Privacy Policy

Thank you for using this site! LitFuel and associated sites were created as a medium for authors to connect with readers and for readers to have a place to find events, new reads, information, and unique goods. As a company that strives to bring a community of readers together, one of our main goals is to create a positive experience for readers (member), authors, publishers, bloggers, librarians, sellers, industry professionals, and contributors (enrolled partner writers). 

We wrote this policy to help you understand what information we collect, how we use it, and what choices you have. Because we’re an internet company, some of the concepts below are a little technical, but we’ve tried our best to explain things in a simple and clear way. We welcome your questions and comments on this policy.

This policy is part of our Terms of Use, by using Litfuel sites, you are agreeing to this policy as part of our Terms of Use.

Publication date July 19, 2021

Effective date September 1, 2021

Updated data Mar 5, 2022

Introduction

Litfuel (“litfuel” and also referred to as “our”, “us”, “we”, and collectively, the “Site”) understands the importance of user privacy and takes privacy matters very seriously. By visiting any of LitFuel’s existing and future website(s), application(s) and/or domain name(s) at https://litfuel.com, including its sub-domains, use of the Progressive Web Apps (PWA) and a mobile-optimized version (collectively, the “Site”), or otherwise accessing any linked pages, features, content, products, services, mobile properties and mobile device applications for iPhone, iPad, Android or other smartphone or tablet device (each, a “Service“) owned or operated by LitFuel, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the terms in this Privacy Policy (“Policy”). Please note that this Policy applies where we are processing personal information on our own behalf. If you have been given access to our Services by another company or organization (e.g., publicist company, a virtual assistant, colleague, etc.), or are otherwise using our Services on behalf of another company or organization, then we may be processing your information on behalf of that company or organization. In those circumstances, your access and use of the Services is subject to the agreement we have entered with that company or organization (the “Member Agreement”), and the organization that entered into the Member Agreement (“Member”) controls and is responsible for the processing of your information. This Policy does not apply to information that we process on behalf of our Members and if you have any questions about specific settings and privacy practices, please contact the administrator for your LitFuel account. In addition, this Privacy Policy does not apply to any third-party applications or software that integrate with the Services (“Third Party Services”), or any other third-party products, services, or businesses. This Privacy Policy describes the following information collected by LitFuel:

Information We Collect

We collect a variety of personally identifiable information (“PII”) about users of our Services in order to ensure a quality user experience. “PII” means information that we can use to identify or contact you, such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, or other contact information. You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of all PII that you submit to us. Inaccurate information may affect your experience when using the Services and/or our ability to contact you as described in this Policy. PII collected by us is protected as personal data under applicable data protection law. PII does not include “Aggregated Information” which is information or data we collect where individual user identities have been removed, including metadata on your use of the Services, IP address logs, device, and location information. Aggregated Information helps us understand trends, user needs, and other information to provide improved Services and may be used by us for any purpose. We may also collect other non-personally identifiable information about your use and interaction with our Services. “Non-personally identifiable information” means information where we cannot determine the identity of a natural person. Non-personally identifiable information is not treated as PII unless we combine it with or link it to PII that you give to us. If you do not wish to disclose any required information, then your sole remedies shall be to close this web tab, delete your LitFuel account and/or exit the Site.

How We Collect Information

Information You Give Us

We collect information that you give to us when you register or use our Platform or Services. When you register and sign-up for a LitFuel member account (“Account“) on the website or mobile application, you voluntarily provide us with your name, profile photo, email address, cell phone number, mailing address, and any other information you provide us. You can also choose to provide us with location data. 

You also may give us permission to access your information in other services. For example, you may link your Facebook, Twitter, Google, or LinkedIn account, which allows us to obtain information from those accounts (e.g., your friends or contacts). The information we obtain from those services often depends on your settings or their privacy policies, so be sure to check what those are.

You may also give us information to allow us to contact you or use certain features available through our Services without signing up for an Account, such as when you fill out a request form, provide feedback, email us, or engage in communications with our team. While you may use some functionality of the Services and/or Site without registering for an Account, most functionality and services will require that you register for an Account.

Customer Support Information

Your emails, calls, and other correspondence to and from us may be recorded for various purposes including monitoring customer service quality or compliance, checking the accuracy of the information you provide us, preventing fraud, or providing training for our staff or customer service representatives. Any information obtained from you through Customer support will be treated in accordance with the provisions of this Policy.

Information We Collect Automatically

Even if you do not provide information to us, we automatically collect certain information about your use and interaction with our Site and/or Services. For example, when you visit our website(s), our systems automatically maintain web logs to record data about all visitors who use our website and store this information in our database. These weblogs may contain information about you including the following: IP address, type(s) of operating system you use, type of device you use, date and time you visited the website, your activity, and/or referring websites. We use your log information to troubleshoot problems, gather demographic information, customize your experience when accessing our Site, Services, and other business purposes.

Information Collected From Other Sources

We may receive information about you from outside sources, such as commercially available demographic or marketing information, and add or combine it with your information to provide better service to you and inform you of Services or other information that may be of interest to you. Our Site offers you the functionality of using your social media credentials (e.g. Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc.) to use single-sign-on to enter our Site or to share information to the respective social sites, and in that manner, we may also collect certain information from you as you log on. We will not collect more information from you when using your social media credentials beyond the information such third parties disclose to us.

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.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles, Events, Spaces, and others on the Site(s) may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, newsletter widgets, 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.

How We Use Information

We will use your information to provide and maintain our Site and Services, to improve your user experience, and for the other purposes described in this Policy. LitFuel uses your information in furtherance of our legitimate interests in operating our Site, Services, and business. In particular, LitFuel uses your information to:

• Develop, research, process, safeguard, modify and improve our communications, the Site, and Services.
• Send correspondence to your e-mail address, including sending password verification and retrieval links, billing, account management information, newsletters, answers to queries/suggestions, and other notices related to the Site and Services.
• Improve your user experience and provide you with customer support.
• Investigate and help prevent security issues, abuse, and breaches.
• As required by applicable law, legal process, or regulation.

With Whom We Share Information

Disclosure With Your Consent

Where we are processing your information on behalf of a Customer, the Customer determines their own policies and practices for the sharing and disclosure of your information and LitFuel does not control how a Customer or any other third parties choose to share or disclose information. Where we are processing your information on our own behalf, we may disclose your information with your consent, which we may obtain in a number of ways, including:

• In writing; verbally; online, by clicking on a link or button; “Handshake” opt-in; Other mechanisms.

Our Services permit you to submit information that may be displayed to other authorized users in the same or different Customer Account. The sharing and other controls applied to such information may be determined by you, other users and/or an administrator of your Account.

Handshake Feature

There are different locations where you will see a ‘Handshake’ feature. This allows you to share PII information with the person requesting to ‘handshake’ with you. PII information provided when you handshake with a member gives them the ability to see your first name, last name, and email address.

Event Ticketing, Booking, and Conferencing

Event hosts selling tickets, booking services, or hosting in-person or virtual events, will request specific PII from you, which could include (but are not limited to) PII such as name, address, email, and phone number. LitFuel is not responsible for the information you supply to purchase or request goods or services from someone on this site. You are responsible for verifying the validity of the person requesting the information and your willingness to supply it. Additionally, when you follow external links that take you off LitFuel, we are not responsible for data that may be collected from you when you leave the Site. LitFuel has no control over external links and sites. We are not responsible for your handling, sharing, re-sharing and/or distribution of your information except as set forth in the Policy.

Disclosure Without Your Consent

In general, we may disclose your information without your consent to disclosure when we reasonably believe disclosure is appropriate in order to:

• Comply with the law (e.g., lawful subpoena or court order);

• Cooperate with or report to law enforcement agencies in investigations that involve users who use our Service Offerings for activities that are or seem illegal or illegitimate activities;

• Enforce or apply agreements for our Service Offerings; or

• Protect our rights or property or that of our affiliates, including respective officers, directors, employees, agents, third party content providers, suppliers, sponsors, or licensors (e.g., to address allegations about fraudulent or unlawful activity related to a LitFuel account(s)).

• In connection with a merger, acquisition, public offering, sale of company assets, insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership, subject to standard confidentiality requirements.

• To defend LitFuel and our affiliates, licensors, officers, agents and representatives from legal claims and processes brought to us by third parties (including takedown notices);

• Use or disclose aggregated or de-identified data in our sole discretion.

We may share your information with third parties as necessary to provide Services to you or to support the technical operation and/or maintenance of our Services, including third party application that you may engage within the Services. We may also share information with our affiliates, agents, outside vendors or service providers to perform functions on our behalf (such as cloud storage providers, analytics services, marketing and advertising services and external consultants and professional advisers). When a third party acts solely on our behalf and otherwise as applicable, we use reasonable commercial efforts to require that party to follow the privacy practices stated in this Policy or have complementary privacy protections to protect your information. We do not share your information with unaffiliated third parties except as permitted to do so in this Policy.

How We Protect Information

We use industry standard protocols and technology to protect your registered user information and personal data in order to guard and encrypt data for transmission in a format that prevents data theft by unauthorized third parties, including internal reviews of our data collection, storage and processing practices, security measures, and physical security measures. However, please take into account that the Internet and email transmissions are not secure or error free communication means. We also urge you to take additional steps on your own to safeguard and maintain the integrity of your information. For example, you should never share your Account or login information with other people and be sure to sign off when finished using a shared or public computer. We urge you to be aware that if you use or access our Services through a third party computer network (e.g., internet café, library) or other potentially non-secure internet connection, such use is not recommended and is solely at your own risk. It is your responsibility to check beforehand on the privacy and/or security policy of your network prior to accessing the Services. We are not responsible for your handling, sharing, re-sharing and/or distribution of your information except as set forth in the Policy.

What Choices and Rights Do You Have

Control Of Your Information

Customers will generally be able to edit, select or delete the amount and type of personal data they disclose to us when using our Site and services. This will be managed through your Account with us, the settings section of your account, the Site, and through the means mentioned in this Policy.

Your Privacy Rights

You may have certain rights in respect of your personal information under applicable data protection laws. Subject to any exemptions provided by law, this may include the right to:

• Access your personal information;

• Rectify or update your information, when inaccurate or incomplete;

• Request deletion of your information or, in certain circumstances, restrict our processing of your information;

• Object —with legitimate reasons— to the processing of your information;

• Revoke your consent for the processing of your information; and/or

• Request portability of your information.

As mentioned above, you are able to exercise some of these rights through your Account with us. Otherwise, if you wish to exercise your rights under applicable data protections laws please write to us using the details provided below and include, at a minimum, the following information: (i) your complete name, address and/or email address in order for us to respond to your privacy request; (ii) attached documents establishing your identity; and (iii) a clear and concise description of the personal information with regard to which you seek to exercise any of your privacy rights. If you request rectification, please indicate the amendments to be made and attach documentation to back up your request.

We will handle all privacy requests in accordance with applicable data protection laws. Upon receipt of your privacy request, and after due review of its merit, we may then fulfill your request. If you ask us to delete your information, please note that we may not be able to delete all of your information from our databases but, if that is the case, we will mark such information as permanently inaccessible.

Cookies and Beacons

We (or our affiliates and authorized service providers) may place ‘cookies’ and similar technologies on your computer or mobile device in order to track and collect data regarding your use of our Site and Services. Cookies are small text files that our Site transfers to you and that allow us to permit us to recognize you and obtain data such as how, when and how long you browse pages in our Site. Either we or our affiliates and authorized service providers may also use ‘beacons’, which are small files, sometimes only a pixel in size, embedded onto the pages of our Site. Beacons are used to identify each of our pages in order to be analyzed by our system tools. You can always configure your browser to refuse cookies and beacons. For more information, please visit our Cookies Policy.

Your browser or device may include “Do Not Track” functionality. Because there is not yet a common understanding of how to interpret Do Not Track signals, we do not currently respond to “Do Not Track” signals. However, you can opt-out from the use of cookies and beacons as explained above.

Third-Party Services

Generally

Our Site(s) and services may also implement hyperlinks to the websites of our commercial partners and other third parties. Additionally, creators and event hosts may include hyperlinks to external sites. If you click on such links, you are choosing to visit such websites, and will be redirected thereto. If you click on a third-party link, our Policy and Service terms are no longer applicable and your browsing is at your own risk. We are not responsible for the privacy and personal data practices used by such third parties (including any tools, cookies, information or content contained thereinto), and we do not have control over the manner in which such third parties may collect, process, treat or use your personal data. You are strongly advised to check the privacy settings, policies and/or notices applicable to such third-party sites and services prior to browsing or using such third-party websites and/or services.

In addition, any banner, ad, or booster board promotions, that we may have on our Site(s) does not constitute any endorsement of any third party thereof.

Financial data and information

We use third-party payment processing platforms (i.e., Stripe and PayPal). These platforms will request you to disclose to them sensitive personal data (e.g. credit card number, account username and password) in order to complete purchases and operations related to our services. Such third-party payment processing platforms are governed by their own safety standards, policies and terms of use. We shall not be liable for their operation, safety or otherwise their functioning. We strongly advise our users to engage in online safety measures in order to protect their financial information, here in the Site and elsewhere. We will not collect or store any sensitive financial data of yours.

Advertising, opt-out

From time to time, we may use Google Analytics, AdWords and/or AdSense tracking codes, along with other third-party services (such as remarketing codes) in order to collect marketing analytics about the pages you browse on our Site or when you undertake specific actions through our services. Our advertising and analytics providers may also use cookies, codes and other technologies to help us analyze our users’ patterns. For example, our advertising providers may show you LitFuel’s ads on third-party websites across the Internet, even after you leave our Site. Using Google and other analytics tools, we learn how to optimize, and serve ads based on a user’s past visits, giving you a better experience. Our third-party providers may also use cookies and beacons to track your Internet browsing in order to serve you ads based on what they or us believe to be of your interest. Such information will be processed for purposes of evaluating your browsing activities and consumer preferences.

In order to enforce and uphold your right to privacy, you have the option to elect not to receive this type of advertising from us or third parties, now or in the future. The information generated by Google Analytics is transmitted to and stored by Google and is subject to Google’s privacy policies. To learn more about Google’s partner services and how to opt-out of analytics tracking by Google, click here. You can also learn more about opting-out from personalized advertising on the Network Advertising Initiative website located at www.networkadvertising.org. In addition, you may set browser and system preferences for how other third parties serve ads to you.

Third-party advertising and tracking

Creators, event hosts, and other Site contributors and members may include hyperlinks and/or short URLs that include UTM and or tracking codes, along with other third-party services (such as remarketing codes) in order to collect marketing analytics about the interactions you have taken on their own promotional pages (for example, giveaway pages, books, events, Refer & Win widgets, etc.) While we do everything in our power to restrict PII from members on our site, and try to identify interactions to be cautious of with our ‘HandShake icon’ (when and where we can), be aware that if you click on a third party link, our Policy and Service terms are no longer applicable and your browsing is at your own risk. We are not responsible for the privacy and personal data practices used by such third parties (including any tools, cookies, information or content contained thereinto) that a user has utilized, and we do not have control over the manner in which such third parties may collect, process, treat or use your personal data. You are strongly advised to use links posted by others and know the poster of the links before clicking, check the privacy settings, policies and/or notices applicable to such third-party sites and services prior to browsing or using such third-party websites and/or services.

Legal basis to process your information

If you are located in Europe, we need a lawful basis to collect, use and disclose your personal information. Our lawful basis will depend on the information concerned and the context in which it is processed. We may process your personal information in order to perform a contract with you (such as to create and maintain your account). In other circumstances, we may process your information where the processing is in our legitimate interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. For example we may use your information to communicate with you about our Site(s) or Services and important notifications, and to personalize and improve our Services. LitFuel may also process your information for direct marketing purposes, provided that you have a right to object to LitFuel’s use of your information for this purpose at any time. Where required, we may also process your personal information where we have obtained your consent (for example, where we obtain your consent to send you promotional or marketing materials). Finally, we may need to process your information to comply with our legal obligations (such as to enforce our terms of use, exercise, establish or defend our legal rights, or share your information with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency where disclosure is required by law). 

Notice to California Residents

If you are a California resident, you may be entitled to additional rights over your personal information, as detailed in this section.

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Notice for California residents:

Effective January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) allows California residents to request from a business that collects personal information to give consumers access to and/or deletion of the personal information collected. Terms used in this CCPA Notice but not defined here will have the same meaning as defined under the CCPA.

1. LitFuel does not sell your personal information to third parties.

2. LitFuel discloses personal information for business purposes only.

• Business purposes can include such things as: providing our Services, maintaining and servicing accounts, providing customer service, processing or fulfilling orders and transactions, performing analytics and quality control, auditing transactions, researching and testing features and improvements, detecting and preventing fraud and security incidents, debugging or repairing technical errors, and marketing our Services.

• LitFuel may share or allow third parties to collect personal information through our Services for business purposes we’ve described in our Privacy Policy. 3. Categories of personal information collected and disclosed. The categories of personal information collected and disclosed to third parties for business purposes by LitFuel are listed in the “How We Collect Information” section of our Privacy Policy. 4. Your rights under CCPA. If you are a California resident using the Services, you have the following rights:

• To request the categories of personal information that the business collected about you.

• To request the categories of personal information that the business disclosed about you for a business purpose.

• To request deletion of the personal information it has collected from you, subject to certain legal exceptions. For example, when the personal information is necessary to complete a transaction request or to comply with a legal obligation, LitFuel may claim an exemption to deletion of your personal information.

• The right to be protected from discrimination for exercising your CCPA rights. Businesses are prohibited from discriminating against you for exercising your rights under the CCPA, including by: (A) denying you goods or services; (B) charging you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through the use of discounts or other benefits or imposing penalties; (C) providing you with a different level or quality of goods or services; or (D) suggesting that you will receive a different price, rate, level, or quality of goods or services. Nothing prohibits a business from charging a different price or providing a different level or quality of service if the difference is reasonably related to the value provided to the consumer by the consumer’s data.

• Your rights under CCPA may be exempted as permitted under the statute, particularly if you use the Services as an employee or agent under a business account. LitFuel expressly reserves all rights to claim legal exemptions permitted under the CCPA.

For additional information about this CCPA Notice or to submit a CCPA request, please contact us.

California Online Privacy Protection Act

In compliance with CalOPPA, we have hereby posted this conspicuous Policy to the public, indicating the personal data being collected and the manner in which it may be disclosed and with whom. Accordingly, our users may visit our Site using anonymous browsing, this Policy linked in our home page, with the link including the word ‘Privacy’ or similar. We also comply with Policy change notification to our users, and provide mechanisms that allow our users to manage their personal data personal information.

California “Shine the Light”

In compliance with the California Civil Code Section 1798.83, we (LitFuel) do not disclose your information to third parties for their own marketing purposes – unless you have willingly provided your information to others on the site. Others could include (but are not limited to) event hosts, space owners, contact forms on personal pages or on places such as sites or in spaces, sellers, requests to receive advanced reader copies in exchange for PII you’ve supplied. We shall not be liable for their use of your data, safety, or otherwise their functioning. We strongly advise our users to engage in online safety measures.

Age Restriction

LitFuel does not knowingly collect any kind of information from persons under the age of thirteen (13). By using our Services and/or browsing the Site, you hereby represent and warrant that (i) you are at least thirteen (13) years of age — or older — as of the date of first access to the Site; and, (ii) if you are a minor (which may differ depending on the jurisdiction where you reside), you are accessing the Site under the direct supervision of your parent or legal guardian.

Amendments

LitFuel may change this Policy from time to time as laws, regulations, industry standards and/or our business evolves. We will post the changes to this page and encourage you to review our Policy periodically to stay informed. If we make changes that materially alter your privacy rights, LitFuel will provide additional notice, such as via email or through the Services. If you disagree with the changes to this Policy, you should deactivate your Account. 

Contact

If you have any questions about us, our Site, our Service or this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

LitFuel, LLC, 227 N Loop 1604 E. STE 150, San Antonio, Texas 78232

Email: info@litfuel.com