Last Updated: October 5, 2026
1. Who we are
CSS-Tricks is owned and operated by Be Thou Awesome LLC, a Colorado limited liability company (“CSS-Tricks,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). We are the controller of the personal information described here. CSS-Tricks is a small, independent publication, and we collect only what we need to publish the site, run the store and memberships, and send the newsletter.
This policy covers css-tricks.com, our newsletter, our store, and our social accounts when you contact us through them. It works together with our Terms of Use.
The short version: we don’t sell your personal information, we don’t share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and you can ask us to see or delete it anytime at [email protected].
2. Information we collect
What we collect depends on how you use the site.
| If you… | We collect | From |
|---|---|---|
| Read the site | IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, referring site, approximate location (country/region), and cookie or similar identifiers | Automatically, through our host, Cloudflare, Jetpack, and Google Analytics |
| Subscribe to the newsletter | Email address, signup date and source, and whether you open or click emails | You and Buttondown |
| Buy from the store | Name, email, billing and shipping address, order details, and the last four digits and type of your card | You, Stripe, and PayPal |
| Become a member | Name, email, account login, membership plan, and billing history | You, Stripe, and PayPal |
| Comment | Name, email, website (optional), comment text, IP address, and a hashed email used to show your Gravatar | You |
| Contact us or write for us | Name, email, and whatever you include in your message or pitch | You, through our contact forms or email |
We never receive or store your full card number; Stripe and PayPal handle it directly.
We don’t intentionally collect sensitive information such as health, financial account, or government ID data. Please don’t include it in comments or messages.
3. How we use it
We use personal information only for these purposes. For readers in the EU, UK, and similar places, the legal basis for each is listed beside it.
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Fill orders, run memberships, and deliver digital products | Performance of a contract |
| Send receipts, renewal reminders, and account notices | Performance of a contract |
| Send the newsletter and occasional announcements | Your consent |
| Display and moderate comments | Our legitimate interest in hosting discussion |
| Measure which articles are read and how people find the site | Our legitimate interest in improving the site, or consent where local law requires it |
| Keep the site secure and prevent spam and fraud | Our legitimate interest in protecting the site and our users |
| Keep tax and accounting records, and respond to legal requests | Legal obligation |
We don’t use your information to make automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.
4. Who we share it with
We share personal information only with service providers that help us run the site, and only what each one needs. They process it under their own privacy policies and their agreements with us.
| Provider | What they do for us | Privacy policy |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudways (DigitalOcean) | Hosts the website and its database | digitalocean.com/legal/privacy-policy |
| Cloudflare | Security, spam protection, and content delivery | cloudflare.com/privacypolicy |
| Automattic (Jetpack, WordPress.com, Gravatar) | Site stats, image delivery, security, and comment avatars | automattic.com/privacy |
| Buttondown | Sends the newsletter | buttondown.com/legal/privacy |
| Google (Analytics, Workspace) | Site analytics and our email inbox | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Stripe | Card payments | stripe.com/privacy |
| PayPal | PayPal payments | paypal.com privacy statement |
| Printify | Prints and ships merchandise orders | printify.com/privacy-policy |
| Gravity Forms (Rocketgenius) | Contact and pitch forms, stored on our own server | gravityforms.com/privacy |
| WooCommerce / Kadence Memberships | Store and membership accounts and billing | Self-hosted on our server |
We may also share information:
- when the law requires it, such as a valid subpoena or court order;
- to protect the site, our users, or our rights, such as investigating fraud or abuse;
- if CSS-Tricks is sold or merged, in which case we’ll notify you before your information becomes subject to a different policy; or
- with your permission.
Comments you post, along with your name and website, are public.
We don’t sell personal information, and we don’t share it with advertisers. Sponsors never receive our subscriber list.
5. Cookies, analytics, and advertising
Cookies are small files your browser stores for a site. We use as few as we can.
| Type | What it does | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Keeps you logged in, runs checkout, remembers your cart, and blocks spam and bots | Us, Stripe, PayPal, Cloudflare |
| Preferences | Remembers settings like your comment name and email, if you choose | Us |
| Analytics | Counts visits and shows which articles are popular, in aggregate | Google Analytics, Jetpack Stats |
We’ve configured Google Analytics not to share data with Google for advertising, and Google Signals is turned off. Ads on CSS-Tricks are sold and hosted by us directly, and they don’t track you.
Your choices. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the site still works without non-essential cookies, though you’ll need cookies to log in or check out. You can opt out of Google Analytics with Google’s opt-out browser add-on. We honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals as an opt-out where the law requires it.
6. Newsletter and email
We send the newsletter only to people who signed up for it. Every issue includes an unsubscribe link, and we process unsubscribes right away. Issues may include clearly labeled sponsor messages, but sponsors never see who receives them.
Buttondown tells us whether an email was opened and which links were clicked, in aggregate, so we know what readers find useful. You can turn this off by blocking images in your email client.
If you subscribed before October 5, 2026: CSS-Tricks was previously operated by DigitalOcean, and the newsletter list came to Be Thou Awesome LLC as part of the site’s transfer. We’ll email existing subscribers to confirm they want to stay on the list, and remove anyone who doesn’t.
Purchases and memberships also generate transactional emails, such as receipts and renewal reminders. Unsubscribing from the newsletter doesn’t stop those.
7. AI and your data
We don’t sell or license your personal information, comments, or messages to AI companies, and we don’t use them to train AI models. See our AI Statement for how we approach AI more broadly.
8. How long we keep it
We keep personal information only as long as we need it.
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Newsletter subscription | Until you unsubscribe, then removed within 30 days |
| Account and membership data | While your account is open, then deleted within 90 days of closing it |
| Orders, invoices, and payment records | 7 years, for tax and accounting |
| Comments | As long as the comment is published; ask us to remove it anytime |
| Contact form and pitch messages | 2 years |
| Analytics data | 14 months in Google Analytics |
| Server and security logs | 90 days |
9. Your rights and choices
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- see the personal information we hold about you;
- correct anything that’s wrong;
- delete it, unless we must keep it, such as order records for taxes;
- export a copy in a common format; and
- stop sending you marketing email.
To make a request, email [email protected]. We’ll reply within 30 days and may ask you to confirm your identity, usually by replying from the email address we have on file. We won’t charge you or treat you differently for using these rights. You can also update most account details yourself from your account page.
EU, UK, and similar countries. You can also object to or restrict processing based on our legitimate interests, and withdraw consent anytime. If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can complain to your local data protection authority.
U.S. states with privacy laws (including California, Colorado, and others). You have the rights above, plus the right to opt out of the sale of personal information, targeted advertising, and profiling. We don’t do any of those. If we deny your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision, and we’ll respond within 45 days. You may use an authorized agent to make a request for you.
10. Security, children, and international transfers
Security. We use HTTPS across the site, limit who can access personal information, use two-factor authentication on our accounts, and rely on established providers for payments and hosting. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal information, we’ll notify you as the law requires.
Children. CSS-Tricks isn’t directed at children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has given us information, email [email protected] and we’ll delete it.
International transfers. We’re based in the United States, and our providers may process information in the U.S. and other countries. When we transfer personal information from the EU or UK, we rely on our providers’ safeguards, such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
11. Changes and contact
Changes. If we update this policy, we’ll change the “Last updated” date above. For material changes, we’ll email members, customers, and newsletter subscribers at least 30 days before the change takes effect.
Contact. Questions or requests about your privacy go to Be Thou Awesome LLC at [email protected].
