Homestead Lady (https://homesteadlady.com) is governed by the following privacy policy.

Here at Homestead Lady we want you user experience to be helpful to your homesteading efforts. We value your privacy and want to protect it. The purpose of this privacy policy it to inform you about the ways we might collect personal information, how we use it and your rights regarding your information. This privacy policy applies only to this website.

Before We Begin

I’m not your mom, but I just have to throw this out here that at no time should you ever submit your personal information online. Information like:

social security number
information regarding race or ethnic origin
political opinions
religious beliefs
health information
criminal background
trade union membership

Homestead Lady Privacy Policy

If you elect to submit the above information to us, it will be subject to this Privacy Policy.

The same holds true for your children. Homestead Lady doesn’t knowingly collect personally identifiable information on children under the age of 16. If a parent or guardian believes that Homestead Lady has personally identifiable information of a child under the age of 16 in its database, please contact me immediately at tessa@homesteadlady.com and I’ll use my best efforts to get it out of our records.

What Information is Collected and How is it Used?

There are occasions when you volunteer and/or we ask for personal data (like your name or your email address). Here’s how and when we use that information.

Information you Submit Voluntarily

There are times when you voluntarily submit your information to this website. For example, when you comment on a post, fill out a contact form, purchase a product or sign up for a newsletter. Here’s a little more information about those examples.

Comments on the Blog

Whenever you leave a comment on an article here at Homestead Lady, you are asked to include your name and your email address. Your name is asked for simply so I know how to address you when I respond, which I do to each and every comment on this site. Your email address is requested so that our website has a way to contact you with my very important and pithy response – or whatever passably helpful thing I might say in response to your comment.

If you don’t want Homestead Lady to have either your name or your email address when commenting, the easiest thing to do is to not comment. We’ll miss your insightful homesteading comments and your equally interesting questions, but we totally understand.

In lieu of that, you could leave an alias instead of your real name. How very James Bond of you – I like you already!

Our Newsletter

At various places around Homestead Lady you will be invited to receive our typically tardy, hopefully helpful, semi-regular newsletter. The newsletter is emailed to your inbox and typically contains:

Links to articles from around the Web on the topics of homesteading, family, self-sufficiency, healthy cooking, livestock and the like. These links are all for free materials that you can access whenever you’re able and I hope they enrich your homesteading.
Special offers on products, books, courses and other materials we feel might be useful to your homesteading efforts. This means that I will invite you to spend your hard earned dollars on carefully selected items – some of which I’ve created. This also means that, when you purchase something, either through a link on the blog or in the newsletter, I will make a commission on the sale of that product. I use this money to build my vast, homesteading empire…well, actually, I usually use it to pay for ballet lessons and non-GMO feed for the livestock. That’s as vast as my homesteading empire gets.
Occasional requests to fill out surveys, contribute your opinions to subjects about which I write, share experiences on our social media outlets and, in general, interact like a community of friends, family and mentors might interact.

When You Sign Up for the Newsletter

When you sign up for the newsletter, things happen. Big things. Huge things. Actually, it’s just some emails.

The Free Gift

When you sign up for the newsletter, you will be sent a free gift of some kind. There are several different freebies and once you’re a subscriber, you can get them all. If you can’t find the free gift email and/or any newsletter, check your spam folder or other folders in your email provider. I have Gmail and Gmail likes to organize my emails for me even though I’ve never once asked it to. Plus, it acts like a drunkard, one minute putting my mom’s emails in the promotions tabs and the next minute tossing newsletters from blogs I’ve never even heard of into my inbox.

The freebie is a way to get your attention and tell you that, if you knew me in person, we’d really like hanging out and doing homestead-y things. Since we can’t get together, I send you this free gift and then pop into your inbox a few times a month to give you the scoop on homestead and family stuff I think is cool.

The Opt In Form

You will also be emailed an “Opt-In” form asking if you really want to sign up for the newsletter – like really, really, really want to sign up for it. Even though you just clicked a link that said something like “Sign up here”, you’ll be asked again just make sure. You might find this tedious but it’s there for your protection so that you don’t end up getting our newsletter in your inbox when you were just cleaning your keyboard and had no intention of signing up for anything.

If you ever want to unsubscribe from the newsletter, it’s super easy to do. Just look for the hyperlinked “Unsubscribe” prompt at the end of each and every newsletter – yep, it’s there every time. In fact, periodically through the year, you’ll get an email from me asking if you still want to receive the newsletter. As an email user myself, I’m really interested NOT in having items in my inbox that I’m just not using. Even if they’re wonderful, fabulous, incredible newsletters, if they’re not getting read, they don’t need to be there. I feel the same about my own newsletter and only want it coming to you if you find it valuable.

Just as an aside, I really enjoy my newsletter family and hope you’ll join us, and even stay! My audiences on social media are great and I love those peeps, but my newsletter really does feel like family.

The Homestead Lady Store

When you purchase an item in our store, your billing information, which includes your name, email address and whatever billing address either Paypal or your credit card has on file for you, is collected. Paypal and your credit card use your information for their own purposes and are governed by their own privacy policy. I use the information to send you the materials you purchased. There’s no way for me to email you purchased digital products if I don’t have your email address, FYI.

Again, though we think our products and others that we recommend for purchase will be so helpful for your homesteading journey, we totally understand if you decide not to purchase and give Paypal all that sensitive information. The Internet is a mine field, isn’t it?

Other Ways We Receive your Information

Information we Collect from Others

Yes, there’s still more and I’m still typing. Are you still reading?

As mentioned before, there are also times when we receive information from third parties. For example, when you purchase an item through a third party (like Paypal), they may send us certain information for fulfillment.

Automatically Collected Information

We automatically collect certain information about you and the device with which you access Homestead Lady. For example, when you use the Homestead Lady, we will log your IP address, operating system type, browser type, referring website, pages you viewed, and the dates/times when you accessed the site. We may also collect information about actions you take when using the Homestead Lady, such as links clicked.

Cookies

We may log information using cookies, which are not edible, but are small data files stored on your browser by Homestead Lady. I wish chocolate were involved, though. We may use both session cookies and persistent cookies (no, they don’t stay on your hips). Session cookies expire when you close your browser; persistent cookies stay on your browser until deleted. The purpose of these is to provide you with a more personalized ad experience at Homestead Lady.

Like I said, chocolate would provide a truly personalized Web experience but I have yet to find a browser that provides it.

3rd Party Use of Information

We may share your information with third parties when you explicitly authorize us to do so. Additionally, Homestead Lady may use third-party service providers to service various aspects of our site. Each third-party service provider’s use of your personal information is dictated by their respective privacy policies. Yes, there are more of these delightful documents all around the Web for your reading pleasure.

Homestead Lady currently uses the following third-party service providers:

Google Analytics which tracks Homestead Lady usage and provides information on activities like referring websites and your user actions on the site. Google Analytics may capture your IP address, but no other personal information.
Payment Processing which is used to serve our E-commerce platform. At no time is your banking information passed to Homestead Lady. We receive only information used for order fulfillment. With online banking, I can hardly login into my OWN bank account anymore; I have absolutely no desire to wrestle someone else’s. Ever since chip readers came out in bank cards, I’m lucky I can still get gas – anyone else hate those chip reader thingies?!
Mailer Lite which is used for delivery of email updates and newsletters. We store your name and email address for purposes of delivering the newsletters, as stated way up there at the top of this tediously long document.

Unless the Feds make me at some point, I’ll never share your personal information with anyone, and I sure as heck wouldn’t sell it. The only career criminal I know is just a taxidermist and he’s only considered lawless by the raccoons and deer that live in fear of him.

If I ever sell Homestead Lady, your information will be transferred to the new owners. If that ever happens, you’d be informed of the sale and could ask to be removed.

Advertising

Advertising bugs the tar out of me as an online reader, so I don’t use much here at Homestead Lady. However, there are a few ads that will pop up now and then.

Affiliate Program Participation

Homestead Lady uses affiliate marketing, which is done by embedding tracking links into our website to advertise specific products I think you might like – mostly books. If you click on a link for one of our affiliates, a cookie will be placed on your browser to track any sales for purposes of commissions. Commissions are the part where I make a little money, though the price doesn’t change for you any. Actually, I can usually offer you pretty sweet deals from my affiliates since I work with people I know and whose products I enjoy.

Homestead Lady is also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and links to Amazon.com. As part of this Amazon Associates program, Homestead Lady posts customized links, provided by Amazon, to track the referrals to our website. This program utilizes cookies to track your visits to figure out my commissions each month.

Amazon is super dedicated to your privacy and informed user experience and requires that I have a separate disclaimer about their use in the footer of my site. Yeah, fur reelz – you can read this exciting information in not one, but TWO places here at Homestead Lady. Just one more service we provide.

Updated 1/25/2022 – This site no longer services Amazon ads.

Other Ads

We also use third-party advertising companies to serve content and advertisements when you visit Homestead Lady, which may use cookies, as noted above. In May of 2018 we began using display ads. I wrestled with it for a long time because, like I said, I really don’t like ads on sites. I’m hoping, though, that it will help connect you with products you’re interested in and will be helpful to you. It also helps me keep the lights on here at Homestead Lady – websites aren’t free to run, sadly.

From time to time, Homestead Lady may engage in re-marketing efforts with third-party companies, such as Google in order to market to readers here. These companies use cookies to serve ads based on someone’s past visits to Homestead Lady. For example, if you read a cookie making post (real cookies this time, not digital ones) here at Homestead Lady, you may see an ad for cookies popping up in Google ads on other websites.

For those of us who are naturally modest, it can get kind of freaky if you ever search for, say, a comfortable bra – the ads that can appear might set your hair on fire. Don’t blame me, you’re the one who searched “comfortable bra” in the innocent hope you might actually find one online – Homestead Lady assumes no responsibility for what Google might choose to show you after that. FYI, I’ve discovered that there’s no such thing as a comfortable bra – you may as well search “the fountain of youth”. That might make for some cool ads.

In Conclusion

The Internet really is a crazy place – as dangerous as it is helpful.

In reality, though, I’m a homesteader just like you. Unlike hackers, spammers, and other nefarious individuals who make their living from scamming people online, you and I are just too busy in the garden, with the family and in our homesteading books to try to be shady. Personally, although theft goes against the Judeo-Christian ethic to which I adhere, I just don’t have the energy – know what I’m sayin’?

I’m nice; you’d like me. And I’m not interested in stealing anything from you or prying into your personal life. Pinky swear.

Your Rights at Homestead Lady

At any time in our online relationship you have the right to email me and say, “Hey, I once got a newsletter (bought a book, commented on your site) and now I’m concerned about my information. Could you please wipe me from your records?”

I’ll email you back and say, “You bet! Give me a few hours to get that done in the bowels of my site and you’ll be wiped. Like a good Boy Scout I will leave no trace behind.”

Here are some ways you can do that:

Opt-out – You may opt-out of future email communications by following the unsubscribe links in our newsletters. You may also notify me at tessa@homesteadlady.com to be removed from our mailing list.
Access – You may access the personal information we have about you by emailing me at tessa@homesteadlady.com
Amend – You may contact us at tessa@homesteadlady.com to amend or update your personal information.
Forget – In certain situations, you may request that we erase or forget your personal data. To do so, please submit a request to tessa@homsteadlady.com.

Please note that we may need to retain certain information for record keeping purposes or to complete transactions, or when required by law.

See, it’s that easy! Any questions? Just email at any time at Tessa@homesteadlady.com.

Happy Homesteading!!

Last updated January 2022

Mediavine Programmatic Advertising

Homestead Lady uses Mediavine to manage all third-party advertising on the our site. Mediavine serves content and advertisements when you visit Homestead Lady, which may use first and third-party cookies. A cookie is a small text file which is sent to your computer or mobile device (referred to in this policy as a “device”) by the web server so that a website can remember some information about your browsing activity on Homestead Lady. The cookie may collect information relating to your use of Homestead Lady, information about your device such as the device’s IP address and browser type, demographic data and, if you arrived at Homestead Lady via a link from a third-party site, the URL of the linking page.

First party cookies are created by the website that you are visiting. A third-party cookie is frequently used in behavioral advertising and analytics and is created by a domain other than the website you are visiting. Third-party cookies, tags, pixels, beacons and other similar technologies (collectively, “Tags”) may be placed on Homestead Lady to monitor interaction with advertising content and to target and optimize advertising. Each internet browser has functionality so that you can block both first and third-party cookies and clear your browser’s cache. The “help” feature of the menu bar on most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to receive notification of new cookies, how to disable existing cookies and how to clear your browser’s cache. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, you can consult the information at www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/.

Homestead Lady may collect IP addresses and location information to serve personalized ads and pass it to Mediavine. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices to opt-in or opt-out of this data collection, please visit https://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp. You may also visit https://optout.aboutads.info/#/ and https://optout.networkadvertising.org/# to learn more information about interest-based advertising. You may download the AppChoices app at https://www.aboutads.info/appchoices to opt out in connection with mobile apps, or use the platform controls on your mobile device to opt out.

Mediavine Programmatic Advertising (Ver 1.1)

The Website works with Mediavine to manage third-party interest-based advertising appearing on the Website. Mediavine serves content and advertisements when you visit the Website, which may use first and third-party cookies. A cookie is a small text file which is sent to your computer or mobile device (referred to in this policy as a “device”) by the web server so that a website can remember some information about your browsing activity on the Website.

First party cookies are created by the website that you are visiting. A third-party cookie is frequently used in behavioral advertising and analytics and is created by a domain other than the website you are visiting. Third-party cookies, tags, pixels, beacons and other similar technologies (collectively, “Tags”) may be placed on the Website to monitor interaction with advertising content and to target and optimize advertising. Each internet browser has functionality so that you can block both first and third-party cookies and clear your browser’s cache. The “help” feature of the menu bar on most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to receive notification of new cookies, how to disable existing cookies and how to clear your browser’s cache. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, you can consult the information at All About Cookies.

Without cookies you may not be able to take full advantage of the Website content and features. Please note that rejecting cookies does not mean that you will no longer see ads when you visit our Site. In the event you opt-out, you will still see non-personalized advertisements on the Website.

The Website collects the following data using a cookie when serving personalized ads:

IP Address
Operating System type
Operating System version
Device Type
Language of the website
Web browser type
Email (in hashed form)

Mediavine Partners (companies listed below with whom Mediavine shares data) may also use this data to link to other end user information the partner has independently collected to deliver targeted advertisements. Mediavine Partners may also separately collect data about end users from other sources, such as advertising IDs or pixels, and link that data to data collected from Mediavine publishers in order to provide interest-based advertising across your online experience, including devices, browsers and apps. This data includes usage data, cookie information, device information, information about interactions between users and advertisements and websites, geolocation data, traffic data, and information about a visitor’s referral source to a particular website. Mediavine Partners may also create unique IDs to create audience segments, which are used to provide targeted advertising.

If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices to opt-in or opt-out of this data collection, please visit National Advertising Initiative opt out page. You may also visit Digital Advertising Alliance website and Network Advertising Initiative website to learn more information about interest-based advertising. You may download the AppChoices app at Digital Advertising Alliance’s AppChoices app to opt out in connection with mobile apps, or use the platform controls on your mobile device to opt out.

For specific information about Mediavine Partners, the data each collects and their data collection and privacy policies, please visit Mediavine Partners.

Privacy Policy