LRStahley.com is personally owned and operated by Lee Ruckman Stahley, writing as L.R. Stahley, an author based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Merchandise offered through The Collection is sold by Stahley & Company, Columbus, Ohio.

This Privacy Policy explains how personal information is collected, used, shared, and retained when you visit LRStahley.com, create a reader account, participate in The Commons, subscribe to updates, purchase merchandise, contact us, or use Leo, our AI Faith Companion. References to “we,” “us,” and “our” mean the site owner and, for merchandise transactions, Stahley & Company, as applicable.

For privacy questions or requests, contact contact@lrstahley.com.

1. Information We Collect

The information we handle depends on the features you use and what you choose to share.

Account and profile information. When you create a reader account, we collect your name, email address, and account information. Our hosting platform manages your password and authentication credentials. Your profile may also include a display name, avatar, short biography, and other details you choose to provide. Details designated as public may be visible to other visitors.

Reader activity and community content. We store information needed to support features such as your personal library, reading status, reactions, notifications, and community participation. Posts, comments, reviews, and other contributions you publish in public areas, including The Commons, are public. Public content may be viewed, copied, or shared by others and may appear in search-engine results. Please avoid publishing information you would not want others to access.

Newsletter subscriptions. When you subscribe to updates, we collect your email address and your selected interests, such as reflections, books, merchandise, or events. We also maintain subscription preferences and records needed to manage email delivery and honour unsubscribe requests.

Orders and purchases. When you purchase merchandise, our checkout and payment providers process information such as your name, email address, shipping address, order details, and the payment information needed to complete your transaction. Payment information is handled by the payment provider under its own privacy and security practices. We retain order records needed for fulfilment, customer service, accounting, and tax compliance.

Contact messages. When you contact us, we receive the information you provide, which may include your name, email address, message, and attachments. Messages submitted through the contact form are delivered to the site owner by email and are not stored in the website’s database.

Leo conversations. When you use Leo, our AI Faith Companion, the platform hosting this website stores your messages and Leo’s responses. These conversations are not public and do not appear in the website’s ordinary administrative dashboard. However, the site owner can access them through the hosting provider’s dashboard. They should therefore not be treated as confidential from the site owner.

Conversations about faith and personal circumstances may reveal sensitive information, including religious beliefs, health concerns, or family matters. Share only what you are comfortable having processed and stored by the services supporting this feature. Do not enter passwords, payment details, government identification numbers, or private information about another person without their permission.

Page-view and technical information. Our first-party analytics record the page visited, referrer information, and an anonymous visitor identifier to help us understand how readers use the site. Although the identifier is not intended to identify you by name, it may distinguish one browser or visitor from another. Hosting and other service providers may also process technical information needed to operate and secure their services.

2. How We Use Information

We use information for the following purposes:

• To operate the website, authenticate accounts, and provide reader features.
• To display public profiles and community contributions.
• To support moderation and enforce our Community Guidelines.
• To send the newsletters you request and manage your communication preferences.
• To process and fulfil purchases, provide order updates, and handle customer-service enquiries.
• To respond to messages and privacy requests.
• To provide Leo and maintain conversation history.
• To understand readership and improve website content and functionality.
• To protect the website, investigate misuse, resolve disputes, and meet applicable legal, accounting, and tax obligations.

Information you publish in a public community area is used to make that contribution available to others. Your choice to publish community content does not, by itself, subscribe you to marketing emails.

3. Service Providers and Other Disclosures

Operating the website requires services provided by other organisations. Depending on the feature you use, relevant information may be processed by providers supporting website hosting, authentication, data storage, AI conversations, email delivery, checkout, payment processing, merchandise production, and shipping.

For example, fulfilling a merchandise order requires sharing the order and delivery information needed by the businesses producing and shipping your purchase. Providing Leo requires processing your messages through the platform and AI services supporting that feature.

Providers’ handling of information is also subject to their applicable terms and privacy policies. Public community content is available to other visitors as described above.

We may disclose information where reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law, respond to valid legal process, investigate fraud or misuse, or protect the rights, property, or safety of the site owner, customers, readers, or others.

4. Cookies and Similar Technologies

The website uses cookies or similar technologies to support features such as account sign-in, preferences, and the shopping experience. It also uses first-party analytics to understand page visits. We do not use advertising cookies.

Where optional technologies are subject to your consent, you can manage or withdraw that consent through the Cookie Preferences link in the website footer. Withdrawing consent affects future activity; it does not automatically erase information already collected.

You can also manage cookies through your browser. Blocking technologies needed for essential functions may prevent parts of the website, including account or shopping features, from working correctly. The cookie notice provides further information about the controls available on this site.

5. Newsletter and Email Preferences

You can choose which newsletter categories you receive and change those preferences through the available subscription controls. Each marketing email includes a one-click unsubscribe link. Unsubscribing takes effect immediately in our subscription records, although an email already in the delivery process may still arrive.

Unsubscribing from marketing does not prevent necessary nonmarketing communications, such as order updates, responses to your enquiries, or account and security notices.

We retain a limited suppression record containing your email address and preference flags after you unsubscribe so that we can honour your request and avoid sending further marketing unless you subscribe again.

6. Leo, Our AI Faith Companion

Leo is an automated feature intended to support faith-related conversation and reflection. It is not a confidential pastoral, medical, therapeutic, or legal service, and using it does not create a privileged relationship.

Your messages and Leo’s responses are stored by the hosting platform and may be accessed by the site owner through the provider’s dashboard. The providers supporting Leo process conversation information according to their applicable terms and privacy policies. This policy does not promise that those providers exclude conversations from every form of service improvement or model training.

You can request deletion of your Leo conversation history through Account Settings or by emailing contact@lrstahley.com. A deletion request may require processing through the hosting provider; submitting it does not mean that every copy has been erased immediately. Provider backup schedules and applicable legal requirements may affect when deletion is complete.

The automated daily verse and Leo’s Bible quotations use the World English Bible, a public-domain translation. Other editorial content on the website may identify a different translation where used.

7. How Long We Retain Information

We keep information for the purposes described in this policy, taking account of the feature involved, your requests, and applicable legal obligations. The periods below describe our intended retention practices; they are not guarantees of immediate removal from all backups or provider systems.

Account and associated reader data. Generally retained while your account remains active. Self-service account deletion is designed to remove your profile, library, posts, comments, reviews, reactions, notifications, and cart records.

Order records. Retained for fulfilment, customer service, accounting, tax compliance, and other applicable legal requirements. The specific retention period is being confirmed; personal information is limited to what is necessary for these purposes.

Newsletter records. Retained while you are subscribed. After you unsubscribe, your email address and preference flags remain as a suppression record so that we can honour your communication preferences. Other subscription information is scheduled for removal after approximately 12 months.

Abandoned carts. Retained for approximately 30 days.

Email-delivery and page-view logs. Retained for approximately 90 days.

Contact correspondence. Managed manually in the site owner’s mailbox, with a target of deleting resolved correspondence within approximately 12 months after resolution, unless continued retention is necessary.

Leo conversations. Stored by the hosting platform. You may request deletion at any time through Account Settings or by contacting us. No fixed automatic deletion period is currently specified.

Information may be retained longer where necessary to comply with law, maintain required business records, resolve a dispute, investigate abuse, or establish or defend legal claims. Residual copies may remain in backups until those backups are replaced or deleted under the relevant provider’s procedures.

8. Account Deletion

You can initiate self-service account deletion in Account Settings. This removes the account-related information described above, subject to necessary legal retention and technical limitations.

Account deletion does not necessarily remove information held in separate systems. Order records may remain as required business records, contact messages may remain in the site owner’s mailbox under the retention approach above, and a newsletter suppression record may remain to honour your preferences. Use the separate Leo deletion option or contact us if you also want your conversation history deleted.

Deleting content from our website cannot remove copies that other people have saved or shared, or copies retained independently by search engines and other third parties.

9. Your Privacy Choices and Rights

You can review and edit your profile, manage newsletter interests, unsubscribe from marketing, change available cookie preferences, request deletion of Leo conversations, and delete your account.

Depending on where you live and which privacy laws apply, you may also have rights to request access to your personal information, correction of inaccurate information, deletion, a portable copy, or restrictions on certain processing. Where processing relies on consent, you may withdraw that consent without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal. Some jurisdictions also provide rights to object to certain processing or to complain to a privacy regulator.

To make a request, email contact@lrstahley.com. Please describe your request and identify the email address associated with the relevant account, subscription, or order. We may need to verify your identity before disclosing or deleting information. Do not send identification documents unless we request them through an appropriate method.

We will respond within the period required by applicable law. Some requests may be limited by legal obligations, the rights of others, or information we must retain for legitimate purposes. Where a request cannot be fulfilled in full, we will explain the applicable limitation.

10. Information Security

We rely on our hosting, authentication, payment, and other service providers for important security functions, including credential management and payment processing. No website, transmission method, or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure.

Please use a strong, unique password and keep your sign-in details private. If you believe your account or personal information has been compromised in connection with this website, contact contact@lrstahley.com.

11. Children’s Privacy

The website is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information through the website, please contact us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action, including deletion where required. Where applicable law provides additional protections for older children, those requirements also apply.

12. International Visitors

The website is operated from the United States. If you access it from another country, your information may be processed in the United States and in other locations where our service providers operate. Privacy laws in those locations may differ from those in your country.

Where applicable law requires safeguards for international transfers, those requirements apply. Visiting the website does not, by itself, waive any privacy rights you may have.

13. External Websites

The website may link to external retailers, social networks, and other third-party services. Information you provide directly to those services is governed by their own privacy policies. Please review those policies before submitting personal information.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes in website features, service providers, practices, or legal requirements. The effective date above will indicate the latest revision. If a change materially affects how we handle personal information, we will provide additional notice where required by law.

15. Contact Us

For questions about this policy or requests concerning your information:

Lee Ruckman Stahley — L.R. Stahley

Owner and operator of LRStahley.com

Columbus, Ohio, United States

Email: contact@lrstahley.com

For merchandise-related privacy matters, please indicate that your enquiry concerns Stahley & Company / The Collection.