This policy was last updated on September 16, 2023.
If you are about to subscribe to my blog or newsletter website, email me, or contact me on social media (or if you have already done any of these things), you should read this notice.
The general information about website security, links to third party websites and use of Google Analytics (‘Cookies’) applies to all visitors.
New General Data Protection Regulations came into force on 25th May 2018. Although they are designed primarily for large organisations, please be assured that I take your privacy extremely seriously. That’s why I only ever ask you for the information I need and I never sell lists or email addresses.
By subscribing to my blog you consent to having blog posts delivered to your email address. My list of blog subscribers is managed via a plug in on my website, so the information is not exported to a third party provider. For details of my website security, see below.
By subscribing to my newsletter you consent to receiving details of newsworthy events and incidental information, which may include but will not be limited to a free eBook, details of new releases, special offers, competitions and giveaways. I do not store your Personal Information. Instead, my list of newsletter subscribers is managed on a third party site called Mailchimp. When you sign up to my newsletter, you consent that I can:
- Transfer your contact information to Mailchimp
- Store you contact information in my Mailchimp account
- Send you newsletters/emails from my Mailchimp account
- Track interactions (e.g., click and open rates) for email marketing purposes.
All Mailchimp forms collect your email address, IP address, and add their own timestamp which serves as evidence that you have provided consent. I do not have access to the Distribution Lists of other Mailchimp users and they do not have access to mine.
Read Mailchimp’s Privacy Policy here.
Alternatively, if you obtain a free book via the third party site Bookfunnel, at the point of download you will be given the option of signing up for my newsletter. In all cases signup to my newsletter is optional and separate from the option of taking a free book.
Read Bookfunnel’s Privacy Policy here.
In order to demonstrate that you have elected to sign up to my newsletter, either directly or via Bookfunnel, after you complete your details, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your intention. This process is known as ‘double opt-in.’
If I meet you at an event and you provide me with your name and email address/other contact details on the understanding that I will sign you up to my blog or newsletter, you will receive an email asking you to confirm that you want to join the lists.
UNSUBSCRIBING
You can stop receiving blog posts and newsletters at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions included at the foot of every blog post or email I send you.If you unsubscribe from my blog or newsletter, your data will be automatically deleted.
BETA READERS and ARC READERS
If you have either asked to join or have accepted a personal invitation to join my teams of beta readers or advance review copy readers, I will assume that your email is consent to process your Personal Information.
LEGITIMATE BUSINESS INTEREST
If you contact me via the contact form on my website or email me directly, I will simply reply, relying on lawful basis of processing (in other words, I will not ask for your consent before replying). I will not enter your details on any database without your consent, but your name and email address will automatically be stored as a ‘contact’ on my email provider. I may also store the email/email chain if it contains details I think I may need to refer back to, especially if it contains a review of my work.
SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
If you comment on my social media accounts or on YouTube, records of those transactions will be held by the relevant social media channels. I have access to databases of followers on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. In these instances, I am not the data processor. However, I use strong passwords and two factor authentication on these sites.
MINORS
I do not knowingly collect or maintain Personal Information from individuals under 16 years of age, and no part of my website is designed or intended to attract people under the age of 16. Protecting the privacy of children is very important to me. If you are under 16, do not use or provide any information on the website or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address or any screen name or user name you may use. If I obtain knowledge that a user is under the age of 16, I will take steps to remove that user’s Personal Information from my databases.
HOW LONG WILL YOU KEEP MY PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR?
If you have subscribed to my blog or newsletter, but you do not open my emails, I may delete your Personal Information. You can unsubscribe at any time (see above).
If you are a beta reader or advance reader, I will retain your Personal Information until you advise me that you no longer wish to be a beta reader or advance reader.
WHAT IF MY PERSONAL INFORMATION IS WRONG?
You can ask me to correct your Personal Information at any time.
WEBSITE SECURITY
My website is hosted by HostGator.com, who run constant security scans. The website uses strong password-protection and only I have access. (See below – Data Breaches)
GOOGLE ANALYTICS
I use Google Analytics on my website. This means that Google Analytics is the Data Processor, I control what data is sent to them.
You can read Google’s Privacy Policy here. As of 1 May 2018, they are “working hard to prepare for the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.”
Google Analytics is a ‘Cookie’. Cookies allow the local temporary storage of details regarding your specific information and preferences when visiting a website. For example, it takes note of how many people visit my website, how they navigated it website, how long they spent on each page, etc. I don’t collect data on individual visitors (i.e. Personal Information), only a summary of statistics of visitors browsing my website.
DATA BREACHES
I use strong password-protecting on my computer, website and social media. If my computer, website or social media accounts were compromised, I would notify you at the earliest opportunity, seek advice and take steps to follow that advice immediately.
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
My website, blog posts and newsletters contain links to other websites. Once you use these links, you will leave my website. I am not responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites. Please exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
WordPress Policy
WHO WE ARE
Our website address is: https://denaweigel.com.
COMMENTS
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
MEDIA
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
COOKIES
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
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.
WHO WE SHARE YOUR DATA WITH
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
HOW LONG WE RETAIN YOUR DATA
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
WHAT RIGHTS YOU HAVE OVER YOUR DATA
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, 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.
WHERE YOUR DATA IS SENT
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
AKISMET ANTI-SPAM
We collect information about visitors who comment on Sites that use our Akismet Anti-spam service. The information we collect depends on how the User sets up Akismet for the Site, but typically includes the commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, and Site URL (along with other information directly provided by the commenter such as their name, username, email address, and the comment itself).