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Frequently Asked Questions

You say that this is a "technique" class and not "scene study". What's the difference?

In a scene study class the actor enters the class and finds someone to work with and chooses a scene to do, or is given one, and they rehearse that scene and then present it in front of the class and are given notes. They then bring it back, usually after several classes of watching other people’s scenes, and do it again. This would be much like learning architecture by building a specific building and then being given notes on that job and watching other students do likewise. You can learn that way, but it takes a long time.

A technique class teaches the basics for how to build any building, or in this case, any scene, starting with the most elemental steps and leading eventually to the most sophisticated performances possible.

By improving your technique, you improve yourself as an actor forever. You don’t become good by doing one specific scene, starting over and hoping you were fortunate enough to have learned something useful for your next scene. This work highlights the issues you must address with every scene, and will reveal particularly those things that you personally need to work on, which can often be masked by doing certain kinds of material. And you work every class.

The studio offers an excellent scene study class but virtually everyone who has been to the studio says: “Do the Meisner training first!” Once an actor has the foundation and the ability to operate with self-sufficiency, then they are able to understand and make use of the wonderful insights these directors have to offer.

Is the technique you teach better for television and film, or stage plays? How about comedy vs. drama?

The course of study taught at the Joanne Baron/DW Brown Studio is designed so that at its conclusion an actor is capable of meeting every situation they might encounter: whether half hour comedy, feature film or a theater piece, from “kitchen sink” to Shakespearean. Because the work is based on a consistent, simple level of truthfulness, and yet develops to include the most demanding requirements of a theatrical presentation, it can be adjusted for use in any medium, in any style.

Is this technique what's called "The Method" or "Method Acting"?

If by “The Method” what is meant is that the technique is based upon the original precepts of Constantine Stanislavski, then the answer is yes. Unfortunately, the term “The Method” has come to be used imprecisely and is identified erroneously with several specific schools of acting. “The Method” is best used as a general term for an emphasis on “internal acting.”

What is the difference between "internal" and "external" acting techniques?

External acting is acting that emphasizes the representation of behavior, “to show” or to indicate behavior, and stresses the technical requirements of acting, such as speech and movement.

Internal acting emphasizes having the performer actually live through the experience, engaging their own emotional life and relating in such a way that it produces behavior consistent with the character.

External acting is associated more with the stage which requires a performance to reach to the back row of a large theater. These techniques still predominate at most university drama departments, as well as several prestigious academies.

I've heard that in some acting classes you have to talk about your personal life. Is that true with this school?

No. While internal acting does require an actor to draw upon their own true feelings, this program is not per se psychological. The instructors know nothing of the students’ private lives. It’s true that many acting schools are open forums for this kind of thing, but we think our job is to train actors to function as performers, not psychoanalyze them.

At the same time, it’s nearly a universal response among people who attend the training to say: “Everyone should do this. Not just people who want to act.” That’s because, through the process of being in the moment, getting in touch with the emotional life (even under fictional circumstances), asserting yourself and losing self-consciousness in front of an audience, there is a transformational payoff in entitlement and the tranquility of being in one’s own skin. In this way the work is not “therapy,” but it is highly therapeutic. Internal acting tends to be more intimate and grew out of a desire to represent average people in a naturalistic style. It became especially popular with the filming of performances where subtlety could be appreciated.

In truth, there is no such thing as a completely internal performance in that there must always be some accommodation for theatrical demands. Most successful external actors enhance their performances by engaging themselves emotionally.

If I start this program, will you tell me if I have any talent, or if I shouldn’t pursue acting?

We don’t talk too much about talent at the studio. We teach craft. There’s a lot of uninformed opinion about acting, and how it can’t be taught, and you either have talent for it or you don’t. That’s silly. Can you think of any other pursuit in which that’s true? Acting can be taught, just as anything can be taught; and anyone through hard work can achieve a certain level of competence.

Another problem with answering this question concerning whether someone has talent or not is you never know when someone might blossom. The cultivation process (if the talent is the seed, the craft is the cultivation) can be indefinite and, as long as someone is applying themselves, it’s possible for that seed to germinate and a huge, fruit yielding plant to emerge. Part of the excitement of teaching is you never know when this is going to happen. A student might not excel immediately, their classmates sympathetic to their initial efforts; then suddenly something kicks in and they are among the best in class, causing envy for the tremendous power of their imaginations. You never know.

Can you recommend any resources for actors?

As the leading institution specializing in preparing people for careers in acting, writing, directing, and producing, the Studio has always had a strong commitment to the success of its students.

While the Studio cannot guarantee placement or bookings, we are committed to providing useful and up-to-date employment information whenever possible.

Below are some online portals and websites you can peruse for acting jobs and helpful knowledge:

Actor’s Access – Online casting and submission website that submits your headshot and resume to projects posted by casting directors.

LA Casting – Online casting and submission website that submits your headshot and resume to projects posted by casting directors.

Backstage.com – Website for the indispensable actor’s newspaper.   Has news, casting, submissions, and more.

SAG-AFTRA – The primary screen acting and performing union in the United States.

CastingFrontier.com – Provides casting notices, Hollywood news, and more.

CAZT.com – Provides casting notices and feedback from casting directors.

YouCanAct.net – Official website for D.W. Brown’s acting manual entitled “You Can Act: A Complete Guide for Actors”. Contains Excerpts, videos, blog, and more!

Sam Christensen Studios – Sam Christensen has over a decade of experience teaching actors how to define their image.

Creative Actors Alliance – Free Industry Network Event held the 1st Saturday of every month.

Self Tape Service – Self taping services in Santa Monica.

SkyTown Entertainment – Self-tape auditions shot and edited in Hollywood.

Women in Film – WIF recognizes the importance of developing pathways and opportunities to encourage current and future generations of women to explore and pursue careers in all fields of the entertainment industry.

Daily Actor

2500 years – by D.W. Brown

We Audition – Online rehearsing, general meeting, and auditioning platform.

Can filmmakers (directors, writers, producers, etc.) attend Baron Brown Studio?

Yes! Many filmmakers have been through our program.

DIRECTORS learn to develop the skill to help actors access their deepest emotions and create the clearest, most specific characters. The Meisner training encapsulates all the specific technical information required for any written scene.

WRITERS such as David Mamet have trained in this technique and credit it with their writing skills. The initial improvisational scenes, combined with the subsequent character- and script-analysis work, cover the principles of all great writing.

PRODUCERS develop the skill to analyze a script and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Learn how to most effectively cast and interface with actors. Connect with others in the Studio community to build artistic and professional relationships and create projects. Many Baron Brown producers have created award-winning works and collaborated with other Baron Brown alumni.

Below is a partial list of Baron Brown alumni who work as filmmakers:

  • Michael Rymer (Jennifer Jones, The Man in the High Castle, ‘Hannibal,’ ‘The Killing,’ ‘American Horror Story, Battlestar Galactica,’ Queen of the Damned, Angel Baby)
  • David Rogers (‘The Mindy Project,’ ‘Parks and Recreation,’ ‘The Office’)
  • Tom Shadyac (Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty, Patch Adams, Nutty Professor)
  • Martha Coolidge (First Woman President of DGA, ‘CSI,’ ‘Angie Tribeca,’ ‘Madame Secretary,’ ‘The Night Shift,’ Real Genius, The Prince and Me, ‘Sex and the City,’ Rambling Rose, Dorothy Dandridge, Valley Girl)
  • Andrew Fleming (‘New Girl,’ Michael J Fox Show,’ The Craft, Nancy Drew, Dick, Hamlet 2)
  • Jason Hall (Thank You For Your Service, Oscar Nominee, BAFTA Nominee, and Writers Guild Nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay: American Sniper)
  • Adam Simon (Man Down, starring Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, and Kate Mara, ‘Blacklist’)
  • Anthony Yerkovich (Emmy Winner – 111 episodes of original ‘Miami Vice’ and also worked on the remake, 31 episodes of ‘Hill Street Blues’)
  • Rachel Sweet (‘Hot in Cleveland’)
  • Tom Shadyac (youngest staff joke writer for Bob Hope, Nutty Professor, Ace Ventura, in development for HBO project Kinison with Josh Gad)
  • Bob Oschack (comedy writer for over 962 episodes of ‘Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,’ ‘Best Damn Sports Show Period,’ 58 episodes of ‘Mind of Mencia’)
  • Brian Wankum (‘Once Upon a Time – almost 100 episodes,’ ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ ‘V,’ ‘Firefly’)
  • David Rogers (‘The Mindy Project,’ ‘The Office’)
  • Doug Claybourne (Nights in Rodanthe, North Country, Fast and the Furious, Mask of Zorro, Jack, Money Train, The War of the Roses, Apocalypse Now)
  • Ron Taylor (Former Vice President of Development and Programming – Colombia-TriStar , Former Vice President of Diverse Programming and Content – FOX)
  • Mickey Liddell (The Grey, The Details, The Collector, Go, ‘Everwood’)
  • Rachel Sweet (‘Hot in Cleveland,’ ‘George Lopez,’ ‘Dharma and Greg’)

What is your privacy policy?

PRIVACY NOTICE
Last updated August 18, 2020
Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at Baron Brown Studio (“Company“, “we“, “us“, “our“). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy notice, or our practices with regards to your personal information, please contact us at info@baronbrown.com media@baronbrown.com.
 
When you visit our website https://baronbrown.com (the “Website“), and more generally, use any of our services (the “Services“, which include the Website), we appreciate that you are trusting us with your personal information. We take your privacy very seriously. In this privacy notice, we seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it and what rights you have in relation to it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our Services immediately.
 
This privacy notice applies to all information collected through our Services (which, as described above, includes our Website), as well as, any related services, sales, marketing or events.
 
Please read this privacy notice carefully as it will help you understand what we do with the information that we collect.
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

Personal information you disclose to us
In Short:  We collect personal information that you provide to us.
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Website or otherwise when you contact us.
The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Website, the choices you make and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:
Personal Information Provided by You. We collect email addresses; phone numbers; names; and other similar information.
All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.

Information collected from other sources
In Short:  We may collect limited data from public databases, marketing partners, and other outside sources.
In order to enhance our ability to provide relevant marketing, offers and services to you and update our records, we may obtain information about you from other sources, such as public databases, joint marketing partners, affiliate programs, data providers, as well as from other third parties. This information includes mailing addresses, job titles, email addresses, phone numbers, intent data (or user behavior data), Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, social media profiles, social media URLs and custom profiles, for purposes of targeted advertising and event promotion.
2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?
In Short:  We process your information for purposes based on legitimate business interests, the fulfillment of our contract with you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent.
We use personal information collected via our Website for a variety of business purposes described below. We process your personal information for these purposes in reliance on our legitimate business interests, in order to enter into or perform a contract with you, with your consent, and/or for compliance with our legal obligations. We indicate the specific processing grounds we rely on next to each purpose listed below.

We use the information we collect or receive:

  • To send you marketing and promotional communications. We and/or our third-party marketing partners may use the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. For example, when expressing an interest in obtaining information about us or our Website, subscribing to marketing or otherwise contacting us, we will collect personal information from you. You can opt-out of our marketing emails at any time (see the “WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS” below).
  • Deliver targeted advertising to you. We may use your information to develop and display personalized content and advertising (and work with third parties who do so) tailored to your interests and/or location and to measure its effectiveness.
3. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?
In Short:  We only share information with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services, to protect your rights, or to fulfill business obligations.
We may process or share your data that we hold based on the following legal basis:
  • Consent: We may process your data if you have given us specific consent to use your personal information for a specific purpose.
  • Legitimate Interests: We may process your data when it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests.
  • Performance of a Contract: Where we have entered into a contract with you, we may process your personal information to fulfill the terms of our contract.
  • Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or a subpoena (including in response to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements).
  • Vital Interests: We may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.
More specifically, we may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:
  • Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
 
4. WHAT IS OUR STANCE ON THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES?
In Short:  We are not responsible for the safety of any information that you share with third-party providers who advertise, but are not affiliated with, our Website.
The Website may contain advertisements from third parties that are not affiliated with us and which may link to other websites, online services or mobile applications. We cannot guarantee the safety and privacy of data you provide to any third parties. Any data collected by third parties is not covered by this privacy notice. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of any third parties, including other websites, services or applications that may be linked to or from the Website. You should review the policies of such third parties and contact them directly to respond to your questions.
5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?
In Short:  We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law.
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than 1 year.
When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
6. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?
In Short:  We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.
We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security, and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Website is at your own risk. You should only access the Website within a secure environment.
7. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?
In Short:  We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.
We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Website, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the Website. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at info@baronbrown.com.
8. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short:  In some regions, such as the European Economic Area, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.
In some regions (like the European Economic Area), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; and (iv) if applicable, to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. To make such a request, please use the contact details provided below. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Please note however that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal, nor will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.
 
If you are a resident in the European Economic Area and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm.
If you are a resident in Switzerland, the contact details for the data protection authorities are available here: https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html.
9. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES
Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice. 
10. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short:  Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.
California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.
If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Website, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Website. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Website, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g. backups, etc.).

CCPA Privacy Notice
The California Code of Regulations defines a “resident” as:
(1) every individual who is in the State of California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose and
(2) every individual who is domiciled in the State of California who is outside the State of California for a temporary or transitory purpose
All other individuals are defined as “non-residents.”
If this definition of “resident” applies to you, we must adhere to certain rights and obligations regarding your personal information.
What categories of personal information do we collect?
We have collected the following categories of personal information in the past twelve (12) months:
Category Examples Collected
A. Identifiers
Contact details, such as real name, alias, postal address, telephone or mobile contact number, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address and account name
YES
B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute
Name, contact information, education, employment, employment history and financial information
YES
C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law
Gender and date of birth
YES
D. Commercial information
Transaction information, purchase history, financial details and payment information
NO
E. Biometric information
Fingerprints and voiceprints
NO
F. Internet or other similar network activity
Browsing history, search history, online behavior, interest data, and interactions with our and other websites, applications, systems and advertisements
NO
 
G. Geolocation data
Device location
NO
H. Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information
Images and audio, video or call recordings created in connection with our business activities
NO
I. Professional or employment-related information
Business contact details in order to provide you our services at a business level, job title as well as work history and professional qualifications if you apply for a job with us
NO
J. Education Information
Student records and directory information
NO
K. Inferences drawn from other personal information
Inferences drawn from any of the collected personal information listed above to create a profile or summary about, for example, an individual’s preferences and characteristics
NO
We may also collect other personal information outside of these categories instances where you interact with us in-person, online, or by phone or mail in the context of:
  • Receiving help through our customer support channels;
  • Participation in customer surveys or contests; and
  • Facilitation in the delivery of our Services and to respond to your inquiries.
How do we use and share your personal information?
More information about our data collection and sharing practices can be found in this privacy notice.
You may contact us by email at info@baronbrown.com, or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this document.
If you are using an authorized agent to exercise your right to opt-out we may deny a request if the authorized agent does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf.
Will your information be shared with anyone else?
We may disclose your personal information with our service providers pursuant to a written contract between us and each service provider. Each service provider is a for-profit entity that processes the information on our behalf.
We may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as for undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration. This is not considered to be “selling” of your personal data.
Baron Brown Studio has not disclosed or sold any personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding 12 months. Baron Brown Studio will not sell personal information in the future belonging to website visitors, users and other consumers.
Your rights with respect to your personal data
Right to request deletion of the data – Request to delete
You can ask for the deletion of your personal information. If you ask us to delete your personal information, we will respect your request and delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions provided by law, such as (but not limited to) the exercise by another consumer of his or her right to free speech, our compliance requirements resulting from a legal obligation or any processing that may be required to protect against illegal activities.
Right to be informed – Request to know
Depending on the circumstances, you have a right to know:
  • whether we collect and use your personal information;
  • the categories of personal information that we collect;
  • the purposes for which the collected personal information is used;
  • whether we sell your personal information to third parties;
  • the categories of personal information that we sold or disclosed for a business purpose;
  • the categories of third parties to whom the personal information was sold or disclosed for a business purpose; and
  • the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling personal information.
In accordance with applicable law, we are not obligated to provide or delete consumer information that is de-identified in response to a consumer request or to re-identify individual data to verify a consumer request.
Right to Non-Discrimination for the Exercise of a Consumer’s Privacy Rights
We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your privacy rights.
Verification process
Upon receiving your request, we will need to verify your identity to determine you are the same person about whom we have the information in our system. These verification efforts require us to ask you to provide information so that we can match it with information you have previously provided us. For instance, depending on the type of request you submit, we may ask you to provide certain information so that we can match the information you provide with the information we already have on file, or we may contact you through a communication method (e.g. phone or email) that you have previously provided to us. We may also use other verification methods as the circumstances dictate.
We will only use personal information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. To the extent possible, we will avoid requesting additional information from you for the purposes of verification. If, however, we cannot verify your identity from the information already maintained by us, we may request that you provide additional information for the purposes of verifying your identity, and for security or fraud-prevention purposes. We will delete such additionally provided information as soon as we finish verifying you.
Other privacy rights
  • you may object to the processing of your personal data
  • you may request correction of your personal data if it is incorrect or no longer relevant, or ask to restrict the processing of the data
  • you can designate an authorized agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorized agent that does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf in accordance with the CCPA.
  • you may request to opt-out from future selling of your personal information to third parties. Upon receiving a request to opt-out, we will act upon the request as soon as feasibly possible, but no later than 15 days from the date of the request submission.
To exercise these rights, you can contact us by email at info@baronbrown.com, or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this document. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you.
11. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?     
 
In Short:  Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.
We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
12. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?     
If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at info@baronbrown.com or by post to:
Baron Brown Studio
1323 Lincoln Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
United States
13. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?     
Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it in some circumstances. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please submit a request form by clicking here. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
This privacy policy was created using Termly’s Privacy Policy Generator.