Privacy Policy

Famous Monsters Forryever (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates https://famousmonstersforryever.com (the “Site”). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information. By using the Site you agree to the practices described here.

1. Site Operator

The Site is operated by Ridgeline Techworks on behalf of the Famous Monsters Forryever fan project. For privacy-related correspondence, write to: famousmonstersforryever@gmail.com.

2. Information We Collect

Information You Provide Directly

• Forum & community accounts (bbPress + BuddyBoss): When you register we collect your chosen username, email address, and password (stored as a salted hash — we never see your plain-text password). Optional profile fields (display name, avatar, cover image, bio) are collected only if you provide them.
• Community content: Posts you make in the forum, groups you join, activity-stream updates, photos you upload, comments, friend connections, and private messages between members. This content is associated with your account and remains on the Site for as long as your account exists or until you delete it.
• Purchase inquiries: If you email us about a for-sale book from our CGC collection, we collect only the information you voluntarily include in that email. No payment information is collected or processed on this Site. Sales are concluded off-platform; if a sale completes, we collect only the shipping address you provide for that specific transaction.

Information Collected Automatically

• Server logs (WP Engine): Our hosting provider automatically records standard web server log data including your IP address, browser type, referring URL, and pages visited. Used for security monitoring and not linked to your account.
• Bot & abuse protection (Cloudflare): Our edge network sets a short-lived cf_bm cookie to distinguish humans from bots. No personal data is collected by this cookie.
• Spam filtering (Antispam Bee): Forum and community submissions are checked locally against spam heuristics and public DNS blocklists (DNSBL). No submission content is transmitted to any third-party service for analysis.
• Session cookies: Standard WordPress, BuddyBoss, and bbPress session cookies (e.g. wordpress_logged_in_*) are set when you sign in to maintain your login state.
• Consent cookies: Our cookie banner (Complianz) sets cmplz_* cookies to remember your consent choices so the banner doesn’t reappear on every page load.
• UI preference cookies: Small cookies set by the Site itself (e.g. fmfGridCols for archive grid density, draft_reply_* for unsaved forum drafts) remember your interface preferences locally. No personal data is collected by these cookies.

Statistics & Analytics (consent-gated)

If you accept the Statistics category in our cookie banner, the following tools may collect aggregated usage data:

• Google Analytics 4: Pageviews, session duration, country-level location, device type, and referring source. IP addresses are anonymized at collection. Google’s privacy policy applies.
• Microsoft Clarity: Heatmaps and session recordings used to understand how visitors interact with the Site. Microsoft’s privacy policy applies.
• WP Statistics: Server-side aggregated traffic counts stored locally on the Site. No data is transmitted to any third party.

If you decline the Statistics category, none of these tools fire and no analytics data is collected.

Third-Party Embeds

• Instagram feed (Smash Balloon): The homepage displays posts from our public Instagram account (@famous_monsters_forryever). Loading the feed may result in your browser connecting to Instagram/Meta servers. Instagram’s privacy policy governs any data collected through that connection.
• Display fonts: The Site’s display fonts (Nosifer, Special Elite, Creepster, IM Fell English) are self-hosted on our own servers. No third-party font CDN is contacted on pageviews.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To operate the forum, community, and your account
• To respond to purchase inquiries and other correspondence you initiate
• To maintain Site security, diagnose technical issues, and prevent abuse
• To understand aggregate traffic patterns (only if you have consented to Statistics)
• We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party
• We do not use your information for advertising or retargeting

4. Data Retention

Forum and community data is retained for as long as your account is active. Purchase-inquiry emails are retained for a reasonable period to fulfill the original request and then deleted. Server logs are rotated by our hosting provider per their retention schedule. You may request deletion of your account or data at any time by emailing us.

5. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction you may have rights regarding your personal data, including:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (GDPR Art. 15; CCPA §1798.110)
• Correction — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data (GDPR Art. 16)
• Deletion — ask us to delete your account and associated data (GDPR Art. 17 / right to erasure; CCPA §1798.105)
• Portability — receive your data in a portable format (GDPR Art. 20)
• Opt-out of sale or sharing — we do not sell or share personal data, but you may confirm this with us (CCPA §1798.120)
• Withdraw consent — revisit your cookie banner choices at any time via the “Cookie Settings” link in the Site footer

To exercise any of these rights, email famousmonstersforryever@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days.

6. Children’s Privacy

This Site markets nostalgia content from a 1958–1983 magazine to a general audience. While the subject matter may attract younger fans, the Site is not directed to children under 13 and we do not knowingly or intentionally collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

7. External Links

The Site may contain links to external sites (CGC Comics registry, social media profiles, fan resources). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites and encourage you to review their policies.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Effective Date” at the top will reflect the date of the most recent revision. Continued use of the Site after any change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Contact

Questions about this Privacy Policy? Reach us at:
famousmonstersforryever@gmail.com