Who we are
Our website address is: http://theanimalcave.com.
What personal data we collect and why we collect it
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s 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 is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you 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.
Contact forms
When you contact us through our contact forms, we collect the information you provide including your name, email address, and message content. This information is used solely to respond to your inquiry and provide customer support.
Cookies
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.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
When you shop on our site, we’ll track:
- Products you’ve viewed
- Contents of your shopping cart
- Your checkout progress
These cookies help us provide you with a smooth shopping experience and are essential for the store to function properly.
Analytics
We use analytics tools to understand how visitors use our website. This helps us improve our site and services. The analytics data is anonymized and does not identify individual users.
E-commerce Data Collection
Order Information
When you make a purchase, we collect:
- Billing and shipping information (name, address, phone number, email)
- Payment information (credit card details are processed securely by our payment processor and not stored on our servers)
- Order history and purchase details
- Communication preferences for order updates
Account Information
If you create an account, we store:
- Username and password (encrypted)
- Email address
- Billing and shipping addresses
- Order history
- Account preferences
Payment Processing
We use secure third-party payment processors to handle transactions. Your payment information is transmitted directly to these processors and is not stored on our servers. Our payment processors comply with PCI DSS standards.
How we use your information
We use the information we collect to:
- Process and fulfill your orders
- Send order confirmations and shipping notifications
- Provide customer support
- Improve our products and services
- Send promotional emails (only if you opt-in)
- Prevent fraud and ensure security
- Comply with legal obligations
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site 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.
Who we share your data with
We may share your information with:
- Shipping companies to deliver your orders
- Payment processors to handle transactions
- Email service providers for order notifications and marketing (if opted-in)
- Analytics providers (anonymized data only)
- Legal authorities if required by law
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes.
How long we retain your data
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.
For users that register on our website, 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.
For customers who make purchases:
- Order information is retained for 7 years for tax and legal purposes
- Account information is retained until you request deletion
- Marketing communications data is retained until you unsubscribe
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, have left comments, or made purchases, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
You also have the right to:
- Access your personal data
- Correct inaccurate data
- Object to processing of your data
- Restrict processing of your data
- Data portability
- Withdraw consent at any time
Where your data is sent
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
Your data may be transmitted to and stored on servers located outside your country of residence. We ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to protect your data during international transfers.
Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.
Marketing Communications
If you opt-in to receive marketing communications, you can unsubscribe at any time by:
- Clicking the unsubscribe link in any email
- Contacting us directly
- Updating your account preferences
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new privacy policy on this page and updating the effective date.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us at: chad@theanimalcave.com
Last updated: 7/3/2025