Introduction
Susan and John Ruff are a retired couple who like to write fantasy books. We take your privacy (and our own) very seriously. It is our intent only to use your personal information for communication, marketing, and/or to help you get the most out of our website, newsletters, and other products and services. We will never sell your information to third parties. We store your personal information only so long as we have a reason to keep it. You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at the bottom of any email. If you want your personal information deleted entirely, reply to any email to let us know.
Below is our Privacy Policy which incorporates and clarifies these principles.
Privacy Policy
Who We Are and What This Policy Covers
Susan and John Ruff are a husband and wife writing team from southern California who write, self-publish, and sell novels, short stories, and similar works of fiction.
This Privacy Policy applies to information that we collect about you when you subscribe to our newsletter/email list, when you contact us through a form on our website, or when you contact us by email or other means about our products or services.
Information We Collect
We collect personal information, such as names and email addresses, as part of the process when you sign up for our newsletter and/or email list. We may also collect personal information if you send an email directly to us, reply to one of our posts, or contact us in another fashion.
In addition, the companies we use to provide our products and services, such as WordPress, MailerLite, Facebook, BookFunnel, Amazon, and Story Origin, may collect personal information from you when you use their services in connection with our products and services. We do not own or control these third parties, and they have their own rules about information collection, use, and sharing, which you should review before using their software or services. Please see each of their Privacy Policies regarding the information they collect and use.
How and Why We Use Information
Purposes for Using Information
We use information about you for the purposes listed below:
- To provide our newsletter, updates, products and services, and other marketing-related communications to you; and
- To communicate with you about other matters related to our writing.
Legal Bases for Collecting and Using Information
A note here for those in the European Union about our legal grounds for processing information about you under EU data protection laws, which is that our use of your information is based on the grounds that:
(1) The use is necessary in order to fulfill our commitments to you, for example by sending you emails and newsletters that you requested when you signed up for our newsletter; or
(2) The use is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation; or
(3) The use is necessary in order to protect your vital interests or those of another person; or
(4) You have given us your consent by providing your personal information as part of the sign-up process for our newsletter.
Sharing Information
How We Share Information
We do not sell your personal information. We will only provide it to others: 1) with your consent; 2) when required by law, for example when required to comply with a subpoena, court order, or other governmental request; or 3) when a third party service (such as MailerLite or BookFunnel) needs the information in order to provide our newsletter, email, products, or other services to you.
Information Shared Publicly
The only information we make public is the information you choose to share in public, for example in a comment on our website or Facebook page.
How Long We Keep Information
We generally keep your personal information only as long as necessary to comply with the purposes for which we collect it and to comply with any requirements of law. See the section above entitled How and Why We Use Information.
You always have the right to unsubscribe from our newsletter/email list at any time. You can also contact us to have your personal information deleted from our system. Note however, that it may be necessary for you to contact third party services such as MailerLite and BookFunnel directly to request that your personal information be deleted from their systems.
Security
While no online service is 100% secure, we work very hard to protect information about you against unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction, and take reasonable measures to do so.
Your Rights
If you are located in certain parts of the world, including California and countries that fall under the scope of the European General Data Protection Regulation (aka the “GDPR”), you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, like the right to request access to or deletion of your data.
European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
If you are located in a country that falls under the scope of the GDPR, data protection laws give you certain rights with respect to your personal data, subject to any exemptions provided by the law, including the rights to:
- Request access to your personal data;
- Request correction or deletion of your personal data;
- Object to our use and processing of your personal data;
- Request that we limit our use and processing of your personal data; and
- Request portability of your personal data.
You also have the right to make a complaint to a government supervisory authority.
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) requires us to provide California residents with some additional information about the categories of personal information we collect and share, where we get that personal information, and how and why we use it.
The CCPA also requires us to provide a list of the “categories” of personal information we collect, as that term is defined in the law. We collect the following categories of personal information from California residents:
- Identifiers (such as name, email address, and other contact information);
- Characteristics protected by law (for example, age, gender, birthdate or similar information that you might provide to us);
- Audio, electronic, visual or similar information (such as your picture, if provide one).
You can find more information about what we collect and sources of that information in the Information We Collect section above.
We collect personal information for the business and commercial purposes described in the How and Why We Use Information section. And we share this information with the categories of third parties described in the Sharing Information section.
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the CCPA, subject to any exemptions provided by the law, including the right to:
- Request to know the categories of personal information we collect, the categories of business or commercial purpose for collecting and using it, the categories of sources from which the information came, the categories of third parties we share it with, and the specific pieces of information we collect about you;
- Request deletion of personal information we collect or maintain;
- Opt out of any sale of personal information; and
- Not receive discriminatory treatment for exercising your rights under the CCPA.
How to Reach Us
If you have a question about this Privacy Policy, or you would like to contact us about any of the rights mentioned in the Your Rights section above, please contact us at susanruff@emeraldcovepress.com.
Please note that we do not own or control the third parties services, such as MailerLite and Book Funnel, that assist with the provision of our products and services. They have their own rules about information collection, use, and sharing, which you should review before using their software or services.
Privacy Policy Changes
Although most changes are likely to be minor, we may change our Privacy Policy from time to time. We encourage visitors to check this page for any changes to the Privacy Policy. Your further use of the Services after a change to our Privacy Policy will be subject to the updated policy.
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank Automattic and WordPress for releasing their Privacy Policy under a Creative Commons Sharealike license, permitting others to copy it, adapt it, and repurpose it for their own use. Your Privacy Policy template was of great help to us!
Susan and John Ruff, Fantasy Authors 