prevent Automattic/Quantcast from setting a cookie on the information technology system of the data subject. In addition, cookies already in use by Automattic/Quantcast may be deleted at any time via a web browser or other software programs.

In addition, the data subject has the possibility of objecting to a collection of data relating to a use of this Internet site that are generated by the Jetpack cookie as well as the processing of these data by Automattic/Quantcast and the chance to preclude any such. For this purpose, the data subject must press the ‘opt-out’ button under the link https://www.quantcast.com/opt-out/ which sets an opt-out cookie. The opt-out cookie set with this purpose is placed on the information technology system used by the data subject. If the cookies are deleted on the system of the data subject, then the data subject must call up the link again and set a new opt-out cookie.

With the setting of the opt-out cookie, however, the possibility exists that the websites of the controller are not fully usable anymore by the data subject.

The applicable data protection provisions of Automattic may be accessed here. The applicable data protection provisions of Quantcast can be accessed here.

Bloglovin

We’ve integrated components of Bloglovin’ – an online platform that allows users to organize their favorite blogs. A blog is a web-based, generally publicly-accessible portal, in which one or more people called bloggers or web bloggers can post articles or write down thoughts in so-called blog posts.

The operating company of Bloglovin’ is Bloglovin’ Inc., 25 Broadway, New York, NY 10004, UNITED STATES.

With each call-up to one of the individual pages of this Internet site, the Internet browser on the information technology system of the data subject is automatically prompted to download a display of the corresponding Bloglovin’ component, through the Bloglovin’ component. During the course of this technical procedure, Bloglovin’ gains knowledge of what specific sub-page of our website you visited.

If you are logged in at the same time at Bloglovin’, Bloglovin’ recognizes with each call-up to our website by the data subject—and for the entire duration of their stay on our Internet site—which specific sub-page of our Internet page you visited. This information is collected through the Bloglovin’ component and through Bloglovin’ assigned to the respective Bloglovin’ account of the data subject. If you click on the Bloglovin’ button that is integrated on our website, then this information is delivered to Bloglovin’. The data subject has already agreed to the transmission of such information to Bloglovin’.

Further information and the applicable data protection provisions of Bloglovin’ may be retrieved here.

PayPal

We’ve integrated components of PayPal, an online payment service provider. Payments are processed via PayPal accounts which represent virtual private or business accounts. PayPal is also able to process virtual payments through credit cards when a user does not have a PayPal account. A PayPal account is managed via an e-mail address, which is why there are no classic account numbers. PayPal makes it possible to trigger online payments to third parties or to receive payments. PayPal also accepts trustee functions and offers buyer protection services.

If you choose “PayPal” as the payment option in the online shop during the ordering process, we automatically transmit the data of the data subject to PayPal. By selecting this payment option, the data subject agrees to the transfer of personal data required for payment processing.

The personal data transmitted to PayPal is usually first name, last name, address, email address, IP address, telephone number, mobile phone number, or other data necessary for payment processing. The processing of the purchase contract also requires such personal data, which are in connection with the respective order.

The transmission of the data is aimed at payment processing and fraud prevention. The controller will transfer personal data to PayPal, in particular, if a legitimate interest in the transmission is given. The personal data exchanged between PayPal and the controller for the processing of the data will be transmitted by PayPal to economic credit agencies. This transmission is intended for identity and creditworthiness checks.

PayPal will, if necessary, pass on personal data to affiliates and service providers or subcontractors to the extent that this is necessary to fulfill contractual obligations or for data to be processed in the order.

The data subject has the possibility to revoke consent for the handling of personal data at any time from PayPal. A revocation shall not have any effect on personal data which must be processed, used or transmitted in accordance with (contractual) payment processing.

The applicable data protection provisions of PayPal may be retrieved here.

WooCommerce

While you browse products on our site, WooCommerce tracks:

  • Products you’ve viewed
  • Location, IP address and browser type for estimating taxes and shipping
  • Shipping address

They also use cookies to keep track of cart contents while you’re browsing our site.

When you purchase from us, WooCommerce asks you to provide information including your name, billing address, shipping address, email address, phone number, credit card/payment details and optional account information like username and password. They’ll use this information for purposes, such as, to:

  • Send you information about your account and order
  • Respond to your requests, including refunds and complaints
  • Process payments and prevent fraud
  • Set up your account for our store
  • Comply with any legal obligations we have, such as calculating taxes
  • Improve our store offerings
  • Send you marketing messages, if you choose to receive them

If you create an account, we will store your name, address, email and phone number, which will be used to populate the checkout for future orders. We generally store information about you for as long as we need the information for the purposes for which we collect and use it, and we are not legally required to continue to keep it.

We will also store comments or reviews if you choose to leave them.

Stripe

When you make payments through Stripe, they will receive your transaction information via WooCommerce. The information they collect will include payment method information (such as credit or debit card number, or bank account information), purchase amount, date of purchase, and payment method. Different payment methods may require the collection of different categories of information.

When Stripe conducts fraud monitoring, prevention and detection activities, they may also receive Personal Data about you from business partners, financial service providers, identity verification services, and publicly available sources (e.g., name, address, phone number, country), as necessary to confirm your identity and prevent fraud. Their fraud monitoring, detection and prevention services may use technology that helps us assess the risk associated with an attempted transaction that is enabled on the Stripe User’s website or the application that collects information.

You can read their privacy policy here.


Analytics

This website collects a series of general data and information when a data subject or automated system calls up the website. This general data and information are stored in the server log files. Collected may be (1) the browser types and versions used, (2) the operating system used by the accessing system, (3) the website from which an accessing system reaches our website (so-called referrers), (4) the sub-websites, (5) the date and time of access to the Internet site, (6) an Internet protocol address (IP address), (7) the Internet service provider of the accessing system, and (8) any other similar data and information that may be used in the event of attacks on our information technology systems.

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service. Web analytics is the collection, gathering, and analysis of data about the behavior of visitors to websites. A web analysis service collects data about the website from which a person has come (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages were visited, or how often and for what duration a sub-page was viewed. Web analytics are mainly used for the optimization of a website and in order to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of Internet advertising.

The operator of the Google Analytics component is Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043-1351, United States.

The purpose of Google Analytics is to analyze the traffic on our website. Google uses the collected data and information to evaluate the use of our website and to provide online reports, which show the activities on our websites, and to provide other services concerning the use of our Internet site for us.

Google Analytics places a cookie on the information technology system of the data subject. The definition of cookies is explained above. With the setting of the cookie, Google is enabled to analyze the use of our website. With each call-up to one of the individual pages of this Internet site, which is operated by the controller and into which a Google Analytics component was integrated, the Internet browser on the information technology system of the data subject will automatically submit data through the Google Analytics component for the purpose of online advertising and the settlement of commissions to Google. During the course of this technical procedure, Google gains knowledge of personal information, such as the IP address of the data subject, which serves Google to understand the origin of visitors and clicks, and subsequently create commission settlements.

The cookie is used to store personal information, such as the access time, the location from which the access was made, and the frequency of visits of our website by the data subject. With each visit to our Internet site, such personal data, including the IP address of the Internet access used by the data subject, will be transmitted to Google in the United States of America. These personal data are stored by Google in the United States of America. Google may pass these personal data collected through the technical procedure to third parties.

The data subject may, as stated above, prevent the setting of cookies through our website at any time by means of a corresponding adjustment of the web browser used and thus permanently deny the setting of cookies. Such an adjustment to the Internet browser used would also prevent Google Analytics from setting a cookie on the information technology system of the data subject. In addition, cookies already in use by Google Analytics may be deleted at any time via a web browser or other software programs.

In addition, the data subject has the possibility of objecting to a collection of data that are generated by Google Analytics, which is related to the use of this website, as well as the processing of this data by Google and the chance to preclude any such. For this purpose, the data subject must download a browser add-on here and install it. This browser add-on tells Google Analytics through a JavaScript, that any data and information about the visits of Internet pages may not be transmitted to Google Analytics. The installation of the browser add-ons is considered an objection by Google. If the information technology system of the data subject is later deleted, formatted, or newly installed, then the data subject must reinstall the browser add-ons to disable Google Analytics. If the browser add-on was uninstalled by the data subject or any other person who is attributable to their sphere of competence or is disabled, it is possible to execute the reinstallation or reactivation of the browser add-ons.

Further information and the applicable data protection provisions of Google may be retrieved here (international) and here (US). Google Analytics is further explained here.


Newsletter

We have a newsletter. It may only be received by you if (1) you have a valid e-mail address and (2) you register for the newsletter. A confirmation e-mail will be sent to the e-mail address registered for the first time for legal reasons. This confirmation e-mail is used to prove whether the owner of the e-mail address has elected to receive the newsletter.

The personal data collected as part of a registration for the newsletter will only be used to send our newsletter. In addition, subscribers to the newsletter may be informed by e-mail, as long as this is necessary for the operation of the newsletter service or a registration in question, as this could be the case in the event of modifications to the newsletter offer, or in the event of a change in technical circumstances. There will be no transfer of personal data collected by the newsletter service to third parties. The subscription to our newsletter may be terminated by the data subject at any time. The consent to the storage of personal data, which the data subject has given for shipping the newsletter, may be revoked at any time. For the purpose of revocation of consent, a corresponding link is found in each newsletter. It is also possible to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time directly through the emails or to communicate this in a different way.

Our newsletter contains so-called tracking pixels. A tracking pixel is a miniature graphic embedded in such e-mails, which are sent in HTML format to enable log file recording and analysis. This allows a statistical analysis of the success or failure of online marketing campaigns. Based on the embedded tracking pixel, we may see if and when an e-mail was opened by you, and which links in the e-mail were called up.

Such personal data collected in the tracking pixels contained in newsletters are stored and analyzed in order to optimize the shipping of the newsletter, as well as to adapt the content of future newsletters even better to the interests of subscribers. These personal data will not be passed on to third parties. You are at any time entitled to revoke the respective separate declaration of consent issued by means of the double-opt-in procedure. After a revocation, these personal data will be deleted by the controller. We automatically regard a withdrawal from the receipt of the newsletter as a revocation.


Location-Specific Information

CCPA Privacy Rights (Do Not Sell My Personal Information)

Under the CCPA, among other rights, California consumers have the right to:

  • Request that a business that collects a consumer’s personal data disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal data that a business has collected about consumers.
  • Request that a business delete any personal data about the consumer that a business has collected.
  • Request that a business that sells a consumer’s personal data, not sell the consumer’s personal data.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us.

GDPR Data Protection Rights

We would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:

  • The right to access – You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service.
  • The right to rectification – You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete the information you believe is incomplete.
  • The right to erasure – You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The right to data portability – You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us.


Children’s Information

Another part of our priority is adding protection for children while using the internet. We encourage parents and guardians to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity.

CS does not knowingly collect any Personal Identifiable Information from children under the age of 13. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will do our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.


Who we share your data with

Data shared on the site is not shared with anyone, save for a few exceptions:

  • If you’ve added your email to an email list, your information is shared with Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Substack, and WordPress.
  • If you’ve entered a contest, your contact information may be shared with partners associated with the contest.
  • Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

How long we retain 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.


What rights you have over your 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.


Contact information

You can email me at grayson -at- chronicsex -dot- org with any questions or concerns.