Privacy Policy

Effective Date: May 14, 2026 Last Updated: May 14, 2026

Life in Mérida™ (“we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit lifeinmerida.com (the “Site”), interact with our emails, or use any of our services, and what rights you have over that information.

By using the Site, you agree to the practices described here. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the Site.

Who We Are

Life in Mérida™ is operated by Amy Jones and Angel Rodriguez. We publish content, guides, and services for people considering or making a move to Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. You can reach us anytime at amy@lifeinmerida.com.

Information We Collect

Information You Give Us Directly

When you fill out a form on our Site, subscribe to our newsletter, download a free guide, buy a paid guide, book a consultation, sign up for a scouting trip, or send us a message, we collect what you choose to provide. That typically includes:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Information about your relocation plans, if you share it
• Payment information (processed by our payment providers — see “Payment Processing” below)
• Anything you write to us in messages, comments, or form submissions

Information We Collect Automatically

When you visit the Site, certain information is collected automatically through standard web technologies. This includes:

• Your IP address and general location (country/region, not your specific address)
• Browser type and version
• Operating system and device type
• Pages you visit on our Site and how long you stay
• The website or search term that brought you here
• Date and time of your visit

This is collected through cookies, server logs, and the analytics tools described below.

Information from Third Parties

If you reach us through a social platform (such as our Facebook group, YouTube channel, Pinterest, or Substack), we may receive limited information from that platform consistent with the privacy settings you’ve chosen there. We do not purchase email lists or contact information from data brokers.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Deliver the guides, services, and content you request
• Send our newsletter and updates (only to people who opt in)
• Respond to your questions and messages
• Process payments for paid products and services
• Improve our Site, content, and services based on how visitors actually use them
• Comply with legal obligations

We do not sell your personal information. We do not rent or trade our email list. We do not share your information with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

Third-Party Services We Use

We use the following third-party services to operate the Site. Each has its own privacy policy, and we recommend reviewing them:

We share only the information necessary for each service to do its job. We do not give these providers permission to use your information for their own marketing.

Cookies and Tracking

Like most websites, we use cookies — small text files stored on your device — to make the Site work properly and to understand how visitors use it.

Necessary cookies are required for the Site to function and cannot be turned off.

Analytics cookies help us see which articles are most useful, where visitors come from, and what’s broken. We use Google Analytics for this.

Referral and embedded content cookies, if you accept them, may be set when you click a Professional Collaboration link or interact with embedded content (such as a YouTube video, Substack widget, or Calendly booking). These allow referrals to be attributed to us and embedded services to function properly.

You can accept or decline non-essential cookies through the cookie banner that appears on your first visit. You can also disable cookies entirely through your browser settings, though some parts of the Site may not work as well.

Email Communications

If you opt in to our newsletter or download a free guide, you’ll receive emails from us. Every email includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom — one click and you’re off the list. If the unsubscribe link doesn’t work, email amy@lifeinmerida.com and we’ll remove you manually.

We comply with the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act and (where applicable) the EU’s ePrivacy and GDPR rules around consent-based email marketing. EU/UK residents must affirmatively opt in before we add them to any list.

We do not sell, rent, or share our email list.

Payment Processing

When you purchase a paid guide, book a paid consultation, or pay for a scouting trip, your payment information is processed directly by Stripe, PayPal, or Wise, depending on the method you choose. We do not see or store your full credit card number. We do receive confirmation of the purchase, your name, your email, and the product or service purchased — which we keep for tax, accounting, and customer-service purposes.

Professional Collaborations

Some links on the Site point to professionals, businesses, or service providers we have a Professional Collaboration with — an ongoing relationship with someone we have personally used and trust. Depending on the arrangement, we may receive a discount, referral fee, finder’s fee, or commission when you engage their services through our link, at no additional cost to you. Many of our recommendations involve no compensation at all.

These links may set tracking cookies that allow the professional or a referral platform to credit Life in Mérida™ for the referral. We don’t control those third-party cookies — they’re set by the destination service.

We do not run third-party advertising on our Site or YouTube channel. We do not accept payment to publish content featuring a vendor, and we do not accept payments to include vendors in our Vendor Directory.

For a full explanation of how we choose, work with, and disclose the professionals we recommend, please see our Professional Collaborations page.

How We Share Your Information

We share your personal information only in these limited circumstances:

• With service providers listed above, strictly to operate the Site and deliver what you’ve asked for
• With your consent, when you’ve explicitly asked us to share information with a third party (for example, when we connect you with a real estate contact or local vendor)
• When required by law, including in response to valid legal process or to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others

We do not sell or rent personal information. Ever.

International Data Transfers

Life in Mérida™ operates from Mexico, and some of our service providers are based in the United States, the European Union, and elsewhere. If you’re outside Mexico and choose to provide us with information, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in Mexico, the United States, or other countries where our service providers operate. We take reasonable steps to ensure your information is protected in any jurisdiction where it’s processed.

Data Retention

We keep your information only as long as we need it:

• Email subscribers: until you unsubscribe, plus a short period for our records
• Customers: for as long as required by Mexican and U.S. tax and accounting law (typically 5–7 years after the last transaction)
• Form submissions and messages: generally 2 years after our last contact
• Analytics data: as set by our analytics provider (Google Analytics default is 14 months)

You can ask us to delete your information at any time (see “Your Privacy Rights” below), and we’ll honor that request unless we’re legally required to keep certain records.

How We Protect Your Information

We use reasonable, commercially appropriate security measures — including encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure hosting, and access controls — to protect your information from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, but we work to keep your information safe.

Please do not send sensitive information (credit card numbers, government ID numbers, etc.) by email — email is not a secure channel.

Children’s Privacy

The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at amy@lifeinmerida.com and we will delete it.

Your Privacy Rights

You have rights over your personal information, regardless of where you live. The specific rights depend on your jurisdiction.

Everyone

• Access: You can ask us what information we have about you.
• Correction: You can ask us to correct information that’s wrong.
• Deletion: You can ask us to delete your information.
• Opt-out of email: You can unsubscribe at any time from any email we send.

To exercise any of these rights, email amy@lifeinmerida.com. We’ll respond within 30 days.

If You’re in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or the EEA (GDPR)

In addition to the rights above, you have:

• The right to restrict how we process your information
• The right to object to our processing of your information
• The right to data portability — receiving your information in a portable format
• The right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing that occurred before withdrawal
• The right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

The legal basis for our processing is either your consent (for marketing emails), the performance of a contract (when you buy something or book a service), or our legitimate interests in operating a website (for analytics and security).

If You’re in California (CCPA / CPRA)

California residents have the right to:

• Know what categories of personal information we collect and how we use them
• Know whether we sell or share personal information (we do not sell personal information)
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate personal information
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (not applicable to us — we don’t sell or share for cross-context behavioral advertising)
• Limit the use of sensitive personal information (we don’t collect sensitive personal information as defined under the CPRA)
• Not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights

To exercise these rights, email amy@lifeinmerida.com.

If You’re in Mexico (LFPDPPP)

Under Mexico’s Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares, you have ARCO rights:

• Acceso (Access) — Request access to your personal data
• Rectificación (Rectification) — Request correction of your personal data
• Cancelación (Cancellation) — Request deletion of your personal data
• Oposición (Opposition) — Object to specific uses of your personal data

You also have the right to revoke any consent you’ve given us and to limit the use or disclosure of your data. To exercise any ARCO right, email amy@lifeinmerida.com.

If you believe your rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Mexico’s data protection authority (INAI — Instituto Nacional de Transparencia, Acceso a la Información y Protección de Datos Personales): inai.org.mx.

Links to Other Sites

The Site contains links to third-party websites (real estate partners, vendor directory listings, social platforms, affiliate retailers, etc.). We’re not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. Please read their privacy policies before sharing information with them.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we’ll update the “Effective Date” at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify subscribers by email. Please check back periodically.

Contact Us

For any questions, requests, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information:

Life in Mérida™ c/o Amy Nowlin Zepeda 11816 Inwood Rd, PMB 70180 Dallas, TX 75244 Email: amy@lifeinmerida.com

This Privacy Policy is provided for transparency and informational purposes. It is not legal advice. If you have specific legal concerns about your data rights, consult a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction.