Cookie Policy - The Crafty Hearts

1. Welcome to Our Digital Workshop!  At The Crafty Hearts, we want your online experience to be as seamless and enjoyable as browsing our handmade collections in person. To make this happen, our website (https://thecraftyhearts.ca) uses cookies and similar tracking technologies. This policy explains what these tools are, why we use them, and how you have complete control over your digital footprint while visiting us.

2. What Are Cookies? Cookies are small text files placed on your device (computer, smartphone, or tablet) when you visit our Site. They serve as a short-term memory for the website, helping it function securely, remembering your preferences (like what you've placed in your cart), and allowing us to understand how our community interacts with our online store.

These files generally fall into two lifespan categories:

• Session Cookies: Temporary files that are erased the moment you close your web browser.
• Persistent Cookies: Files that remain on your device for a pre-set period or until you manually delete them, helping the Site recognize you on your next visit.

3. How Do We Use Cookies? We utilize cookies to ensure a secure shopping experience and to help us improve our offerings. We categorize them as follows:

• Strictly Necessary (Essential) Cookies: These are required for the Site to operate. They enable fundamental functions like navigating pages, adding handmade items from 'The Secret Shelf' or 'Tiny Treasures' to your cart, and securely processing payments. The Site cannot function properly without them, and they cannot be switched off in our systems.
• Performance & Analytics Cookies: These help us anonymously track traffic patterns, such as which pages are visited most often or if users encounter error messages. This data helps us understand which of our collections are the most popular so we can continue crafting the items you love.
• Targeting & Marketing Cookies: We may use these cookies to deliver personalized promotional content about our collections to you on other websites or social media platforms, and to measure the effectiveness of our community outreach.

4. Trusted Third-Party Services - Because we rely on trusted third-party platforms to host our Site and process payments (such as Square for Markets & GoDaddy - our secure payment gateways), these providers may also place cookies on your device to facilitate their services securely. We only partner with platforms that adhere to strict privacy and data security standards, ensuring PCI DSS compliance .

5. Managing Your Preferences & Consent. You have the right to choose how your data is handled. When you first visit our Site, you will be presented with a cookie banner allowing you to accept or decline non-essential cookies (such as Analytics and Marketing cookies).

Furthermore, you can manage your preferences at any time through your own hardware:

• Browser Settings: Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your settings to decline them, delete existing cookies, or notify you when a new one is set.

Please note: Disabling Strictly Necessary cookies may prevent you from fully utilizing the shopping cart and checkout features on our Site.

6. Learn More: For more detailed information regarding how we protect your personal data alongside cookie usage, please review our comprehensive The Crafty Hearts Privacy Policy. 

For ay further Questions please reach out to Techsuport@thecraftyhearts.ca