Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information Zestful Meals (zestfulmeals.com) collects when you browse recipes, send us a message or leave a rating or comment, how that information is used, how long it is kept and what choices you have. It applies to all pages of zestfulmeals.com. If you have questions after reading it, you can reach us through our Contact Us page.

2. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

• Contact form: your name, email address and the message you write. We use this only to reply to you.
• Ratings and comments: your name and the text you submit when you rate or comment on a recipe. Comments may be displayed publicly on the recipe page, so please do not include sensitive personal details in them.

Information Collected Automatically

• Server logs: our web server records standard technical data such as your IP address, browser type and the pages requested. We use these logs for security and troubleshooting.
• Visit statistics: we measure visits with a first-party system that runs on our own server. It records the page viewed and the referrer (the site you came from).
• Cookies: described in section 4.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To respond to messages sent through the contact form
• To display your rating or comment on a recipe page
• To keep the site secure and to diagnose technical problems
• To understand which pages are read, so we can improve our recipes and the site
• To show advertising that helps cover the cost of running the site

4. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device. On Zestful Meals they come from two sources:

• Google AdSense uses cookies to serve and measure ads. Personalized ads are shown only if you have given consent.
• Cloudflare, which provides content delivery and security for the site, may set technical cookies needed to deliver pages and protect the site from abuse.

You can delete or block cookies in your browser settings. Blocking them may affect how some parts of the site work.

5. Third-Party Services

The following providers may process data when you use the site. Each has its own privacy policy that governs its use of your information.

• Google AdSense: advertising. Google may use cookies to show ads based on your visits to this and other sites. You can manage personalized advertising at adssettings.google.com and learn how Google uses data from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
• Cloudflare: content delivery and security, which may involve technical cookies and processing of connection data such as IP addresses.
• Pinterest: we link to our Pinterest profile. If you follow that link, Pinterest's own privacy policy applies to what happens on its site.

6. Consent for Visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland

If you visit from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, Google's consent message appears before advertising cookies are used. Personalized ads are shown only if you agree. You can decline, and you can change or withdraw your choice at any time through the same consent message or by clearing your browser cookies, which makes the message appear again.

7. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal information.

Data may be shared only with:

• The service providers listed in section 5, to the extent needed to deliver ads, deliver pages and keep the site secure
• Legal authorities, where we are required to do so by law

8. Data Retention

• Visit statistics: raw visit records from our first-party statistics are kept for 7 days. After that, only daily totals remain, which do not identify individual visitors.
• Contact messages: kept for as long as needed to answer you and handle any follow-up, then deleted.
• Ratings and comments: kept on the recipe page until you ask us to remove them or we remove them ourselves.
• Server logs: kept only as long as needed for security and troubleshooting.

9. Your Privacy Rights

For EEA, UK and Swiss Residents (GDPR)

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data
• Restrict or object to certain processing
• Receive your data in a portable format
• Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing that took place before withdrawal
• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

Where we process data based on consent (for example personalized advertising), consent is the legal basis. For security, troubleshooting and basic site statistics, our legitimate interest in running a safe and well-functioning website is the legal basis. For replying to your messages, it is our need to answer your request.

For California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

You have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use and disclose
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate personal information
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising
• Not be discriminated against for exercising these rights

We do not sell personal information in exchange for money. Advertising cookies from Google AdSense may count as "sharing" for advertising purposes under California law; you can limit this through Google's ad settings or by blocking cookies in your browser.

How to Make a Request

To exercise any of these rights, send us a request through our Contact Us page. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on it, and we will respond within the time required by applicable law.

10. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect the information handled by the site, including the security services provided by Cloudflare. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Children's Privacy

Zestful Meals is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information through the contact form or a comment, please tell us through the Contact Us page and we will delete it.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when our practices or the services we use change. The updated version will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date. Please check back from time to time. Our Terms of use and About Us pages are also available if you want to know more about the site.

13. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions or requests, please use our Contact Us page.