Privacy Policy
Last Updated: August 26, 2026
Tentmaker.org (“Tentmaker,” “we,” “us,” “our”) is a non-commercial theological resource site operated by Gerry Beauchemin, as part of “Hope For All Ministries”, based in Texas, USA. This policy explains what information the site collects, how it is used, and what choices you have. It applies to tentmaker.org and all pages hosted under that domain.
If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, this policy is written to satisfy the disclosure obligations of the GDPR (Articles 13–14) even where, as explained below, most of the site’s tools do not require your active consent.
1. Summary: What We Don’t Do
Before the details, the short version: Tentmaker does not run advertising, does not sell or share data with data brokers, and does not load Google’s font servers, ad scripts, or tracking pixels. Our analytics tool is cookieless, and video/audio embeds (YouTube and Apple Podcasts) use a click-to-load design so nothing connects to Google or Apple until you choose to play something. One embedded feature — our newsletter signup, described in Section 5 below — does load automatically and may set cookies from its provider as soon as a page is viewed. Our discussion forum, covered in Section 6, uses its own login/account system, which is separate from all of the above. Most of what follows describes narrow, specific tools used for narrow, specific purposes — not general-purpose tracking.
2. Analytics
We use Independent Analytics, a self-hosted, cookieless analytics tool. It runs entirely on our own server, does not set cookies, does not use persistent device fingerprints, and does not transmit any data to third parties (including Google). Because no cookie or similar tracking technology is used, no cookie consent banner is required for this feature under applicable ePrivacy rules.
Data collected through this tool is limited to aggregate, non-identifying usage statistics (e.g., page views, referring pages, general browser/device type) used to understand how the site is used and to improve it.
3. Fonts
All fonts used on this site are hosted on our own server. We do not load fonts from Google’s font servers or any other third-party font CDN, so no connection to a third-party server, and no transmission of your IP address for font delivery, occurs when you view this site.
4. Embedded Video and Audio
YouTube. Where this site embeds YouTube video content, it uses a click-to-load design: the video thumbnail is displayed without contacting YouTube’s or Google’s servers. No connection is made, and no data is sent to Google, until you click to play the video. Once you click play, the standard YouTube embed loads and Google’s own privacy practices apply to that interaction — see Google’s Privacy Policy.
Apple Podcasts. Our Audio & Video page includes embedded Apple Podcasts audio players, using the same click-to-load design described above: nothing loads from Apple’s servers until you click to reveal and load the player. No connection to Apple, and no cookies from Apple’s player, occur until you take that action. Once loaded, Apple’s own privacy practices apply — see Apple’s Privacy Policy.
5. Newsletter Signup
Our site includes a newsletter signup form, presented via an embedded frame connected to EmailOctopus, the email marketing platform used by Hope For All Fellowship (Ministries) (hopeforallfellowship.eo.page). This embed loads automatically as soon as the page containing it is viewed, meaning a connection to EmailOctopus’s servers — and any cookies EmailOctopus sets — occurs on page load, not only when you choose to sign up.
If you submit your email address through this form, it is sent directly to EmailOctopus and added to our mailing list. We do not see or store your email address on our own server outside of what EmailOctopus provides us access to. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link included in every newsletter email. EmailOctopus’s own data practices are described in EmailOctopus’s Privacy Policy.
6. Community Forum
Tentmaker operates a discussion forum using Simple Machines Forum (SMF) software, hosted on our own server and separate from the tools described above.
Account data. To post on the forum, you must register an account. This requires a username, email address, and password (stored as a hashed value, not in plain text). We may also log your IP address at registration and when posting, for spam prevention and moderation purposes.
Login cookies. The forum uses functional cookies to keep you logged in during a session and, if you choose “remember me,” across visits. These cookies are strictly necessary for functionality you have specifically requested (logging in) and do not require separate cookie consent under applicable ePrivacy rules — this is the same treatment given to ordinary website login/session cookies generally.
Public content. Unlike contact form messages (Section 7, below), forum posts are publicly visible under your chosen username. Please don’t include anything in a forum post that you don’t want to be public.
Retention. Forum account and post data is retained for as long as your account remains active, or as needed for moderation and record-keeping.
7. Contact Form
Our contact form is protected by Cloudflare Turnstile, a bot-detection tool. Turnstile analyzes limited technical signals (such as browser and device characteristics) to distinguish human visitors from automated bots. This processing is necessary to protect the form from spam and abuse and is carried out on the basis of our legitimate interest in maintaining a functioning, spam-free contact form. Turnstile does not use tracking cookies for advertising purposes. See Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy.
Use of submitted messages. When you submit a message through our contact form, that message becomes the property of Tentmaker / Hope For All Ministries. We may use the content of your message — with your name kept private — in future articles or published materials. If you would prefer your message not be used in this way, please say so in your message and we will honor that request.
8. Donations
Tentmaker plans to offer an optional PayPal donation button in the future. When enabled, donations will be processed entirely by PayPal — we will not receive or store your payment card or bank account details. PayPal’s own privacy practices will apply to any information you provide when donating; see PayPal’s Privacy Statement. This policy will be updated with further detail once the donation feature is live.
9. International Data Transfers
Site hosting. Tentmaker.org itself is hosted on servers located in the United States. This means that any data the Site directly collects and stores — including contact form submissions and the aggregate data recorded by our self-hosted analytics tool — is transferred to, and stored on, a server in the United States as soon as you access the Site, regardless of where you are located. If a content delivery network (CDN) is added in the future, page content (though not necessarily form submissions) may also be served from additional locations outside the United States.
Third-party tools. Separately, some of the third-party tools referenced above (YouTube/Google, Apple, EmailOctopus, Cloudflare, and — once enabled — PayPal) are operated by companies based in or with servers located in the United States. Where you interact with these embedded tools (for example, by viewing a page with the Apple Podcasts or newsletter embed, or by playing a video), your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States or other countries outside the EEA/UK. We have limited control over the safeguards these providers use for such transfers; we encourage you to review each provider’s own privacy policy (linked above) for details.
10. Your Rights
If you are located in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, you have the right to:
- Request access to personal data we or our third-party tools hold about you
- Request correction or deletion of that data
- Object to or restrict certain processing
- Request a copy of your data in a portable format
- Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority (for Austria, the Datenschutzbehörde)
Because most site functionality (analytics, fonts) involves no personal data collection at all, these rights are most relevant to the newsletter, contact form, and (once active) donation features. To exercise any of these rights regarding data we directly hold (e.g., contact form submissions), contact us using the details in Section 12.
11. Data Retention
Contact form messages are retained as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in Section 6, including potential future editorial use. Newsletter subscriber data is retained by EmailOctopus until you unsubscribe or request deletion. Analytics data is aggregate and non-identifying and is retained for site improvement purposes.
12. Children’s Privacy
This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has submitted personal information through our contact or newsletter forms, please contact us and we will remove it.
13. Content Delivery and Security (Cloudflare)
Tentmaker.org uses Cloudflare for DNS and content delivery/security infrastructure. Because of this, Cloudflare sits in front of the entire Site — not just the contact form (see Section 7’s mention of Cloudflare Turnstile above) — meaning it processes technical data (such as your IP address and general browser information) for every page you visit, in order to route traffic to our server and screen out malicious requests.
Cloudflare may set a small number of strictly necessary cookies as part of this security function (for example, cookies used to remember that a visitor has already passed a security check, so they aren’t challenged repeatedly). These cookies are used only for site security and performance — not advertising or cross-site tracking — and are generally treated as “strictly necessary” cookies that do not require separate consent under applicable ePrivacy rules, on the same basis as Turnstile.
Cloudflare acts as our infrastructure provider (a data processor) for this purpose. Cloudflare is a US-based company operating a global network; see Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy for details on its own data handling.
14. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time as the site’s features change (for example, when the donation feature described in Section 7 is activated). The “Last Updated” date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision.
15. Contact Us
Questions about this policy, or requests regarding your data, can be requested via our contact form at: https://tentmaker.org/about/contact