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Privacy Policy

Effective date: November 10, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Practical Crafter (“we,” “us,” or “our”) handles information when you visit practicalcrafter.com (the “Site”).

Summary of key points

There are no user accounts, no newsletter, and no payments on the Site.
Our contact form does not send your message to our servers: it opens your own email app with your message already filled in.
When advertising and analytics are enabled, Google uses cookies to show ads and measure traffic. You can opt out of personalized ads at any time.
We do not sell your personal information for money. When advertising is enabled, Google’s personalized ads may count as a “sale” or “sharing” under some state laws, and you can opt out (see section 11). The Site is not directed to children under 13.

1. Who we are

Practical Crafter is an independent site of practical craft and DIY guides, run by the Practical Crafter editorial team. For any question about this policy, use our contact form. See also our Legal Notice and Terms of Use.

2. Information we collect

Information collected automatically

Server logs. When you load a page, our hosting servers record technical data: your IP address, the date and time, the page requested (including any search terms typed into the site search), the referring page, and your browser and operating system (user agent).
Cookies and similar technologies. The Site sets only two technical cookies used by its sign-in system (a security token and a return address). They hold no information about you and are not used for analytics or advertising. When advertising or Google Analytics is enabled, Google and its partners set cookies and use similar technologies on the Site, as described in sections 4 and 5.
Local storage. Some interactive tools on the Site may save your progress (for example, a row count) in your browser’s local storage. That data stays on your device and is never sent to us.

Information you provide

Our contact form does not send your message to our servers. When you click “Send message,” it opens your email app with your name, email address, and message already filled in. Nothing is sent until you send the email yourself. When you do, we receive your name, email address, and message.

We do not ask for sensitive information (such as health, financial, or government ID data). Please do not include it in your messages.

3. How we use information

To run the Site, keep it secure, prevent abuse, and fix technical problems.
To measure audience and understand which guides are useful, so we can improve them.
To show ads that pay for the Site, when advertising is enabled.
To read and answer the messages you send us.
To comply with the law and protect our rights, our readers, and the Site.

4. Cookies and Google advertising

No advertising scripts load on the Site until advertising is enabled. When it is, the Site shows ads served by Google AdSense, and the following applies:

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to the Site or other websites.
Google’s use of advertising cookies, such as the DoubleClick cookie, enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to the Site and/or other sites on the internet.
Other third-party vendors and ad networks that Google allows to serve ads on the Site may also use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to serve and measure ads.

You can opt out of personalized advertising in Google Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising at www.aboutads.info. To learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking cookies does not stop ads from appearing, but the ads you see will be less personalized.

5. Analytics

Google Analytics

When analytics are enabled, we use Google Analytics, a service provided by Google, to measure how the Site is used. It sets cookies and collects data such as the pages you view, how long you stay, the referring site, your device and browser type, and your approximate location (city or country). Google says Google Analytics 4 does not log or store individual IP addresses. You can prevent Google Analytics from collecting your data with the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Google’s handling of data is described in the Google Privacy Policy.

Plausible Analytics

We may also use Plausible Analytics, a privacy-focused analytics service. Plausible does not use cookies and does not track you across sites or devices. It records the pages visited, the referring site, your browser, operating system and device type, and your approximate location (country, region, and city). Your IP address is used to determine that location and to compute a daily-changing anonymous identifier; it is not stored. Plausible stores this data in the European Union. See the Plausible data policy.

6. Other third parties

Hosting. The Site is hosted by Hetzner Online GmbH, Germany. Our servers, and the server logs described above, are located in the European Union.
Images. Some photos on the Site load directly from Unsplash (images.unsplash.com), which receives your IP address and browser information when it serves them. See the Unsplash Privacy Policy.
Email. Messages you send us are stored by our email provider.
Legal requests. We may disclose information if the law requires it, or if it is necessary to protect our rights, our readers, or the Site.
Change of ownership. If the Site is sold or transferred, the information we hold may be transferred to the new owner as part of that transaction.

Articles may link to other websites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices; please read their policies.

7. Where your information is processed

Our servers and server logs are in the European Union (hosting provider: Hetzner Online GmbH, Germany). Google and Unsplash may process the data they collect in the United States and other countries.

8. How long we keep information

Server logs: only as long as needed for security and troubleshooting, then deleted automatically.
Emails you send us: as long as needed to answer you and follow up, then deleted, unless we must keep them to comply with the law or resolve a dispute.
Google Analytics and Plausible data: for the retention period set in each service (for Google Analytics, no more than 14 months).
Advertising cookies: they stay on your device for the period set by Google and its partners, unless you delete them.

9. How we protect information

The Site is served over an encrypted connection (HTTPS), and access to our servers is restricted to the people who maintain the Site. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Children’s privacy

The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them, in line with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Some of our articles describe craft projects to make with kids; they are written for parents, teachers, and caregivers. If you believe a child under 13 has sent us personal information, contact us through the contact form and we will delete it.

11. Your US state privacy rights

Residents of California (under the CCPA, as amended by the CPRA) and of other states with consumer privacy laws, such as Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, and Oregon, may have the following rights, depending on their state and subject to legal exceptions:

Right to know and access the personal information we hold about you, and to receive a copy in a portable format.
Right to delete personal information we collected from you.
Right to correct inaccurate personal information.
Right to opt out of the sale of your personal information, its sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising, targeted advertising, and profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects (under the Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Texas, Oregon, and similar laws).
Right to limit the use of sensitive personal information. We do not collect sensitive personal information, so there is nothing to limit.
Right to non-discrimination for using any of these rights.

Categories of personal information

Depending on what is enabled and how you use the Site, we may collect:

Identifiers: IP address, cookie and other online identifiers, and your name and email address if you email us.
Internet or other electronic network activity: pages viewed, referring pages, and interactions with the Site and its ads.
Approximate geolocation: city or country derived from your IP address (never your precise location).

This information comes from you, from your device and browser, and from Google and its partners. We use it for the purposes listed in section 3.

Categories of third parties

We disclose personal information to these categories of service providers and third parties:

Advertising networks: Google, when advertising is enabled.
Analytics providers: Google, when analytics are enabled, and Plausible.
Hosting provider: Hetzner Online GmbH.
Image delivery service: Unsplash.
Our email provider: for messages you send us.

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

We do not sell your personal information in exchange for money. We have not sold or shared personal information in the past 12 months. When advertising is enabled, Google’s personalized ads may count as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information, or as “targeted advertising,” under some state laws.

When advertising is enabled, visitors from states with these laws see a privacy message from Google that includes a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” link. Use it to opt out: Google then limits how it uses your information on the Site. If the link does not appear or does not work for you, contact us and we will help you use Google’s opt-out tools.

Global Privacy Control

When advertising is enabled, we configure Google’s privacy tools to treat a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a request to opt out of sale or sharing. Because there is no common standard for “Do Not Track” browser signals, we do not respond to them.

How to make a request

Send your request through our contact form. We hold very little information that identifies you directly: data tied to advertising and analytics cookies is held by Google, and the opt-out tools above are the fastest way to control it. To protect your information, we may ask you to confirm some details before acting on a request. An authorized agent may submit a request for you, but we may ask for proof of your written permission. We respond within 45 days, and will tell you if we need up to 45 more days.

If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our answer. We will respond to your appeal within the time required by your state’s law. If you disagree with the outcome, you can contact your state Attorney General.

12. Changes to this policy

We review this policy at least once every 12 months, and we may update it sooner, for example when we enable advertising or analytics or change providers. We will post the new version on this page with a new effective date.

13. Contact us

For questions about this policy or your information, use our contact form.