1. Who We Are

Smiling Pages Recipes is a free recipe website available at www.smilingpages.com. We publish over 100,000 recipes for home cooks everywhere. The site is operated by an individual based in the United States.

2. What Data We Collect

Server logs

Like every website, our server automatically records standard access-log information each time you visit: your IP address, browser type (user-agent), the page you requested, the referring URL, and a timestamp. These logs are kept for security and debugging purposes and are not linked to any personal identity. They are retained for up to 90 days, after which they are automatically overwritten.

Votes (recipe upvotes)

When you upvote a recipe we record a one-way hash of your IP address (SHA-256 with a server-side salt). This is a one-way operation — we cannot reverse the hash to find your original IP address. We use this solely to prevent the same person from voting on the same recipe multiple times.

Comments

If you leave a comment on a recipe, we store:

• The name you enter (displayed publicly next to your comment)
• Your comment text (displayed publicly)
• A one-way hash of your IP address (not displayed, used only for spam/abuse prevention)

We do not require an email address or any other contact information to comment.

Session cookie

We use a single PHP session cookie to enforce rate limits on comment submissions. This cookie does not contain any personal information and expires automatically when you close your browser. We do not use this cookie for tracking or advertising.

YouTube video embeds

Some recipe pages include YouTube videos embedded directly on the page. When those videos load, YouTube (operated by Google LLC) may set its own cookies on your device and collect usage data according to its own policies. Please see Google’s Privacy Policy for details.

Google Fonts

We load typography (Nunito and Lato fonts) from Google’s font servers at fonts.googleapis.com. When your browser requests these fonts, Google receives your IP address and browser information. See Google’s Privacy Policy for more information.

3. What We Do NOT Do

• We do not sell, rent, or share your data with third parties for marketing purposes.
• We do not run advertising networks or display tracking pixels.
• We do not require you to create an account or provide a password.
• We do not accept payments, and we store no payment information whatsoever.
• We do not use analytics services (such as Google Analytics) at this time.

4. Cookies

Here is a summary of the cookies that may be present when you use this site:

• PHPSESSID (first-party, session) — Set by our server to enforce comment rate limits. Contains no personal data. Deleted when you close your browser.
• YouTube / Google cookies (third-party) — May be set when a recipe page contains an embedded YouTube video. Governed by Google’s cookie policy.
• Google Fonts (third-party) — Loading fonts from Google’s servers may result in Google logging your request.

We do not set any persistent tracking or advertising cookies ourselves. You can manage or block cookies through your browser settings. Note that blocking our session cookie may prevent comment submission.

5. Third-Party Services

Smiling Pages Recipes uses the following third-party services. When you interact with them, their own privacy policies apply:

• YouTube (Google LLC) — Video embeds on select recipe pages. Google Privacy Policy
• Google Fonts — Typography served from Google servers. Google Privacy Policy
• Social sharing buttons (Pinterest, Facebook, X/Twitter, WhatsApp) — These are simple links that open the respective platform in a new tab. We do not load any scripts from these platforms on our pages; no data is sent to them unless you actually click a share button.
  • Pinterest Privacy Policy
  • Facebook Privacy Policy
  • X (Twitter) Privacy Policy
  • WhatsApp Privacy Policy

6. Data Retention

• Server logs: Retained for up to 90 days, then overwritten.
• Comments: Retained indefinitely unless you request removal (see Your Rights below).
• Votes: Retained indefinitely as anonymous hashed records. Because we cannot reverse the hash, there is no way to link a stored vote back to any individual.

7. Your Rights

Even without user accounts, we respect your ability to manage the data you have knowingly submitted:

• Comment removal: If you posted a comment and would like it deleted, reach us through the website — include the URL of the recipe page and the text of your comment and we will remove it promptly.
• Right to know: You can ask what data we hold about you. Please note that because we store only hashed IP addresses (not raw IPs), we cannot identify you from that data alone — so in practice the only data we can associate with you is a comment you tell us you wrote.

If you are located in California or another jurisdiction with specific privacy rights (such as CCPA or GDPR-adjacent state laws), you may have additional rights. Feel free to contact us and we will do our best to accommodate your request.

8. Children’s Privacy

Smiling Pages Recipes is a general-audience recipe website and is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has submitted personal information to us, please contact us at reach us through the website and we will delete it promptly.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of the site after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact Us

Have a question about this policy or want to make a data request? We’re happy to help.