Legal

This page covers the different policies and disclaimers for this blog.  Please take the time to read through the relevant information.

What is currently covered on this page:

  • Affiliate Links Disclaimer
  • Copyright
  • Paid-For Posts Disclaimer
    • Sponsored content
    • Collaborative content
    • Product review
  • Third-Party Link Disclaimer
  • Anti-Abuse Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Errors & Omissions Disclaimer

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Affiliate Links Disclaimer

Please note that this blog may contain affiliate links.

What this means is that if someone clicks on any of these affiliate links, I will earn a small commission but at no extra cost to you (or to the author if it’s a book link).

Affiliate links help me to keep this blog up and running.  Any article with affiliate links will include a confirmation at the top that it contains them.

Affiliate links will only ever be for items or services that I use and/or support.

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Copyright

Let’s discuss the Creative Commons, shall we?

My Writing & Blog Posts

All writings (unless specified to be from another person) on this blog are licensed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License © Ari Meghlen 2013 and all following years.

Guest Posts & Reblogs

All writings done by guest posters on this blog are also licensed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License © to the respective writer.

Regarding all writings

Unauthorised use and/or duplication of anything on this site is strictly prohibited without express written permission from the blog’s author and/or the owner of the writing (in the case of reblogs and guest posts).

What is Okay?

Reblogging (via the reblog button) and quoting are acceptable as long as there is a clear link back to this blog and its respective post.

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Paid-for Post Disclaimer

Blog posts that include these disclaimers are ones where a fee was received or an item/subscription was received in order for posting the article or for an honest review.  All posts and products must be relevant to this blog’s audience.

Sponsored Content Post Disclaimer

On this blog, I am happy to work with brands and companies that may sometimes offer me a fee to sponsor an article.

All articles are approved by me before they are uploaded to this blog and I make sure to make it clear on the post that it is a sponsored post/ad.

All external links are checked before the post is uploaded.

Collaborative Content Post Disclaimer

On this blog, I am happy to work with agencies who may sometimes offer me a fee to post an article on my blog.  These can either be articles written by me or by the agency themselves.

All pre-written articles are approved by me before they are uploaded to this blog and I make sure to make it clear on the post that it is a collaborative post.

All external links are checked before the post is uploaded.

Product Review Disclaimer

All reviews of products on this blog are 100% honest, whether I received the item for free from a company/brand or own the item already.

If I received the item for free from a company/brand this will be disclosed clearly in the review post.

NB: Please note, book reviews are not part of this and I will not accept any fee for reviewing books.

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Third-Party Link Disclaimer

This Site contains links to websites owned and operated by third parties.  Please note, if you use these links, you will leave my Site.

Third-party links are provided for your information and convenience only and the content from such linked websites are not an endorsement by me.  I have no control over the content of any linked website and is not responsible for those websites or their content

I make no guarantees or representations about such linked websites, the parties who own them or the information they contain, including but not limited to the suitability or quality.

If you decide to access any third-party website and make use of the information contained there or enter into a contract for the supply of goods or services from a third party, you do so entirely at your own risk.

I accept no liability for any damage or loss, however, caused in connection with the use of/or reliance on any and all information, material, products, or services contained on or accessed through any and all linked websites.

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Anti-Abuse Policy

Sadly with online abuse on the rise, I have decided to include this Anti-Abuse policy.

This policy is in effect if you:

  • Use this blog
  • Subscribe to my newsletter or read my emails
  • Interact with me on any of my social media platforms
  • Or communicate with me for any reason

It applies to any form of abuse and harassment that is directed at me including but not limited to

  • sexism,
  • abusive language,
  • threats etc

and in any form, whether that is via comments, DMs, emails etc.

All details of the abuse and your information (as outlined in my Privacy Policy below) may be used and sent to online protection services and law enforcement.

I am within my rights to cease all interactions, and block and report anyone who bullies or abuses me.

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Privacy Policy

I will only collect and use information in ways that are useful to you and in a manner consistent with your rights and my obligations under the law.

This Policy applies to my use of any and all data collected by me in relation to your use of this site, both the site and in email/social media interactions.

This privacy notice aims to give you information on how I collect and process your personal data through your use of this website, including any data you may provide through this website when you sign up for my newsletter, donate, purchase a product or service or take part in a competition.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it.  Your acceptance of our Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of this siteIf you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, you must stop using this site immediately.

What this policy covers

This Privacy Policy applies only to your use of this site and my business interactions, such as email and social media correspondence.

Please note it does not extend to any websites that are linked to from this Site (whether I provide those links myself or whether they are shared by other users).

I have no control over how your data is collected, stored or used by other websites and I advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.

Third-Party Links

This site may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and/or applications.  By clicking on those links or enabling those connections, you may allow third parties to collect or share data about you.

I do not control these third-party websites and am not responsible for their privacy policies.  When you leave my site, I encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

What Data is collected?

Some data will be collected automatically by the Site in regards to cookies.  Other data will only be collected if you have voluntarily submitted it, for example, through the use of comments, using the contact form and/or signing up for my newsletter.

I may collect some or all of the following data:

  • name (full name or username);
  • contact information such as email addresses;
  • Your IP address (automatically collected);
  • web browser type & version (automatically collected);
  • OS (operating system) (automatically collected);
  • List of URLs starting with a referring site, your activity on this Site, and the site you exit to (automatically collected);
  • Transaction data (if you donate via Ko-Fi) which includes details about payments such as amount, email address connected to Paypal.  Please note I have no access to your banking information as all transactions through Ko-Fi are done through Paypal.
  • Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data (via Stats).  This may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity.

When visitors leave comments on the site I 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 anonymised string created from your email address may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it.

After approval of your comment, your profile picture and link to your Gravatar profile is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

How is your data collected?

  • Direct interactions – You may give me your personal data such as name and email address by filling in forms or by corresponding with me by email.  This may include when you:
    • subscribing to my newsletter or publications;
    • request information;
    • enter a competition, promotion or survey;
    • give feedback or
    • contact me via the contact forms on this Site.
  • Automated technologies/interactions – While interacting with Site, I may automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns.  This personal data is collected by using cookies, server logs and other similar technologies.
  • Third parties or publicly available sources – I may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:
    • analytics providers such as Google based outside the EU;
    • advertising networks such as Google AdWords based inside OR outside the EU; and
    • search information providers such as Google based inside OR outside the EU.

How your data is used

All personal data is stored securely and kept only for as long as is required.

Your data is used to provide service to you that includes:

  • Responding to communications from you
  • Supplying you with email newsletters that you have subscribed to (please note you may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every newsletter email)

How long do I keep personal data for

Any data specific for tax purposes such as documentation of sales and/or donations which can include basic information such as name, email, address, and transaction date, must be, by law, kept for 6 years.

Data is only kept for as long as it’s needed in order to use it as described above and/or for as long as I have your permission to keep it.

If you leave a comment on this Site, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely.  This is so I can recognise and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

Some or all of your data may be stored or transferred outside of the European Economic Area (“the EEA”) (The EEA consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). You are deemed to accept and agree to this by using this Site and submitting information to me.

If I do store or transfer data outside the EEA, all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is treated as safely and securely as it would be within the EEA and under the GDPR.

Please note this Site is HTTPS encrypted.  This site and any plug-ins are kept updated to minimise risk.

Notwithstanding the security measures taken it is important to remember that the transmission of data online may not be completely secure and you are advised to take suitable precautions when transmitting data to us via the Internet.

Is your data shared?

I do not share personal information with third parties nor do I store information collected about your visit to this blog for use other than to analyze content performance through the use of cookies, which you can turn off at any time by modifying your Internet browser’s settings.

However, visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

In certain circumstances, I may be legally required to share certain data held, which may include your personal information, for example, where I am involved in legal proceedings, where I am complying with the requirements of legislation, a court order, or a governmental authority.

Your rights

Request Access –You have the legal right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by me (where such data is held). If the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive a “reasonable fee” for the administrative costs of complying with the request may be charged.

If you have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data held about you, including any data you have provided.  You can also request the erasure of any personal data held about you.  This does not include any data I am obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

I may need to request specific information from you to help confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights).

This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. I may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up the response.

Request corrections– This allows you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data that I hold, corrected.

Request erasure –This enables you to ask for the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no good reason for me to continue to process it.  Note, however, that I may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

Object to the processing of your personal data– where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms.

You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

Request restriction of processing of your personal data – This enables you to ask me to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios:

  • If you want to establish data accuracy;
  • where you need me to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
  • you have objected to my use of your data but I need to verify whether I have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

Withdraw consent at any time – where I am relying on consent to process your personal data.  However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent.

Regarding Cookies

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies or to alert you when websites set or access cookies.  Please note when first accessing my Site a cookies notification should pop up at the bottom.

If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this Site may become inaccessible or not function properly.

Contact

If you have any questions about this site or this Privacy Policy, please contact me by email at arimeghlen[@]gmail.com (remove the square brackets)

Changes to this Privacy Policy

I may change this Privacy Policy as I may deem necessary from time to time, or as may be required by law.

Any changes will be immediately posted on this Site and you will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy Policy on your first use of this Site following the alterations.

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Errors & Omissions Disclaimer

The author of this website is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information.

All information on this site is provided “as is”, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information.

This page was last reviewed in April 2023.