Protecting and respecting your privacy is important to me, especially when it comes to the matter of personal data, including anything that could identify who you are and other details about you. As part of my commitment to respecting your privacy, I want to be clear and open about what personal data I collect from you and how it is used. I will not share your personal information with other people unless you give your consent.
The items and format of this Privacy Policy are in direct response to the items addressed in the European Union (EU) Regulation 2016/679, also known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR is now in effect, as of May 25, 2018.
If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please contact me, Archer Kay Leah, at archer.kay.leah@gmail.com. If you disagree with any portion of this policy or are otherwise uncomfortable going forward on this website, please stop using this site immediately.
Regulation Objectives & Definitions
The GDPR has set rules regarding the protection of personal data and all manners of processing it may go through, including the collection, use, and other actions things performed with that data. The objective of the Regulation is to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals and their right to keep their personal information protected, especially where businesses, organizations, and other enterprises are concerned.
For this policy, the use of the term “Personal data” refers to any information pertaining to a person that could be used to identify them as an individual, either directly or indirectly. This includes name, email, location data, online identifiers, or anything that could be use to identify an individual.
Your Rights
As a user of this website, you have the fundamental right to know when and why personal data is being collected about you, to have that data protected, and for that data to not be used in ways you never consented to. You also have the right to know what information companies and other enterprises have about you.
Your specific rights include, but are not limited, to the following:
(1) Right of access: The right to see whether or not I have personal information about you, and if so, what that information is, how it’s being used, who has access to it, and anything else pertaining to that information. Your personal info remains your info always, and you have every right to know that it’s being respected and used lawfully.
(2) Right to rectification: The right to have me correct any information that I have about you that is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise incorrect.
(3) Right to erasure (the ‘right to be forgotten’): The right to have me delete any or all personal information I have about you, without delay, at any point in time.
(4) Right to restriction of processing: The right to restrict and refuse my collection and use of your personal data in any way, at any time.
(5) Right to data portability: The right to receive a copy of the personal data I have regarding you, and the right to move that data to somewhere or someone else without any interference from me.
(6) Right to object: The right to object to me collecting or using your personal data for any or all reasons. If you don’t want me to have your personal information or use it for anything, you can say so at any time.
(7) Right to lodge a complaint, including the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: If at any time you have a complaint with how I use your personal data, please email me and I will work to fix the issue. However, if the issue cannot be resolved, or it is not resolved to your satisfaction, citizens of the EU have the right to issue a complaint to a Supervisory Authority, as dictated by the GDPR.
What Personal Data I Collect About You & How It Is Used
Interactions with this WordPress site:
This website is subject to whatever cookies, analytics, and data collection WordPress employs (https://automattic.com/privacy/). This also includes information submitted by anyone who signs up to receive updates from this blog, which is handled through WordPress.
My access to your personal data and control of that data are restricted. More specifically, I cannot identify an individual user through what information I receive from WordPress’s analytics, which is limited to how many visits specific posts and pages have received per day, outbound link clicks, referring URLs, and search engine terms. However, should you comment or “Like” on posts on this particular blog, the personal data collected includes the name and email address you enter into the comment form, although your email address will not be posted. The same goes for those who sign up to “Follow” or receive emails with updates to this blog.
In all cases, my use of your name, email, and any other information you supply on this site is limited only to interacting with you on this platform, unless you request or otherwise give your consent for that information to be used for something else. You will never be signed up for a newsletter or sent unsolicited materials using the data disclosed here – materials will only be sent with your explicit consent. You may withdraw your comments on posts at any time. You can also cease to consent using this site at any time.
Giveaways:
Where giveaways are hosted via Rafflecopter:
(1) Please consult the Rafflecopter Privacy Policy (https://www.rafflecopter.com/privacy-policy), as your personal data will be collected and processed by them. This applies to all giveaways conducted in this manner, whether the giveaway is hosted by me and/or for me, or by and/or for another author or entity. Your data are stored on their servers and protected by their security measures.
(2) If the giveaway is hosted by me, I am the recipient of your data and will use the name, email address, and/or the social media handles supplied to the giveaway to contact the winner(s) of said giveaway. I will not use this information for any other purpose, and I won’t collect any more information than is necessary. When prizes have been awarded and the giveaway completed in its entirety, your personal data will be erased on my end within 3 months of our final communication. (Again, please consult Rafflecopter for their own erasure policies.)
Where the giveaways are hosted on this site, Twitter, Facebook, or another social media platform, without Rafflecopter or another similar application:
(1) I am the collector of your data and will use the names, email addresses, and/or social media handles supplied to the giveaway to contact the winner(s) of said giveaway. I will not use this information for any other purpose. When prizes have been awarded and the giveaway completed in its entirety, your personal data will be erased on my end within 3 months of our final communication.
(2) Giveaways are by consent only: you participate only if you want to, and only by doing some form of affirmative action, such as posting a comment or another action as indicated in the giveaway. You may withdraw from said giveaway at any point.
(3) I will not collect any more information than is absolutely necessary to conduct the giveaway. This includes name, email address, and/or social media handle, but may also include a physical address, dependent on the format of the prizes being awarded. In cases where a physical address is required (and legal name, should the name provided to the giveaway not be your legal name), that information will be handled through private email using my Gmail address, subject to the Google Privacy Policy, their data protection standards, and security measures (https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en).
(4) In the cases where the prizes, such as gift cards or books, are awarded through Amazon or another online retailer, I will supply the email address of the winner(s) in order to send those prizes, and for that reason alone. This may also include providing them your name, should they require it. Your personal data, in that case, is subject to the Amazon or online retailer’s Privacy Policy and their security measures to keep your information safe.
(5) Information you provide me will never be shared with anyone else. It will not be used for any reason other than to conduct the giveaway. By participating in the giveaway, you are consenting to all of the above.
Email:
As stated above, email contact will be handled through my account with Gmail, subject to Google’s Privacy Policy, as the data are stored on their servers and protected by their security measures. Your name and email address are included in the personal data that are collected, and I will use those specific items to communicate with you, and only to communicate with you.
If at any time you do not wish to interact with me, you may request to never receive email from me in the future. You can request that I delete your personal data at any time, and I will do so.
Newsletter:
UPDATE, DECEMBER 22, 2019: I have now reinstated my newsletter, starting from scratch. (See below for my notes from June 2018.) For those who are interested in hearing more about what I’m doing, any and all new releases, and any related author information, please see the Newsletter tab in the menu to sign up. On that page is a link to the sign-up form on the MailChimp website. The form requests only your name and email address, which are necessary to the newsletter process, as well as a box to select to confirm your consent to receive the newsletter by email. Your data will be stored by MailChimp via their policies. For my part, your information will be not be used for any other reason than the newsletter. You are welcome to unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of my emails. You can also inquire about the data I have about you.
Originally from June 2, 2018, re. the previous newsletter:
At this time, I have suspended my newsletter due to extended inactivity on my part and have wiped the subscriber list clean. The names and email addresses that were collected for that newsletter will no longer be used for any form of communication from me. (For full disclosure, the service I used for that newsletter was MailChimp, which has their own privacy policy as to how your data is handled and stored: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/?_ga=2.244025221.1629123672.1526331711-779701321.1526331711).
In the future, I may begin another newsletter if I find I can make it constant and worthwhile, during which anyone who wants to sign up for it will be given the chance to do so and give their consent to receiving such communications from me. Information about signing up, giving consent to receive such communications, and the platform through which the newsletter will be sent will be provided at that time, along with a link to their privacy policies and security measures. Like with the above, any information collected for that purpose will be used only for that purpose.
Social media:
In the cases where you interact with me on social media, your personal data is subject to the policies and security measures of those specific social media platforms. This includes the following sites:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/policy.php
Twitter: https://twitter.com/en/privacy
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/static?template=privacy_guidelines
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/privacy
Accessing Personal Data I Have About You
If, at any time, you wish to know if I hold personal data about you and what that data is, please email me your request at archer.kay.leah@gmail.com. There is no fee involved to obtain said information – it’s free of charge.
Amendments to this Privacy Policy
I reserve the right to amend, modify, or otherwise revise this Privacy Policy as is necessary. Any changes will be clearly presented here, with an up-to-date “Effective date” posted at the bottom of this page. All changes will take effect on your subsequent visit to this site.
Once more, I encourage you to read WordPress’s Privacy Policy (https://automattic.com/privacy/) for more information on the personal data they collect and how they use it. That includes their use of analytics and cookies, which collect information such as your IP address, country, what pages you have viewed, and what links you clicked to help blog owners understand how visitors are using their sites.
Again, should you have any concerns or questions, please email me at archer.kay.leah@gmail.com.
Effective date: December 22, 2019
Archer Kay Leah, Romance Author 