Privacy Policy - Beat Writers Block

Effective Date: November 3, 2025
Last Updated: November 3, 2025

Beat Writers Block ("we," "our," or "us") operates the website www.beatwritersblock.com. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information when you visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter.

Information We Collect
California Privacy Notice at Collection
How We Use Your Information
Third-Party Service Providers
Cookies
Data Retention
Your Rights
- California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)
- How to Exercise Your Rights
Data Security
Contact Us

Information We Collect

Information You Provide

When you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect:

Email address (required for subscription)
Name (optional, if you choose to provide it)

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, we automatically collect:

Usage data: Pages visited, time spent on pages, links clicked
Device information: Browser type, operating system, device type
IP address and location data: Approximate geographic location
Cookies and tracking technologies: See "Cookies" section below

California Privacy Notice at Collection

For California Residents: This section provides the notice required under California Civil Code Section 1798.100(b).

Categories of Personal Information We Collect:

Identifiers: Email address, name (optional), IP address
Internet or Network Activity: Website usage data, pages visited, links clicked, device information
Geolocation Data: Approximate geographic location based on IP address

Sources of Personal Information:

Directly from you: When you subscribe to our newsletter
Automatically: When you visit our website (cookies, analytics)

Business/Commercial Purpose for Collection:

Deliver newsletter subscriptions
Analyze website traffic and improve user experience
Prevent fraud and ensure website security
Comply with legal obligations

Service Providers: Ghost (hosting and email), Google Analytics, email delivery services
We do NOT sell your personal information

Retention Period:

Active subscribers: Until you unsubscribe
Analytics data: Up to 26 months (Google Analytics default)
Account data: Until you request deletion

Your California Privacy Rights:

You have the right to know, access, delete, and correct your personal information. See the "Your Rights" section below for details on exercising these rights.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Deliver our newsletter to your email inbox
Send you blog post notifications (if you've subscribed)
Analyze website traffic and improve user experience
Prevent fraud and abuse
Comply with legal obligations

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), UK, or Switzerland, we process your personal information based on the following legal grounds:

Newsletter subscriptions: When you subscribe to our newsletter, you provide explicit, freely-given consent
Analytics cookies: Your consent for non-essential cookies (you can withdraw consent at any time through browser settings)
Withdrawal: You can withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing or contacting us at hello@beatwritersblock.com

We process certain data based on our legitimate interests, including:

Website security: Protecting against fraud, abuse, and security threats
Website analytics: Understanding how visitors use our site to improve user experience
Service improvement: Analyzing usage patterns to enhance content and functionality
Email deliverability: Ensuring newsletter delivery and monitoring bounce rates

We have balanced these interests against your rights and freedoms and determined they do not override your fundamental rights.

We may process your data to comply with legal obligations, such as:

Responding to valid legal requests
Complying with tax and accounting regulations
Maintaining records as required by law

We want to be transparent about when and how we share your information with third parties.

Service Providers We Use:

Ghost (Pro)

Purpose: Website hosting and newsletter platform
Data Processed: Subscriber data, email addresses, website usage data
Privacy Policy: https://ghost.org/privacy/

Google Analytics

Purpose: Understand website traffic patterns and improve user experience
Data Processed: Usage data, IP addresses, device information, pages visited
Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Email Delivery Services

Purpose: Newsletter delivery infrastructure
Data Processed: Email addresses, delivery data, bounce rates

What We Do NOT Do:

Sell your personal information to third parties
Rent or trade your email address or personal data
Share your data for third-party marketing purposes
Use your data for purposes beyond what is stated in this policy

Service Provider Requirements:

All third-party service providers are contractually required to:

Implement appropriate security measures
Use your data only for the purposes we specify
Comply with applicable privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)
Maintain confidentiality of your information

Legal Disclosures:

We may disclose your information if required by law, such as:

In response to valid legal process (subpoenas, court orders)
To protect our rights, property, or safety
To prevent fraud or security threats
In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (you will be notified)

Cookies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to:

Remember your preferences
Analyze website traffic
Improve website functionality

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect website functionality.

Types of cookies we use:

Essential cookies: Required for website operation
Analytics cookies: Help us understand website usage
Preference cookies: Remember your settings

Data Retention

We retain your personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and as required by applicable law.

Specific Retention Periods:

Active subscriptions: We retain your email address and subscription preferences as long as you remain subscribed
After unsubscribe: We retain your email address for 30 days to process the unsubscribe request and prevent accidental re-subscription
Suppression list: If you unsubscribe, we maintain your email in a suppression list to prevent re-subscription errors and ensure compliance with unsubscribe requests. This is a legal requirement under CAN-SPAM and GDPR.

Website Analytics Data

Google Analytics: Analytics data is retained for 26 months (Google's default setting)
Usage logs: Server logs are retained for 90 days for security and troubleshooting purposes

Account Data (If Applicable)

Active accounts: Retained while your account is active
Inactive accounts: After 3 years of inactivity, we may delete your account data after notifying you
Deleted accounts: Data is permanently deleted within 30 days of deletion request (except as required by law)

Legal Compliance and Business Records

Legal holds: Data may be retained longer if required for litigation, investigations, or regulatory requirements
Anonymized data: We may retain anonymized, aggregated data indefinitely for research and analytics

Financial Records

Note: We do not currently process payments. If we add paid services in the future, financial records will be retained for 7 years as required by tax law.

Deletion Requests

You can request deletion of your personal information at any time by contacting hello@beatwritersblock.com. We will process deletion requests within 30 days, except where:

We need to retain data to comply with legal obligations
The data is necessary for legitimate business purposes (e.g., preventing fraud)
You have an outstanding balance or unresolved issue

Data Minimization

We only collect and retain the minimum amount of personal information necessary to provide our services and fulfill the purposes described in this policy.

Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

Right to Know (Access)

You have the right to request that we disclose:

Categories of personal information we collect about you
Specific pieces of personal information we hold
Categories of sources from which we collected your information
Business or commercial purpose for collecting your information
Categories of third parties with whom we share your information
How long we retain your personal information

Right to Delete

You have the right to request deletion of personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions under California law.

Right to Correct

You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.

Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing

We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Therefore, there is no need to opt-out. We do not sell your data to third parties.

Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information

We do not collect or use sensitive personal information (as defined by CPRA) for purposes requiring opt-out rights.

Right to Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA/CPRA rights. We will not:

Deny you goods or services
Charge you different prices or rates
Provide you a different level or quality of service
Suggest you will receive a different price or quality of service

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise your California privacy rights:

Email: hello@beatwritersblock.com with "California Privacy Request" in the subject line
Include: Your full name, email address, and specific request (access, deletion, or correction)
Verification: We may request additional information to verify your identity before processing your request
Response Time: We will respond within 45 days (or notify you if we need an extension)
No Fee: We do not charge a fee to process your request

Authorized Agents

California residents may designate an authorized agent to make privacy requests on their behalf.

If you use an authorized agent:

The agent must provide proof of authorization (power of attorney or signed permission)
You must verify your own identity directly with us
The agent must submit the request to hello@beatwritersblock.com with "Authorized Agent Request" in the subject line

Required documentation:

Signed authorization from you (the consumer) permitting the agent to act on your behalf
Proof of the agent's identity
We may contact you directly to confirm authorization

Right to access your personal data
Right to rectification of inaccurate data
Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
Right to restrict processing
Right to data portability
Right to object to processing
Right to withdraw consent

Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at: hello@beatwritersblock.com

Response timeline depends on your location:

California residents (CCPA): 45 days from receipt
EEA residents (GDPR): 30 days from receipt
Other locations: 30 days from receipt (or as required by applicable law)

Unsubscribing

You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time by:

Clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any email
Logging into your account and managing subscription preferences
Emailing us at hello@beatwritersblock.com

Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your information, including:

HTTPS encryption for data transmission
Secure hosting infrastructure through Ghost
Regular security updates and monitoring

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

Data Breach Notification

In the event of a data breach that affects your personal information:

Our Notification Process

Timeline: We will notify you without undue delay, and where feasible, within 72 hours of discovering the breach
Method: Notification will be sent via email to your registered address
Content: We will inform you of:
- The nature of the breach
- The type of data affected
- Steps we are taking to address the breach
- Recommended actions you should take to protect yourself

Your Actions

If you receive a breach notification:

Follow any recommendations provided in the notification
Monitor your accounts for unusual activity
Consider changing your password if applicable
Contact us at hello@beatwritersblock.com with any questions

We will also notify relevant regulatory authorities as required by applicable law (including GDPR and California law).

Children's Privacy

Our website is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected information from a child, contact us immediately at hello@beatwritersblock.com.

International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States and other countries that may have different data protection laws than your country of residence.

Safeguards for International Transfers

We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for such transfers, including:

Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs): For transfers from the EEA/UK, we use EU-approved Standard Contractual Clauses
Third-Party Processors: Our service providers (Ghost, analytics services) implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data
Data Processing Agreements: We maintain agreements with all processors handling your personal information

If you are located in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland and have questions about data transfers, contact us at hello@beatwritersblock.com.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this policy regularly.

For material changes, we will provide notice through:

Email notification to subscribers
Prominent notice on our website

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, contact us:

Email: hello@beatwritersblock.com
Website: www.beatwritersblock.com
Mailing Address:
Beat Writers Block
PO Box 143
L'Anse, Michigan 49946
United States

Response time:

California residents (CCPA): 45 days from receipt
EEA residents (GDPR): 30 days from receipt
Other locations: 30 days from receipt

For California residents exercising CCPA rights, please include "CCPA Request" or "California Privacy Request" in your email subject line.

Note: This Privacy Policy applies only to www.beatwritersblock.com. External links on our website are governed by their own privacy policies.

Quick Navigation