Effective Date: February 1, 2025
Last Updated: March 3, 2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to Vanilla News, a digital news platform owned and operated by Digital Democracy LLP (“Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Privacy Policy outlines our practices concerning the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information when you access or use our website, www.vanillanews.com (“Website”), and any related services (collectively, “Services”). We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and ensuring that your personal information is protected.

2. Definitions

• Personal Information: Any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.
• Cookies: Small files stored on your device (computer or mobile device) that hold data about your browsing history on our Website.
• Data Controller: The entity that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data.
• Data Processor: The entity that processes personal data on behalf of the Data Controller.

3. Information We Collect

We collect various types of information to provide and improve our Services:

3.1. Personal Information

When you interact with our Website, we may collect the following personal information:

• Contact Information: Name, email address, postal address, and phone number.
• Account Information: Username, password, and other credentials used to access our Services.
• Payment Information: Credit card details, billing address, and transaction history.
• Demographic Information: Age, gender, occupation, and interests.
• Content Submissions: Comments, articles, or any other content you submit to our Website.

3.2. Usage Data

We automatically collect information about how you access and use our Website:

• Log Data: IP address, browser type and version, pages visited, time and date of visit, time spent on pages, and referring URLs.
• Device Information: Device type, operating system, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information.
• Location Data: Approximate location based on your IP address.

3.3. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to monitor activity on our Website and hold certain information. For more details, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for various purposes:

4.1. To Provide and Maintain Our Services

• Account Management: To create and manage your user account.
• Content Delivery: To deliver personalized content based on your preferences and interests.
• Customer Support: To respond to your inquiries and provide assistance.

4.2. To Improve Our Services

• Analytics: To analyze usage patterns and improve the functionality and user experience of our Website.
• Research: To conduct surveys and research to enhance our content and services.

4.3. To Communicate with You

• Promotional Communications: To send newsletters, marketing materials, and other information that may be of interest to you. You can opt-out of these communications at any time.
• Transactional Communications: To send administrative information, such as updates to our terms, conditions, and policies.

4.4. To Process Payments

• Transactions: To process your payments for subscriptions, products, or services purchased through our Website.

4.5. To Ensure Security and Compliance

• Fraud Prevention: To detect and prevent fraudulent activities.
• Legal Obligations: To comply with legal requirements and protect our legal rights.

5. Legal Basis for Processing Personal Information

We process your personal information based on the following legal grounds:

• Consent: When you have given us explicit consent to process your information for specific purposes.
• Contractual Necessity: When processing is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
• Legal Obligation: When processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation.
• Legitimate Interests: When processing is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

6. Sharing Your Information

We may share your personal information with:

6.1. Service Providers

Third-party companies and individuals that facilitate our Services, provide services on our behalf, or assist us in analyzing how our Services are used. These service providers have access to your personal information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

6.2. Affiliates

We may share your information with our affiliates, in which case we will require them to honor this Privacy Policy.

6.3. Business Transfers

In connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.

6.4. Legal Requirements

If required by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency).

7. International Data Transfers

Your information, including personal data, may be transferred to—and maintained on—computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

8. Security of Your Information

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disclosure. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Retention of Your Information

We will retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

10. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following data protection rights:

• Access: The right to access and receive a copy of your personal data.
• Rectification: The right to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Erasure: The right to request the deletion of your personal data under certain conditions.
• Restriction: The right to request the restriction of processing your personal data under certain conditions.
• Portability: The right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Objection: The right to object to the processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
• Withdraw Consent: The right to withdraw your consent at any time where we relied on your consent to process your personal data.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at teamvanillanews@gmail.com.