Privacy Policy

Introduction

MyCookingCalendar ("we", "us", "our") operates the website mycookingcalendar.com (the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have with respect to your personal data. We are committed to handling your information transparently and in compliance with applicable data protection laws, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA).

1. Information We Collect

When you use MyCookingCalendar, we may collect:

• Account data — name and email address when you sign in with Google OAuth
• Usage data — pages visited, recipes viewed, search queries (anonymised)
• Submitted content — recipes you submit including your name and email
• Technical data — IP address, browser type, device type for security and analytics
• Advertising identifiers — cookie identifiers used by Google AdSense and partner ad networks to deliver and measure ads
• Approximate location — derived from your IP address to localise content and comply with regional advertising rules

2. How We Use Your Information

• To operate, maintain and improve the Service
• To personalise recipe recommendations and saved meal planning data
• To notify you when your submitted recipe is published
• To prevent fraud, abuse and security incidents
• To deliver advertising — including, where permitted, personalised advertising — through Google AdSense and partner networks
• To measure ad performance, analytics and aggregate audience trends
• To comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests

3. Google Sign-In

We use Google OAuth for authentication. When you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture. We do not receive your Google password or access your Google account beyond what is needed for authentication. You can revoke access at any time in your Google account settings.

4. Advertising and Analytics

MyCookingCalendar is monetised in part through online advertising. This section describes our advertising partners, the technologies they use, and the choices available to you.

4.1 Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense, a third-party advertising service operated by Google LLC, to display ads on this Service. Our Google AdSense publisher ID is ca-pub-6317276756727944. Google AdSense uses cookies, web beacons, device identifiers and similar technologies to serve advertisements based on your prior visits to this site and other websites across the internet.

As a third-party vendor, Google uses cookies — including the DoubleClick DART cookie — to serve ads to you based on your visits to our Service and other websites on the internet. You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. You can also opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalised advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.

4.2 Third-Party Ad Partners

In addition to Google AdSense, we may work with the following Google advertising products and ad partners:

• Google AdSense
• DoubleClick (Google Marketing Platform)
• Google Ad Manager
• Google Tag Manager and Google Publisher Tags
• Other certified third-party vendors served through the Google ad stack

These partners may collect information about your visits to this and other websites in order to measure ad performance, provide ads relevant to your interests, and prevent fraudulent or invalid traffic. A current list of certified Google ad technology providers is available at Google's ad technology providers.

4.3 DART Cookie

Google uses the DoubleClick DART cookie to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our Service and other websites on the internet. You may opt out of the use of the DART cookie for interest-based advertising by visiting Google's ad and content network privacy policy at https://www.google.com/settings/ads.

4.4 Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors use our Service. GA4 collects anonymised information about page views, sessions, device type and approximate location. We do not pass personally identifiable information to Google Analytics. You can opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

5. Cookies We Use

Cookies are small text files placed on your device to make the Service work, to measure usage and to deliver advertising. We use the following categories of cookies:

• Strictly necessary cookies — required for core site functionality such as keeping you signed in, remembering your locale, and CSRF protection. These cannot be disabled without breaking the Service. You can clear them in your browser settings, but the Service may not function correctly.
• Analytics cookies — set by Google Analytics 4 (e.g. _ga, _ga_*) to measure page views and aggregate user behaviour. Disable by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on or by declining analytics in our cookie banner.
• Advertising cookies — set by Google AdSense, DoubleClick and partner ad networks (e.g. IDE, NID, __gads, __gpi) to deliver and measure ads, and where permitted to personalise them. Disable by opting out at Google Ads Settings, aboutads.info/choices or youronlinechoices.eu.
• Functional / preference cookies — store choices such as your preferred language or whether you have dismissed a banner. Disable by clearing cookies in your browser; some preferences will reset.

You can also configure your browser to block or delete cookies entirely. Instructions are available for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge.

6. EU/EEA Users — GDPR Rights

If you are located in the European Union, European Economic Area, United Kingdom or Switzerland, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and equivalent local laws grant you specific rights with respect to your personal data.

Lawful Basis for Processing

• Consent — for advertising cookies, ad personalisation and non-essential analytics. You can withdraw consent at any time through our cookie banner or your browser settings.
• Contract — to provide the Service when you create an account or submit a recipe.
• Legitimate interests — to operate, secure and improve the Service, prevent fraud, and serve non-personalised contextual ads. We balance these interests against your fundamental rights and freedoms.
• Legal obligation — to comply with tax, accounting and law-enforcement requirements.

Your GDPR Rights

• Right of access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification — correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten") — request deletion of your data
• Right to restriction of processing
• Right to data portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing
• Right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing
• Right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

For ad personalisation specifically, EU/EEA visitors are shown a consent prompt compliant with the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework and Google's EU user consent policy. Without consent, you will see only non-personalised contextual ads. To exercise any GDPR right, email privacy@mycookingcalendar.com.

7. California Users — CCPA / CPRA Rights

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) gives you the following rights:

• Right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose and "share"
• Right to delete personal information we have collected from you
• Right to correct inaccurate personal information
• Right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising
• Right to limit the use of sensitive personal information
• Right to non-discrimination for exercising your CCPA rights

We do not sell personal information for money. However, under the CCPA's broad definition, the use of advertising cookies by Google AdSense and partners may constitute "sharing" of personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising. To exercise your right to opt out, you can:

• Use our cookie banner to decline advertising cookies
• Click the "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" link in the site footer (where required by law)
• Enable Global Privacy Control (GPC) in your browser — we honour GPC signals
• Email privacy@mycookingcalendar.com

8. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data for money. We may share data with trusted service providers (hosting, analytics, advertising, email delivery) under written data processing agreements that limit how those providers may use the data. We may disclose data if required by law, court order, or to protect our rights and the safety of our users.

9. International Data Transfers

The Service is operated from the European Union and our advertising and analytics partners (including Google) may process data in the United States and other countries. Where personal data is transferred outside the EU/EEA, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

10. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. Analytics data is retained for up to 14 months in aggregated form. Advertising cookie identifiers expire according to each cookie's stated lifetime (typically 30 days to 13 months). You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time by contacting us.

11. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed at children under 13 (or under 16 in the EU/EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. Personalised advertising is never shown to users we identify as children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Security

We use industry-standard technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including TLS encryption for data in transit, encrypted storage at rest, role-based access controls and regular security reviews. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting a notice on the Service and updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes affecting your rights will be communicated by email where we have your address on file.

14. Contact

Privacy questions, data requests, or complaints? Contact our Data Protection contact at privacy@mycookingcalendar.com. We aim to respond to all verified requests within 30 days.