Who We Are
The website where this privacy policy relates to is www.finalstraw.org. We are an unincorporated, not for profit website built and managed by the ecological artist/filmmaker couple Patrick M. Lydon (United States) and Suhee Kang (Korea). This website exists to help bring awareness to ways of thinking and doing that regenerate the health of humans and the natural ecosystems we are part of. Our work offers stories and actions related building social and ecological wellbeing (including natural farming as seen in Japan, Korea, and the United States, but also mirrored in countless non-capitalistic cultures around the world) where humans are seen as active partners with the earth. Primary content in this effort is our film “Final Straw: Food, Earth, Happiness,” and our writings, arts projects, workshops, and community events. All of our work is conducted primarily for the benefit of humans and our earth, with proceeds from sales being put back 100% into our ecological advocacy efforts.
GDPR: What personal data we collect and why we collect it
The GDPR law is a 98-chapter legal framework courtesy of the European Union that anyone who has a website is supposed to read, understand, and comply with. Most of us would need a legal and technical team in place in order to make sure we do not get blocked (or sued) by the EU authorities — did you know for instance, that the minimum cost of compliance for anyone doing business with any EU resident is estimated by one survey at $1 million? We are generally uninterested in your personal data, and it is honestly, a huge pain in the ass for a small, not-for-profit organization like ours to be forced by the GDPR to write this page and make changes to our site (like removing your ability to comment, because we would need to enable all sorts of protocols if we did).
To that effect, we are doing our best to figure out what we have to write here, and so far as we know, the European politicians would like you to know that some features of the site will collect data as necessary. This data includes:
- Gumroad Purchases
If you purchase our film, the distributor will collect certain data from you. This will include the basic data needed to process your payment and to ensure authenticity, security, and correctness of the payment system. We do not personally collect this data, with the exception of your email, the country from which you make a purchase, and in the case you provide it, your name. We use this information only to service your order, and to send updates to you regarding the film. You can opt out of the updates at any time through the link in any email sent to you from Gumroad. We can not directly facilitate this process. You can find a full and up-to-date listing of the data that Gumroad collects on their website. - Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to help us figure out where in the world our work is being read/seen, and to help make our website a better, more useful resource for learning. We do not care about your personal data, nor do we have access to it. What we can see (if your browser is configured to accept Google Analytics cookies) are anonymous statistics such as: how many people came to our site from a certain country, if our articles are being read at length, or if users are leaving before reading them, how many pages are being read, on average, and where users are referred to our website from. We consider this service essential, because it is critical information for any site that is aimed at creating more engaging and useful content for users. We will never use this information to personally identify you. If are really concerned about this whole cookie business and wish to disable Google Analytics, we suggest you Google the topic (purposeful irony there). You also might consider using a browser like Firefox that allows you to control privacy with relative ease. - Embedded Content from Other Websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website. - Visitor Comments
Comments are disabled across the entire site because it is too costly for a small site like ours to comply with GDPR requirements and still allow you to have your voice heard. If that sounds a bit off, complain to your politicians about it, not us. If you have an account on this site that was created before GDPR, or have left comments, they are hidden, however you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.