Privacy Policy for Creative Research Communications

Updated Date: 7/2/2021

This Privacy Policy discloses the privacy practices for echorivera.com, stellarslides.com websites, and various related social media accounts and services (together referred to as the "site"). Creative Research Communications LLC, the provider of the site (referred to as "us" or "we"), is committed to protecting your privacy online.  Please read the information below to learn the following regarding your use of this site.

You acknowledge that this Privacy Policy is part of our Site Terms of Use, and by accessing or using our site, you agree to be bound by all of its terms and conditions.  If you do not agree to these terms, please do not access or use this site.

This policy applies to information we collect:

  • On this site.

  • In email, text, social media posts, and other electronic messages between you and this site.

  • Through files you download from this site, if any, which provide dedicated non-browser-based interaction between you and this site.

  • When you interact with our advertising and applications on third-party websites and services, if those applications or advertising include links to this policy.

It does not apply to information collected by:

  • us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by us or any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries); or

  • any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries), including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the site.

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time.  Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by means including, but not limited to issuing an E-mail to the E-mail address listed by registered users and posting the revised Policy on this page.  You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to maintain a valid E-mail address as a registered user, review this site and this Policy periodically and to be aware of any modifications.  Your continued use of the site after such modifications will constitute your: (a) acknowledgment of the modified Policy; and (b) agreement to abide and be bound by the modified Policy.

1. Types of Information Collected

In order to better provide you with our numerous services, we collect two types of information about our users: Personally Identifiable Information and Non-Personally Identifiable Information.  Our primary goal in collecting information from you is to provide you with a smooth, efficient, and customized experience while using our site.

In compliance with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), our services and products are not directed to users under 18 years of age unless accessed under the careful supervision and consent of a parent or legal guardian.  Any use by someone under this age is strictly prohibited and will be terminated immediately upon discovery. Further, any personally identifiable information provided by someone under 13 or that identifies someone under this age, will be deleted immediately upon discovery if in violation of this restriction.

Personally Identifiable Information:  This refers to information that lets us know the specifics of who you are.  When you engage in certain activities on this site, such as registering for a download or free training, ordering a product or service, submitting content and/or posting content on our blogs, videos, or other public areas, entering a contest or sweepstakes, filling out a survey, or sending us feedback, we may ask you to provide certain information about yourself by filling out and submitting an online form.  It is completely optional for you to elect to engage in these activities, however, we may ask that you provide us personal information, such as your first and last name, username, password, mailing address (including zip code), E-mail address, telephone number, and other personal identifying information.  When ordering products or services on the site, you may be asked to provide a credit card number.  Depending upon the activity, some of the information we ask you to provide is identified as mandatory and some as voluntary.  If you do not provide the mandatory data with respect to a particular activity, you will not be able to engage in that activity.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information:  This refers to information that does not by itself identify a specific individual.  We gather certain information about you based upon where you visit on our site in several ways.  This information is compiled and analyzed on both a personal and an aggregated basis.  This information may include the Web site's Uniform Resource Locator ("URL") that you just came from, which URL you next go to, what browser you are using, and your Internet Protocol ("IP") address.  A URL is the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web.  An IP address is an identifier for a computer or device on a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol ("TCP/IP") network, such as the World Wide Web.  Networks like the Web use the TCP/IP protocol to route information based on the IP address of the destination.  In other words, an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the web, allowing web servers to locate and identify your computer.  Computers require IP addresses in order for users to communicate on the Internet.

2. Collection Methods and Use of Information

We do not collect any Personally Identifiable Information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us.  You provide certain Personally Identifiable Information to us when you (a) register for our services and register your E-mail address with us; (b) enter sweepstakes or contests sponsored by us or one of our partners; (c) sign up for special offers from selected third parties; (d) send E-mail messages, submit forms or transmit other information by telephone or letter; or (e) submit your credit card or other payment information to our third-party payment processors, when ordering and purchasing products and services on our site.  We may also collect information from you at other points on our site that state that such information is being collected.

In addition, we may also collect, or our third-party ad server and/or content server may collect, certain Non-Personally Identifiable Information.  This information is ultimately stored in the form of store categories, and, in some cases, specific URLs.  We use your IP address to diagnose problems with our servers, software, to administer our site, and to gather demographic information.  Our third-party ad servers will also provide us with summary, but not individual, reports that will tell us how many ads were presented and clicked upon at our site.

We will primarily use your Personally Identifiable Information to provide our services to you, as required by our agreements with you.  We will also use Personally Identifiable Information to enhance the operation of our site, fill orders, improve our marketing and promotional efforts, statistically analyze site use, implement time-limited access to our free training and special offers, improve our product and service offerings, and customize our site's content, layout, and services.  We may use Personally Identifiable Information to deliver information to you and to contact you regarding administrative notices.  We may also use Personally Identifiable Information to resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems and enforce our agreements with you, including our Site Terms of Use, and this Privacy Policy.

3. Release of Information

We do not sell, trade, or rent your Personally Identifiable Information to others. 

We do provide some of our services through contractual arrangements with affiliates, services providers, partners and other third parties.  We and our service partners use your Personally Identifiable Information to operate our sites and to deliver their services.  For example, the third-party payment processor must release your credit card information to the card-issuing bank to confirm payment for products and services purchased on this site; release your address information to the delivery service to deliver products that you ordered; and provide order information to third parties that help us provide customer service.

 We will encourage our service partners to adopt and post privacy policies.  However, the use of your Personally Identifiable Information by our service partners is governed by the privacy policies of those service partners and is not subject to our control.

Occasionally we may be required by law enforcement or judicial authorities to provide Personally Identifiable Information to the appropriate governmental authorities.  We will disclose Personally Identifiable Information upon receipt of a court order, subpoena, or to cooperate with a law enforcement investigation.  We fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who use our services for illegal activities.  We reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we in good faith believe to be unlawful.

We may also provide Non-Personally Identifiable Information about our customers' sales, traffic patterns, and related site information to third party advertisers, but these statistics do not include any Personally Identifiable Information.

4. Updating and Correcting Information

We believe you should have the ability to access and edit the Personally Identifiable Information that you have provided to us.  You may change any of your Personally Identifiable Information in your account online at any time by linking to your account in accordance with instructions posted elsewhere on this site.  You may also access and correct your personal information and privacy preferences by writing us at:

Creative Research Communications LLC
P.O. Box 211202
Denver, CO 80221

Please include your name, address, and/or E-mail address when you contact us.

We encourage you to promptly update your Personally Identifiable Information if it changes.  You may ask to have the information on your account deleted or removed; however, because we keep track of past transactions, you cannot delete information associated with past transactions on this site.  In addition, it may be impossible to completely delete your information without some residual information because of backups.

5. User Choices on Collection and Use of Information

We will, from time to send, send you an email about our products and services. 

Only Creative Research Communications LLC (or agents working on behalf of Creative Research Communications LLC and under confidentiality agreements) will send you these direct emails.  If you do not want to receive such mailings, you may unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time, with one click (the link is provided at the bottom of all emails).

You also have choices with respect to cookies, as described below.  By modifying your browser preferences, you have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies.  If you choose to reject all cookies some parts of our site may not work properly in your case. If you are a California resident, California law may provide you with additional rights regarding our use of your personal information. To learn more about your California privacy rights, visit https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/consumer-privacy-resources.

6. Security of Information

At our site, we use current industry standards to keep your Personally Identifiable Information secure.  The importance of security for all Personally Identifiable Information associated with our user is of utmost concern to us.  Your Personally Identifiable Information is protected in several ways. 

If you are a member of our online training program, access by you to your Personally Identifiable Information is available through a password and unique customer ID selected by you. 

In order to most efficiently serve you, credit card transactions and order fulfillment are handled by established third party banking, processing agents and distribution institutions (currently ThriveCart, PayPal, and Stripe).  They receive the information needed to verify and authorize your credit card or other payment information and to process and ship your order.

If our third-party payment processors contact us that a purchase is suspect as fraud, we reserve the right to cancel the payment (less payment processing fees) and revoke your access to the relevant purchase or product.

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.  As a result, while we strive to protect your Personally Identifiable Information, you acknowledge that:  (a) there are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control; (b) the security, integrity and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and us through this site cannot be guaranteed; and (c) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party.

7. Cookies

When you use our site we will store cookies on your computer in order to facilitate and customize your use of our site.  A cookie is a small data text file, which a Web site stores on your computer's hard drive (if your Web browser permits) that can later be retrieved to identify you to us.  Our cookies store randomly assigned user identification numbers, the country where you are located, and your first name to welcome you back to our site.  The cookies make your use of the site easier, make the site run more smoothly and help us to maintain a secure site.  You are always free to decline our cookies if your browser permits, but some parts of our site may not work properly in that case.

We use a third party app (Deadline Funnel) to provide a time-limited offer to enroll in my online programs to each person only once. Deadline Funnel will generate a link that will collect your email address and create an enrollment deadline specific to when you clicked that link. Through Deadline Funnel, you will be directed to a temporary hidden informational page with special hidden links. Deadline Funnel will automatically delete the hidden page within the set timeframe. In order to do this, Deadline Funnel keeps your email address, IP address, and cookies for 2 years. Deadline Funnel combines your email address with cookies information gathered from your browser to ensure that each person has one chance to save hundreds of dollars on their enrollment to Blast Off to Stellar Slides. I use Deadline Funnel for this purpose to ensure that individuals don’t try to bypass this system.

8.  Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a program used to track visitors to this Site, and it primarily helps measure how users interact with the Site content. Google Analytics stores information about what pages you visit, how long you are on the Site, how you got here and what links you click on. This analytics data is collected via a JavaScript tag in the pages of this Site and is not tied in any way to any Personally Identifiable Information. 

The information generated about your use of the Site including your IP address is transmitted to Google. The information is then used to evaluate visitor interactions with this Site and to compile reports on website traffic activity for our sites. Neither Creative Research Communications LLC nor Google will ever link or seek to link Personally Identifiable Information provided by you to the Site to the data collected by Google Analytics.

If you would like to opt out of Google Analytics, Google has developed a tool that works with major internet browsers to permit you to opt-out.  For more information and to install their opt-out tool, please click here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

9. Privacy Policies of Third-Party Sites

Except as otherwise discussed in this Privacy Policy, this document only addresses the use and disclosure of information we collect from you.  Other sites accessible through our site have their own privacy policies and data collection, use and disclosure practices.  Please consult each site's privacy policy. We are not responsible for the policies or practices of third parties. 

Our websites may use Chatra, a live chat software provided by Roger Wilco LLC. Chatra uses “Cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer and that enable having personal chats on this website. The data collected will not be used to identify a visitor personally and it is not aggregated with any personal data of this user, unless you elect to chat with us using the Chatra widget. For more details please visit the following Privacy Policy page: https://chatra.com/privacy-policy/

10. Miscellaneous Privacy Issues

You must be at least 18 years old to have our permission to use this site.  Our policy is that we do not knowingly collect, use or disclose Personally Identifiable Information about visitors that are under 18 years of age.

At stellarslides.com and echorivera.com we DO NOT respond to Do Not Track signals.

 You should also be aware that when Personally Identifiable Information is voluntarily disclosed (i.e. your name, E-mail address, etc.) in the discussion forums or other public areas on this site, that information, along with any information disclosed in your communication, can be collected and used by third parties and may result in unsolicited messages from third parties.  Such activities are beyond our control and this Policy does not apply to such information.  Any submissions to chat rooms or other public areas on this site are accepted with the understanding that they are accessible to all third parties.  If you do not want your comments to be viewed by third parties, you are advised not to make any submissions.  Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your password and/or account information.  Please be careful and responsible whenever you're online.

 If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this site, please contact us by sending a letter to:

Creative Research Communications LLC
Attn:  Privacy Compliance Officer
P.O Box 211202
Denver, CO 80221 

You may also contact us by E-mail at admin@echorivera.com.

11. GDPR Privacy Notice

I use information collection based on “LEGITIMATE INTERTESTS”

That means when you provide your email address on an opt-in, I believe that it is entirely reasonable and expected to also send you information about both free and paid professional development opportunities related to creating better presentations. In other words, I will send you marketing emails that share information about my paid training, mentoring, or custom design services. 

The reason I think this is reasonable and expected is because:

  • In our field (academia, science, evaluation, research), professional development opportunities are common and it is expected that many of these are for-cost opportunities.

  • I've spent about 60 hours putting together EACH of the free online courses on my website. My free workshops and other live events are also about 20-40 hours of effort. These were unsponsored and unpaid, and I made them as excellent as I could so that if you wanted to invest in your professional development, you would think of me. I spend thousands of dollars each year on the applications needed to provide information for free (ConvertKit, Squarespace, Teachable, etc). The only way to sustain my free resources is by offering these paid opportunities. This, to me, demonstrates a fair balance between your interests and my interests.

  • The impact of using this data to send another email with some information about an optional paid professional development opportunity is minimal.

  • When I send multiple emails about my services in a short time frame, I provide everyone with an equal opportunity to temporarily opt out of those emails during that month.

  • There is no other way to achieve this same result in a less intrusive way. Emails are already unintrusive, and part of this audience's everyday lives. Plus, you can unsubscribe (opt out), with one click, at any time. There is an unsubscribe button at the bottom of EVERY email.

Also, if you purchase an online course from me you are automatically added to my email list and may receive additional emails about other professional development opportunities. 

Per GDPR regulations, I can delete your information from any of the above applications I mentioned. You may email us (see contact form) at any time to request that we delete your information.

12. CAN SPAM Act

The CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have emails stopped from being sent to them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.
To be in accordance with CANSPAM, I agree to the following:

      • Not use false or misleading subjects or email addresses.

      • Identify the message as an advertisement in some reasonable way.

      • Include the physical address of our business or site headquarters.

      • Monitor third-party email marketing services for compliance, if one is used.

      • Honor opt-out/unsubscribe requests quickly.

      • Allow users to unsubscribe by using the link at the bottom of each email.