Effective date: 01/07/2024

Introduction

Welcome to Writers Bloc, a website that connects writers with readers and provides a space for creative expression and constructive criticism. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy will inform you about how we collect, use, and disclose your personal data when you visit our website or use our services.

What data do we collect?

We may collect and process the following types of data from you:

Identity data: such as your name, username, email address, and profile picture.
Contact data: such as your email address, phone number, and social media handles.
Content data: such as the stories, poems, essays, reviews, comments, and messages that you create, upload, or share on our website.
Usage data: such as your browsing history, preferences, feedback, and survey responses.
Technical data: such as your IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, and cookies.
Marketing data: such as your preferences for receiving marketing communications from us or our third-party partners.

How do we collect your data?

We may collect and process your data in the following ways:

Directly from you: when you register an account, create or upload content, communicate with us or other users, participate in surveys or contests, or request support.
Automatically from you: when you visit our website or use our services, we may use cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies to collect and store your data.
From third parties: we may receive your data from third-party sources, such as social media platforms, analytics providers, advertising networks, or other websites that link to or integrate with our website.

How do we use your data?

We may use your data for the following purposes:

To provide and improve our website and services: we use your data to enable you to access and use our website and services, to personalize your experience, to provide you with relevant content and recommendations, to monitor and analyze the performance and usage of our website and services, and to troubleshoot and resolve any issues.
To communicate with you: we use your data to send you service-related messages, such as account verification, password reset, security alerts, and technical notices. We may also use your data to send you marketing communications, such as newsletters, promotions, and special offers, if you have consented to receive them or if we are otherwise permitted by law. You can opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by following the unsubscribe link in the email or contacting us at [email protected].
To protect and enforce our rights and interests: we use your data to prevent and detect fraud, abuse, violation of our terms and conditions, and infringement of our intellectual property rights. We may also use your data to defend ourselves against any legal claims or disputes, or to comply with any legal obligations or requests from authorities.

How do we share your data?

We may share your data with the following parties:

Other users: when you create or upload content, or communicate with other users on our website, your identity data and content data may be visible to them. You can control the visibility of your content and profile settings through your account settings.
Third-party service providers: we may use third-party service providers to perform certain functions on our behalf, such as hosting, storage, analytics, payment processing, email delivery, and marketing. We only share your data with these service providers to the extent necessary for them to perform their services for us, and we require them to protect your data and comply with applicable laws.
Third-party partners: we may share your data with third-party partners, such as advertisers, sponsors, or affiliates, who may use your data to offer you products or services that may be of interest to you, or to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. We will only share your data with these partners with your consent or if we are otherwise permitted by law. You can opt out of receiving third-party marketing communications at any time by following the unsubscribe link in the email or contacting us at [email protected].
Other parties: we may share your data with other parties, such as law enforcement, regulators, courts, or other parties, if we are required or permitted by law, or if we believe that such disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, interests, or property, or the rights, interests, or property of others.

How do we store and secure your data?

We store your data on secure servers located in Australia and other countries. We use appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data. We encourage you to use strong passwords, avoid using the same password for different accounts, and keep your password confidential.

How long do we keep your data?

We keep your data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it, or as required or permitted by law. When we no longer need your data, we will delete it or anonymize it in accordance with our data retention policy. You can also request us to delete your data at any time by contacting us at [email protected].

What are your data protection rights?

You have the following data protection rights:

The right to access: you have the right to request a copy of the data that we hold about you.
The right to rectification: you have the right to request that we correct any data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
The right to erasure: you have the right to request that we delete your data, subject to certain exceptions.
The right to restrict processing: you have the right to request that we limit the way we use your data, subject to certain exceptions.
The right to object to processing: you have the right to object to our use of your data for certain purposes, such as direct marketing or legitimate interests.
The right to data portability: you have the right to request that we transfer your data to another organization or to you, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, subject to certain exceptions.
The right to withdraw consent: you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on your consent to process your data.
The right to complain: you have the right to complain to the relevant data protection authority, if you are unhappy with how we handle your data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We may ask you to provide proof of your identity and sufficient information to locate your data. We will respond to your request within a reasonable time frame, or as required by law.

How do we update our privacy policy?

We may update our privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, legal requirements, or other factors. If we make any material changes, we will notify you by email, or by posting a notice on our website, or by other means as required by law. The date at the top of this privacy policy indicates when it was last updated. We encourage you to review this privacy policy periodically to stay informed about how we collect, use, and share your data.

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.

How do we contact us?

If you have any questions, comments, or requests regarding this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

The Writers Bloc

[email protected]