Privacy Policy - smerchbn.com

Last updated: June 8, 2026

At smerchbn.com, we take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website. It complies with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Information We Collect

Category	Data Collected	Purpose	Legal Basis (GDPR)
Personal Data	Email address (when you email us)	To respond to your inquiries	Consent (Article 6.1.a)
Usage Data	IP address, browser type, pages viewed, referring URLs	To analyze site traffic and improve content	Legitimate interest (Article 6.1.f)
Cookies & Local Storage	Language preference (localStorage), analytics cookies	To remember your settings and analyze usage	Consent (Article 6.1.a)
Children's Data	We do NOT knowingly collect data from children under 13	COPPA compliance	N/A

2. How We Use Your Information

To provide, operate, and maintain our website and learning resources
To improve, personalize, and expand our content based on usage patterns
To communicate with you, including responding to your email inquiries
To analyze website traffic and user behavior using anonymized analytics
To remember your language preference for a better user experience
To comply with legal obligations

3. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy governing data handling:

Service	Purpose	Data Shared	Privacy Policy
Cloudflare	CDN, DDoS protection, SSL	IP address, request metadata	Cloudflare Privacy Policy
Plausible Analytics	Privacy-focused website analytics	Anonymized page view data (no cookies, no personal data)	Plausible Privacy Policy

No Advertising Services: smerchbn.com does not use Google AdSense, Google Analytics, or any advertising or tracking services. We use Plausible Analytics, which is a privacy-first analytics tool that does not use cookies and does not collect personal data. Cloudflare is used solely for security and performance purposes.

4. Cookies

smerchbn.com uses minimal cookies and local storage:

Essential Local Storage: We store your language preference (en/zh/ja) in your browser's localStorage. This is necessary for the website to remember your language choice. No data is sent to our servers.
Plausible Analytics: Uses no cookies. Collects only anonymized, aggregated data. No personal information is tracked or stored.

You can clear your localStorage at any time through your browser settings. Doing so will reset your language preference to English.

5. Your Rights (CCPA & GDPR)

California Residents (CCPA)

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

Right to Know: You may request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.
Right to Delete: You may request that we delete any personal information we have collected about you.
Right to Opt-Out: We do not sell your personal information. You have the right to opt out of the sale of your personal information if we ever engage in such practices.
Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights.

To exercise any of these rights, please email us at abiqmai9092@126.com. We will respond within 45 days as required by law.

EU Residents (GDPR)

If you are in the European Union, you have the following rights under the GDPR:

Right to Access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to Rectification: You may request correction of inaccurate personal data.
Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): You may request deletion of your personal data.
Right to Restrict Processing: You may request restriction of processing your data.
Right to Data Portability: You may request transfer of your data to another organization.
Right to Object: You may object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to Withdraw Consent: You may withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

To exercise your GDPR rights, please email abiqmai9092@126.com. We will respond within 30 days.

6. COPPA Compliance

smerchbn.com is designed for adult learners and is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13, we will promptly delete that information. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, please contact us immediately at abiqmai9092@126.com.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information. These include:

SSL/TLS encryption for all data transmitted via Cloudflare
Minimal data collection principle — we only collect what is necessary
No storage of personal data on our servers (we use Cloudflare for CDN and email for communication only)

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure.

8. Data Retention

We retain your email correspondence only as long as necessary to respond to your inquiry. Anonymized analytics data (Plausible) is retained for 24 months. Language preference stored in your browser's localStorage persists until you clear it.

9. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries where our service providers operate (e.g., Cloudflare's global network). We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place through Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for transfers from the EU.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us:

Email: abiqmai9092@126.com