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Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 27, 2025

BestMarinades.com (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect from you, how we use and share it, and your rights regarding that information. By using our website (the “Site”), you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. We comply with applicable privacy laws including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA), and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Information We Collect

We collect information that you voluntarily provide to us as well as data collected automatically when you interact with our Site.

  • Personal Information You Provide: When you sign up for our newsletter or comment on a post, we may collect personal details such as your name and email address. If you contact us directly or make a purchase (e.g., buying an eBook via Gumroad), you may provide additional information like your message contents or payment details. (Note: Payment transactions are handled by third-party processors like Gumroad; we do not receive your credit card information.)
  • Information Collected Automatically: When you visit BestMarinades.com, we automatically receive certain data about your device and usage. This includes your IP address, browser type, device information, pages you view, time spent on pages, and referring URL. We use analytics tools (such as Google Analytics) that collect this information using cookies or similar tracking technologies.
  • Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We use “cookies” and similar technologies to enhance your experience. Cookies are small text files stored on your browser. They help the Site remember your preferences and understand how you use our content. For example, cookies allow us to keep you logged in (if applicable), remember your preferences, and serve relevant advertisements. We also use cookies from third parties (like Google Analytics and Google AdSense) to gather usage data and display personalized ads.

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. Note that if you disable cookies, some features of our Site may not function properly. By using our Site, you consent to the use of cookies and similar technologies as described. If you prefer not to accept cookies, you can adjust your browser settings; however, some parts of our Site might not work correctly with cookies disabled.

Do Not Track: Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” (DNT) signal. At this time, our Site does not respond to DNT signals due to the lack of an industry standard. We continue to monitor developments around DNT. Regardless, we only collect and share your information as described in this Privacy Policy.

How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for the following purposes:

  • To Provide and Maintain Our Services: We use your information to operate the Site and provide you with content. For example, if you sign up for our newsletter, we will use your email to send you our recipes, tips, and updates.
  • Personalization and User Experience: Information about how you use our Site helps us personalize your experience. We may recommend recipes or content you might enjoy based on your interactions. Cookies help remember your preferences so we can greet you by name or retain your chosen settings.
  • Communication: If you contact us or sign up for communications, we may use your name and email to respond to you or send newsletters and important announcements. You can opt out of marketing emails at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in the email or contacting us.
  • Analytics and Improvements: We use analytics data (e.g., from Google Analytics) to understand traffic and usage patterns on our Site. This helps us improve our content, design, and user experience. For instance, knowing which recipes are most popular helps us decide what new content to create.
  • Advertising and Monetization: We display advertisements through third-party advertising networks like Google AdSense. These ads may be tailored to you based on cookies or identifiers. The revenue from these ads helps us keep BestMarinades.com running. We may also use information about your visits to show you relevant ads (for example, showing marinade-related ads if you have been reading our sauce recipes).
  • Affiliate Marketing: Some pages on our Site contain affiliate links to products or services we recommend (for example, links to kitchen products or ingredients). If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission. We do not receive your personal payment information from these affiliate transactions, but the affiliate partner might inform us about the purchase for commission purposes.
  • Purchase Fulfillment: If we offer paid products like eBooks (fulfilled via a platform such as Gumroad), we use your information to process your order and provide the product. Your email may be used to deliver digital products or receipts, and to communicate with you about your purchase.
  • Legal and Security: We may use or disclose information to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our Terms & Conditions, or protect our rights and the safety of our users. This includes preventing fraud, detecting security issues, or addressing any misuse of our Site.

How We Share Your Information

We value your privacy and share personal information only as necessary to run our Site and provide our services, or when required by law. We do not sell your personal information to third parties for money. However, we do partner with third parties that provide services on our behalf or use cookies and advertising, which may involve the sharing or collecting of data as explained below:

  • Service Providers: We may share your information with trusted third-party companies who help us operate our business and the Site. For example:
    • Email Services: We use email service providers (such as Mailchimp or similar platforms) to manage our newsletter and send out emails. If you sign up for our newsletter, your name and email address are stored with that provider so we can email you.
    • Analytics: We use Google Analytics to collect usage data and insights. Google Analytics may receive your IP address and information about your interactions with our Site. (Google offers a browser add-on if you want to opt out of Google Analytics tracking.)
    • Payments: If you purchase an eBook or other product via Gumroad or a similar payment processor, that third party will handle the payment process. They may share with us limited information needed to fulfill your order (such as your name, email, and confirmation of purchase). We do not receive your credit card number or financial account details from these transactions.
  • Advertising Partners: Third-party advertisers (like Google AdSense) may use cookies or other tracking technologies to collect information about your activities on our Site and other sites, in order to serve you personalized ads. These companies may collect identifiers (such as cookie IDs or device IDs), IP address, and information about your browsing behavior. For example, Google may use the DoubleClick cookie to track your visits and interests and show relevant ads. You can opt out of personalized Google ads by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. You can also learn about opting out of many interest-based ads via resources like the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) or Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) websites. Please note that even if you opt out of personalized ads, you may still see contextual ads (for example, a generic ad based on the content of the page rather than your preferences).
  • Affiliate Programs: When you click on affiliate links on BestMarinades.com, you will be directed to the external merchant’s site (for example, Amazon or other retailers). Those third parties may place cookies to track that you were referred from our Site. If you make a purchase on that external site, we receive a commission. We do not receive personal details like your name or address from our affiliate partners; we only get summary information (for instance, that a certain product was bought and we earned a commission). Any personal information you provide on an affiliate’s site (such as your shipping address for an order) is subject to that site’s privacy policy, not ours.
  • Legal Compliance and Protection: We may disclose personal information if we are legally required to do so (for example, in response to a subpoena or court order), or if we believe in good faith that such action is necessary to: comply with the law or legal process; protect and defend our rights or property; prevent fraud or abuse; investigate or act regarding illegal activities or suspected fraud; or protect the safety of our users or others.
  • Business Transfers: If BestMarinades.com is involved in a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, or sale of assets, or another business transaction, user information (which may include personal data) could be transferred to a successor or affiliated entity as part of that deal. If such a transfer occurs, we will ensure that your personal information remains protected per the commitments in this Privacy Policy, and we will notify you (for example, via notice on our Site) of any change in data ownership or practices.

Your Privacy Rights and Choices

Depending on your location and applicable laws, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information. We are committed to providing all users with appropriate control over their data.

General Choices (for All Users):

  • Email Opt-Out: If you subscribe to our newsletter, you can unsubscribe at any time. Every marketing email we send includes an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom. Click that link to stop receiving future promotional emails. You can also contact us directly to be removed. (Even if you opt out of marketing messages, we may still send you administrative emails, such as updates to our policies or information about your account if you have one.)
  • Cookie Controls: You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block cookies or alert you when a cookie is being placed on your device. You can also use industry opt-out tools to control cookies used for advertising, such as the DAA’s WebChoices tool or the NAI’s opt-out page, which let you opt out of many ad networks’ targeting. Please note that if you disable cookies, some parts of our Site may not function properly for you.
  • “Do Not Sell My Personal Information”: We do not sell personal data for monetary compensation. However, the CCPA (California law) broadly defines “sale” to include some sharing of data for advertising purposes. If you are a California resident and prefer that we do not allow any potentially “sale” activity (such as sharing data with third-party advertisers for targeted ads), you have the right to opt out. To do so, you can contact us at the email in the Contact section below with the subject “Do Not Sell My Personal Information,” and we will take steps to honor your request as required by law.

Rights for European Economic Area (EEA), UK, and Similar Regions (GDPR):
If you are located in the EEA, United Kingdom, or other regions with similar data protection laws, you have certain rights under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and local laws. These rights include:

  • Right to Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. We will provide this in a readable format, usually within one month of your request.
  • Right to Rectification: If any of your personal information is incorrect or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to correct or update it.
  • Right to Erasure: You can request that we delete your personal data under certain circumstances (for example, if the data is no longer necessary for the purposes it was collected, or if you withdraw consent and no other legal basis for processing applies). This is sometimes called the “right to be forgotten.” We will honor valid deletion requests and also direct any service providers to delete your information, unless an exception applies (such as we need to keep certain data to comply with a legal obligation).
  • Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to ask us to restrict (pause) the processing of your personal information if you contest its accuracy, believe the processing is unlawful, or if you need us to preserve it for legal reasons.
  • Right to Object: You may object to our processing of your personal information in certain cases. For example, you have the right to object to the use of your data for direct marketing. In some cases, you can also object to processing based on legitimate interests; if you do, we will consider your objection and whether our legitimate grounds for processing override your rights and freedoms.
  • Right to Data Portability: You have the right to request that we transfer the personal information you have provided to us to another organization (or to you) in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, where technically feasible. This right applies when the processing is based on your consent or on a contract with you, and is carried out by automated means.
  • Right to Withdraw Consent: If we rely on your consent to process your personal information (for example, if you consented to receive our newsletter or certain cookies), you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal, and it won’t affect processing that is not based on consent (e.g., processing based on legal requirements or our legitimate interests).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details at the end of this Privacy Policy. We may ask you to verify your identity (for instance, by confirming control of your email address) before acting on your request. We will respond to your request within the timeframes required by law (typically within 30 days for GDPR requests). Some rights may be subject to limitations or exceptions under applicable law, but we will explain if that is the case.

Rights for California Residents (CCPA/CPRA):
If you are a resident of California, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the CPRA, provides you with specific rights regarding your personal information:

  • Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell (if applicable). You may request details about the specific pieces of personal information we have about you, as well as information about the categories of personal information, the categories of sources of that information, the purpose for collecting or sharing it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
  • Right to Delete: You have the right to request that we delete personal information we have collected from you, with certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm a verifiable deletion request, we will delete (and instruct our service providers to delete) your personal information from our records, unless an exception applies. For example, we may retain information needed to complete a transaction you requested, to detect security incidents, to comply with legal obligations, or other purposes allowed by law.
  • Right to Opt Out of Sale/Sharing: You have the right to opt out of the “sale” or sharing of your personal information to third parties. As noted, we do not sell your data for money. If our use of cookies for advertising could be considered a “sale” or sharing under CCPA, you can opt out as described above (see “Do Not Sell My Personal Information”). We also honor any browser-based Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals as an opt-out of sale/sharing for that browser, if detected.
  • Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. This means, for example, we won’t deny you our services or provide you a different level of service just because you exercised your privacy rights. (Note: If you ask us to delete your data, and that data was needed to provide a service, we may not be able to continue providing that service. But we will not punish you with different pricing or quality for making a privacy request.)

To make a verifiable consumer request to exercise any of your California rights, you (or your authorized agent) can contact us as outlined in the Contact section. We will need to verify your identity to process certain requests (for instance, by confirming information we already have on file, like your email address). If you use an authorized agent, we will require proof of the agent’s authority and still take steps to verify that the request is authentic.

International Data Transfers: BestMarinades.com is based in and operated from the United States. If you are visiting our Site from outside the U.S., be aware that your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States (and potentially on servers located in other countries where our service providers are located). The data protection and privacy laws in the U.S. may not be the same as those in your home country. However, we take steps to ensure that your privacy remains protected according to this Policy. By using our Site or providing us with information, you consent to the transfer of your personal data to the United States. If you are in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we will rely on approved legal mechanisms to transfer data (such as your consent or Standard Contractual Clauses, as applicable) and will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

Children’s Privacy

Our Site is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. In accordance with COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), if we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 13 without parental consent, we will delete that information as soon as possible. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe your child under 13 has provided personal information to us, please contact us and we will promptly remove that data.

We also do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of minors under 16 years of age without affirmative authorization, as required by the CCPA. If you are under 16, do not provide any personal information on this Site.

Data Security

We take the security of your personal information seriously. BestMarinades.com implements reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of your personal data. These measures include technical, administrative, and physical safeguards. For example, our website is accessible only via HTTPS, which encrypts data transmitted between your browser and our Site. We also restrict access to personal data to those employees or service providers who need it to perform their work, and we require similar security commitments from any third-party providers who handle personal information on our behalf.

However, please note that no website or Internet transmission is completely secure. Despite our efforts, we cannot guarantee that your information will be 100% secure. You use our Site and provide personal information at your own risk. We recommend that you use strong passwords, do not reuse passwords across websites, and take other precautions to protect your information. If we become aware of a security breach that affects your personal data, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by law.

Data Retention

We retain personal information for only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. In practice, this means:

  • If you have signed up for our newsletter, we will retain your email address and any information associated with your subscription until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete that information. Upon unsubscribing, we may keep a record of your email to ensure we don’t accidentally send you emails again.
  • If you post a comment on our Site, the comment and associated information (like your name or username and timestamp) are displayed publicly and will remain unless we remove it or you request deletion. We may remove old comments during site maintenance or if they violate our policies.
  • We may retain information that is needed for our internal business operations or legal obligations. For example, we might keep data about site usage to analyze performance, or retain information in backups, archives, and logs. We also may need to keep certain records to comply with financial or legal requirements. When we no longer have a legitimate need to retain your personal information, we will securely dispose of it or anonymize it.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update or modify this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this Policy. For significant changes, we may also provide a more prominent notice (such as a banner on our homepage or an email notification to subscribers) to inform you. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.

Your continued use of BestMarinades.com after any updates to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the updated policy, you should stop using the Site and, if applicable, unsubscribe from our communications.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact us:

Email: privacy@bestmarinades.com
Mailing Address: BestMarinades.com – Attn: Privacy Officer
1234 Culinary Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA

We will do our best to respond promptly to your inquiry and address your concerns.