Privacy
Privacy policy
What information this site collects, how it is used, and the choices you have.
The short version
- We collect what you send us through the contact form or by email.
- We measure page visits, clicks and use of the contact form to improve the site. We don't record your screen or send what you type before you press Send. We don't use advertising trackers.
- You can turn off detailed visit tracking below. We also respect browser privacy signals. Basic page-view totals may still be counted.
- We use information to reply to you, plan and run the work, improve the site and meet legal obligations.
- We don't sell your information, and we don't share it for advertising.
- A few trusted services help us run the site and handle messages. They get only what they need for that job.
- You can ask us to see, fix or delete your information at any time: aloha@ferndripcreativestudios.com.
- Please don't send passwords or payment details through the form or by email.
1. Who we are
This website, ferndripcreativestudios.com (the “site”), is run by Fern Drip Creative Studios LLC (“Fern Drip”, “we”, “us”), an artist-led studio in Mountain View, Hawaiʻi that makes films, ongoing content, fast edits and websites for businesses and artists. Questions about this policy or your information: aloha@ferndripcreativestudios.com.
2. What this policy covers
This policy covers information we collect through this site, including the contact form, and emails you send us after visiting it. It does not cover:
- Material we handle for clients during a paid project (footage, interviews, brand files). That is covered by the written agreement for the project, which takes priority over this policy.
- Other websites we link to, such as Instagram, YouTube and Orkestr8er. They have their own privacy policies.
3. Information we collect
3.1 Information you give us
When you fill out the contact form, we ask for:
| Field | Required? | Why we ask |
|---|---|---|
| Your name | Yes | So we know who we're talking to |
| What are you making? | Yes | The heart of your inquiry |
| What kind of work is it? | Yes | A project, ongoing content, a fast turnaround or a website, so we answer the right way |
| Deadline (if there is one) | No | So we know your timing |
| Phone (optional) | No | So we can call if you'd rather talk |
| Yes | So we can reply |
If you email us directly, we get whatever you include in that email, plus your name and address as they appear in it.
Please don't send sensitive information. The form and our email are not the place for passwords, payment card or bank details, government ID numbers or health information. If a project ever needs something sensitive, we'll agree a secure way to handle it, in writing.
3.2 Information collected automatically
- Server and security logs. Our website host records basic request information such as your IP address, browser type, the page you asked for, and the date and time. This is used to deliver the site, keep it secure and fix problems.
- Spam protection. We use automated safeguards to limit spam and repeated submissions. These briefly process connection information, including your IP address.
- Site analytics. We use our own site analytics to understand visits and improve the site. A service provider stores these records for us in the United States.
When our analytics is on, we record:
- which pages and sections you view, and roughly how long you spend on each page;
- which scene you pick in the home page's opening film, which filters you use on the Work page, and which films you press play on;
- which links you click, including links to Instagram, YouTube and Orkestr8er;
- how you found the site: the website that sent you (for example, instagram.com) and any campaign tags in the link (like “utm_campaign”);
- your general location (country and state), worked out by our website host from your IP address. We don't keep the IP address itself in our analytics;
- your browser type, operating system, and whether you're on a phone, tablet or computer;
- whether this is your first visit or a return visit (see 3.3).
A temporary code connects activity within one visit while the browser tab is open.
What we never do: record your screen or mouse movements (“session replay”), record what you type before you press Send, use advertising pixels (like Meta's or TikTok's), identify your device by its technical fingerprint, or sell or share analytics data.
3.3 Cookies and browser storage
We don't use advertising cookies or let advertising networks track you on this site. Our analytics uses two small things in your browser:
- A return-visit note: one small cookie, set by this site only, holding the week of your first visit, the week of your latest visit, and how many visits you've made. It contains no unique visitor ID. It's only sent back to this site's analytics, it's removed if you clear your browser data, and it starts over if you don't visit for about a year.
- A visit code that lives only in the current tab and disappears when you close it. While the tab is open, it may also hold a few analytics notes waiting to be sent if your connection drops.
If you turn analytics off, we store a small note in your browser saying so, to remember your choice.
If you visit from the EU, the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, or your browser sends Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track, we don't use the cookie or browser storage for analytics at all.
3.4 How we measure the contact form
To find out where the form is confusing, we record how the form is used, not what you write in it. For each question we note whether you clicked into it and whether you left it blank or filled it in, whether an error message appeared, and how long the form took overall. For the kind of work, we note which option you picked.
Nothing you type in a text box is sent to us until you press Send. If you leave without sending, we only know which questions you touched, not what you wrote.
When you do send the form, our analytics notes how you found the site (for example, “Instagram, spring campaign”), the kind of work, and whether it was your first visit, so we know which posts bring in inquiries. Your name, email, phone number and message never go into our analytics; they go only to the places in section 5.
3.5 Films, fonts and links
The films, photos and fonts on this site are served from the site itself. Links to Instagram, YouTube and Orkestr8er are plain links: nothing from those services loads until you click one, and then their own policies apply.
3.6 Information from other sources
We don't buy contact lists or collect information about you from data brokers. If someone refers you to us, they may share your name and contact details with us. We'll only use them to reach out about that referral.
4. How we use your information
- Reply to your inquiry.
- Plan the work with you: questions, ideas, a quote when the scope is clear, or a referral elsewhere if we're not the right fit.
- Schedule and prepare for conversations and shoots you agree to.
- Keep simple records of inquiries and their status, so nothing falls through the cracks.
- Keep the site and our systems secure, prevent spam and abuse, and fix technical problems.
- Improve the site, using our analytics to see which pages, sections and form questions work. We look at totals and trends. We don't use it to build a profile of you or to make decisions about you.
- Meet legal obligations, for example tax, accounting, or responding to lawful requests.
We won't sell your information, share it with anyone for their own advertising or marketing, add you to a newsletter without asking first, or send you marketing text messages. If you give us your phone number, we'll only use it to talk with you about your inquiry.
4.1 Automation
Automated services help us receive and organize messages. No automated system decides whether we work together: a person reads every inquiry and decides.
5. Who we share it with
We share information only with the services that help us run the site and the studio, and only what they need:
| Service | What it does for us | What it may receive |
|---|---|---|
| Website hosting | Delivers and protects the site | Technical and log data. Form submissions and analytics pass through it |
| Inquiry processing | Receives and organizes submitted inquiries | Your form submission |
| Business communications and records | Handles email, inquiry records and agreed appointments | Your form submission, emails and meeting details |
| Analytics storage | Stores site-usage records in the United States | The analytics records in 3.2 and 3.4, with no names, emails, phone numbers or IP addresses |
These providers process information on our behalf, under their own terms and security practices. They may store data in the United States or other countries.
We may also share information if the law requires it; to protect our rights, safety or property, or anyone else's, including to prevent fraud or abuse; if the business changes hands, in which case we'd require the new owner to respect this policy or give you notice; or with your permission.
6. How long we keep it
- Inquiries that don't turn into a project: up to 24 months after our last contact, then deleted.
- Inquiries that become clients: for the length of the relationship, then as long as needed for legal, tax and accounting reasons (commonly up to 7 years for financial records).
- Server and security logs: the short, rolling period our hosting provider uses.
- Analytics records of individual visits: 30 days, then deleted automatically.
- Visit summaries (one line per visit): 60 days, then deleted automatically.
- Totals (like “40 visits from Hawaiʻi on Tuesday”): kept. They contain nothing about any one person.
- If you ask us to delete your information, we will, unless we must keep part of it for a legal reason. If so, we'll tell you what we kept and why.
7. How we protect it
- Encrypted connections (HTTPS) for the whole site.
- Inquiry records are kept in accounts with restricted access.
- Access limited to the owner and anyone who genuinely needs it to help with your inquiry.
- Access credentials are protected from public access.
- No sensitive information asked for through the form.
No system is perfectly secure. If a security incident affects your personal information, we'll notify you and any required authorities as the law requires, including Hawaiʻi's data breach notification law (HRS Chapter 487N).
8. Your choices and rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to see the personal information we have about you, correct it, delete it, or stop contacting you.
Email aloha@ferndripcreativestudios.com from the address you used to contact us, so we can confirm it's you. We'll reply within 30 days, and usually much sooner. We won't charge you, and we won't treat you differently for asking.
Some laws give extra rights depending on where you live (for example, California). If one applies to you, we'll honor it. We don't sell or “share” personal information as those laws define it.
Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track. If your browser sends either signal, we treat it as a request to turn analytics off: we still count your page views in daily totals, but we don't keep a record of your visit, store anything in your browser for analytics, record how you use the form, or note how you found us when you send an inquiry.
Analytics and your requests. Our analytics records aren't linked to your name or email, so we can't look up which ones are yours. They're deleted on the schedule in section 6.
Your analytics choice
The switch below turns detailed visit tracking off in this browser. Turning it back on takes effect on your next page. Basic page views still count toward daily totals. The switch appears when site analytics is running.
9. Children
The site is meant for businesses and artists and isn't directed to children under 13 (or under 16 where the law sets a higher age). We don't knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we'll delete it.
10. Visitors outside the United States
We're based in Hawaiʻi, in the United States. If you contact us from elsewhere, your information will be processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your country. If you visit from the EU, the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, we only count your visit in daily totals (which page you viewed).
11. Links to other sites
The site links to other websites, such as Instagram, YouTube and Orkestr8er. We're not responsible for their privacy practices, so please check their policies.
12. Changes to this policy
We'll update this policy when how we handle information changes. The date at the top shows when. If a change is significant, we'll make it clear on the site.
13. Contact us
Fern Drip Creative Studios LLC
aloha@ferndripcreativestudios.com
Mountain View, Hawaiʻi