Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

of melindabenz.com

LAST UPDATED November 28, 2022

INTRODUCTION

We are committed to protecting your privacy online. 

This Privacy Policy (Privacy Policy) describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the Website: https://melindabenz.com (Website), and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information. The Website is owned by Melinda Benz LLC a Colorado, Limited Liability Corporation.

Your use of our Website and any information that you provide to us is subject to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies to all site visitors, customers, and all other users of the site and is expressly incorporated into our Terms and Conditions of Use. This Privacy Policy applies to the information we collect on this Website and in email (or other electronic messages) between you and this Website. It does not apply to information collected by us offline, and it does not apply to information collected by any third party (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the Website.

Our Website is a nutrition and health/wellness site. By using the Melinda Benz LLC Website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement and agree to be bound by all of its terms, without modification.  

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS PRIVACY POLICY, NAVIGATE AWAY FROM THIS WEBSITE.

DEFINITIONS

We,” us,” and our means Melinda Benz LLC 

User,” you,” and your means Website visitors, customers, and any other users of our Website.

Service and Services means (but are not limited to) informational/promotional newsletters, digital products, physical products, nutrition coaching services, nutrition education group classes, programs, webinars, membership programs, blogs, individual nutrition counseling consultations and medical nutrition therapy and the like.

A. PERSONAL INFORMATION

Our Website offers opportunities for you to voluntarily provide us with your personal information.  The term Personal Information” refers to information which may be used to identify you.  Personal Information may include but is not limited to: your name, email address, phone number, billing address, credit card information, photo, comments, images or videos. If you provide us with your Personal Information, we will collect the information you provide and process it according to this Privacy Policy. You acknowledge and agree that your decision to provide your Personal Information is voluntary and constitutes clear, specific, unambiguous consent for us to collect, process, and retain your Personal Information.

 B. VOLUNTARY COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We collect your Personal Information in the following ways, for the following reasons:

1.  When you enter information into our contact form, blog, social media page, online scheduler, take a survey or quiz, login to comment on our page, or provide us with other communication details, we may collect your name, email address, phone number and the text of any message you enter.  We have the right to process this data based on our legitimate interest in communicating with you and responding to your questions or concerns.  We may retain such information for our communication records.

2.  When you “opt in” using our contact form to receive communication from us in exchange for a resource or other Service, we will collect your name and email address.  We have the right to process this data for the purpose it was collected, based on your clear affirmative consent, and may also send you additional email marketing based on our legitimate interest in marketing to users who have demonstrated an interest in our Services.  We may also offer you the opportunity to “opt in” to our email list and will obtain separate consent for that.  If you give consent to “opt in” to receive communication from us, you may withdraw your consent at any time, by following the guidelines in Section I of this Privacy Policy. 

3.  When you “opt in” to our email list, we will collect your name and email address.  We have the right to process this data based on either your clear affirmative consent to be added or through our legitimate interest in direct marketing to you.  If you give consent to “opt in” to our email list, you may withdraw your consent at any time, by following the guidelines in Section I of this Privacy Policy.  We may use your data to send you social media marketing.

4.  If you become a customer, and make a purchase from us, we will collect information necessary to complete your transaction, including your name, email address, phone number, billing address, credit card, and payment details.  We have the right to process this data based on our contractual obligation to fulfill your purchase.  We will not retain such information any longer than necessary.  We may use third party data processors to transact your purchase, and in that case, we will not have access to your payment information.

5.  All uploaded files, including images and other media, are usually publicly accessible. If you voluntarily upload images to the Website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the Website can download and extract any location data from images on the Website.

C. AUTOMATIC COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

1.  When you visit our Website, we use cookies to collect information on how you are using our Website.  The term cookies refers to small pieces of data that identify your browser and are sent to and stored on your computer while you are visiting a certain Website.  Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell a web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize pages on our Website, or register with our Website, a cookie helps the web server to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on.

The cookies we collect do not include any personal identifiable information, however, they may include an anonymous unique identifier.  We may use session cookies which expire when you close your browser, and persistent cookies which remain on your computer until you delete them.  You always have the option to disable cookies through your web browser’s settings.  However, if you disable cookies, you may not be able to access some areas of our Website and some areas of our Website may not function as intended.  Our Website does not respond to “Do Not Track” signals sent by your browser. To learn more about cookies, please visit  https://www.allaboutcookies.org/

2.  When you visit our Website, we collect information about your use of our Website, via automatic data collection technology, such as Google Analytics. You can opt-out of having your site activity available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. If you want to opt-out of Google Analytics, more information can be found here: Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on

We encourage you to read Google Analytics Privacy Policy. To learn more information, please visit Google Analytics Data Privacy and Security. We collect your computer’s Internet Protocol address, browser type, browser version, the time and date of your visit, the pages of our Website that you visit, the time spent on each of those pages, the referring URL, and other statistics in order to administer our Website, diagnose technical problems, measure interest in and use of the various areas of our Website and provide the highest possible level of service to our users.  If we utilize third party automatic data collection technology, we will do so in compliance with their company policies.  We may also receive data from third parties such as payment processing companies, social media platforms, advertising companies, search engines, and other technical services.  We strive to use only the services of third party companies who we have researched and determined are in compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In all of these instances, we will only collect Personal Information from you if you voluntarily submit the information to us.  We have the lawful grounds for processing the information we collect from you, as outlined above, in compliance with the European Union’s GDPR.

3. Our Website is built on WordPress. When visitors leave comments on the Website, WordPress collects the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

WordPress integrates with Gravatar, a service for providing globally unique avatars and plugins in relations to posting comments on a website. Posting to our Website requires an email address which is checked by Gravatar to see whether your email address has an associated avatar registered at Gravatar. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) is provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service Privacy Policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/

If you have previously registered an avatar with Gravatar, you will be bound by their terms and privacy policy. If the Website enables avatars (including those registered with Gravatar), your avatar (and profile picture, if applicable) may be visible to the public in the context of your comment. 

4. Other third party services:

We use BigScoots for our web hosting service. BigScoots’ Privacy Policy is available here: https://www.bigscoots.com/about-us/privacy-policy

We use Cloudflare for site speed and website security. Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy is available here: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/

We use UpdraftPlus Premium plugin for encrypted and secure site backup to cloud-based storage, namely Dropbox. UpdraftPlus’ and Dropboxes Privacy Policies can be found here: UpdraftPlus Privacy Policy and Dropbox Privacy Policy.

We use MailChimp to manage our email list and contact. MailChimp’s Legal Policies can be found here: https://mailchimp.com/legal/

We use WPForms Lite plugin to create our contact form. When a visitor submits a contact form, we collect the data shown in the form (name and email address) so that we can respond to your inquiry. With the WPForms Lite plugin, visitor’s entry data only exists in the notification email sent and is not stored in a database. Once we respond to the inquiry, we delete this data unless communication is necessary and relevant for establishing or continuing a business partnership or professional-client relationship with you. Learn more information about WPForms Privacy Policy here: https://wpforms.com/privacy-policy/

We use Stripe for billing and payment. Stripe’s Privacy Policy is available here: https://stripe.com/privacy

We may use Kalix Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system scheduler on our website, a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform. Before booking online appointments, clients will be required to sign the designated terms and agreements electronically. Kalix’s Client Privacy Policy and General Privacy Policy can be found here: Kalix EMR Client Privacy Policy and Kalix EMR General Privacy Policy.

We use Yoast SEO plugin for search engine optimization. Yoast’s Privacy Policy is available here: https://yoast.com/privacy-policy/

Visitor comments may be reviewed by an automatic spam detection service. We use Antispam Bee plugin for this Website. Antispam Bee’s Privacy Policy is available here: https://pluginkollektiv.org/privacy-policy/

We use Wordfence Security plugin for firewall and security monitoring of this Website. Wordfence Security’s Privacy Policy is available here: https://www.wordfence.com/privacy-policy/

This Website is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

We may offer free or paid online nutrition education classes and programs through Zoom, which will require participant registration. Zoom’s Privacy Policy is available here: https://explore.zoom.us/en/privacy/

We use Vimeo to embed videos on our Website. Vimeo’s Privacy and Cookie Policies can be found here: https://vimeo.com/privacy and https://vimeo.com/cookie_policy

5. By visiting and using our Website, you acknowledge and agree that you have done so by your own free will and we may both voluntarily and automatically collect your Personal Information in these ways, consistent with the terms of this Privacy Policy.

 D. USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

You have the right to be informed about how your information is being used. We will use your information for, but not limited to, operation of the Website and communicating with you in relation to services and/or products you have requested from us.

1.  When you contact us, through an online form, social media, blog, or other communication, we will use the Personal Information you voluntarily provide to us to communicate with you and respond to your contact.

2.  When you request a program or product from us, whether free or paid, or “opt in” to receive communication from us, we will use the Personal Information you voluntarily provide to us to deliver such program, product, or communication, including resources, emails, newsletters, marketing or promotional materials, and notifications of updates to our business.  We may also use your Personal Information for marketing purposes by uploading it to our social media platforms and using your comments and feedback in other marketing efforts.

3.  From time to time, we may use your email address to contact you via email for the purpose of providing announcements, promotional offers, alerts, confirmations, surveys, and/or other general communication. 

4.  When you purchase a program or product from us, we will use the Personal Information you voluntarily provide to us, including credit card details and billing address to complete your transaction.  We will not store or share this financial Personal Information.  We will also use your Personal Information to communicate with you about the program or product you purchased and to keep you updated on necessary information regarding our Services.

5.  When you visit our Website, we will use the (Non-Personally Identifiable) Information we collect to operate and administer our Website, diagnose technical problems, measure interest in and use of the various areas of our Website, create a better user experience and provide the highest possible level of service to our users.

6.  We may keep track of the pages our users visit within our Website, in order to determine which services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within our Website to visitors, whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.

7.  By collecting and using your Personal Information, we are acting as a Data Controller with discretion to decide what information we collect, how we use it, and store it.  We may use a third party to act as a Data Processor to store and process your Personal Information.  We strive to use only Data Processors who we have researched and determined are in compliance with the European Union’s GDPR.

8.  By visiting and using our Website, you acknowledge and agree that we may use your Personal Information in these ways, consistent with the terms of this Privacy Policy.

E. SHARING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

You have the right to be informed about how your information is being shared.  We take appropriate actions to protect and maintain the confidentiality of your Personal Information.

1.  We will share your Personal Information in limited circumstances for specific, limited purposes with trusted third parties, including our email management service, web hosting services, and other members of our team who assist us in operating our Website, managing our business, or providing legal or accounting services for us. 

2.  We will share the Personal Information that you provide to us when making a purchase with additional trusted third parties, including our payment processor and financial gateway to assist in completing the financial transaction. 

3.  We may share your Personal Information in the event of a sale of our company or with a joint venture or affiliate partner if necessary. 

4.  Although we aim to keep your Personal Information confidential, we may share your Personal Information if we are required to do so by law.  We may also share your Personal Information if there is an attempted breach of security of our Website, a perceived violation of this Privacy Policy or other agreements governing the use of our Website or business, a threat to personal safety, property or rights of persons, including users of this Website and others, or on the good faith belief that disclosure is necessary to identify or prevent an injury to our users, our property or the general public.

5.  Your Personal Information will only be shared and processed for the specific, limited purpose as necessary.  Your Personal Information will never be sold or given to any other entity without your consent, beyond what is required to complete a purchase or request. To the best of our abilities, trusted third parties with whom we share your Personal Information will keep such information confidential and will not disclose it to any other party, unless required to do so by law. 

6.  By visiting and using our Website, you acknowledge and agree that we may share your Personal Information in these ways, consistent with the terms of this Privacy Policy.

F. STORAGE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

You have the right to be informed about how your information is being stored.

1.  Personal Information collected from you is stored through a data management system.  This information may be accessed by third parties who help us obtain, manage or store that Information.  Our Website and servers are located in the United States and are governed by the laws of the United States, the state of Colorado, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as it applies to information collected in the European Union.  All information collected by us will be processed in the United States.  If information is collected by us outside the United States, it will be transferred to the United States for processing and storing and may be transferred back out of the United States for further processing.  If your Personal Information is transferred to a country that has less protective laws than the country of your residence, it will be governed by this Privacy Policy.

2. If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

3.  For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.   

4.  By visiting and using our Website, you acknowledge and agree that we may store and transfer your Personal Information in these ways, consistent with the terms of this Privacy Policy.

G.  PROTECTION AND SECURITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

1.  The security of your Personal Information, including information you voluntarily provide to us and that which we collect automatically, is important to us and we use our best efforts to protect it.  We strive to use industry standard commercially acceptable online security measures, including a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), firewall and security monitoring, anti-spam, secure backups, and password protection on our Website and only share your information with third parties who we have researched and determined to be compliant with current safety standards.  However, no transmission over the internet or methods of electronic storage is 100% secure.  

2.  While we strive to protect your Personal Information, we are not responsible should an unauthorized third party gain access to your information, without our consent.  In the event that melindabenz.com is tampered with, your information may be inadvertently intercepted.  If we become aware that a data breach has occurred, we will notify the appropriate authorities within a timely manner.  You acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for these actions and any damages that result from the unauthorized use of your Personal Information.  You expressly agree to hold us harmless from any and all claims which may arise from the unauthorized use of your Personal Information.

3.  Please note, when you voluntarily give out your Personal Information online through our Website or on our social media page, in a way that makes it viewable by others, whether through a comment on a blog, a posting on a message board, or by any other means, it can be viewed by the public and can potentially be collected and used by others.  You acknowledge and agree that we cannot guarantee the security of the information you share in this manner.  You expressly agree that you disclose such information at your own risk and you assume all responsibility for its unauthorized use. 

4.  Because our core activities do not consist of processing operations which require regular and systematic processing of data subjects on a large scale, nor do we process sensitive data on a large scale, we have determined that Melinda Benz LLC is not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer.

 H.  RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We only retain the minimum Personal Information necessary to fulfill the specific, limited purpose for which it was collected.  We also retain and process Personal Information for reasonable business purposes, including legal compliance, financial record keeping, and dispute resolution. 

I. RIGHT TO CONTROL PERSONAL INFORMATION 

You have the right to control your Personal Information including the right to access, receive a copy of, update, edit, delete, erase or restrict the processing of your Personal Information.  

1. You may request information on how your Personal Information is being used and  processed, request access to, request a copy of, restrict our use and processing of, or request to update, edit, delete or erase your Personal Information at any time, free of charge, by emailing us at: [email protected]

Subject to certain exceptions set out below, on receipt of a verifiable request from you, we will:

• Delete your personal information from our records; and

• Direct any service providers to delete your personal information from their records.

Please note that we may not be able to comply with requests to delete your personal information if it is necessary to:

• Complete the transaction for which the personal information was collected, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, provide a good or service requested by you, or reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform a contract between you and us;

• Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity; or prosecute those responsible for that activity;

• Debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality;

• Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise his or her right of free speech, or exercise another right provided for by law;

• Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act;

• Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when our deletion of the information is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of such research, provided we have obtained your informed consent;

• Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with your expectations based on your relationship with us;

• Comply with an existing legal obligation; or

• Otherwise use your personal information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which you provided the information. 

2.  You also have the right to be forgotten, and may withdraw your consent previously given to us, by “opting-out” or unsubscribing from our email list through an online automated process at your own discretion, at any time.  To “opt-out” or unsubscribe from our list, you may click the UNSUBSCRIBE button visible at the bottom of every email we send to you as a subscriber through this list, or you may email us directly at: [email protected]

Once you “opt-out” or unsubscribe from our email list, we will remove you and you should not receive additional emails from us, except in the case of a technical glitch.

J. EXTERNAL WEBSITES, CONTENT, AND SOCIAL MEDIA

1.  We may include links to external third-party websites on our Website. You acknowledge and agree that this Privacy Policy only governs and applies to melindabenz.com and you expressly agree that if you choose to click on any external link, it is entirely at your own risk.  You acknowledge and agree that is your responsibility to review the Privacy Policy of any external websites you visit, even if you were redirected there by clicking on a link located on our Website.

2.  Our Website may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

3.  You acknowledge and agree that we make no warranties, whether express or implied, regarding the terms and policies of these external websites and we are in no way responsible for any damages arising from any interactions with these external Websites. Any use of external social media platforms that we participate in are governed by the Privacy Policy and terms of those platforms.  You acknowledge and agree that your use of any social media platforms, even if linked to our Website is entirely at your own risk.  

K. PASSWORDS

To access certain services on our Website, you may be prompted to set up a username and password.  You acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for maintaining the security of such information and for any and all acts, losses or damages that result as a failure to keep this information secure.  You agree to notify us immediately of any suspected unauthorized use of your account by emailing us at: [email protected]

L. CHILDREN’S USE OF OUR WEBSITE

To access or use the Website, you must be 18 years of age or older and have the proper power and authority to enter into this Privacy Policy.  Our Website is not intentionally directed to children under 18 years of age. Melinda Benz LLC does not knowingly collect or request any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission to use this Website. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under the age of 18 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under the age of 18, please contact us at: [email protected]

L. GOVERNANCE

This Privacy Policy and all matters relating to our Website are governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Colorado.

M. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

Melinda Benz LLC reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. We may do so, at any time and without notice (except to the extent required by law), by posting the revised version on this Website. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account, by placing a prominent notice on our site, and/or by updating any privacy information on this page. Your continued use of the Website and/or Services available through our Website after such modifications will constitute your: (a) acknowledgment of the modified Privacy Policy; and (b) agreement to abide and be bound by that Policy. We suggest that you review this Privacy Policy periodically for any such changes. 

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, any of your rights under this Privacy Policy, or to access, update or delete your information, please contact us at: [email protected]

Our mailing address is:

1751 HOVER ST
STE B4 #84
LONGMONT, CO 80501
United States

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