California Privacy Policy

Last Updated: October 29, 2026

This policy explains how The Chicken Ate My Website, owned and operated by Tammy Eddy in Menifee, California, handles information when you read stories, contact us, leave comments, or use connected features. It covers this website, not the independent websites linked from it.

Information you choose to provide

Email: If you email the site’s Gmail address, Tammy receives your address, message, and any attachments you send. Please do not send passwords, payment-card information, or sensitive personal records.

Comments: The site uses Jetpack’s comment service. It may process the name, email, website address, comment, account details, and technical information submitted with a comment. Approved comments, display names, and associated profile images may be public. Comment Likes are enabled. If you use a WordPress.com sign-in or subscription option offered by the comment service, Automattic processes that interaction under its own privacy notice.

The current Contact page provides an email link rather than a contact form. There is no checkout on this site; affiliate purchases take place with outside retailers.

Information collected automatically

The website runs on WordPress and is hosted by Hostinger. Hosting, security, and performance services may process IP addresses, browser and device information, requested URLs, timestamps, referring pages, and error or security logs to deliver and protect the website. LiteSpeed Cache supports page caching and performance. Jetpack account and brute-force protection are enabled.

Google Analytics: Site Kit by Google inserts the Google Analytics tag. Enhanced measurement and plugin conversion tracking are enabled. Analytics can record page views, clicks, scrolls, referrals, device and browser information, approximate location, and available interaction events. Cookie identifiers help distinguish visits. The site’s settings exclude logged-in users from Analytics.

Jetpack Stats: The site also loads Automattic’s statistics service to understand visits, popular pages, and referral sources. Google Search Console is connected for search-performance reporting; PageSpeed Insights is connected for performance reporting. These dashboard connections are different from the Analytics tracking tag.

Cookies, online tracking, and choices

WordPress, Jetpack, Google, and other connected features may use cookies or similar technologies for sign-in, comment preferences, measurement, and service operation. Third parties may recognize your browser or associate interactions with an account you are signed into. Affiliate retailers may use cookies and referral identifiers after you follow their links.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser and use its tracking-protection controls. Some features may not work when cookies or scripts are blocked. Google offers an Analytics opt-out browser add-on for supported browsers. These controls do not necessarily delete information already collected.

Do Not Track and privacy signals: The current site does not have a verified mechanism that automatically switches off every analytics or third-party feature in response to a Do Not Track signal. A Global Privacy Control signal is a separate privacy preference; we do not represent that every connected service currently responds to it. Contact Tammy about privacy choices or a signal-related request.

Why information is used

Information is used to operate the site, answer messages, publish and moderate comments, deliver any updates you request through available subscription features, understand readership, investigate errors, prevent abuse, and meet applicable legal obligations. Comment and email details are not intended to be included in public stories without permission.

Providers, external content, and disclosures

Providers involved in these functions include Hostinger for hosting, Google for Analytics and Gmail, and Automattic for Jetpack and WordPress.com features. These services may process information outside your state or country. Their retention and technical practices also depend on their own policies and account settings.

Provider notices: Hostinger Privacy Policy, Google Privacy Policy, and Automattic’s notice for visitors to sites using its services.

Links to Facebook and other external sites take you to services with their own rules. Jetpack Social supports sharing site posts to social networks. If embedded media or an external comment frame loads, the provider can receive technical information and may recognize a signed-in account. Following an ordinary external link is also subject to that destination’s privacy practices.

The site participates in Amazon Associates. Amazon and affiliate services may record a referral and qualifying activity to attribute commission. Tammy does not receive your payment-card information through these links. See our Affiliate Disclosure.

Information may be disclosed when legally required or reasonably necessary to address fraud, abuse, security incidents, or legal claims. Public comments are visible to other visitors. We do not make a blanket claim that all third-party data processing falls outside California’s legal definitions of “sale” or “sharing.” Those definitions depend on the actual processing, agreements, and applicable law.

Retention and security

Messages and site records are kept as reasonably needed for their purpose, ongoing correspondence, administration, security, and legal requirements. Published comments may remain with a story until removed. Service-provider logs and analytics have their own retention settings; this policy does not promise a fixed retention period that has not been verified. Backups may retain copies temporarily after removal from the live site.

Hosting and platform safeguards help protect information, but no website, email system, or internet transmission can guarantee complete security.

California visitors and privacy requests

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended, applies to businesses meeting specified legal criteria. This policy does not represent that this small independent publication is necessarily a covered CCPA business or voluntarily certifies it as one.

Where the CCPA applies, eligible California residents may have rights to know or access, correct, or delete personal information; opt out of its sale or sharing; limit certain uses of sensitive personal information; and exercise rights without unlawful discrimination. Rights and exceptions depend on the law and circumstances.

Regardless of whether those statutory criteria apply, you can email Tammy to ask about information associated with you or request access, correction, or deletion. Use “Privacy request” in the subject and describe your request without sending unnecessary sensitive information. We may need reasonable verification that the request concerns your information. Some information may need to be retained for legal or security reasons. An authorized agent may contact us, subject to appropriate verification.

Children’s privacy

The site is intended for a general adult readership and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly seek personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact Tammy so it can be reviewed and addressed.

Policy changes and contact

Updates will be posted on this page with a revised Last Updated date. Contact Tammy Eddy with privacy questions or requests at the address below.

Tammy Eddy
Menifee, California
thechickenatemywebsite@gmail.com