Privacy Policy

Cracked Egg Creative (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that data. By using our website (www.crackedeggcreative.io/), you agree to the practices described here.

1. Who We Are

Cracked Egg Creative is a creative agency specializing in brand strategy, identity design, web design and development, and digital marketing.

• Founder / CEO: Nick Bouras
• Business Name: Cracked Egg Creative
• Email: info@crackedeggcreative.io
• Location: St. Louis, MO

For privacy-related questions or requests, contact us at: info@crackedeggcreative.io

2. What Data We Collect and Why

a) Contact Form Submissions

When you submit a contact or inquiry form, we collect:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your phone number (if provided)
• Any message or project details you include

Legal basis (GDPR): Legitimate interest and pre-contractual steps (Article 6(1)(b) and (f)).
Purpose: To respond to your inquiry and potentially enter into a business relationship.

b) Automatically Collected Data

When you visit our site, our hosting provider and server logs may automatically collect:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and time spent
• Referring URL
• Date and time of visit

Legal basis (GDPR): Legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f)) — to maintain website security and performance.

c) Cookies

Our website uses cookies. See Section 6 for full details.

d) Comments

If our site allows comments, when you leave a comment we collect your name, email address, website (if provided), IP address, and browser user agent. An anonymized hash of your email may be sent to Gravatar to check for a profile image. See Gravatar’s privacy policy.

e) Media Uploads

If you upload images to our site, avoid including embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors may be able to extract location data from uploaded images.

3. How We Use Your Data

• To respond to inquiries and provide requested services
• To manage client projects and communication
• To send project updates or follow-up communications related to your inquiry
• To maintain the security and functionality of our website
• To comply with legal obligations

We do not sell your personal data. We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling.

4. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We may share data with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website and business, including:

• Web Hosting Provider: WP Engine — stores website data on our behalf.
• Email Service Provider: Microsoft 365 — used to deliver and manage email communications.
• Contact Form Plugin: Gravity Forms — processes form submissions. Form data is stored in our WordPress database.
• Spam Detection: Visitor comments may be checked through Akismet, an automated spam detection service.

All third-party providers are contractually obligated to handle your data securely and only for specified purposes. We may also disclose your information if required by law, court order, or to protect our legal rights.

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

5. How Long We Retain Your Data

• Contact form submissions: Retained for 2 years after last contact, then deleted unless a client relationship was established.
• Client project data: Retained for 7 years for business and tax record purposes, then securely deleted.
• Comments: Retained indefinitely to allow recognition and automatic approval of follow-up comments. You may request deletion at any time.
• Server logs: Typically retained for 30–90 days by our hosting provider.
• Cookies: See Section 6 for individual cookie durations.

6. Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device. We use the following types:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These are required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.

• WordPress session cookies — set when you log in; last 2 days (or 2 weeks if “Remember Me” is selected).
• Login preference cookies — store screen display choices; last 1 year.
• Comment cookies — if you opt in when leaving a comment, your name, email, and website are saved for 1 year.

Functional Cookies

• Gravity Forms may set session tokens for form processing. These are temporary and discarded when your browser session ends.

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect site functionality. For more information visit allaboutcookies.org.

7. Embedded Content from Other Websites

Pages on our site may include embedded content (videos, images, social feeds, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves exactly as if you had visited that website directly. Those websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that content.

8. Your Rights Under GDPR

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of Access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification — Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to Erasure — Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention obligations.
• Right to Restrict Processing — Request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability — Request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to Object — Object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing.
• Right to Withdraw Consent — Where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting prior processing.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint — File a complaint with your local data protection authority. In the UK, contact the ICO. In the EU, contact your national supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@crackedeggcreative.io. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Your Rights Under CCPA (California Residents)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• The right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell.
• The right to delete personal information we hold about you.
• The right to opt out of the sale of your personal information. We do not sell personal information.
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights.

To submit a CCPA request, contact us at info@crackedeggcreative.io.

10. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data, including SSL/TLS encryption, secure hosting, and limited access to personal data on a need-to-know basis. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. International Data Transfers

Our website is hosted and operated in the United States. If you are accessing our site from outside the US, your data may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country. If you are in the EEA or UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for any international transfers in accordance with GDPR requirements.

12. Children’s Privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or 16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us immediately and we will delete it.

13. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites and encourage you to review their privacy policies.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated policy on this page with a revised “Last Updated” date. Continued use of our website after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Contact Us

For any questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact: