1. Overview

This Privacy & Cookie Policy explains how Academy Gaming LLC collects, uses, shares, retains, and protects information as a business based in the United States (USA), through the merchandise store at merch.academygaming.org. This policy applies to store browsing, product purchases, account/order-history features, contact requests, analytics, cookies, customer support, and related merchandise-store operations.

2. Information Collected

Information provided directly

• Contact details, such as name, email address, phone number, billing address, and shipping address.
• Order details, including products purchased, size/color selections, shipping method, order notes, and order history.
• Account details, if account features are used, such as username, password-related credentials, and account preferences.
• Customer support details, such as messages, photos of damaged or incorrect products, return/refund requests, and related communications.
• Form submissions, including contact forms and any other store forms.

Payment information

Payments are processed through third-party payment processors. We may receive limited payment status information, transaction identifiers, billing details, and fraud-screening results, but we do not intentionally store complete payment card numbers on our servers.

Information collected automatically

• IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, referral URL, pages viewed, click activity, session data, and approximate location derived from technical information.
• Cookie and analytics information used to operate the store, improve performance, remember preferences, detect fraud, and understand site usage.

3. How Information Is Used

Information may be used to:

• Process, fulfill, ship, and manage orders.
• Provide order confirmations, shipping updates, support responses, return/refund handling, and customer service.
• Operate account, cart, checkout, fraud-prevention, and security features.
• Improve store performance, product presentation, customer experience, and website functionality.
• Analyze traffic and store usage through analytics tools.
• Send marketing or promotional communications if enabled and permitted by law.
• Comply with legal, tax, accounting, fraud-prevention, payment-processing, and recordkeeping obligations.

4. Legal Bases for EEA/UK Visitors

For visitors located in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom, processing may rely on one or more legal bases, including:

• Contract: to process purchases, fulfill orders, deliver products, and provide customer support.
• Legitimate interests: to secure the store, prevent fraud, improve products, and respond to customer requests.
• Consent: for optional analytics cookies and related store analytics, optional third-party services, and marketing communications where required.
• Legal obligation: for tax, accounting, compliance, and recordkeeping requirements.

5. How Information Is Shared

Information may be shared with service providers and partners who help operate the store, including:

• Payment processors and fraud-prevention tools.
• Print-on-demand, production, fulfillment, warehouse, and shipping partners.
• Website hosting, security, backup, and technical support providers.
• Email, customer support, and form-submission tools.
• Analytics providers, such as Google Analytics or similar tools if enabled.
• Legal, accounting, compliance, tax, or professional advisors where reasonably necessary.

We do not sell personal information for money. Some analytics, advertising, or tracking technologies may be considered a “sale,” “sharing,” or targeted advertising under certain privacy laws. If applicable, opt-out choices may be provided through cookie controls, browser settings, or legally required privacy request methods.

6. Cookie Policy

We use cookies and similar technologies to run this store, remember your choices, protect transactions, and, with your permission, measure store performance.

Your choices

Optional cookies are off until you opt in. Choose Accept all, Reject optional, or Choose cookies in our banner. You can change or withdraw your choices at any time using the Cookie settings tab available across the store. Rejecting optional cookies does not prevent ordinary browsing or checkout. Some optional services, including forms protected by Google reCAPTCHA, may require separate consent before they work. Withdrawing consent stops future optional processing; it does not undo processing that already occurred.

We apply this opt-in approach worldwide, including the EEA, United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Our consent tool is configured to respect browser Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control signals. You can also delete or block cookies in your browser, although blocking essential cookies can prevent carts, sign-in, and checkout from working.

Essential store and consent cookies

• WooCommerce: woocommerce_items_in_cart and woocommerce_cart_hash remember cart changes for the browser session. wp_woocommerce_session_* links a browser to its cart, normally for up to 2 days for guests or 7 days for signed-in customers. Store configuration and session renewal can affect expiry.
• Consent choices: Complianz cmplz_* cookies record consent categories, policy version, and banner choices, normally for 180 days. WP Consent API wp_consent_* cookies communicate those choices to compatible plugins, normally for 30 days. We may ask again after a policy change or when your choice expires.
• Accounts, security, and payments: WordPress, our security services, and the payment method you choose may use session or persistent cookies needed for authentication, fraud prevention, and transaction processing. Names and durations vary by service and payment flow. See the relevant provider’s privacy notice when using its service.

Optional statistics

With statistics consent, we use Google Analytics 4 to understand visits and shopping activity, such as product lists and views, cart additions/removals, checkout steps, and completed purchases. Measurement may include product identifiers, quantities, currency, order value, and a transaction identifier, along with browser/device and page information. Our ecommerce tracking is configured not to include customer names, email addresses, telephone numbers, billing/shipping addresses, or full order/customer records.

Google Site Kit installs our Google tag and Google Tag Manager container; Tag Manager manages the ecommerce event tags. We use consent controls so optional analytics requires your statistics choice. Google Analytics cookies such as _ga and _ga_* are configured to expire after 6 months from initial creation, without extending that expiry on each visit. Browser restrictions or deletion can shorten this period. WordPress/Jetpack statistics, where used, are also assigned to the statistics category.

Google Signals, advertising personalization, and user-provided data collection are disabled in our GA4 configuration. We have not configured Google Ads conversion or remarketing tags in the store’s Tag Manager container. More information: Google Privacy Policy and How Google uses information from sites and apps.

Optional preferences and third-party services

Preferences cookies may remember optional settings if you enable that category. Google reCAPTCHA helps protect forms against spam and abuse; it is held until consent for the banner’s Marketing/third-party category. reCAPTCHA may process device, browser, interaction, and network information and use cookies under Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. This category label does not mean we currently run advertising tags. Links to social networks take you to those providers, whose own policies apply.

7. Data Retention

Order, account, and support information is retained for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill orders, provide support, comply with legal/tax/accounting obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, and maintain business records. Periods vary by data type and applicable requirements.

GA4 is currently configured to retain event-level data for 2 months and user-level data for 14 months; the user-data retention period can restart with new activity. These settings differ from browser cookie expiry and do not necessarily apply to aggregated reports. You may contact [email protected] to ask about your information and applicable deletion rights.

8. Security

Reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards are used to protect personal information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so absolute security cannot be guaranteed.

9. Customer Privacy Rights

Depending on location and applicable law, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, object to processing, request portability of personal information, withdraw consent, opt out of marketing, or opt out of certain sales/sharing/targeted advertising. California residents may have rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know/access, delete, correct, opt out of sale or sharing, limit use of sensitive personal information where applicable, and not be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights. EEA/UK visitors may have GDPR/UK GDPR rights, including access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, withdrawal of consent, and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. To submit a request, contact [email protected]. We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests.

10. Children’s Privacy

The store is not intended for children under 16. Users under 16 should not submit personal information, create an account, or place orders through the store. If we learn that personal information from a child under 16 was collected without appropriate parent or guardian involvement, we will take reasonable steps to delete or limit that information unless retention is required by law.

11. International Visitors and Transfers

Information may be processed in the United States or other locations where service providers operate. Privacy laws in those locations may differ from the laws in your country. When required, appropriate safeguards or lawful transfer mechanisms are used for international data transfers.

12. Third-Party Links

The store may link to third-party websites, payment providers, shipping tools, social media platforms, or partner services. This policy does not control third-party websites or services. Review their policies before submitting information to them.

13. Marketing Communications

If marketing emails or promotional communications are enabled, you may opt out through the unsubscribe link or by contacting us. Transactional messages, such as order confirmations and shipping updates, may still be sent.

14. Policy Updates

This policy may be updated to reflect changes in store operations, legal requirements, tools, or privacy practices. The updated version will be posted with a revised “Last Updated” date.

15. Contact

For privacy questions, cookie questions, or privacy-rights requests, contact [email protected].