Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

SmokeBrine ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of every individual who visits our website or uses our services. This Privacy Policy describes how SmokeBrine, operated by SmokeBrine LLC, a company registered at 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4210, New York, NY 10118, United States, acts as the data controller for personal information collected through www.smokebrine.com.

Our website provides crop rotation planning tools, soil conservation guides, cover crop selection resources, erosion control methods, nutrient management strategies, and record-keeping templates for small-scale farmers. We collect only the personal data necessary to deliver these services effectively and to improve the experience for our users.

This policy applies to all visitors and users of the SmokeBrine website, regardless of how they access it (desktop browser, mobile device, tablet, or other connected device). By using our website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the practices described here, please discontinue using our website.

2. What Data We Collect

We collect different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with our website. Below is a comprehensive list of the types of data we may collect:

Personal Identification Data

Full name — when you submit a contact form or sign up for our newsletter
Email address — when you subscribe to our seasonal tips newsletter, use the contact form, or download planning templates
Phone number — only if you voluntarily provide it through our contact form

Technical and Usage Data

IP address — collected automatically when you access any page on our website
Browser type and version — such as Chrome 120, Firefox 121, Safari 17
Operating system — such as Windows 11, macOS Sonoma, Android 14, iOS 17
Device type and screen resolution — used to optimize our website display
Pages visited and time spent on each page — helps us understand which content is most useful
Referring URL — the website or search engine that directed you to SmokeBrine
Date and time of access — server timestamps for each page request
Click patterns and scroll depth — anonymous interaction data to improve page layouts

Tool Usage Data

Farm size, climate zone, soil type, and current crop selections — data you enter into our interactive Rotation Planner tool. This data is processed locally in your browser and is not transmitted to our servers unless you choose to save or share your plan.

Cookie Data

Cookie identifiers — small text files stored on your device (see Section 10 for full details)
Cookie consent preferences — your recorded choice to accept or reject non-essential cookies

3. How We Collect Data

We collect your personal data through the following methods:

Direct Collection (Data You Provide)

When you fill out a form on our website, such as the newsletter signup form, the contact form on our About page, or the template download request form, you directly provide us with your name and email address. We also collect data you enter into our Rotation Planner tool, though this data is processed client-side unless you explicitly choose to submit it.

Automated Collection (Technical Data)

When you visit our website, our web servers automatically record certain technical information in server logs. This includes your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages accessed, and timestamps. This data is collected by standard web server software and is necessary for the secure and reliable operation of our website.

Analytics Tools

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website. Google Analytics collects data through cookies and generates reports about website traffic, popular pages, user flow, and demographics. Google Analytics processes this data on Google's servers. We have configured Google Analytics with IP anonymization enabled, meaning your full IP address is truncated before being stored by Google. We have also disabled data sharing with Google for advertising purposes.

Cookies and Local Storage

We use cookies and browser local storage to remember your preferences, such as your cookie consent choice. Full details about the specific cookies we use, their purposes, and their durations are provided in Section 10 of this policy.

4. Why We Collect Data (Legal Basis)

We process your personal data based on the following legal grounds, as outlined under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Article 6:

Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): When you subscribe to our newsletter, you provide explicit consent for us to send you email communications containing seasonal farming tips, rotation reminders, and resource updates. You can withdraw this consent at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email or by contacting us directly. We also rely on consent for placing non-essential cookies on your device.
Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)): We process technical and usage data (IP address, browser data, page analytics) based on our legitimate interest in maintaining a secure, functional, and optimized website. We have conducted a legitimate interest assessment and determined that this processing does not override your fundamental rights and freedoms, as the data collected is limited, largely non-identifying, and essential for website operations.
Contract Performance (Article 6(1)(b)): When you request a downloadable template or use our interactive Rotation Planner tool, we process the data necessary to deliver that service to you. This includes generating a personalized rotation plan based on the farm details you input and delivering downloaded files to the email address you provide.
Legal Obligation (Article 6(1)(c)): In limited circumstances, we may need to retain certain data to comply with legal requirements, such as tax record-keeping obligations or responding to lawful requests from regulatory authorities.

5. How We Use Your Data

We use the personal data we collect for the following specific purposes:

Service delivery: To provide you with crop rotation plans, cover crop recommendations, downloadable templates, and other resources you request through our website.
Newsletter communications: To send you our monthly seasonal tips newsletter, which includes crop rotation reminders, cover crop planting windows, soil amendment timing, and field management advice. We send a maximum of one email per month during the growing season (April through October) and one planning email during winter (December or January). We never send unsolicited promotional emails beyond the newsletter you subscribed to.
Website improvement: To analyze aggregate usage patterns and identify which guides, tools, and resources are most helpful to our visitors. This helps us prioritize content development and improve navigation.
Technical security: To detect and prevent fraudulent activity, unauthorized access attempts, and other security threats to our website infrastructure.
Responding to inquiries: To reply to messages you send through our contact form with relevant information, answers to your questions, or guidance toward appropriate resources on our website.
Legal compliance: To meet any applicable legal or regulatory obligations, respond to lawful requests from authorities, and enforce our Terms of Service.

We do not use your personal data for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects or similarly significant effects on you.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected. Below are the specific retention periods for each data category:

Data Type	Retention Period
Newsletter subscriber email	Until you unsubscribe, plus 30 days for processing
Contact form submissions (name, email, message)	24 months from the date of submission
Server logs (IP address, browser data)	90 days, then automatically purged
Google Analytics data	14 months (configured in our GA settings)
Cookie consent preferences	13 months from the date of your choice
Rotation Planner inputs	Not stored on our servers (processed locally in your browser)

When retention periods expire, we securely delete or anonymize your data so that it can no longer be associated with you. If deletion is not technically feasible for certain backup systems, we ensure the data remains protected and isolated from active processing until deletion is possible.

7. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, lease, or trade your personal data to any third party. We share your data only with the following categories of service providers, all of whom are bound by contractual obligations to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify:

Web hosting provider: Our website is hosted on secure servers that process and store server log data. Our hosting provider maintains industry-standard security certifications and processes data under a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with SmokeBrine.
Analytics provider (Google Analytics): Google processes anonymized usage data on our behalf. We have executed Google's Data Processing Terms and configured IP anonymization. Google's privacy practices are described in Google's Privacy Policy.
Email service provider: Our newsletter is delivered through a third-party email platform that processes subscriber email addresses and delivery metrics (open rates, click rates). This provider operates under a DPA that restricts data use to newsletter delivery only.

We may also disclose your data if required by law, court order, or regulatory request, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of SmokeBrine, our users, or the public.

Our Commitment

We will never sell your personal data. We will never share your email address with agricultural product companies, seed suppliers, or other commercial entities for marketing purposes. Your data stays within the scope of delivering SmokeBrine's services.

8. International Transfers

SmokeBrine is based in the United States. If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with data protection laws that differ from US law, please be aware that your data may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States.

When we transfer personal data from the EEA or UK to the United States or other countries outside those regions, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data. These safeguards include:

Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission, incorporated into our agreements with service providers
The EU-US Data Privacy Framework, where applicable and where our service providers are certified participants
Supplementary technical measures, including encryption in transit (TLS 1.3) and encryption at rest for stored data

You may request a copy of the safeguards we use for international transfers by contacting us at the address provided in Section 13.

9. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data under the GDPR (Articles 15 through 22), the UK GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and other applicable data protection legislation:

Right of Access (Article 15): You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, along with information about how we process it.
Right to Rectification (Article 16): You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate personal data or complete any incomplete personal data we hold about you.
Right to Erasure (Article 17): You have the right to request that we delete your personal data when it is no longer necessary for the purpose it was collected, when you withdraw consent, or when there is no overriding legitimate interest for continued processing.
Right to Restriction of Processing (Article 18): You have the right to request that we temporarily restrict processing of your data while we verify its accuracy or assess whether our legitimate interests override your rights.
Right to Data Portability (Article 20): You have the right to receive the personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format (such as CSV or JSON), and to transmit that data to another data controller.
Right to Object (Article 21): You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, including processing for analytics purposes. You also have the right to object to direct marketing at any time.
Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

How to exercise your rights: To make a request regarding any of the rights listed above, please send an email to [email protected] or write to us at SmokeBrine LLC, 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4210, New York, NY 10118. We will respond to your request within 30 days. In complex cases, we may extend this period by an additional 60 days, in which case we will inform you of the extension and the reasons within the initial 30-day period.

Right to lodge a complaint: If you believe we have not handled your personal data in accordance with applicable law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. For residents of EEA member states, a list of supervisory authorities is available at the European Data Protection Board website. For UK residents, you may contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

10. Cookies

Cookies are small text files that websites place on your device to store information. We use cookies and similar technologies (such as browser local storage) to operate our website and understand how visitors use it. Below is a detailed description of the cookies we use:

Essential Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary for our website to function. They do not require your consent and cannot be disabled without affecting core functionality.

smokebrine_cookie_consent — Stores your cookie preference choice (accept or reject). Duration: 13 months. Stored in browser local storage.

Analytics Cookies

These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting anonymized usage data. These cookies are only placed if you accept cookies through our consent banner.

_ga — Google Analytics identifier used to distinguish users. Duration: 14 months.
_ga_[ID] — Google Analytics identifier used to maintain session state. Duration: 14 months.

Managing and Rejecting Cookies

When you first visit our website, a cookie consent banner appears in the bottom-right corner of your screen. You may click "Accept" to allow all cookies, or "Reject" to decline non-essential cookies. If you reject cookies, only the essential cookie consent preference will be stored, and no analytics cookies will be placed.

You can also manage cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies. Please note that blocking essential cookies may impair website functionality. Instructions for managing cookies in common browsers:

Chrome: Settings > Privacy and Security > Cookies and other site data
Firefox: Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data
Safari: Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data
Edge: Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Manage and delete cookies

11. Children's Privacy

SmokeBrine is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect, solicit, or store personal data from anyone under 16 years of age. Our services are designed for adult farmers, farm managers, and agricultural professionals or enthusiasts.

If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child under 16, we will take immediate steps to delete that data from our systems. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided personal information to SmokeBrine, please contact us at [email protected] and we will promptly investigate and remove the data.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other operational factors. When we make changes, we will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page.

For material changes that significantly affect how we collect or use your personal data, we will provide prominent notice on our website homepage at least 14 days before the changes take effect. If you are a newsletter subscriber, we will also send you an email notification about the update.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data. Your continued use of the SmokeBrine website after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

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