kinda grainy is run by SANLEE LLC (“we,” “us,” “our”) and publishes stories about photography, film, gear and lifestyle at kindagrainy.com. This policy explains what personal information we collect when you read the site, subscribe to our newsletter or become a member, how we use it, and the choices you have.

The short version

  • You can read everything on this site without giving us any personal information.
  • We measure traffic with privacy-friendly analytics that don’t use cookies and don’t identify you.
  • If you subscribe or become a member, we collect only what we need to email you and manage your membership.
  • Card payments go to our payment processor. We never see or store your card number.
  • We don’t sell your personal information or use it for targeted advertising.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us. When you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address. When you create a membership account, we collect your name, email address and login details. When you pay for a membership, we keep a record of your plan, payment dates and the amounts paid. When you email us, we receive whatever you choose to include.

Information collected automatically. When you visit the site, we collect anonymous usage data: the pages you view, the site that referred you, your country, and your browser, operating system and device type. Our hosting providers also keep standard server logs, which include IP addresses, for security and troubleshooting.

Information from payment providers. When you pay for a membership, our payment processor tells us whether the payment succeeded, along with limited details such as your card brand, the last four digits of your card and its expiry date.

2. How we use it

  • To run the site and deliver the newsletters and memberships you sign up for.
  • To give members access to members-only content and manage billing and renewals.
  • To reply to your messages and provide support.
  • To understand which stories people read so we can make the site better.
  • To keep the site secure and prevent fraud and abuse.
  • To meet our legal obligations, such as keeping tax and accounting records.

If you’re in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, our legal bases are:

  • performing our contract with you (memberships);
  • your consent (newsletters);
  • our legitimate interests in running and improving a secure website (analytics and security);
  • legal obligation (financial records).

3. Who we share it with

We share personal information only with service providers that help us run kinda grainy. They may use it only to provide their services to us.

  • Vercel hosts the website and provides our analytics.
  • WordPress.com (Automattic) hosts the system we use to write and manage stories.
  • Our email provider sends newsletters and account emails.
  • Our payment processor handles membership payments.

We may also disclose information when the law requires it, to protect our rights or anyone’s safety, or as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of the site. If that happens, this policy will continue to apply to your information. We don’t sell personal information, and we don’t share it with advertisers or data brokers.

4. Cookies and analytics

We use Vercel Web Analytics to count visits and see which pages are popular. It doesn’t use cookies. It doesn’t store your IP address, and it doesn’t track you across other websites. Visits are grouped using a temporary identifier that resets every day, so we can’t follow you from one day to the next.

When memberships launch, we’ll use a strictly necessary cookie to keep you signed in. We don’t use advertising cookies. If we add other tools that use cookies or similar tracking, we’ll update this policy first and ask for your consent where the law requires it.

5. Newsletter and emails

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we’ll email you new stories and occasional news about kinda grainy. Every newsletter has an unsubscribe link, and you can also email us to be removed. Our email provider may record whether an email was opened or a link was clicked, and we use that information only in aggregate to improve the newsletter.

Members will also receive service emails, such as receipts, renewal reminders and account notices. These continue while you have an active membership, even if you unsubscribe from the newsletter.

6. Memberships and payments

Membership payments are processed by a third-party payment processor, which handles your card details under its own privacy policy and the payment card industry’s security standards (PCI DSS). We receive only the limited details described in section 1. You can cancel your membership at any time, and you’ll keep access until the end of the period you’ve paid for.

7. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, including in the EEA, the UK, California and other U.S. states with privacy laws, you may have the right to:

  • know what personal information we hold about you and get a copy of it;
  • correct information that’s inaccurate;
  • have your information deleted;
  • receive your information in a portable format;
  • object to or restrict how we use your information;
  • withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent;
  • not be treated differently for exercising these rights;
  • complain to your local data protection authority.

To make a request, email hello@kindagrainy.com. We may need to confirm your identity first, usually by asking you to reply from the email address on your account. We’ll respond within the time the law requires, normally within 30 days (45 days under some U.S. state laws). If we turn down your request, you can ask us to reconsider by replying to our decision.

Because we don’t sell personal information or use it for targeted advertising, there’s nothing to opt out of. We respect Global Privacy Control signals anyway. If you ask us to delete your information while you have an active membership, we’ll need to cancel the membership, and we’ll keep the records the law requires us to keep.

Do Not Track. Some browsers send a “Do Not Track” signal. There’s no agreed standard for how websites should respond to it, so the site doesn’t change its behavior when it receives one. Our analytics don’t use cookies or track you across other websites whether or not the signal is on.

8. How long we keep it

We keep newsletter subscribers’ email addresses until they unsubscribe. We keep member account information while the membership is active and for a reasonable time after it ends. We keep payment and tax records for as long as the law requires, usually up to seven years. Analytics data is anonymous and kept in aggregate form only.

9. Security

We protect your information with encryption in transit (HTTPS), access controls and reputable service providers. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, so we can’t guarantee absolute security. If a breach affects your information, we’ll notify you as required by law.

10. International transfers

Our service providers are based in the United States and may process your information there or in other countries. When we transfer personal information out of the EEA or the UK, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.

11. Children

kinda grainy is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA and the UK), and we don’t knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we’ll delete it.

Some stories include content from other sites, such as Instagram posts. When a page with embedded content loads, the other site can collect information about your visit, such as your IP address, and may set its own cookies, just as if you had visited it directly. The share buttons for X and Facebook are plain links and send nothing to those sites unless you click them. Other sites’ privacy practices are covered by their own policies, not this one.

13. Changes to this policy

We’ll update this policy as the site changes, for example when memberships launch or if we add new services. We’ll change the date at the top of the page. If the changes are significant, we’ll also tell subscribers and members by email.

14. Contact us

SANLEE LLC is responsible for (the “controller” of) the personal information described in this policy. If you have questions about this policy or how we handle your information, email us at hello@kindagrainy.com or write to us at:

SANLEE LLC
3664 Bluejay Ridge Dr.
Powell, OH 43065
United States

See also our User Agreement.