Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for Pinnacle Recipes

Effective Date: May 4, 2025

Thank you for visiting Pinnacle Recipes! This Privacy Policy explains how Pinnacle Recipes (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and discloses information about you when you access or use our website located at https://www.pinnaclerecipes.com (the “Website”) and any related services.

Your privacy is important to us. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using the Website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

1. Who We Are

Our website address is: https://www.pinnaclerecipes.com
Our contact email is: [email protected]

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following ways:

Information You Provide Voluntarily:
- Comments: When you leave comments on the Website, we collect the data shown in the comments form (typically name, email address, website optional), and also your IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture (if using Gravatar) may be visible to the public in the context of your comment.
- Contact Forms: If you contact us through a contact form or directly via email, we collect the information you provide, such as your name, email address, and the content of your message, in order to respond to your inquiry.
- Newsletter Subscription: If you subscribe to our newsletter via Mailchimp, we collect your email address to send you updates, new recipes, and promotional content related to Pinnacle Recipes. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link provided in the emails. Mailchimp’s privacy policy applies to this data collection: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/
- User Submitted Recipes (via Google Forms): If you choose to submit a recipe to us using the provided Google Form link, we collect the information you enter into the form, which may include your name, email address, the recipe details, and any accompanying text or image information. We collect this to review your submission, potentially publish it on the Website, and contact you if necessary regarding your submission. Your use of Google Forms is also subject to Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Information Collected Automatically:
- Log Data: Like most websites, we automatically collect certain information when you visit our Website. This may include your IP address, browser type, browser version, operating system, referring URLs, the pages of our Website that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers, and other standard log information and diagnostic data.
- Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies (small text files stored on your device) and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons or pixels) to track activity on our Website, store certain information, analyze usage, remember your preferences, and personalize content or advertising. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. For more details, see our Cookie section below.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

To operate, maintain, secure, and improve our Website and services.
To publish your comments and allow participation in interactive features.
To respond to your inquiries, provide support, and communicate with you.
To send you newsletters and marketing communications via Mailchimp (where you have consented).
To process and potentially publish recipes submitted by users.
To monitor and analyze website traffic, trends, and usage patterns using Google Analytics.
To prevent spam, fraud, and abuse.
To personalize your experience on the Website (e.g., remembering preferences).
To serve relevant advertising based on user interests and behavior.
To comply with legal obligations applicable in the United States and Massachusetts, and other relevant jurisdictions.
For other purposes disclosed at the time of collection or with your consent.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Cookies are small data files stored on your browser by the Website. We may use both session cookies (which expire when you close your browser) and persistent cookies (which stay on your browser until deleted) to provide you with a more personalized experience.

We use cookies and similar technologies for:

Essential Functionality: Necessary for the Website to function properly (e.g., comment functionality, basic site operations).
Analytics: To understand how visitors interact with our Website (e.g., Google Analytics cookies track page views, visit duration, etc.).
Preferences: To remember your settings and preferences (e.g., if you’ve accepted the cookie notice).
Advertising: We and our third-party partners (like Google AdSense) use cookies to serve ads that may be relevant to you based on your browsing activities and interests. These cookies track your visits to our Website and other sites. You can often opt out of personalized advertising through ad network settings or browser controls. For Google Ads, visit: https://adssettings.google.com/

You can usually instruct your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. If you do not accept cookies, however, you may not be able to use all portions of the Website or all functionality of our services.

5. Third-Party Services

We use various third-party services to operate our Website. These services may collect information about you according to their own privacy policies:

Analytics: Google Analytics helps us understand website traffic. Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Email Marketing: Mailchimp manages our newsletter subscriptions. Mailchimp’s Privacy Policy: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/
Recipe Submission: Google Forms is used for user recipe submissions. Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Comment System: WordPress comments leverage the Gravatar service. Automattic (parent company) Privacy Policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/
Advertising Networks: We display ads, potentially through networks like Google AdSense. These networks use cookies for ad personalization. Learn more about Google’s advertising policies and how to opt-out: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads and https://adssettings.google.com/
Social Media Widgets: Social sharing buttons (e.g., Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter) may track your interaction if you are logged into those platforms. Please review the privacy policies of the respective social media platforms.
Affiliate Programs: We participate in affiliate marketing and use affiliate links (e.g., potentially Amazon Associates). Clicking these links may place a cookie on your browser to track referrals for commission purposes. Please refer to the specific affiliate program’s privacy policy for details.

These third parties have their own privacy policies governing how they use such information. We encourage you to review their policies.

6. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information in the following limited circumstances:

With Service Providers: We may share information with third-party vendors and service providers who perform services on our behalf (e.g., website hosting, analytics providers like Google, email delivery via Mailchimp, spam detection services, advertising partners).
For Legal Reasons: We may disclose information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court, government agency, or law enforcement) in the United States or other jurisdictions. We may also disclose information if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or comply with a legal process.
Business Transfers: If Pinnacle Recipes is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to notice or consent where required by law.
With Your Consent: We may share information for other purposes with your explicit consent.
Published Content: Information you voluntarily make public (like comments or published user-submitted recipes, potentially including your name if provided for attribution) will be accessible to others.

7. Data Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security measures designed to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disclosure. However, no internet transmission or electronic storage method is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

Comments: Retained indefinitely so we can recognize and approve follow-up comments automatically.
Analytics Data: Retained according to our settings within Google Analytics (e.g., typically 14-38 months, subject to change).
Newsletter Subscriptions: Retained until you unsubscribe from the list via Mailchimp.
Contact Form/Email Inquiries: Retained as long as necessary to address your inquiry and for record-keeping purposes.
User Submitted Recipes: Retained as long as necessary to review, potentially publish, communicate about the submission, or indefinitely if the recipe is published on the site (for attribution and content management).

9. Your Data Rights

Depending on your location and applicable laws (including US federal law and state laws like those in Massachusetts, California (CCPA/CPRA), Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), etc., as well as international laws like GDPR if applicable), you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

Access: You may have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.
Rectification: You may have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information.
Erasure/Deletion: You may have the right to request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions (e.g., data we need to keep for legal, security, or administrative purposes).
Restrict Processing: You may have the right to request that we limit the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Data Portability: You may have the right to request to receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format in certain circumstances.
Object: You may have the right to object to the processing of your personal information based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
Withdraw Consent: If processing is based on consent (like for newsletters), you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time (usually via an unsubscribe link or by contacting us).
Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing (if applicable): While we do not currently “sell” personal information in the traditional sense, some laws define “sharing” for cross-context behavioral advertising broadly. You can manage advertising preferences via cookie settings and ad network opt-outs (see Section 4).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request. We will respond to your request within the time frame required by applicable law.

10. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

Our Website is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Information without your consent, please contact us at [email protected]. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Information from children under 13 without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

11. Links to Other Websites

Our Website may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us (e.g., links to ingredient sources, other blogs, affiliate products, social media sites). If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Effective Date” at the top. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Your continued use of the Website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Privacy Policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:
[email protected]