Privacy Statement for CoffeeandTheory.com

Effective Date: 13 June 2025 (last updated)

Coffee and Theory (“CoffeeandTheory.com,” ‘Coffee & Theory,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Statement explains what information we collect from users of our educational platform (including teachers, parents, and other visitors), how we use and share that information, and the choices you have. By using our website or services, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Statement.

Information Collected

We collect information to provide and improve our services. This includes:

• Personal Information You Provide: When you create an account, make a purchase, or sign up for resources, we may ask for your name and email address. If you purchase paid resources, you will provide payment details (e.g. credit card information), which are processed securely via third-party payment processors (such as Stripe or PayPal) – we do not store your full credit card numbers on our servers. You may also choose to provide other information, such as a username, password for your account, or information when filling out forms (for example, if you contact us or subscribe to a newsletter).
• Payment Information: For paid resources or subscriptions, payment details are collected and handled by our third-party payment providers. These providers process your payment information securely on our behalf. We receive from them a confirmation of your payment and basic details (like your name, email, and purchase amount) needed to fulfill your order, but we do not receive or store sensitive payment account data such as full credit card numbers.
• Automatically Collected Usage Data: When you use CoffeeandTheory.com, we automatically collect certain information about your visit. This includes data like your IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, and browsing actions on our site (e.g. pages viewed and the time spent). We collect this through cookies and similar tracking technologies, as explained in Cookies and Tracking Technologies below. This information helps us understand how users use our site and improve our content and user experience.
• Information from Third Parties: In some cases, we may receive additional information about you from third-party services. For example, if you make a payment, our payment processor confirms the transaction details to us; or our analytics providers might give us aggregated insights about how visitors interact with our site. We use this information to enhance our services and better understand user behavior.
• User Contributions: If our site offers any public forums, comment sections, or review features and you choose to post content, we collect the information you submit (such as the comments or reviews, along with your name or nickname). We also collect technical data like your IP address when you post, which helps us with spam detection and site security. Keep in mind that information you post in public areas may be visible to others.
• Communications: If you contact us directly (for example, by email or via a contact form), we will collect your name, email address, and any other information you include in your message. We use this information to respond to your inquiry and provide assistance. We will not use information you provide in a direct inquiry for marketing purposes, and we do not share those contact details with anyone outside of Coffee and Theory.

How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for purposes consistent with providing an effective educational resource platform and serving our users. These purposes include:

• al information to create and manage your account, deliver the free and paid resources you request, and personalize your experience on CoffeeandTheory.com. For example, we may use your information to allow you access to member-only content or to remember your preferences. We also analyze usage data (like which resources are popular or how users navigate the site) to improve our website’s functionality, content, and design.
• Processing Transactions: We use your information to process payments and fulfill orders for paid content or subscriptions. This includes using your provided payment details (through our secure payment processors) to complete the transaction and record your purchases. For instance, if you buy a lesson plan or e-book, we will process your payment and use your contact information to deliver the product or provide access.
• Communication and Customer Support: We may use your name and email address to communicate with you about your account or transactions, such as sending order confirmations, receipts, or important updates about your resources. If you opt in to our mailing list, we will send you newsletters or educational content and occasional promotions related to our site. You can unsubscribe from these marketing emails at any time. Importantly, if you contact us with a question or request, we will use your contact information only to respond to you and will not add you to any marketing list unless you explicitly request it.  
• Marketing and Updates (With Consent): With your permission, we may send you newsletters, free tips, or special offers that we believe are relevant to teachers and parents. These communications are optional – you will receive them only if you have subscribed or given consent, and you can opt out at any time (see Your Choices and Rights below). We may also use limited information about your interactions (like which resource pages you visited) to tailor the content of communications or recommendations, but only to enhance your experience with our platform.
• Analytics and Personalisation: We use data (primarily aggregated or non-identifying data) to understand how users use our site and to make improvements. For example, we track overall visitor statistics and resource download trends to help decide what content to develop next. We may also use cookies to remember your preferences (such as staying logged in or keeping items in your cart) and to personalize content for you.
• Security and Fraud Prevention: We may use information (including IP addresses and activity logs) to maintain the security of our website, to detect or investigate possible fraud, abuse, or violations of our Terms of Service, and to ensure the site is used in accordance with applicable laws and guidelines. This helps protect both our users and our platform from malicious activity.
• Legal Compliance: We will use or disclose your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations and applicable laws. For instance, we may retain transaction records for accounting and tax purposes, or use your data to fulfill reporting or auditing requirements. We also may use personal data to enforce our Terms of Use or other agreements, or to protect our legal rights.

Sharing of Information

We value your privacy. We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes. However, we do share certain information with third parties in a few specific situations, as outlined below:

• Service Providers (Third-Party Processors): We share information with trusted third-party companies who perform services on our behalf. This includes, for example, sharing necessary personal and payment information with payment processors to complete your transactions, providing your email address to our email/newsletter service to send communications you’ve signed up for, or allowing analytics providers to collect usage data to help us improve our site. These service providers are only given the information they need to perform their specific services, and they are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for those purposes.
• Legal Requirements and Protection: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or by valid legal process (such as a subpoena, court order, or government request), or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request. In other words, if the law compels us to share data or if disclosure is necessary to prevent harm or illegal activity, we will comply as needed.
• Business Transfers: If Coffee and Theory is involved in a significant business transaction, such as a merger, acquisition, restructuring, or sale of assets, personal information about our users may be transferred to the acquiring or successor entity as part of that transaction. In such cases, we will ensure that the new owner continues to honor the commitments we have made in this Privacy Statement (or you will be notified and given an opportunity to opt out of the transfer, if required by applicable law).
• With Your Consent: We will share your personal information with third parties only if you give us explicit consent to do so. For example, if we ever want to feature a user testimonial or success story on our site, we would only share your name or details publicly with your permission. Similarly, if you opt in to integrations that require us to send data to another service (not common on our site), we would do so only with your knowledge and approval.

Aside from the situations above, we do not share your personal information with any third-party organizations or individuals. In particular, we do not share or exchange email lists with other companies for marketing purposes. All information you provide stays within Coffee and Theory and our trusted service providers as necessary to serve you.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Like many websites, CoffeeAndTheory.com uses “cookies” and similar tracking technologies to provide essential functionality and improve your experience. A cookie is a small text file stored on your device by your web browser. We use the following types of cookies and tracking technologies:

• Essential Cookies: These cookies are necessary for our site to function properly. For example, if our site has a login feature or a shopping cart for resources, essential cookies remember your session so you remain logged in and your cart items persist. Without these cookies, some services (like account login or checkout) may not work correctly.
• Preference Cookies: We may use cookies to remember your preferences (such as your chosen language, or user interface settings) so that you have a customized experience on our site. This saves you time by eliminating the need to re-enter preferences each time you visit.
• Analytics Cookies: We use third-party analytics tools (such as Google Analytics) to collect information about how visitors use our site. Analytics cookies allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors and see how they navigate our pages. This helps us understand which content is most useful to our audience and identify ways to improve the website. The information collected through analytics cookies includes data like the pages you visit, how long you stay, and what site referred you to us. This data is generally aggregated and does not identify you by name – for instance, Google Analytics provides reports to us with trends and statistics, not personal details. (Google Analytics may collect your IP address, but not your name or other directly identifying information, and we do not combine analytics data with any personal information we have about you.) Google’s use of the data it collects is governed by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and Google’s Privacy Policy. You can opt out of Google Analytics by using a browser plugin or by disabling cookies (see Your Choices below).
• Advertising and Social Media Pixels: Coffee and Theory does not display third-party ads on our website, so we do not use ad networks that track you across sites for advertising purposes. However, we may use tracking pixels from social media or advertising platforms on our own site to help us measure the effectiveness of any outreach or promotions we do on those platforms. For example, we might use the Facebook Pixel or similar tools to understand if visitors to our site later engage with our content on Facebook. These pixels can inform us (in a privacy-safe way) that a user who visited our site took an action (like signed up for a newsletter), which helps us tailor and measure our promotional efforts. Any such pixels work similarly to cookies, and the data collected via them is subject to the third party’s privacy policies (e.g., Facebook’s data policy). We do not use these tools to collect additional personal information, but they might log that a specific device or browser visited our site.
• Embedded Content and Third-Party Links: Our site may include content embedded from other websites, for example, a YouTube video player for an educational video, or an embedded social media post, etc. Embedded content from other sites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website directly. These external sites may collect data about you, use their own cookies or tracking technologies, or monitor your interaction with that embedded content. For instance, if we embed a YouTube video, YouTube might place cookies or register your viewing. If you are logged into those external services (like Google/YouTube, Facebook, etc.), they might track your interaction with the embedded content as well. Coffee and Theory does not control these third-party cookies – they are set by the external providers – so we recommend reviewing the privacy policies of any third-party services that provide embedded features. We do not share any data with them beyond what your browser transmits automatically.

Your choices regarding cookies: Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. You have the right to choose whether or not to accept cookies. However, please note that if you disable or refuse cookies, some parts of our website may become inaccessible or not function properly (for example, your login or cart might not be remembered). For information on how to adjust your browser settings to control cookies, consult your browser’s help documentation. Additionally, to opt out of Google Analytics specifically, Google provides an opt-out browser add-on. Keep in mind that disabling cookies does not prevent all tracking (for example, it may not affect certain pixels or other technologies), but it will limit the data collected on your browsing for analytics and personalization.

Your Choices and Rights

You have certain rights and choices regarding your personal information. We strive to provide you with access to your data and control over how it’s used. These include:

• Access and Portability: You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. We can provide this to you in a common digital format. If you have an account on CoffeeandTheory.com, you can also access and review some of your information by logging into your account profile. If you need assistance, contact us at our email below and we will be happy to help you access your data.
• Correction/Updating: If any of your personal details (such as your name or email address) are inaccurate or have changed, you have the right to request that we correct or update this information. Registered users may update certain information (like email or password) directly through their account settings. You can also contact us to correct any information that you cannot update yourself.
• Deletion (Right to Be Forgotten): You may ask us to delete or erase your personal information. For example, if you have created an account and you no longer wish to use our services, you can request that we delete your account and associated personal data. We will honor such requests except where we are required to retain certain data under applicable law or for legitimate business purposes. For instance, we might retain payment transaction records for a certain period as required for financial reporting and audits, or keep email correspondence records if necessary for legal disputes or compliance. If complete deletion is not possible (for example, data in backups), we will inform you and will isolate your data from any active use.
• Opt-Out of Marketing Communications: If you have subscribed to our newsletter or other promotional emails, you can opt out at any time. Every marketing email we send includes an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom – clicking that link and confirming will remove you from our mailing list. You can also opt out of emails by adjusting your subscription preferences on our site (if available) or by contacting us directly with your request. Once you opt out, we will stop sending you non-essential communications. (Please note that we may still send you transactional emails about your account or orders, such as purchase receipts or important account notices, even if you opt out of marketing messages.)
• Cookies and Tracking Choices: As described in the Cookies section, you have control over cookies through your browser settings. You can also use browser extensions or privacy settings to block certain trackers. If we ever implement a cookie consent tool on our site, you can use that to manage your preferences as well. Additionally, if we use any analytics or advertising cookies, those services may offer their own opt-out mechanisms (for example, Google Analytics’ opt-out plugin, or Facebook’s ad preferences settings).
• Do Not Track: Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” (DNT) feature that lets you tell websites you do not want to be tracked. Our site does not currently respond to DNT signals, because there is not an established standard for how to interpret them. However, we treat all users’ data according to this Privacy Statement, and you can still opt out of certain tracking as described above regardless of DNT.
• Users GDPR Rights: The EU General Data Protection Regulation, (GDPR), includes the rights above (access, correction, deletion, etc.) as well as the right to restrict or object to certain processing of your data, and the right to data portability. Coffee and Theory respects these rights and extends them to all users where feasible. If you are an EU user and you exercise your GDPR rights, we will respond in accordance with the GDPR’s requirements. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you have concerns about our data practices.

Exercising Your Rights: To make any request regarding your personal data (access, correction, deletion, or any other privacy inquiry), please contact us using the information in the Contact Information section below. We may ask you to verify your identity before fulfilling the request, to protect your privacy and security. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable law.

Data Security

We take the security of your personal information seriously. Coffee and Theory implements reasonable security measures to safeguard your data from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include technical, administrative, and physical controls appropriate to the sensitivity of the data. For example, our website uses SSL/TLS encryption to secure data transmitted between your browser and our site (you can see the padlock icon in your browser’s address bar when interacting with our site). We also restrict access to personal data to authorized personnel and contractors who need it to operate our services, and we ensure they are subject to confidentiality obligations.

Our systems are monitored for vulnerabilities and attacks, and we regularly review our security practices to improve them. We also encourage users to choose strong passwords and keep their login credentials confidential, as an extra layer of protection for their own accounts.

Despite our efforts to protect your information, please be aware that no method of transmission over the internet, and no method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the unlikely event of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by law (for example, for users in the EU, we would comply with the GDPR requirement to notify within 72 hours of becoming aware of a significant breach).

Third-Party Services

CoffeeandTheory.com relies on several third-party services to operate our platform and provide certain features. We want to be transparent about these partnerships. The main third-party services we use, and how they handle data, include:

• Payment Processors: We use established third-party payment gateways (for example, Stripe, PayPal, or similar services) to handle credit card transactions and other payments. When you make a purchase, your payment information (like card details) is provided directly to these payment processors, which specialize in secure payment processing. They are Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant and have their own privacy and security practices. We receive from them only the information needed to confirm and record your payment (such as your name, the amount, and a confirmation that payment was successful). These payment processors do not use your personal information for any purpose other than to process payments for us. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of the payment processor you use (e.g., PayPal’s Privacy Policy or Stripe’s Privacy Policy) to learn more about their data practices.
• Email Marketing and Communications: We may use a third-party email service provider (such as Mailchimp, Constant Contact, ConvertKit, or a similar platform) to manage our email newsletters and update communications. If you subscribe to our mailing list, your name and email address will be stored securely in that provider’s system so that we can send you emails. These providers operate under their own privacy policies and are only permitted to use your information for the purpose of sending emails on our behalf. They do not have the right to share or sell your email address, and we do not allow them to use your information for their own marketing. You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time (as described above), which will remove your information from the active mailing list.
• Analytics Tools: We use third-party analytics services (such as Google Analytics) to collect and analyze usage data for our site. These tools use cookies and similar technologies to gather information about how visitors interact with CoffeeandTheory.com (for example, which pages are visited, for how long, what site referred the visitor, etc.). The analytics data we receive helps us understand website traffic and improve our content. The information collected and shared with our analytics provider typically includes your IP address and device information, but not your name or direct contact info. We have configured our analytics settings to respect privacy as much as possible (for example, by anonymizing IP addresses where feasible). Google Analytics may set its own cookies on your browser; you can read Google’s own Privacy Policy to learn how it handles the data it collects. If you wish, you can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing Google’s opt-out browser add-on or by adjusting your cookie settings.
• Web Hosting and Infrastructure: Our website is hosted on third-party servers (for example, a web hosting company or cloud service provider). This means that any data you provide to our site (including personal information) is stored on their servers. We choose reputable hosting providers that employ strong security measures. Our hosting providers might technically have the ability to access data on the servers they maintain, but they are not allowed to use or disclose your information except as needed to maintain our site. We also ensure that any hosting or cloud service we use has appropriate data protection standards in place.
• Other Partners: Occasionally, we might use additional third-party tools or plugins to enhance our website (for instance, a live chat support widget, a scheduling tool for webinars, or a plugin that adds functionality). If any such tool collects or processes user data, we will provide notice about it in this Privacy Statement. All third-party services we engage are vetted for their privacy and security practices, and we aim to integrate only those that commit to protecting user information.

Each of these third-party services only receives the minimum amount of information necessary for them to perform their function, and they are prohibited from using the data for any purposes other than those we specify. We do not share your personal information with any third party for their independent marketing or business purposes without your consent. If you have any questions about the third-party services we use, feel free to contact us.

Children’s Privacy

CoffeeandTheory.com is an educational resource intended for use by teachers, parents, and other adults. It is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13 years old. If you are under 13, please do not use or provide any information on this website (including not registering an account, making purchases, or sending us emails). In the event that we discover we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verified parental consent, we will promptly delete that information from our records.  

If you are a parent or guardian and you believe that your child under 13 may have provided personal information to Coffee and Theory, please contact us immediately (see Contact Information below). We will take steps to remove the information and terminate the child’s account (if applicable).

Note: We also do not intentionally offer services to minors between 13 and 18 without parental involvement. If you are under 18, you should use CoffeeAndTheory.com only with the involvement and consent of a parent or guardian. Our content is generally intended for adult educators and parents, not minors.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Statement from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. If we make changes, we will post the updated Privacy Policy on this page and update the “Effective Date” at the top so you can see when the last changes were made. We encourage you to review this page periodically for the latest information on our privacy practices.

If the changes are significant, we may also provide a more prominent notice or notify you via email or via a notification on your account (for example, if we were to start collecting additional personal data or using your data in a new way that you haven’t agreed to before). By continuing to use CoffeeAndTheory.com after any changes to this Privacy Statement become effective, you acknowledge and agree to the updated policy.

Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Statement or how we handle your personal information, please feel free to contact us:

• Email: will@coffeeandtheory.com

We will do our best to respond promptly to your inquiries and to resolve any concerns. Your trust is extremely important to us, and we welcome your feedback on any privacy-related issues.

Thank you for reading our Privacy Statement. We appreciate your time and attention in understanding how we protect your information. Your privacy is very important to Coffee and Theory, and we are dedicated to safeguarding it while providing valuable resources for our community.