Privacy Policy

Information We Collect

Elizabeth's Boutique ("we," "us," or "our") operates this website to serve our customers in Scranton, PA and the surrounding area. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you visit our website. By using our website, you agree to the practices described below. If you have questions, please contact us directly, we are a small family business and we take your privacy seriously.

We collect personal information only when you choose to give it to us through a form on this website. Depending on the form, that information is your name, phone number, email address, birthday, and mailing address. We also collect limited technical and usage information automatically, as described below.

• Text message sign-up: the form on our text sign-up page asks for your first name, phone number, email address, birthday, the event you are shopping for, and your mailing address, together with a single optional SMS consent checkbox. This form is one of two ways to give us a phone number for text messages; the other is the website chat, described next.
• Contact form: the form on our contact page asks for your name, phone number, email address, and your message, so that we can reply to you.
• Website chat: our chat widget asks for your name, phone number and date of birth, together with your message, so we can answer your question and follow up. If you submit the chat form, you are authorising us to text or call that number with informational and transactional messages about your enquiry, which may be sent using automated means. Message and data rates may apply and message frequency varies. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. Text HELP for help and STOP to unsubscribe at any time.
• Email newsletter: the "Stay in Touch" form in the footer and the welcome pop-up ask for your email address only. Submissions are received through Netlify Forms (our hosting provider's form service) and reviewed by us directly. We do not share, sell, or use subscriber emails for any purpose other than the newsletter itself.
• Server log data: our hosting provider (Netlify) automatically records standard technical information when you visit, including your IP address, browser type, timestamp, and the pages you requested. These logs exist for operational reasons only, error detection, debugging, and abuse prevention. IP addresses are temporarily present in logs but are not used for tracking, profiling, or advertising.
• Aggregate analytics data: we use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors use our website in aggregate: pageviews, traffic sources, device types, and approximate location (country/region level). GA4 anonymizes IP addresses by default, your IP is truncated by Google before it is stored. We never see individual visitors' identities, names, or email addresses through analytics. This data is used only to improve the website experience.
• Website usage recordings and heatmaps: we use Microsoft Clarity to see how visitors actually interact with our pages. Unlike the aggregate figures above, Clarity records individual browsing sessions: the pages you viewed, where you moved your mouse or tapped, what you clicked, and how far you scrolled. It also builds heatmaps showing which parts of a page get the most attention. We use this only to find confusing layouts and broken pages so we can fix them. Clarity is configured to mask text you type into form fields, and we never use it to identify you personally. For more detail, see Microsoft's Clarity FAQ.
• Cookie banner preference: when you dismiss our cookie notice (accept or decline), your choice is stored in your own browser's local storage under the key eb-cookie-consent. This preference lives on your device only. It is never sent to us, stored on our servers, or shared with any third party.

We do not operate a shopping cart or payment system on this website. We do not collect credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or any sensitive personal information online.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information you give us to reply to your enquiries, to send you the marketing messages you have asked for, and to run the shop. We use the information collected automatically to keep the website working and to improve it. Specifically, we use your information:

• To respond to a message you send us through the contact form, by phone or by email.
• To send you marketing and promotional text messages, if and only if you ticked the SMS consent box: new collections, discounts and event reminders.
• To text or call you with informational and transactional messages about your enquiry, if you submitted the website chat form.
• To send you occasional updates or promotions by email if you subscribed to our newsletter.
• To send you a birthday offer, if you gave us your birthday on the text sign-up form.
• To keep a record of your SMS consent, as proof of opt-in.
• To understand which pages and dress collections visitors find useful, so we can improve the website.
• To diagnose usability problems, confusing layouts, broken links, pages that do not work well on phones, using the recordings and heatmaps described above.
• To remember whether you dismissed our cookie banner, so we do not keep showing it to you on every visit.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your information to any third party for marketing purposes, ever.

SMS and Text Messaging

There are two ways to give us your number for text messages: the chat widget on our website, and the form on our text sign-up page.

If you submit the chat form on our website, you authorise Elizabeth's Boutique to text or call the number you entered with informational and transactional messages about your enquiry, which may be sent using automated means. Message and data rates may apply and message frequency varies. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. Text HELP for help and STOP to unsubscribe at any time.

If you opt in on our text sign-up page, Elizabeth's Boutique will send you marketing and promotional text messages about new collections, discounts and event reminders. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any time, and reply HELP for help. Consent to receive text messages is not a condition of any purchase.

You opt in by ticking one consent checkbox on that form. The checkbox is optional and is never pre-checked. The consent wording you agree to is: "I consent to receive marketing and promotional messages from Elizabeth's Boutique at the phone number and email provided, including new collections, discounts and event reminders. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help."

If you choose to hear from us by text, this is exactly how it works:

• How we collect your number: we receive a mobile number only when you provide it voluntarily, by submitting either the chat form on our website or the text sign-up form. On the text sign-up form, marketing texts need the separate SMS consent box ticked. That box is never pre-checked and stands on its own, apart from any other field, so agreeing to marketing texts is always a deliberate choice you make.
• Never a condition of purchase: consenting to receive text messages is not a condition of purchasing any product or service from us. You are welcome to shop with us, place an order, and use every part of this website without ever giving us a mobile number.
• Withdrawing your consent: you may withdraw your consent at any time by replying STOP to any message we send. We will stop sending texts to that number. You can also simply tell us in the store or over the phone and we will remove you.
• Proof of opt-in: we keep a record of your consent, including the date, the time, and the exact wording you agreed to. We retain that record as proof of opt-in for as long as we hold your number.

Mobile Information Sharing

No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. Information sharing to subcontractors in support services, such as customer service, is permitted.

Mobile information will not be sold or shared with third parties for marketing purposes.

We do not sell, rent, or share your mobile phone number, your SMS consent, or any other information collected on the text sign-up form or through the website chat with third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes. Mobile information collected for text messaging is used only to send you the messages you opted in to and is not shared with anyone except the service providers who help us deliver those messages, and they may not use it for any other purpose.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Yes, this website uses cookies. We use a small number of cookies and similar tracking technologies for analytics and usage measurement only, to understand which pages visitors use and to find and fix problems with the website. We do not use advertising cookies, and we do not track you across other websites. These are the cookies we set:

• Google Analytics cookies: GA4 sets first-party cookies (typically named _ga and _ga_<ID>) to recognize returning visits and count unique users for aggregate reporting. These are analytics cookies only. They are not used for advertising, remarketing, or building cross-site profiles of you.
• Microsoft Clarity cookies: Clarity sets first-party cookies (typically named _clck and _clsk) to link the pages you view into a single browsing session, so a recording plays back in order and a returning visit is not counted twice. These support session recordings and heatmaps for this website only. They are not used for advertising or remarketing.

In addition to these cookies, we store a single entry in your browser's local storage (eb-cookie-consent) that remembers whether you dismissed our cookie notice. Local storage is a separate mechanism from cookies, the value stays on your device, is never transmitted with your web requests, and we have no way to read it from our server. It simply prevents the banner from reappearing on every page view.

Third-party services

The following third-party services are integrated into this website. None of them are used for advertising or cross-site tracking:

• Netlify: our hosting provider. Netlify serves every page of this website and processes newsletter form submissions. Standard server logs and form submissions are handled on Netlify's infrastructure per their privacy practices. Netlify Privacy Policy
• Google Analytics 4 (GA4): we use GA4 to see aggregate traffic patterns (pageviews, traffic sources, device types, country/region) so we can improve the site. GA4 anonymizes IP addresses by default, Google truncates them before they are stored for analytics. We have not enabled GA4's advertising features, and we do not use it for remarketing or tracking users across other websites. For details on how Google handles analytics data, see the Google Privacy Policy.
• Microsoft Clarity: we use Clarity to record how visitors navigate this website and to generate heatmaps of where people click and scroll. Microsoft processes these recordings on our behalf and may also use the data in line with its own privacy practices. Recordings cover activity on this website only, Clarity does not follow you to other sites, and we have not enabled any advertising features. Clarity masks text entered into form fields by default. For details, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
• Google Maps: the store location map in our footer is provided by Google. When the map loads on your screen, Google receives standard connection information (IP address, browser type, referring page) as it does on any website that embeds a Google Map. This happens automatically as part of how the map works; we include it only to help customers find our store. For details on how Google handles this data, see the Google Privacy Policy.

We do not control how these providers handle data within their own systems. We do not share any personal information you provide to us with them beyond what is technically necessary for the services above to function.

Data Security

We protect your personal information with an encrypted HTTPS connection for every page and form, password-protected systems with two-step sign-in, and access limited to the people who need it. We ask for as little as possible, and we look after what you do give us. Here is what that means in practice:

• An encrypted connection: every page of this website is served over a secure HTTPS connection. Anything you type into a form travels encrypted between your browser and us, so it cannot be read along the way.
• How submissions are stored: when you send us a form, including your phone number and your SMS consent, it is transmitted over an encrypted connection and stored in the customer management system we use to run the shop. That system is password protected and requires a second sign-in step, not just a password.
• Who can see it: access is limited to Elizabeth and the small team that maintains this website. Nobody else is given access to the contact list.
• No card details: we do not collect or store payment card numbers on this website. Purchases happen in the store, in person.
• If you want it removed: ask us to delete your information and we take it out of our systems, as described in the section on your rights below.

Data retention

We retain information only as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected:

• Newsletter email addresses: retained until you unsubscribe. Submissions are stored in our Netlify Forms dashboard and are manually reviewed by us.
• Server logs: retained by Netlify for a limited operational period in line with their standard hosting practices, then automatically discarded. We do not export, archive, or repurpose these logs.
• Google Analytics data: aggregate analytics data is retained in our GA4 property for 14 months (GA4's default retention period), after which it is automatically deleted. We do not export, archive, or combine this data with personally identifiable information.
• Microsoft Clarity recordings: session recordings and heatmap data are stored by Microsoft and automatically deleted at the end of Clarity's standard retention window. We do not export, archive, or download recordings, and we do not link them to your name or email address.
• Cookie banner preference: stored only in your own browser's local storage until you clear your site data. We have no copy of this value.

We do not sell or rent any of the information we collect. Analytics data stored in GA4 is aggregate, Clarity recordings are used only to diagnose website usability problems, and neither is combined with personally identifiable information such as your email address or name.

Your Rights and Choices

You can unsubscribe, ask what information we hold about you, ask us to correct or update it, or ask us to delete it, at any time. You have the right to:

• Unsubscribe from text messages by replying STOP to any message we send. You can also reply HELP for help.
• Unsubscribe from our email newsletter at any time using the link in any email we send.
• Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Update or correct your information, for example a new phone number or email address.
• Request deletion of any personal information we hold about you.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us by phone at (570) 354-6149, in person at 724 Cedar Avenue, Scranton, PA 18505, or using the details in the Contact Us section below. We will respond within a reasonable time and will not charge you for making a request.

Children's privacy

Our website is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has submitted information through our site, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be reflected by the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, please reach out, we are happy to help.