The Black Altar Project

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for The Black Altar Project

Effective Date: August 20, 2025

The Black Altar Project (“we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your data when you visit our website, use our services, or interact with us online.

Our website operates out of Seattle, Washington, and complies with applicable privacy laws, including the Washington Consumer Protection Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and, where applicable, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Who We Are

Our website address is: https://theblackaltar.org.

We provide community-based healing offerings, educational resources, and art-centered programs that may involve event registration, digital communication, and participant feedback.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal data:

A. Information You Provide

  • Name, email, phone number, or other contact details
  • Responses to forms, sign-ups, event registrations, or surveys
  • Comments submitted to the website

B. Automatically Collected Data

  • IP address, browser type, operating system, and device information
  • Cookies, analytics, and log data

C. Comment-Related Data

When visitors leave comments, we collect the data in the comment form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent to detect spam. An anonymized string of your email (a hash) may be sent to the Gravatar service to check for an associated profile. Gravatar’s privacy policy is at: https://automattic.com/privacy/.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your data to:

  • Provide services and communicate with you
  • Respond to inquiries and manage events or offerings
  • Improve website performance and user experience
  • Ensure the security of our site

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We may use cookies and similar tools to:

  • Store your preferences
  • Understand user behavior
  • Manage logins or comment functionality

You may disable cookies in your browser settings. If you leave a comment, your name and email may be saved in cookies for your convenience.

5. Embedded Content from Other Sites

Some pages may include embedded media (e.g., YouTube, Instagram, articles). These third-party services may collect data, use cookies, and track your interaction, just as if you visited them directly.

6. Third-Party Tools, Plugins, and Themes

Our site is built on WordPress and uses plugins, themes, and third-party tools—both now and in the future—to support our functionality, performance, and accessibility. These may include:

  • Comment systems and spam filters
  • Analytics and caching tools (e.g., LiteSpeed Cache, QUIC.cloud)
  • CAPTCHA tools (e.g., hCaptcha)
  • Embedded social content or video
  • Email marketing or form plugins

Each third-party tool has its own privacy policy and data handling practices. We make reasonable efforts to select reputable vendors and configure tools to respect your privacy.

We are not obligated to update this policy every time a new plugin or feature is added. Your continued use of our website indicates your agreement to the current data practices, which may evolve over time. We encourage you to check this policy periodically to stay informed.

7. hCaptcha Notice

We use hCaptcha to protect our forms from spam and abuse. This service analyzes your behavior to determine whether you’re a human user. hCaptcha’s privacy policy is available at https://www.hcaptcha.com/privacy.

8. How Long We Keep Your Data

  • Comments and metadata are stored indefinitely.
  • User profile data (for administrators) is stored until deleted.
  • Other personal data is retained only as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected.

9. Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

  • Access or request a copy of the data we hold about you
  • Correct or delete your personal information
  • Withdraw consent or opt out of communications

To make a request, please contact us at privacy@theblackaltar.org.

10. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative and technical safeguards to protect your data. While no method is 100% secure, we are committed to protecting your information against unauthorized access or misuse.

11. Children’s Privacy

Our services are not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children without parental consent.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may revise this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make material changes, we may notify you via our website or through other reasonable means. However, we are not obligated to notify users of every change. By continuing to use the website, you accept any updates in effect at that time.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions or requests regarding your personal data or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@theblackaltar.org
Website: https://theblackaltar.org