At Skills Seedlings (“we”, “us”, “our”), we take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have over it when you visit or shop at skillseedlings.com (the “Site”).

By using our Site, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use our Site.

1. Who We Are

Skills Seedlings is an online children’s retail store selling clothing, footwear, toys, and accessories.

  • Website: skillseedlings.com
  • Email: support@skillseedlings.com
  • Business hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We collect personal data in the following ways:

2a. When You Place an Order

To process and fulfil your order, we collect:

  • Full name
  • Email address
  • Shipping address (street, city, country, postcode)
  • Phone number (if provided)
  • Payment details — note: we do not store your full card details. Payment is processed securely by our payment provider(s).
  • Order details (items purchased, quantities, prices)
  • IP address (for fraud prevention)

2b. When You Create an Account

If you register for an account on our Site, we collect:

  • Username
  • Email address
  • Password (stored in encrypted form — we never see your plain-text password)
  • Any profile information you choose to provide

2c. When You Leave a Comment or Contact Us

If you leave a comment on the Site or contact us via email, we collect:

  • Your name
  • Email address
  • The content of your message
  • IP address and browser user agent (used to help detect spam)

An anonymised hash of your email address may be sent to the Gravatar service to check if you have a profile picture associated with it. You can review Gravatar’s privacy practices at automattic.com/privacy.

2d. Automatically Collected Data

When you browse our Site, we and our service providers may automatically collect:

  • IP address
  • Browser type and version
  • Device type and operating system
  • Pages visited and time spent on each page
  • Referring website (how you found us)
  • Cookie identifiers (see Section 4 for full details)

2e. Uploaded Images

If you upload images to the Site (e.g. for a review or profile picture), please be aware that images may contain embedded metadata such as GPS location data (EXIF data). Other visitors may be able to download these images and extract that location information. We recommend removing location data from images before uploading.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:

  •  To process and fulfil your orders
  • To send order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery notifications
  • To respond to your customer service enquiries
  • To manage your account (if you have registered)
  • To detect and prevent fraud or abuse
  • To improve our website and customer experience
  • To comply with legal obligations
  • To send marketing emails if you have opted in (you can unsubscribe at any time)

4. Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. We use cookies to make our Site work properly, remember your preferences, and understand how visitors use our Site.

4a. Types of Cookies We Use

��  Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential for Skills Seedlings to work. Without them, basic things like your shopping cart and account login simply wouldn’t function. Because they are required for the site to operate, they are always active and cannot be switched off.

Here is what they actually do for you:

  • Your shopping cart is remembered as you browse — so items you add don’t disappear when you click to another page.
  • Your login session is kept active so you don’t have to sign in again on every page.
  • Your display preferences (like which columns you’ve set) are saved when you’re logged in.
  • A quick background check runs when you first visit to confirm your browser can accept cookies at all — this check stores no personal data.

ℹ️  Technical details — Cookie names: woocommerce_cart_hash, woocommerce_items_in_cart, wp_woocommerce_session_[hash], wordpress_test_cookie, wordpress_logged_in_[hash], wordpress_sec, wp-settings-[user_id]. Duration: session to 1 year depending on type.

⚙️  Functional Cookies

These cookies remember choices you make to give you a more convenient experience. They are not strictly required for the site to work, but they save you time.

What they do for you:

  • If you leave a comment on our site and tick the opt-in box, your name and email are saved so you don’t have to type them again next time. This is entirely your choice — the box is unticked by default.
  • If you are a site administrator editing content, a cookie temporarily records which post you last edited. It holds no personal data and is gone within a day.

ℹ️  Technical details — Cookie names: comment_author_[hash], wp-postpass, wp-[post_id]. Duration: 1 day to 1 year depending on type.

��  Analytics Cookies

These cookies help us understand how people use our website — for example, which pages are most visited, how long people spend on the site, and where visitors come from. We use this information to improve the shopping experience for everyone.

What this means in practice:

  • We can see that, for example, “50 people visited the Toys page today” — but we cannot identify who those people are.
  • The data is anonymised and aggregated. We see patterns and trends, not individual profiles.
  • This is powered by Google Analytics, a widely used web analytics service provided by Google.

ℹ️  Technical details — Cookie names: _ga, _ga_[ID]. Duration: up to 2 years. These are non-essential cookies — you can opt out at any time (see Section 4b below).

ℹ️  To opt out of Google Analytics specifically, you can install Google’s own opt-out browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

��  Third-Party & Embedded Content Cookies

Some pages on our site may include content loaded from other platforms — for example, a YouTube video, a social media post, or a map. When this happens, those third-party platforms may place their own cookies on your device.

Think of it this way: if our page shows a YouTube video, YouTube’s own cookie rules apply to that video — the same as if you had visited YouTube directly. This is outside our direct control.

The same applies to social media features linked from our site. Common providers include Google, Facebook/Meta, and Instagram. We encourage you to check their privacy policies if you’d like to know more about how they handle your data.

4b. Managing Your Cookies

You have the right to accept or reject non-essential cookies. You can manage your cookie preferences in the following ways:

  • Via our Cookie Consent banner, which appears when you first visit our Site
  • Through your browser settings — most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies
  • Via opt-out tools provided by specific third parties (e.g. Google Analytics opt-out)

Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our Site, including your ability to add items to your cart or complete a purchase.

5. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell your personal data. We only share your data with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and fulfil your orders:

  • Fulfilment Partner (CJ Dropshipping):

Your name, shipping address, and order details are shared with our fulfilment partner to process and ship your order. CJ Dropshipping handles storage, packaging, and international logistics on our behalf.

  • Payment Processors:

Your payment is processed securely by our payment gateway provider(s). We do not store your full card details. Please review your payment provider’s privacy policy for details on how they handle your financial data.

  • Email Service Provider:

Your email address may be shared with our email platform to send order confirmations and, if you opt in, marketing communications.

  • Analytics Providers (Google Analytics):

Anonymised and aggregated browsing data is shared with Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors use our Site.

  • Spam Detection Services:

Comments and form submissions may be checked through automated spam detection services.

  • Legal Authorities:

We may disclose your data to law enforcement or regulatory authorities if required by law or to protect our legal rights.

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email as a security measure.

6. International Data Transfers

We ship to Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In order to fulfil your order, your personal data (specifically your name and shipping address) may be transferred to and processed in countries outside your home country, including China (where our fulfilment partner operates).

Where such transfers occur, we take reasonable steps to ensure your data is handled securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

7. How Long We Retain Your Data

  • Order data: retained for up to 7 years for legal and accounting purposes.
  • Account data: retained for as long as your account is active, plus a reasonable period after closure.
  • Comments: retained indefinitely to allow us to recognise and auto-approve follow-up comments. You can request deletion at any time.
  • Email marketing data: retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion.
  • Analytics data: retained in accordance with Google Analytics’ data retention settings (typically 26 months).

8. Your Rights Over Your Data

Depending on your country of residence, you may have some or all of the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right to access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
  • Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”): You can request that we delete your personal data, subject to any legal obligations we have to retain it.
  • Right to restrict processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
  • Right to data portability: You can request a copy of your data in a machine-readable format.
  • Right to object: You can object to us processing your data for direct marketing purposes at any time.
  • Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent to process data (e.g. marketing emails), you can withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please email us at support@skillseedlings.com. We will respond within 30 days. We may ask you to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

ℹ️  If you have an account on our Site, you can view, edit, or delete much of your personal information directly from your account profile page. Note that your username cannot be changed.

9. Data Security

We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. These include:

  • Secure HTTPS connection on our website
  • Encrypted storage of passwords
  • Restricted access to personal data within our team
  • Use of reputable, security-compliant third-party service providers

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we do our best to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Children’s Privacy

Our products are designed for children, but our website and services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a child, please contact us at support@skillseedlings.com and we will delete it promptly.

11. Third-Party Websites

Our Site may contain links to third-party websites (such as social media platforms or partner sites). These links are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of any third-party website. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before submitting any personal data.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. When we do, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

For significant changes, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you — for example, by posting a notice on our website or sending an email to registered customers.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us:

  • Email: support@skillseedlings.com
  • Business hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm

We aim to respond to all privacy-related enquiries within 5 business days.