…or Stuff You Should Know Before Reading This Blog
First, a quick history lesson: In 2009, the FTC began requiring bloggers to disclose whenever they received payment or free products from advertisers or sponsors. Back before the FTC ruling, transparency was not required, which means that readers didn’t necessarily know whether a blogger genuinely loved a product or if their recommendation had been influenced by a sponsor or advertiser.
All of that changed in 2009, and again in 2013 when the guidelines were updated. Bloggers are now required to disclose their relationships with brands – this helps to eliminate the possibility of hidden interests or unspoken biases. In other words, it helps YOU, the reader, know that you’re getting the real deal from bloggers like me.
So what does that mean for me & this blog?
It means that I’m required by the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 to tell you a bunch of stuff. I’ll list those things in detail for you here. You’ll probably notice some of them when you read my posts too.
And what does that mean for you?
It means that you will always know when I’ve earned money or received a free product via this blog. It means that you will be able to easily tell the difference between a paid advertisement and a product endorsement. And most importantly, it means that I will only recommend products or services that I believe in, use myself, and/or would recommend to my own mom.
Here’s what else it means.
Privacy Policy
This privacy policy sets out how Mommy Runs It uses and protects any information that you give while using www.mommyrunsit.com
Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
Mommy Runs It may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 3/6/18.
What We Collect
We may collect the following information:
- contact information including email address
- demographic information such as zip code, preferences and interests
- other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers
What We Do With the Information We Gather
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
- We may use the information to improve our products and services.
- We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided.
- From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or mail. We may use the information to customize the website according to your interests.
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
How We Use Cookies
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
Advertising
Some of our advertisers occasionally serve you cookies as well. We do not have control over cookies placed by advertisers. We may use advertising service vendors to help present advertisements on the website, one of which is http://www.gourmetads.com. These vendors may use cookies, web beacons, or similar technologies to serve you advertisements tailored to interests you have shown by browsing on this and other sites you have visited, to determine whether you have seen a particular advertisement before and to avoid sending you duplicate advertisements. In doing so, these vendors may collect non-personal data such as your browser type, your operating system, Web pages visited, time of visits, content viewed, ads viewed, and other clickstream data. The use of cookies, web beacons, or similar technologies by these advertising service vendors is subject to their own privacy policies, not ours, and Service Provider disclaims all liability in connection therewith.
Links to Other Websites
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Controlling Your Personal Information
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
- whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes
- if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by contacting us.
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.
Disclaimer
This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on the internet. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only; please use your own discretion before making any decisions based on anything that you read here. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Guest writers may have different opinions than mine, and their opinions are their own.
I may accept free product samples, gift cards, cash, or other forms of sponsorship to review a product or host a giveaway. That content, advertising space, or post will always be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content. I will always do my best to give you my honest opinion and assessment of all the products that are submitted to me. I reserve the right to opt out of publishing a review if I do not feel that I can be fair about my opinion.
Please note that on occasion, I may publish a post that provides information about a particular product, event, or service. This is not the equivalent of an endorsement. I will clearly and specifically state when I am personally recommending a product to you.
Affiliate Links
Some of the posts on Mommy Runs It include “affiliate links.” This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission. This will not affect your purchase in any way. The little bit of money I earn helps to keep this blog running, so I greatly appreciate your support.
Please note: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Opt Out
Mommy Runs It allows third party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information from visitors to this website. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g. click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice visit the NAI at http://www.networkadvertising.org. To opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices.
For information about opting out of Gourmet Ads and ad serving partners please visit https://www.gourmetads.com/about/privacy-policy
If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please contact us.
Got all that?
I’ve disclosed the above in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. If you want more information (and have a little bit of time), you can read the entire “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Questions about any of this? Contact me HERE or via email at Sharon at MommyRunsIt dot com.