Privacy Statement
Worried about what happens to your personal data when you visit The Pet Loss Support Page? Don't be! Here's what we "collect" and what we do with it. Read on if you're a visitor. Please skip to the relevant section below if you are
Advertiser (or potential advertiser), or have (or want) a listing in our Resource Directory.
First, there actually is no "we." There's "I," Moira Allen. I'm the only person who works with this site. There's no big company or corporation. The goal of this site is to give information, not get it. Still, we get some data whether we want it or not, so let's look at...
1. Visitor Statistics
This site does not use cookies. However, visitor statistics are tracked by a variety of programs, and they do. Some of those programs, like Awstats, are incorporated into the host server, and I have no control over them.
I use StatCounter to display the number of visitors on the website itself. StatCounter uses cookies. Their purpose is to determine whether a visitor is "unique" and how often a visitor returns to the site. These cookies do not gather personal information. Instead, they assign a random number to each visitor to determine uniqueness vs. repeat visits. To find out more about StatCounter's cookies, please visit https://statcounter.com/about/cookies/.
I presume the analytic programs used by the web hosting service operate in a similar fashion. Again, those cookies do not provide any personal information about visitors. From Awstats, I can determine how many unique visitors come to the site every month and how many pages are visited. Awstats also gives quite a bit of other info, such as statistics on visitors from different countries, pages visited, keywords used in searching for the site, etc., but again, no personal information is gathered on individuals.
This information enables me to provide aggregate statistics on visitor rates to potential advertisers, which, in turn, helps support this site and keeps this information available to you.
2. Information Provided to Advertisers
A variety of companies advertise products on this site. The only information I provide to advertisers about my visitors is aggregate data on visitor rates - i.e., how many visitors the site receives per month. No personal data about visitors, such as personal e-mails, will ever be provided to our advertisers. Ever.
3. E-mails
If you send me a personal e-mail (such as a thank-you or a request for advice), obviously I will receive whatever personal information you have chosen to send. I treat e-mail correspondence in the same manner as letters sent by mail. Personal e-mails are archived offline in perpetuity. I do not collect or maintain a list of e-mail addresses from personal e-mails. No personal information from voluntary e-mails is ever shared, sold, made public, etc.
I reserve the following uses for personal e-mails:
- A. The right to use the content of a request for advice on pet loss topics in future articles or columns. If such information is used, no personal information about the sender will be included or made public.
- B. The right to contact correspondents in the unlikely event that I launch a newsletter or blog relating to the topic of this site. In such an event, correspondents will have the right to opt out of any future contacts or mailings.
If you send me a personal e-mail, rest assured that I will never use it to market to you or spam you.
4. E-book Sales
Just about anyone, anywhere in the world, can purchase an e-book from this site. If you purchase my e-book, your purchase will be processed through PayPal. Generally the only information I receive is your name and e-mail. I receive no financial information about you (I never see your credit card number). Often I do not even know what country you are in.
For tax/business purposes, I keep a record of e-book transactions, which includes the e-mail address (but not the name) of the buyer. Please note that this information is always available from PayPal, so even if I deleted my own files, it could always be reconstructed. These e-mails will never be used for marketing or spam, sold, transferred, or shared with any other person or entity.
If you purchase an e-book, your information also goes to an agency called Softseller.com, which provides the download mechanism/shopping cart for e-book purchases. I do not collect or receive any information about buyers from Softseller.com.
As mentioned above, I reserve the right to contact buyers in the unlikely event that I launch a newsletter or blog on the topics addressed by this site. Again, if that were to occur, correspondents have the right to opt out of any future e-mails.
5. If This Website Is Sold or Transferred...
If I ever sell or transfer this website, no personal e-mail addresses, correspondence, or contact information relating to visitors and/or e-book purchasers will be transferred with the sale. Please note that this does not apply to advertisers and directory listings (see below).
Information for Advertisers
If you are an advertiser or potential advertiser on The Pet Loss Support Page, you have voluntarily entered into a business agreement with me. For the protection of my visitors and my business, I require complete contact information from advertisers, including name, company name (if different), address, e-mail, and URL. This information is gathered for business purposes only and is never sold, shared or made public.
As an advertiser, you have complete control over what information is made public on the site. Most advertisers include only a URL in their listings; some include e-mails. Again, this is your choice; we will never post or share information that you choose to keep "hidden."
Advertising agreements are archived offline in perpetuity, as part of my business and tax records.
Advertising is generally paid through PayPal. We do not receive any personal financial information from you. If you choose to pay by check, we do not keep copies of checks or record any personal financial information from such transactions.
As indicated above, we will never share with you, our advertisers, any personal information about our visitors. The only information we will share is aggregate visitor statistics. We will never provide any contact information such as visitor e-mails. (In other words, if you're thinking you'd like to do an "e-mail blast," fuhgeddaboudit.)
If I ever sell or transfer this site, advertising information is considered a business asset, and information about advertisers will be included in the sale or transfer.
Information Regarding Our Resource Directory
The Pet Loss Support Page offers a free directory of pet loss support services, including counselors, support groups, hotlines, pet cemeteries and crematories, hospices and in-home euthanasia providers. Participation in this directory is strictly voluntary.
Years ago, we "harvested" information from other online directories to build our directory. We quickly learned that (a) this information tended to be out of date and (b) other directories were harvesting their data from us, so we no longer gather this information online. This directory is now entirely "opt-in," and any contacts that were originally harvested from elsewhere have been given many chances to "opt out" over the years.
Thus, by definition, if you are in our directory today, you have voluntarily chosen to be there (or chosen not to be removed). This means that you have voluntarily chosen to provide the information you wish to make public. Our directory listing form enables you to choose what information you wish to share and what you wish to keep private. (For example, you may choose to omit your e-mail address, phone number, address, etc.) We do require that you provide us with an e-mail address so that we can contact you with questions or updates, but again, that information is not made public without your permission.
Obviously, anyone can access this public directory and gather your information. By choosing to be included in our public directory, you acknowledge that we have no control over who accesses that directory or what use it may be put to by others.
If you sign up for a paid "expanded" listing, your payment will be processed through PayPal (unless you choose to pay by check). We do not receive any financial information about you from PayPal.
I maintain an e-mail list of directory listing participants. This list includes your e-mail, state, and type of listing (e.g., counselor, cemetery, etc.). I use this list to send out an annual notice to participants, asking you to check and update your listing as necessary. This annual e-mail may also include marketing information. Your e-mail is removed from this list if (a) you ask for your listing to be removed or (b) I find that your listing is no longer valid. This list contains no other personal information. It is never sold, shared, or made public.
If I ever sell or transfer this site, the Resource Directory is considered one of the assets of the site and will be transferred to the new owner. Such a transfer would include the current version of the Resource Directory e-mail list.
When a pet dies, you want help... fast!
You'll find it in Moira Allen's Coping with Sorrow on the Loss of Your Pet. In a book filled with comfort, compassion and support, you'll find the tools and tips you need to:
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- Understand the feelings you're going through -- and find ways to ease the pain
- "Say good-bye" with memorials, tributes and other coping strategies
- Help your children and other family members deal with their grief
- Deal with people who "just don't understand"
- Help surviving pets cope with the loss of a missing companion
- Come to terms with the guilt we so often feel when a pet dies
- Handle the agonizing decision of euthanasia
- Choose the best and most comforting "final resting place" for your pet
- Determine when and how to bring a new companion into your home (how soon is too soon?)
- Improve your chances of recovering a lost or stolen pet
- Help a friend cope with loss
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Coping with Sorrow on the Loss of Your Pet celebrates over 30 years in print -
our expanded Third Edition is available from Amazon.com in Print and Kindle editions!*
*(Please note that these are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Quantity discounts are also available; please visit our Quantity Orders page for details.
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