Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: September 23, 2026

Blurred Bylines, LLC (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the website blurredbylines.com. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it and your choices regarding that information.

We take your privacy seriously. We collect only what we need to run the site, process payments and improve your experience.

What We Do

Blurred Bylines is two things: a longform journalism site that publishes well-sourced articles on a range of topics and a provider of SEO software tools sold as monthly subscriptions. This policy covers both.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide Directly

When you create an account or purchase a subscription, we collect:

  • Your name
  • Email address
  • Billing address
  • Geolocation (to ensure you are a U.S.-based customer)
  • Username and password (passwords are stored in encrypted form, we cannot see them)

We do not collect or store your credit card number, bank account number or other payment credentials. All payment processing is handled by Stripe (see “Third-Party Services” below).

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our site, we automatically collect:

  • IP address
  • Browser type and version
  • Operating system
  • Pages visited and time spent on pages
  • Referring website
  • Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)

Cookie Data

We use cookies and similar technologies on this site. Cookies are small text files stored on your device. We use them for:

  • Necessary cookies: These keep essential features working, like your shopping cart, account login and checkout process. These cannot be disabled.
  • Analytics cookies: These help us understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it.
  • Marketing cookies: These are used by our email marketing service (Omnisend) to personalize communications when you sign up for the newsletter.

You can manage your cookie preferences at any time through the cookie settings banner on our site, powered by Complianz.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Process your subscription purchases and manage your account
  • Provide access to our SEO tools
  • Send transactional emails (order confirmations, password resets, subscription updates)
  • Send marketing emails if you have opted in (you can unsubscribe at any time)
  • Calculate applicable sales tax on purchases
  • Analyze site traffic and usage to improve the site
  • Respond to your questions or support requests
  • Prevent fraud and protect the security of our site

Third-Party Services

We share your information with the following third-party services, only as necessary to operate the site:

Stripe (via WooPayments)

What they receive: Your name, email, billing address and payment card details (entered directly into Stripe’s secure payment form).

Why: To process subscription payments.

Their privacy policy: https://stripe.com/privacy

TaxJar

What they receive: Your shipping/billing address (street, city, state, zip code, country).

Why: To calculate the correct sales tax on your purchase.

Their privacy policy: https://www.taxjar.com/privacy-policy

Omnisend

What they receive: Your name, email address and browsing/purchase activity on our site.

Why: To send marketing emails and track campaign performance.

Their privacy policy: https://www.omnisend.com/privacy/

Cloudflare

What they receive: Your IP address and request data.

Why: To protect the site from malicious traffic and improve loading speeds.

Their privacy policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/

DataForSEO

What they receive: URLs and search queries submitted through our SEO tools.

Why: To generate the SEO analysis data that powers our tools.

Their privacy policy: https://dataforseo.com/privacy-policy

We do not sell your personal information to any third party.

Data Retention

  • Account data: We retain your account information for as long as your account is active. If you cancel your subscription and request account deletion, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required by law to retain it (e.g., transaction records for tax purposes).
  • Transaction records: We retain purchase and payment records for up to 7 years for tax and accounting compliance.
  • Analytics data: Aggregated, non-identifying analytics data may be retained indefinitely.
  • Marketing data: If you unsubscribe from marketing emails, we will stop sending them promptly. Your email may be retained on a suppression list to ensure we don’t contact you again.

Your Rights

All Users

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you
  • Correct inaccurate information
  • Request deletion of your account and personal data
  • Unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time

To exercise any of these rights, email us at [email protected].

California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)

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

  • The right to know what personal information we collect, use and disclose
  • The right to request deletion of your personal information
  • 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 request, email [email protected]. We will verify your identity before processing your request and respond within 45 days.

European Residents (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, including:

  • The right to access, correct or delete your personal data
  • The right to restrict or object to processing
  • The right to data portability
  • The right to withdraw consent at any time (where processing is based on consent)
  • The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

Our legal bases for processing your data are: performance of a contract (when you purchase a subscription – not currently available to non-U.S. customers), legitimate interest (analytics, security) and consent (marketing emails, non-essential cookies).

Children’s Privacy

Our site and services are not directed to children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at [email protected] and we will delete it.

Security

We use industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including SSL/TLS encryption for all data transmitted between your browser and our site, secure payment processing through Stripe and Cloudflare’s web application firewall. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your personal data, contact us at: [email protected]