Hey there, fellow journal enthusiast and visitor to Quirky Journals! I know privacy policies can sometimes feel like a trek through dense legal jargon, but I want to assure you that your privacy online is super important to us here. We believe in transparency and making things easy to understand, so let’s walk through how we handle your information on our website, quirkyjournals.com, in a way that makes sense.
Think of this page as your personal guide to understanding what happens behind the scenes with your data when you visit our little corner of the internet. Our strategy is simple: be clear, be secure, and respect your digital space.
Who We Are (Just So You Know!)
Our digital home is https://quirkyjournals.com. We’re a space dedicated to inspiration, creativity, and helping you document your journey.
Your Comments & Our Community
When you take the time to leave a comment on one of our posts, we love hearing from you! – We collect the information you provide in the comments form. This includes your name, email, and the comment itself. We also automatically gather your IP address and browser user agent string. Why? Not to snoop, but simply to help us detect and filter out spam. It’s a necessary part of keeping our online community friendly and safe for everyone.
You might also notice a mention of Gravatar. An anonymised string created from your email address (it’s called a hash) might be sent to the Gravatar service. This helps us see if you’re using their service, and if you are, your profile picture can then be visible alongside your comment once it’s approved. You can check out the Gravatar service privacy policy here: https://automattic.com/privacy/.
Sharing Media (A Quick Tip!)
If you’re ever uploading images to our website, here’s a helpful tip: try to avoid including embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Why? Because visitors to the site can download those images and potentially extract that location data. It’s a small way to protect your personal information.
Understanding Cookies (Not the Edible Kind!)
Ah, cookies! These aren’t for snacking, but they do make your online experience much smoother. Think of them as tiny digital notes your browser stores to remember things about your visit. Here’s how we use them:
- For Your Comments: If you leave a comment, you have the option to save your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are purely for your convenience, so you don’t have to re-enter your details every time you want to share another thought. These particular cookies will last for one year.
- For Login Convenience: If you visit our login page, we set a temporary cookie to check if your browser accepts cookies. This one’s super quick – it contains no personal data and disappears when you close your browser. When you log in, we also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies stick around for two days, while screen options cookies last a whole year. If you select “Remember Me,” your login will persist for two weeks. Don’t worry, if you log out of your account, those login cookies are promptly removed.
- For Article Editing: If you’re an author or editor on our site and you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie is saved in your browser. This cookie simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited and contains no personal data. It expires after just one day.
Embedded Content from Other Websites
Sometimes, articles on Quirky Journals might include embedded content like videos, images, or even other articles from external websites. This is a common way to enrich your browsing experience! When you interact with embedded content, it behaves in the same way as if you had visited the other website directly. This means those external websites may collect data about you, use their own cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with their content. This includes tracking your interaction if you have an account and are logged in to that particular external website.
Who We Share Your Data With (It’s Very Limited!)
Rest assured, we don’t just hand out your personal data. The only specific instance where your data might be shared in a direct way, as outlined in our policy, is if you request a password reset for your account. In that case, your IP address will be included in the reset email to help ensure security.
How Long We Retain Your Data
Ever wonder how long we hold onto your digital footprints? Here’s our plan:
- Comments: If you leave a comment, the comment and its associated metadata are retained indefinitely. This is part of our strategy to make things easier for you; it allows us to automatically recognise and approve any follow-up comments from you, rather than holding them in a moderation queue. It creates a smoother experience for our regular contributors.
- Registered Users: For anyone who registers on our website (if we have that functionality enabled), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. We believe in giving you freedom and control: all registered users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (the only exception is that they cannot change their username). Our website administrators can also see and edit that information for maintenance purposes.
What Rights You Have Over Your Data
We believe in giving you control over your personal data. If you have an account on this site, or if you’ve left comments, you have the right to request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. Think of it as your personal financial guide to your data here!
You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. However, please note that this doesn’t include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes (like preventing fraud or ensuring our website stays functional).
Where Your Data Is Sent (Spam Patrol!)
To keep our website clean and free from unwanted messages, visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. This helps us maintain a good, safe environment for everyone.
Important Disclosure: Not Financial Advice
Before we wrap up, a quick but very important note: While Quirky Journals might offer creative inspiration, writing prompts, insights into planning your personal journey, or even tips on personal growth and goal setting, please remember that we are not financial advisors. Any discussions on our site, whether about saving, budgeting, planning for retirement, setting up an emergency fund, or understanding personal finance, are for informational and inspirational purposes only. We do not provide financial advice, nor are we a certified financial planner. We might discuss the way to save for a house or tips for managing money, or even the cost of different apps or strategies for investing in the market, but these are general insights, not specific recommendations.
Always consult with a qualified professional for advice tailored to your personal financial situation, investing strategies, good stocks, shares for beginners, how to find top advisors, or any decisions regarding your money, credit cards, interest rates, savings accounts, or even how to sell your business or navigate e-commerce. We cannot act as your bank or provide specific financial guidance. Our goal is to inspire your journey, not to dictate your financial plan.
Your Privacy, Our Priority
I hope that this explanation has offered a clearer, more friendly insight into how Quirky Journals handles your privacy. We’re committed to protecting your information and ensuring your experience on our website is as enjoyable and secure as possible. Thank you for being a part of our community!