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Who We Are
Our website address is https://bloomingtononline.com, and the site is operated by David Martin Design.
What personal data we collect and why we collect it
We collect information about how you use this website in order to improve our customer service. We use this information to make our website easier to use, make our services more visible, and to improve communication.
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.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should 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.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
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.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has 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.
Aggregated Content and Outbound Deals
Our platform operates as a hyper-local directory and utilizes automated RSS feeds to aggregate external content, community listings, and promotional deals. When you click on external links, promotional offers, or technology discounts, you will be directed to third-party websites. We do not control these external sites, and their data collection practices are governed by their respective privacy policies. We strongly encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party merchants or platforms before submitting personal data or completing a transaction.
Automated Site Operations and Security Logging
To maintain the integrity of our directory and protect against malicious activity, we utilize custom plugins and automated scripts. These automated systems may temporarily log standard server data—such as IP addresses, browser types, and timestamp data—for the strict purpose of rate-limiting, security auditing, and ensuring the stable operation of our digital infrastructure. This security data is not sold or used for marketing purposes.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to understand how visitors use the site, such as which pages and map features are used, so we can fix what is confusing and build what people use. We do not use them to sell your data, and we do not collect names or email addresses through them. They may set cookies or use identifiers to do this.
Google Analytics – For more information about Google cookies, please visit their website: https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies#how-google-uses-cookies.
Microsoft Clarity – Clarity captures the user interactions on your website such as how the page has rendered and what interactions your user had on your website such as mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, etc. For more information, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement or the Clarity FAQ page.
Bloomington 3D map, saved places and “Locals love this” votes
Places you save (My places) are kept in your own browser and are not sent to us unless you are signed in. If you are signed in to an account, they are also saved to your account so they follow you to your other devices; you can turn this off, or clear them, on My Bloomington. If you tap “Show where I am” on the 3D map, your browser asks for permission and your location is used only on your device to place a dot on the map; we never receive or store it. When you tap the heart on a business to say locals love it, we record the vote with a one-way scrambled (hashed) code made from a random ID your browser creates, and a keyed hash of your IP address. We use these only to count each person once and to limit automated or repeated voting. We cannot turn them back into your IP address or identify you, and the IP hash is erased within two days. The vote itself (which business was loved, and when) is kept so the Most Loved lists stay accurate. You can take back a vote at any time by tapping the heart again. If you are signed in, your hearts are stored under a private code made from your account instead of a random browser ID, so they follow you to your other devices and show on My Bloomington. We never show other people who loved a business, only the count. Closing your account removes your saved places and your hearts.
The Bloomington 3D map also sends anonymous usage events to Google Analytics, such as which category chip, search, layer or share button was used. These events are not tied to your name or email address. Your saved places stay in your browser, and in your account if you are signed in.
To help tell people from bots, the first time you tap a heart we load Cloudflare Turnstile, a privacy-focused check that does not show puzzles. It runs in your browser and shares information about your browser and connection with Cloudflare, which is covered by Cloudflare’s privacy policy. Votes still count if the check cannot run.
Business listings
Our directory lists businesses and organizations in and around Bloomington. Listing information comes from public sources such as a business’s own website, public records and local news, and some descriptions are written with the help of AI and checked against those sources. If a listing is wrong or you want it changed or removed, use “Flag this listing” or contact us and we will fix it.
Forms and messages
If you use the contact form or “Flag this listing,” we receive the information you type (such as your name, email and message) and use it only to respond and to improve the listing or the site. Forms use spam protection from Cloudflare Turnstile.
Accounts and Sign in with Google
Accounts are free and optional. If you create one with your email address, we store your username, your email address and a scrambled form of your password. If you choose “Continue with Google,” Google tells us your name, email address and profile picture, and we use that email address to create your account or sign you in to the one you already have. Google runs the sign-in and we never see your Google password. Google also learns that you signed in to BloomingtonOnline, and its handling of that information is described in Google’s Privacy Policy. We use this information only to run your account, show you your own listings and photos, and contact you about them. To close your account and remove this information, contact us.
If you are signed in, My Bloomington also gathers your own activity in one place. Marketplace listings you posted while signed in, or with your account’s email address, are listed there with a link to manage them. Photos you shared with your account’s email address are listed there too, and you can open your photo page without waiting for an email. If you save a Marketplace search, we keep it in your account and email you, at most once a day, when a new approved listing matches; the email never contains a seller’s contact details, and each one has a link that stops them. You can remove saved searches and saved items, or turn alerts off, on My Bloomington at any time, and closing your account deletes them. Selling, buying and sharing photos never require an account, and the private links we email still work.
Who we share your data with
By default, WordPress does not share any personal data with anyone. Partners that we share data analytics with include members of our organization, vendors we work with, and our web developer.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
Google Analytics – The data will be retained for web master’s consumption up to a period of 14 months.
Microsoft Clarity – The data will be retained for web master’s consumption up to a period of 12 months from the time of recording.
What Rights You Have Over Your Data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
Additional information
How we protect your data
We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information. Our website utilizes industry-standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to ensure that data transmitted between your browser and our servers remains private and secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
What data breach procedures we have in place
In the case of a data breach, we would contact our web developer immediately and work with them to mitigate the problem. We try to minimize the amount of personal information collected and link to 3rd party companies that store our customer information and booking information.
Contact Us
If you have any questions regarding this privacy policy or the data we hold, you may contact us at:
David Martin Design
Email: bloomingtononline@gmail.com
Phone: 812-650-4405