Effective: November 8, 2026
This site, melaninmermaid.com, is run by Melanin Mermaid. This page explains, in plain language, what information we collect and what we do with it.
What we collect
- Your email address, if you subscribe. We use it only to send you updates from Melanin Mermaid.
- What you send us through the Contact page. Your name, email address and message, so we can read and answer it.
- Basic technical information. Like most websites, our web server keeps standard logs, such as your IP address, browser type and the pages requested. We use these to keep the site running and secure. When you send a form, we briefly record your IP address to stop spam.
- Visit statistics. We count visits with Simple Site Stats, our own analytics service. When a page loads, it records the page address, the page that sent you here, your screen size, your browser and device type, and your approximate country, region and city, worked out from your IP address. Your IP address itself is stored only in a scrambled (hashed) form that changes each day. Each visit is tied to a random ID, not to your name or email address. Detailed visit records are deleted after 90 days; only daily totals are kept.
- Cookies. One essential cookie keeps forms secure and lasts only while you use the site. Our analytics service may also set one short visit cookie. Details are on our Cookie Policy.
Our visit statistics stay with us: we do not sell them or share them with advertisers, and we do not use advertising cookies.
Ads on this site
The ads you see here are our own: promotions for our newsletter and our sections. They are images and links served from this site, and they do not track you.
If an advertising partner, such as Google AdSense, Raptive or Mediavine, is ever added, this page, the Cookie Policy and the Advertising Disclosure will explain the cookies it uses and how to opt out, as described on Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, before its ads appear.
Services we use
- The site is hosted by Hostinger, which runs the servers that store this information.
- Our fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, so your browser connects to Google to download them.
- Our visit statistics run on Simple Site Stats, our own service, also hosted by Hostinger. Approximate location is worked out on our own server, and IP addresses are not sent to any other service.
What we do not do
We do not sell, rent or trade your information. We do not share your email address with advertisers.
Children
This site is written for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us information, tell us through the Contact page and we will delete it.
Your choices and rights
- To stop receiving emails, use the newsletter preferences page to remove your address.
- To keep your visits out of our statistics, block simplesitestats.com in your browser or with a content blocker.
- To ask what we hold about you, or to have it corrected or deleted, send us a message through the Contact page. We will reply and act on your request.
- If you live in a US state with a consumer privacy law, see Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information for your rights and how to use them.
Changes
If we change how we handle information, we will update this page and the date above.