Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 6, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data MK Library (“we,” “us,” “our”) collects through mklibrary.com, why we collect it, how we use and share it, and the choices you have. It should be read alongside our Cookie Policy.

Who we are

Our website address is https://www.mklibrary.com. MK Library is a lifestyle, food and drink, home, and how-to publication. For any privacy question or request, email mk@mklibrary.com.

What we collect and why

We collect information in three ways: information you give us directly, such as leaving a comment, subscribing to our newsletter, or placing a store order; information collected automatically as you browse, such as cookies, IP address, and usage data; and information from the third-party services we use to run the site, such as our advertising, analytics, and payment partners. The sections below explain each in detail, along with why we collect it and how long we keep it.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address, also called a hash, may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Newsletter and email updates

If you subscribe to our email newsletter, we collect the email address you provide, and any name you choose to give, and use it to send new articles, updates, and occasional promotions. Our newsletter is managed by Kit (formerly ConvertKit). You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of any email, which removes you from the list. Kit’s privacy policy is available at https://kit.com/privacy.

Contacting us

We do not run a contact form that stores submissions on the site. If you email us directly, we keep your message and email address only as long as needed to respond and to keep a reasonable record of the correspondence.

Cookies

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser. If you log in as a site user, we set cookies to save your login information and screen display choices. If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie stores the post ID of the article you edited, and expires after one day.

We and our partners also use cookies for analytics and advertising. For a full description of the cookies used on this site and how to control them, see our Cookie Policy. You can accept or decline non-essential cookies through our consent banner, and change your choices at any time using the “Your Privacy Choices” link on the site.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content, for example videos, images, and social media posts from services such as YouTube and Instagram. Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor had visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Analytics

We use analytics to understand how visitors find and use the site so we can improve it. We use Google Analytics through the Site Kit by Google plugin; Google’s privacy policy is at https://policies.google.com/privacy. We also use Jetpack Stats, provided by Automattic (https://automattic.com/privacy/), and WP Statistics, which stores aggregate traffic data on our own server. These tools may collect your IP address, often truncated or anonymized, along with pages viewed, referring site, and general device and browser information. You can opt out of analytics and advertising cookies using the “Your Privacy Choices” link on the site.

Mediavine Programmatic Advertising (Ver 1.1)

The Website works with Mediavine to manage third-party interest-based advertising appearing on the Website. Mediavine serves content and advertisements when you visit the Website, which may use first and third-party cookies. A cookie is a small text file which is sent to your computer or mobile device (referred to in this policy as a “device”) by the web server so that a website can remember some information about your browsing activity on the Website.

First party cookies are created by the website that you are visiting. A third-party cookie is frequently used in behavioral advertising and analytics and is created by a domain other than the website you are visiting. Third-party cookies, tags, pixels, beacons and other similar technologies (collectively, “Tags”) may be placed on the Website to monitor interaction with advertising content and to target and optimize advertising. Each internet browser has functionality so that you can block both first and third-party cookies and clear your browser’s cache. The “help” feature of the menu bar on most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to receive notification of new cookies, how to disable existing cookies and how to clear your browser’s cache. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, you can consult the information at All About Cookies.

Without cookies you may not be able to take full advantage of the Website content and features. Please note that rejecting cookies does not mean that you will no longer see ads when you visit our Site. In the event you opt-out, you will still see non-personalized advertisements on the Website.

The Website collects the following data using a cookie when serving personalized ads:

  • IP Address
  • Operating System type
  • Operating System version
  • Device Type
  • Language of the website
  • Web browser type
  • Email (in hashed form)

Mediavine Partners (companies listed below with whom Mediavine shares data) may also use this data to link to other end user information the partner has independently collected to deliver targeted advertisements. Mediavine Partners may also separately collect data about end users from other sources, such as advertising IDs or pixels, and link that data to data collected from Mediavine publishers in order to provide interest-based advertising across your online experience, including devices, browsers and apps. This data includes usage data, cookie information, device information, information about interactions between users and advertisements and websites, geolocation data, traffic data, and information about a visitor’s referral source to a particular website. Mediavine Partners may also create unique IDs to create audience segments, which are used to provide targeted advertising.

If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices to opt-in or opt-out of this data collection, please visit National Advertising Initiative opt out page. You may also visit Digital Advertising Alliance website and Network Advertising Initiative website to learn more information about interest-based advertising. You may download the AppChoices app at Digital Advertising Alliance’s AppChoices app to opt out in connection with mobile apps, or use the platform controls on your mobile device to opt out.

For specific information about Mediavine Partners, the data each collects and their data collection and privacy policies, please visit Mediavine Partners.

Some articles contain affiliate links, including links through the Amazon Associates program and the Awin affiliate network. If you click one of these links and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. These partners may set cookies to attribute a purchase to our site. We disclose the presence of affiliate links in the articles that contain them.

Our store and payments

We operate a small online store at mklibrary.com/store where we sell a limited number of physical products, such as signed books and specialty goods. When you place an order, we collect the information needed to fulfill it, including your name, billing address, shipping address, email address, phone number, and order details.

Payments are processed by Stripe. Your card details are entered on a secure form and handled by Stripe, and we do not store your full card number on our servers. Stripe processes your data under its own privacy policy at https://stripe.com/privacy.

We use order information to process and ship your order, respond to requests such as refunds and questions, prevent fraud, and meet legal, tax, and accounting obligations. Members of our team who handle orders can access this information to fulfill and support your purchase. We keep order records for as long as required for accounting, tax, and warranty purposes, then delete or anonymize them.

Who we share your data with

We do not sell your personal information for money. We share data only with the service providers that help us operate the site, and only as needed to provide their service:

  • Mediavine and its approved ad partners, for advertising, as described in the Mediavine section above.
  • Google, for analytics through Site Kit, and Automattic, for Jetpack Stats.
  • Kit, for our email newsletter.
  • Stripe, for payment processing, and the shipping carriers we use to deliver store orders.
  • Amazon Associates and Awin, for affiliate link attribution.
  • Our hosting and content-delivery providers, including Cloudflare, which provides security and caching.

Each of these handles your data under its own privacy policy. Under California law, the use of advertising and analytics cookies may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information. You can opt out using the “Your Privacy Choices” link on the site.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue. Newsletter subscribers’ email addresses are kept until you unsubscribe. Store order records are kept as long as needed for tax, accounting, and warranty purposes. For users that register on the site, if any, we store the information they provide in their user profile, and those users can see, edit, or delete their information at any time, except their username. Analytics and advertising data are retained according to those providers’ own policies.

What rights you have over your data

If you have left comments, subscribed to the newsletter, placed an order, or have an account on this site, you can request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, and you can ask us to erase it. This does not include data we are obliged to keep for legal, tax, security, or accounting purposes. To make a request, email mk@mklibrary.com.

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have rights under the GDPR, including the rights of access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection, as well as the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

If you are a California resident, you have rights under the CCPA and CPRA, including the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete it, the right to correct it, and the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell your information for money, but our use of advertising cookies may be considered sharing under California law. You can exercise your opt-out using the “Your Privacy Choices” link on the site. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

Where we send your data

MK Library is based in the United States, and your information is generally processed in the United States. Some of our service providers may process data in other countries. Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Where data about individuals in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom is transferred internationally, we rely on our providers’ safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, to protect it.

How we protect your data

We serve the entire site over HTTPS, use reputable third-party processors for payments and email, and limit access to personal data to the team members who need it. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold.

Children’s privacy

This site is intended for a general, adult audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be posted on this page with its effective date.

Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, email mk@mklibrary.com.