The Planters' Guild is a publication of The Planters' Guild LLC, a small business registered in California, USA. This page explains what information we collect about you, why, and what you can do about it. We've tried to keep it short and in plain language. If anything's unclear, email [email protected].
Who's responsible for your data
The data controller is The Planters' Guild LLC, California, USA. Privacy requests and postal correspondence should be sent to [email protected]; we'll provide a postal address on request.
What we collect
We collect different information depending on how you interact with the Guild.
If you become a paying Member or one-time Supporter (Founding Member, Member Monthly, Member Annual, or one-time support payment), Stripe captures your email address, full name, payment method, and billing address at checkout. We see your email, name, and billing information; we do not see or store your full card number, which Stripe handles directly under their PCI-compliant infrastructure.
If you join a waitlist (currently the planting guide rebuild waitlist), we collect your email address only. No payment, no address, no other data.
The Guild website itself doesn't run analytics or tracking scripts. It's static HTML deployed on Cloudflare Pages, behind Cloudflare's network. Cloudflare logs standard server access data (IP addresses, browser types, request paths) for security and performance purposes. We don't see or use that data ourselves.
Why we collect it (legal basis)
For visitors covered by GDPR or UK GDPR, our legal basis depends on what you signed up for.
If you're a paying Member or Supporter, the legal basis is contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR). Processing your email and payment information is necessary to deliver the membership or support transaction you paid for, and to meet our recordkeeping obligations as a registered business.
If you joined a waitlist, the legal basis is consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR), given when you submit the waitlist form. You can withdraw consent at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email or by emailing us. Withdrawing consent doesn't affect the lawfulness of processing that already happened.
How we use your email
If you've joined a waitlist, we use your email only to notify you when the thing you signed up for is live again. That's the entire scope for waitlist signups.
If you're a paying Member, we use your email to deliver your Member benefits (Founding Members receive bench-notes PDFs and the Founder's monthly note; Monthly and Annual Members receive bench-notes PDFs as released). We also send occasional updates about the Guild itself, like launch announcements and milestone moments. Stripe sends you transactional emails directly: receipts, renewal notices for recurring subscriptions, and notifications if a payment fails.
We will never sell, rent, trade, or share your email address with anyone, ever. Your subscriber data lives in Kit (our email service provider) and Stripe (our payment processor), and is used only by us.
How long we keep it
Kit subscriber data (waitlist signups and Member email list) stays with us for as long as you're subscribed. When you unsubscribe or request deletion, we remove your data from our active subscriber list within 14 days. Backup copies held by Kit may persist for up to 30 additional days before being purged on their normal cycle.
Stripe payment records are retained for as long as required by law. As a registered LLC, we have tax and audit recordkeeping obligations (generally seven years under IRS guidance). Cancelling a subscription stops future charges and removes you from our active Member communications, but Stripe's record of past transactions remains as required.
Third-party services
Three third parties are involved in running the Guild. Each sees a different slice of your data.
Stripe (stripe.com) is our payment processor and the merchant-of-record handler for all paid transactions. If you become a Member or one-time Supporter, you leave theplantersguild.com for a Stripe-hosted checkout page. Stripe captures your payment method, name, email, and billing address there, processes the transaction, and stores the record. No card data ever touches our servers. Stripe also operates the Customer Portal you can use to update your card, change your billing email, or cancel a subscription; it's linked from your post-purchase welcome page. Stripe's privacy policy applies to their portion of the data flow.
Kit (kit.com), formerly known as ConvertKit, is our email service provider. Kit holds your subscriber record (email and, if provided, first name) and handles the actual sending of newsletters and broadcasts. For paying Members, we currently add your email to Kit manually after a Stripe transaction; that process is being automated in the near future, with no change to the data we collect. For waitlist signups, the form on theplantersguild.com submits directly to Kit when you click Join. Kit's privacy policy applies to their portion of the data flow.
Cloudflare (cloudflare.com) provides DNS, CDN, and Pages hosting for theplantersguild.com. They see standard web request data when you visit the site. Cloudflare's privacy policy applies to their portion of the data flow.
Fonts on this site are self-hosted on theplantersguild.com; no third-party font CDN is involved.
Cookies
The Guild website doesn't set its own cookies and doesn't run any analytics. Submitting a waitlist form sends your email directly to Kit via a background request without setting Kit cookies on our pages.
If you click through to a Stripe-hosted checkout page or the Stripe Customer Portal, you leave theplantersguild.com for stripe.com. Stripe sets its own cookies on its own domain, governed by Stripe's privacy and cookie policies.
Your rights
You can unsubscribe from any Guild email at any time using the link at the bottom of every newsletter. You can also email [email protected] to:
- Request a copy of all data we have about you
- Have your data deleted entirely (subject to the legal retention obligations noted above for payment records)
- Update or correct your information
- Object to or restrict our processing of your data
- Receive your data in a portable format
If you live in the EU, EEA, or UK (covered by GDPR / UK GDPR) or California (covered by CCPA / CPRA), these are your rights by law. We honor them regardless of where you live.
California: do not sell or share
The Planters' Guild does not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising or for any other purpose, and we don't do so for minors. There's nothing to opt out of because we don't engage in those practices in the first place.
Right to lodge a complaint
If you believe we've handled your data improperly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. EU residents can contact their national data protection authority. UK residents can contact the Information Commissioner's Office. California residents can contact the California Privacy Protection Agency. We'd appreciate the chance to address your concern directly first; email us at [email protected].
Changes to this policy
If we materially change this policy, we'll note the change and update the effective date at the top of this page. For substantive changes (new third-party services, expanded data collection) we'll also email subscribers.
Contact
For any privacy question or request: [email protected]