Privacy Policy

By accessing or using our website, subscribing, or making a purchase, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to the practices described in this Policy.

1. Information We Collect
   1. Personal Information: We may collect the following types of personal information from Users:
      •    First and last name
      •    Email address
      •    Educational institution
      •    State
      •    Area of focus
      
   2. Automatically Collected Information: We may also collect certain non-personal information automatically when you visit our website, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring website, and pages viewed.
2. Use of Information
   1. Provision of Services: We use the personal information you provide to fulfill your requests, process subscriptions, deliver digital downloads, and provide customer support. We may also use this information to communicate with you about your account, subscriptions, or purchases.
   2. Analytics and Improvement: We may use Google Analytics or similar analytics tools to analyze website usage, improve our services, and enhance the user experience. These tools may collect information about your browsing activities on our website, such as page views and click-through rates.
   3. Marketing Communications: With your consent, we may use your email address to send you promotional materials, newsletters, or information about new products or special offers. You have the right to opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time.
3. Sharing of Information
   1. Service Providers: We may engage third-party service providers to assist with website operation, payment processing, analytics, or other business-related services. These service providers have access to your personal information only to perform specific tasks on our behalf and are obligated to protect its confidentiality.
   2. Legal Compliance: We may disclose your personal information if required by law, court order, or government regulation, or if we believe that such disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, safety, or the rights of others.
4. Data Retention
   We will retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Policy or as required by law. We will securely delete or anonymize your information when it is no longer needed.
5. Your Rights
   1. Access and Rectification: You have the right to access and update your personal information. If you would like to review or modify your information, please contact us using the contact details provided below.
   2. Data Portability: Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, to the extent feasible.
   3. California Privacy Rights: California residents have certain privacy rights under the CCPA and CPRA. For more information about these rights and how to exercise them, please refer to our separate “CCPA and CPRA Privacy Notice” available on our website.
6. Security Measures
   We implement reasonable security measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
7. Third-Party Websites
   Our website may contain links to third-party websites. This Policy does not apply to such websites, and we are not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of those third parties before providing any personal information. Third-party services we use include, but are not limited to, the following:
   1. YouTube API Services & Google User Data
      Meridian Stories’s video upload to YouTube uses YouTube API Services to upload your videos to our YouTube channel. By using Meridian Stories’s video upload service, you are agreeing to be bound by YouTube’s Terms of Service and Google’s Privacy Policy. In addition to Meridian Stories’s normal processes for deleting stored data, you can revoke Meridian Stories’s access to your data through Google’s security settings, or by disconnecting the app account.
   2. Ninja Forms
      Meridian Stories’s video upload to YouTube uses the Ninja Forms WordPress plugin to collect your information and video file to upload your videos to our YouTube channel. By using Meridian Stories’s video upload service, you are agreeing to be bound by Ninja Forms Terms & Conditions and Ninja Forms Privacy Policy.
   3. Zapier
      Meridian Stories’s video upload to YouTube uses Zapier web services to upload your videos to our YouTube channel after your video and information are collected through Ninja Forms. By using Meridian Stories’s video upload service, you are agreeing to be bound by Zapier’s Privacy Policy.
   4. Smash Balloon
      Meridian Stories’s video upload to YouTube uses the Smash Balloon YouTube Feed Pro WordPress plugin to display your videos on our website from our YouTube Channel. By using Meridian Stories’s video upload service, you are agreeing to be bound by Smash Balloon’s Terms & Conditions, Smash Balloon’s Website Privacy Policy, and Smash Balloon’s App Privacy Policy.
8. Updates to this Policy
   We reserve the right to update or modify this Policy at any time without prior notice. Any changes will be effective immediately upon posting the revised Policy on our website. Your continued use of our website after the posting of any changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.
9. Contact Us
   If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at [email protected]

Effective Date: August 1, 2023
Note: This Privacy Policy is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. If you have specific legal concerns or questions, we recommend consulting with a legal professional.