American Made Story

Privacy & Cookie Policy

Effective October 25, 2026

1. Who We Are

This website, americanmadestory.com (the "Site"), is operated by Cliff Branch, author and publisher of American Made, based in San Luis Obispo, California ("we," "us," or "our"). This policy explains what information we collect when you visit the Site or buy the books, how we use it, and the choices you have.

2. Information We Collect

Information you give us

• Order information. When you buy the books, you provide your name, email address, shipping address, billing address, and, if you choose, a phone number. Payment card details are entered directly into our payment processor (see Section 5). We never see or store your full card number.
• Messages. If you email us at info@americanmadestory.com, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to include.

Information collected automatically

• Device and usage data. Like most websites, our hosting platform receives basic technical data when you visit, such as your IP address, browser type, device type, referring page, pages viewed, and the date and time of your visit.
• Cookies. See Section 3 for the full list.

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal information, and we do not ask for it.

3. Cookies

Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. We use as few as possible. They fall into two groups.

Strictly necessary cookies

These keep the Site secure, make the shopping cart work, and help prevent payment fraud. The Site cannot work properly without them, so they do not require consent.

Analytics cookies

These tell us, in aggregate, how many people visit and which pages they read. They are set by our website host, Squarespace. They only load if you click "Accept" on our cookie banner. If you decline, they are not set.

The Site also loads fonts from Google Fonts and may use Google reCAPTCHA to block spam and bots at checkout. These services receive your IP address when they load. They are governed by Google's Privacy Policy.

What we do not use: advertising cookies, social media pixels (such as the Meta Pixel), session recording, heatmaps, or chat widgets.

Changing your choice

You can change your cookie choice at any time using the cookie preferences button on the Site, or by clearing cookies in your browser and reloading the page. You can also block cookies in your browser settings, though checkout may not work if necessary cookies are blocked.

Manage Cookie Preferences

4. How We Use Your Information

• To process, ship, and deliver your order, and send order and shipping confirmations.
• To answer your emails.
• To keep the Site secure and prevent fraud.
• To understand, in aggregate, how the Site is used (only with your consent).
• To comply with the law, including tax and accounting rules.

We will not add you to a marketing email list unless you ask to be added.

5. Who We Share It With

We share information only with service providers that help us run the Site and fill orders, and only as much as they need:

• Squarespace, which hosts the Site and runs the store and checkout (Squarespace Privacy Policy).
• Stripe and, if you choose it, PayPal, which process payments (Stripe Privacy Policy, PayPal Privacy Statement).
• The U.S. Postal Service, which receives your name and shipping address to deliver your books.
• Google, for fonts and spam protection, as described in Section 3.

We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect our rights or the safety of others, or as part of a transfer of the business.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We have not done so in the past 12 months.

6. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Because we do not track visitors across other websites and do not sell or share personal information, there is nothing for a "Do Not Track" or Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal to opt you out of. We still honor GPC: if your browser sends it, we treat it as a valid opt-out request.

7. How Long We Keep It

We keep order records as long as needed to fill your order and meet tax and accounting requirements, generally up to seven years. We keep emails as long as needed to respond and for a reasonable time after. Analytics data is kept in aggregate by Squarespace according to its own retention schedule.

8. Security

The Site uses HTTPS encryption. Payments are handled by PCI-compliant processors. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.

9. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, including California, you may have the right to:

• Know what personal information we have about you and how we use it.
• Get a copy of it.
• Ask us to correct it.
• Ask us to delete it.
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (we do neither).
• Not be treated differently for using any of these rights.

We honor these requests for everyone, wherever you live. To make a request, email info@americanmadestory.com with the subject "Privacy Request." We will confirm your request using the email address and order details on file, and respond within 45 days. You may use an authorized agent; we may ask the agent for proof of your permission.

California "Shine the Light." California residents may ask whether we disclosed personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing in the prior year. We do not.

10. Children

The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has given us information, email us and we will delete it.

11. Visitors Outside the United States

We ship to U.S. addresses only, and the Site is operated from the United States. If you visit from elsewhere, your information will be processed in the United States.

12. Links to Other Sites

The Site links to news articles and other websites we do not control. Their privacy practices are their own, so please review their policies.

13. Changes to This Policy

If we change this policy, we will post the new version here and update the effective date at the top. Significant changes will be noted on the Site.

14. Contact Us

Questions about this policy or your information:
Cliff Branch, American Made Story
San Luis Obispo, California
info@americanmadestory.com