A quick summary
SFWordsmith runs on WordPress and uses a small number of common tools to keep the site running, understand how it’s read, and optionally send email updates. The site collects only what’s necessary for those purposes. Personal data isn’t sold, users aren’t profiled, and nothing on the site involves automated decision-making.
About this site
SFWordsmith is a personal writing site operated by Spencer Spalding. It publishes essays, reviews, and creative work centered on writing craft, tools, and process.
The site lives at: https://sfwordsmith.com
The site is built on WordPress and hosted by a third-party hosting provider. This policy follows WordPress’s standard privacy framework, with details adjusted to reflect how the site actually operates.
What information is collected
Most data collected by the site exists to support basic functionality: comments, analytics, email subscriptions, and security.
Comments
When you leave a comment, the information you enter into the comment form is stored, along with your IP address and browser information. This helps prevent spam and keep discussions usable.
If you use Gravatar, an anonymized version of your email address may be sent to that service to display your profile image. Gravatar’s privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/
Once approved, comments and any associated profile images are visible publicly.
Media uploads
If you upload images to the site, it’s best to avoid images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Images on the site can be downloaded by visitors, and any embedded metadata may be accessible.
Contact forms
If you reach out through a contact form or by email, the information you provide is used only to reply to your message. Submissions may be stored temporarily or forwarded by email so the conversation can continue. That information isn’t sold or used for marketing unless you explicitly opt in elsewhere.
Cookies
The site uses cookies as part of normal WordPress operation. These may include cookies that remember comment details for convenience, temporary cookies that check browser compatibility, and cookies related to login sessions or display preferences.
Analytics and advertising tools also use cookies to understand how the site is used. Some of these cookies, including those set by Google Analytics and Meta (Facebook), may track activity for analytics purposes. These are not used to build individual user profiles for advertising, but you can decline non-essential cookies using the cookie consent prompt when you first visit the site.
Analytics
SFWordsmith uses Google Analytics to understand how readers find and move through the site. Google Analytics is accessed through common WordPress tools, including Google Site Kit and MonsterInsights.
The site also uses Jetpack Stats for high-level traffic insights.
These tools collect information such as pages viewed, time spent on the site, referring sources, browser type, and general geographic region. This information is used in aggregate to understand readership trends and site performance, not to identify individual visitors or build user profiles.
Automated data collection and AI training
The content on this site — including all fiction, poetry, essays, and articles — is the original creative work of Spencer Spalding and is protected by copyright.
Automated scraping, crawling, or harvesting of this site’s content is not permitted without explicit written permission. This prohibition includes collection of content for the purpose of training artificial intelligence or machine learning models.
This site’s robots.txt file reflects these restrictions. Operators of AI crawlers and training data aggregators are expected to honor those directives.
To request permission to reproduce or use content from this site, contact admin@sfwordsmith.com.
Meta (Facebook) Pixel
This site uses the Meta Pixel, a tracking tool provided by Meta Platforms, Inc. The Meta Pixel may collect information about your visit — such as pages viewed and actions taken — and send it to Meta. This data is used to understand how visitors interact with the site and is subject to Meta’s own data practices.
You can learn more about how Meta uses this data and manage your ad preferences at: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/
If you decline non-essential cookies using the cookie consent prompt, the Meta Pixel will not be loaded.
Email subscriptions
If you choose to subscribe to email updates, your email address is managed through Mailchimp and used only to send content you’ve opted into receiving. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time. Mailchimp’s privacy policy can be found here: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/
Embedded content
Some posts may include embedded content such as videos or images from other websites. Embedded content behaves the same way it would if you visited the original site directly. Those sites may collect data, use cookies, or track interaction according to their own policies.
SFWordsmith doesn’t control how third-party sites handle that data.
Who data is shared with
Some information is processed by services required for the site to function, including analytics providers, email services, advertising platforms, spam detection, and infrastructure providers involved in hosting, security, and backups.
Personal data isn’t sold, rented, or exchanged for marketing purposes.
How long information is kept
Comments and their metadata are stored indefinitely so follow-up comments can be recognized automatically. Contact form submissions may be retained for a limited time for correspondence. Email subscription information is kept until you unsubscribe.
If user accounts exist, users can view, edit, or delete their personal information at any time, except for usernames. Site administrators can also access that information for site management.
Your rights
If you’ve left comments, created an account, or subscribed to emails, you can request a copy of the personal data associated with you or ask for it to be deleted. This doesn’t include information the site needs to retain for administrative, legal, or security reasons.
To make a request, email: admin@sfwordsmith.com
California privacy notice
SFWordsmith is operated from California. The site collects a limited amount of personal information and honors all reasonable requests to access or delete it. Personal information collected by this site is not sold.
California residents have the right to know what personal information is collected about them, request deletion of that information, and opt out of the sale of personal information (no such sale occurs here). To exercise any of these rights, contact us at admin@sfwordsmith.com
Where data is processed
Comments may be checked through automated spam detection. Analytics and email data are processed by the services listed above under their respective privacy policies. Site data is also stored and processed by the hosting provider as part of normal operations such as backups and security monitoring.
Security and data handling
The site relies on standard WordPress security practices, hosting-level protections, and regularly updated software. Collecting as little data as possible is a deliberate choice.
If a data issue is identified, steps are taken to secure the site and address the problem.
Contact
For privacy-related questions or requests: admin@sfwordsmith.com
Final note
SFWordsmith follows WordPress’s default privacy practices and uses a small set of common tools to support analytics and optional subscriptions. Any meaningful changes to how data is handled will be reflected here.
Last updated: February 2026