Privacy Policy

empeeryal.com is run by EMPEERYAL LLC ("I", "me"), based in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This policy explains what information the site collects, why, who else handles it and what you can do about it. The short version: the site collects only what it needs to run the features you use, it has no advertising or analytics trackers, and your information is never sold.

What the site collects

Information you give me

• Account. When you create an account: your name, your email address and a password. The password is stored only as a salted hash, so I cannot read it. If you sign in with GitHub or Google, where that is offered, the site receives the name, email address, profile picture and account identifier that provider shares, instead of a password.
• Newsletter. Your email address, the page you signed up on, and whether and when you confirmed or unsubscribed.
• Contact form. The name, email address, subject and message you send.
• Purchases and membership. If you buy something: what you bought, the amount, the date, the payment status and the identifiers Stripe assigns to you and to the payment. Your card number and other payment details are entered on Stripe's pages. They never reach this site and I cannot see them.

Information collected automatically

• Sign-in sessions. When you sign in, the site records the IP address and the browser description (user agent) for that session, so that your account can be protected. A session expires after 30 days without use.
• Abuse prevention. Sign-in requests and the public forms are rate limited. For sign-in requests this uses your IP address; for the forms it uses a one-way hash of it. Both are kept only for a short time.
• Short links. When you follow a link that starts with empeeryal.com/go/, the site records the time, the page you came from and your country. It does not record your IP address or who you are.
• Server logs. The hosting provider processes technical data for every request, such as IP address, browser and the page requested, to deliver the site and keep it secure.

The site does not use analytics, advertising or social media trackers, and it does not build a profile of what you read.

Cookies and browser storage

The site sets cookies only for signing in: they keep you signed in and protect the sign-in process, and they are not set until you use an account. Your light or dark theme choice is saved in your browser's local storage and is never sent to the site. There are no advertising cookies and no cross-site tracking cookies.

How the information is used

• To create and secure your account and show you your dashboard.
• To send the newsletter, only after you have confirmed your address by clicking the link in the confirmation email.
• To send account emails: address confirmation, sign-in links and password resets. These are sent only when you ask for them.
• To take payment, deliver what you bought and keep the records the law requires.
• To answer messages you send me.
• To see which short links are used, and to prevent spam and abuse.

I do not sell your personal information, I do not share it for advertising, and I do not use it to make automated decisions about you.

Who else handles it

I use a small number of companies to run the site. Each one receives only what it needs to do its job, and handles it under its own privacy policy:

• Vercel — hosting, and storage of the files that buyers download.
• Neon — the database where accounts, subscriptions, messages and orders are stored.
• Resend — sending email, including the newsletter.
• Stripe — payments, subscriptions, invoices and the billing portal.
• GitHub or Google — only if you choose to sign in with one of them.

I may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect the site or its users from fraud or abuse, or as part of a sale or reorganization of the business, in which case this policy would continue to apply to it.

Links on this site, including affiliate links, lead to websites I do not control. What they collect is covered by their own policies. See the disclaimer for how affiliate links work here.

How long it is kept

• Account: until you ask me to delete it.
• Newsletter: while you are subscribed. After you unsubscribe, your address stays on a do-not-email list so that it is not added again by mistake, unless you ask me to remove it entirely.
• Contact messages: as long as needed to deal with your request and keep a record of the conversation.
• Orders and invoices: as long as tax and accounting rules require, even if you delete your account.
• Sessions and rate-limit records: until they expire.

Your choices and rights

• Unsubscribe with the link at the bottom of any newsletter, or in your dashboard settings.
• Change your name or password in your dashboard settings.
• Ask for a copy, a correction or deletion of your information, or object to how it is used, by emailing hello@empeeryal.com from the address the information belongs to. I answer within 30 days.

Depending on where you live, the law may give you these and further rights, for example under the GDPR in Europe and the United Kingdom, or under state privacy laws in the United States. I honor these requests wherever you live, and I will not treat you differently for making one. If you are in Europe or the United Kingdom, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.

For visitors in Europe and the United Kingdom, the legal grounds I rely on are: performing my agreement with you (accounts, purchases), your consent (the newsletter, which you can withdraw at any time), my legitimate interest in running and securing the site (sessions, rate limiting, short-link counts, answering messages) and legal obligations (tax records).

Where it is processed

The business and the companies listed above operate mainly in the United States. If you use the site from another country, your information is transferred to and processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those where you live.

Security

The site is served only over an encrypted connection, passwords are stored as hashes, payment details stay with Stripe, and access to the database is restricted. No website can promise perfect security. If something happens that affects your information, I will tell you as the law requires.

Children

This site is written for adults. It is not directed to children under 13, and I do not knowingly collect information from them. Accounts and purchases are for people 18 and over. If you believe a child has given the site personal information, email me and I will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the date at the top of the page changes with it. If a change materially affects information you have already given me, I will tell account holders and newsletter subscribers by email before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions or requests about your information: