Privacy Policy

Last Updated: October 13, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how Cherished in Clay ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and discloses your personal information when you visit our website, use our services, or make a purchase.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly to us when you create an account, place an order, subscribe to our newsletter, or otherwise communicate with us. This information may include your name, email address, phone number, postal address, payment information, and any other details you choose to provide.

Handprint/Footprint for Personalization

To create customized ceramic gifts, you may upload or otherwise provide handprint/footprint images or impressions. We use these solely to design and produce your personalized items and to provide customer support (e.g., reprints or replacements). We do not use these to uniquely identify you.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Fulfill Orders: Process transactions, manufacture personalized products, and ship them to you.
• Provide Customer Service: Send you order confirmations, shipping notifications, and respond to your inquiries.
• Communicate with You: Send you information about products, services, and promotions, if you opt-in.
• Improve Our Services: Analyze usage to improve our website, products, and customer experience.
• Maintain Security: Prevent fraud, debug issues, and protect against unauthorized transactions.
• Comply with Legal Obligations: Fulfill tax, accounting, and other legal requirements.

3. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, remember preferences, and measure performance. You can control your cookie preferences at any time.

Cookie Categories

• Strictly Necessary: Required for basic site functionality (e.g., shopping cart) and security. These cannot be disabled.
• Functional: Remember your settings and preferences to enhance your experience.
• Analytics: Help us understand site usage and improve performance. We use these in a way that respects your privacy choices.
• Advertising/Targeting: Used by us and our advertising partners (e.g., Facebook, Google) to deliver ads relevant to your interests. Under some laws, this may be considered "sharing" or a "sale" of data.

Manage Your Preferences

You can manage your cookie preferences, including opting out of advertising cookies, by adjusting your browser settings. We also honor opt-out preference signals like the Global Privacy Control (GPC).

4. Disclosure of Personal Information

We may share personal information with the following categories of third parties for business purposes:

• Service Providers: Companies that perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, order fulfillment, shipping, IT hosting, and customer support.
• Manufacturing Partners: To produce customized products (this may include sharing hand/footprint images securely).
• Advertising Partners: To provide targeted advertising, subject to your right to opt-out. This may be considered "sharing" under California law.
• Analytics Providers: To help us understand website usage and improve our services.
• Legal & Regulatory Authorities: When required by law, to respond to legal process, or to protect our rights and safety.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes.

6. Your U.S. State Privacy Rights

Depending on your state of residence (e.g., California, Virginia, Colorado), you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to Know/Access: The right to request details about the personal information we have collected about you, including the categories, sources, and purposes.
• Right to Deletion: The right to request that we delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to Correction: The right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing: The right to direct us not to "sell" or "share" your personal information for targeted advertising.
• Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Information: The right to limit our use of your sensitive personal information (e.g., biometric data) to purposes necessary to provide the services you requested.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: The right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights.

7. How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise your privacy rights, please submit a verifiable request to us through one of the following designated methods:

Please note: For your protection, we will need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request. We will respond to your request within the timeframes required by law (typically within 45 days).

An authorized agent may make a request on your behalf, but we may require proof of authorization and verification of your identity.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Our retention periods are as follows:

• Order & Account Information: Retained for 7 years after your last order or account closure to comply with tax and commercial laws.
• Hand/Footprint Images: Securely deleted 12 months after order fulfillment, unless you request earlier deletion or ask us to retain them for future orders.
• Customer Service Inquiries: Retained for 2 years after the inquiry is closed.
• Marketing & Cookie Data: Retained until you withdraw your consent (unsubscribe or opt-out).

After these periods, we securely delete or anonymize your personal information.

9. Children’s Privacy

Our services are intended for purchase by adults. In compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under the age of 13 without verifiable parental consent.

When a product involves a child's handprint or footprint, the order must be placed by a parent or legal guardian. The act of placing the order and providing the image constitutes verifiable parental consent for us to use the image for the sole purpose of creating the personalized product.

Minors aged 13–17 should only use our services with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian, and any account ownership and payment method must remain under the control of the parent or legal guardian.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have collected a child’s information without your consent, please contact us immediately using the methods above to request its deletion.

10. Data Security & Breach Notification

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures, such as encryption and access controls, to protect your personal information. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.

In the unlikely event of a data breach that poses a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by applicable law, without undue delay.

International Users

Our services are hosted and operated in the United States and intended for users located in the U.S. If you access our services from outside the U.S., you understand that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

• Email: privacy@cherishedinclay.com