This page describes how I process information about the visitors who view my website.
About My Website
I maintain this website so I may interact with people who are interested in my books and short stories, and the general articles I post about my life and home town.
I maintain this website for purely promotional reasons. I don’t sell anything on my website, although I may from time to time give something away for free, such as a short story or a promotional item.
My website is run on WordPress, and it’s important to understand what that means.
About WordPress
My website runs on WordPress.com. WordPress is a company that provides a variety of services to bloggers, business owners, and other types of enterprises that allow them to create, publish, and manage their own websites.
WordPress provides the structure for my website. They provide the format by which visitors can read my published content on their computer screens, smart phones, or other devices.
WordPress also provides the functionality that allows visitors to leave comments on my blog posts, or respond to poll questions and surveys. They also provide common social media interaction capabilities, such as “likes,” “shares,” and “follows.”
With that introduction in mind, let’s talk about the information that may be collected about visitors who view my website.
Information I Collect About Visitors to My Website
I collect information about visitors to my website in a few different ways. Some of that information is collected because visitors provide it; some is collected automatically.
Information Visitors Actively Provide to My Website
When you visit my website and type information into a text field or click on certain icons, my website collects and stores that information for future use.
Here are some examples of the most common ways a visitor actively provides information to my website:
- Follower and Subscriber Information: When a visitor signs up to follow or subscribe to my website, I collect the sign-up information the visitor provides, which typically includes the visitor’s name and email address.
- Site Comments: When a visitor leaves a comment on my website, I collect that comment and other information that the visitor provides with the comment, such as the visitor’s name, email address, and IP address.
- Poll and Survey Responses: When a visitor completes a poll, quiz, or any other form of survey on my website, I collect the visitor’s responses to those surveys, and other information associated with the survey, such as a visitor’s email address.
Information that is Automatically Collected from My Website
Because I use WordPress.com to provide the functionality for my website (as described above in the “About WordPress” section), WordPress.com also collects information about visitors to my website.
In fact, WordPress collects all of the same information a visitor actively provides to my website that I listed above, such as:
- Information you enter into a text field on my website
- Your name
- Your email address
- Comments you leave on my website
- Poll and survey responses
WordPress.com collects this information so the features on my website function correctly.
In addition, WordPress.com collects other data about visitors to my website that is required for normal website functionality. That data includes the information that web browsers, mobile devices, and servers typically make available about visitors to a website, which may include the visitor’s:
- IP address
- Browser type
- Unique device identifiers
- Language preference
- Referring site
- The date and time of access
- Operating system
- Mobile network information
WordPress also collects cookies.
A Quick Word about Cookies . . .
A cookie is a string of data a website stores on a visitor’s computer when a visitor first views a website. The visitor’s browser then provides those cookies back to the website each time the visitor returns.
Internet hosts, such as WordPress.com, use cookies to help identify and track visitors and website usage, and to deliver targeted ads when ads are allowed on a website.
My website does not allow ads. You should never see a paid advertisement of any kind when you visit my website.
My website does collect cookies to the extent they are required for normal website functionality. These cookies, collected by WordPress.com, cannot be turned off because my website would not operate properly without them. The cookies that are collected do not store personal data; they store only identifiers that help track your website usage and preferences.
If you’d like to know more about the kind of information WordPress.com collects when visitors view my site, please click here.
How I Share Visitor Information
I do not share or sell information about visitors to my website with any third parties.
WordPress.com may share information collected about my website visitors in limited circumstances. WordPress’s parent company, Automattic, has published very thorough notices of their privacy policy and their policy about how they use cookies. You can read those notices here:
Visitor Consent
Personal Information I Already Collected from You
If you already subscribe to my website and receive notices when I publish a new blog post, you have already given me and WordPress.com consent to collect personal information about you related to your subscription.
If you already posted a comment on my website or on any of my blog posts, you have already given me and WordPress.com consent to collect personal information about you related to that comment.
If you already clicked on an icon to “Like,” “Share,” or “Follow” a post or page on my website, you have already given me and WordPress.com consent to collect personal information about you related to the icon function you selected.
Length of Time Your Data will be Stored
Your data will be stored indefinitely or until you ask me to remove your personal information from my website.
You have the right at any time to ask me to remove your personal information from my website.
You can do so by:
- Clicking on the “unsubscribe” link located at the bottom of any email you receive from me. By clicking on the “unsubscribe” link your personal information will be removed from my website and you will no longer receive automatic updates from my website when a new article or blog post appears.
- Contacting me directly. You can request that your personal information be removed from my website by sending me an email that includes your name and email address, which will help me properly identify you in my website records. Send your request to remove your personal information to:
Jenny.Berlin@anglocentria.com
When You Provide Personal Information, You Provide Consent
When you visit my website, and you take any or all of the following actions, you give me permission to collect personal information about you:
- Leave a comment on my website.
- Subscribe to my website to receive updates by email when I publish a new post on my blog.
- Click the “Like” button on an article or blog post on my website.
- Click “Share” on an article or blog post on my website to share content via any social media platform.
- Click “Follow” on an article, blog post, or visitor comment thread on my website.
If You Do NOT Consent . . .
If you do not consent to having my website collect personal information about you, please do not complete any text fields on the site.
Do not type your email address into the “Follow My Blog via Email” field on my website.
Do not type a comment into the “Leave a Reply” field on my website or on blog posts.
Do not click on any of the social media icons under the “Share This” heading on my website.
You Have a Right to Lodge a Complaint
If you work or reside in the European Union, and you believe my website is in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authorities (DPAs).
DPAs are independent public authorities that monitor and supervise the application of the General Data Protection Regulation. They provide expert advice to consumers on data protection issues and handle complaints against entities that may have breached GDPR requirements.
Please click here for information on how to contact your country’s DPA.
Future Updates to My Privacy Policy
This privacy policy is effective May 25, 2018. It may be revised in the future as a result of changes to my website or business practices.
If, for example, I decide to compile and maintain a subscriber mailing list for the purposes of sending out a newsletter, I will revise this Privacy Policy to disclose my privacy practices related to the newsletter endeavor.
I will always announce changes to this Privacy Policy here on my website. That way, visitors are aware of and can make informed decisions about viewing my website and how my website uses viewers’ personal information.
Writer Jenny Berlin 