Privacy Policy

At Yarnwren, we share crochet patterns, amigurumi tutorials, stitch guides, and DIY home and wearable inspiration with a community of makers who care about their craft — and we care just as much about protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect when you visit yarnwren.com, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and what rights you have over it. If anything here is unclear, you're always welcome to reach out through our Contact page or by emailing [email protected].

What Information We Collect

We aim to collect only what's necessary to run the site well and respond to you. Depending on how you interact with Yarnwren, this may include:

• Contact form data: your name, email address, and message content when you reach out to us.
• Comments: your name, email address, and any content you post publicly under a pattern, tutorial, or article.
• Technical and analytics data: IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, referring site, and approximate location, collected automatically through analytics tools.
• Cookies and similar technologies: small files stored on your device to remember preferences, measure traffic, and support advertising. Full details are available in our Cookie Policy.

Why We Collect This Information

We process your data for clear, limited purposes: to answer your questions and requests, to allow you to participate in comment discussions, to understand how visitors use our patterns and tutorials so we can improve them, to keep the site secure and functioning properly, and, where cookies are involved, to serve relevant content and advertising. We never collect data just to collect it.

Legal Bases for Processing (GDPR)

If you're located in the European Economic Area or the UK, we rely on the following legal bases under the GDPR:

• Consent — for optional cookies, newsletter sign-ups, and comment submissions.
• Legitimate interest — for basic analytics, site security, and improving our content and user experience.
• Contractual necessity — when responding to inquiries you initiate through our contact form.
• Legal obligation — where we must retain or disclose data to comply with applicable law.

Cookies

Cookies help us remember your preferences, understand which patterns and tutorials are most popular, and support advertising partners. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings at any time. For a complete breakdown of the types of cookies we use and how to manage them, please see our dedicated Cookie Policy.

Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal information — not to advertisers, not to data brokers, not to anyone. We may share limited data with trusted service providers who help us operate the site, such as hosting companies, analytics providers, email services, and advertising networks. These providers are only given access to the data necessary to perform their function, and they are expected to handle it securely and in line with applicable privacy laws. We may also disclose information if required by law or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Yarnwren and its users.

Some pages on our site may include affiliate links or sponsored content; details on how these relationships work are explained in our Affiliate Disclaimer and Disclosure pages.

Data Retention

We keep contact form messages and comment data only as long as needed to respond to your inquiry, maintain community discussions, or comply with legal requirements. Analytics data is typically retained in aggregated or anonymized form for longer periods to help us understand trends over time. If you'd like older data removed sooner, contact us and we'll accommodate reasonable requests.

Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures — including secure hosting, restricted access, and regular software updates — to protect your information from unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we encourage you to avoid sharing sensitive personal details unnecessarily when contacting us or posting comments.

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, request corrections or deletion, object to or restrict certain processing, withdraw consent at any time, and request a copy of your data in a portable format. To exercise any of these rights, simply email us at [email protected] or use our Contact page, and we'll respond as promptly as possible.

Children's Privacy

Yarnwren is intended for a general adult audience interested in crochet and amigurumi, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the applicable age in your region). If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can remove it promptly.

Related Policies

This Privacy Policy works alongside our other site policies, including our Terms of Use, Editorial Policy, and Community Guidelines, which explain how content is created, how comments are moderated, and what's expected of visitors interacting with our patterns and tutorials.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy occasionally to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. Any updates will be posted on this page with a revised date, and significant changes may be highlighted more prominently. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled, please reach out anytime at [email protected]. We're happy to help and take your privacy seriously.