Updated: May 2018
I, Lucy Fyles, am the content creator and site owner of inthemidstofmadness.wordpress.com and data-controller of your personal data as it relates to my blog. In accordance with the new EU law, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), I have written this privacy policy to make it clear to you what data I hold, where it’s held, how it’s used, how it’s not used and which companies may have access to your data.
What personal information do I hold?
This depends on how you use my site and what you allow me to have access to but the data I may have access to includes your name, email address, IP address, your blog/website address, any comments you’ve written on my blog, any messages you’ve sent me directly via my blog, and your postal address if you’ve sent it to me as the winner of one of my giveaways. All of this information (except your IP address) is information that you have willingly provided, it has never been taken without your knowledge or permission.
What do I do with it?
Your data is only used and stored when necessary and since the law has changed, I have overhauled this process so that I delete any information that I don’t need, as soon as I can. Your data is stored when you: follow my site, comment on a post, like a post, reblog one of my posts, enter my giveaways, or contact me via my blog or via social media. More detailed information about what data I receive in each instance and how it’s used and stored can be found in the following titled sections.
Following/Subscribing to my Site – When you follow my blog you’re asked to input an email address. WordPress used to email me this but I have now opted out of these emails and deleted all previous ones and therefore your data is only stored on my WordPress site. It is possible to unsubscribe through any of the emails you receive from my blog using the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of each one. Alternatively, you can contact me and I can remove you as a subscriber if you give me your email address so I can identify you to be deleted from the list.
Comments – In order to try to prevent spam, my comments sections require you to submit your name and email address. All comments are moderated and posted once I’ve approved them, therefore, when you comment, your submitted name, email address, written comment and IP address are emailed to me by WordPress so that I’m alerted to the pending comment. These emails will be deleted once the comment has been dealt with by myself. The comment is either approved and shown publicly on my site, or not approved and deleted by me from my site. If you wish for any of your comments to be deleted from my site then you can either delete them yourself or contact me and I will delete them for you, in order to do this I will need your name and email address and preferably the post titles so that I can identify all of your comments and remove them.
Liking a Post – When you like a post, WordPress records this and publicly displays it below my post with the Gravatar image you’ve chosen for your blog. You can delete this at any time by unliking any of my posts so that this no longer shows up.
Reblogging – For those who run their own blogs and choose to reblog one of my posts, I receive an email from WordPress telling me which post has been reblogged, the site on which it’s blogged and the username of the person who reblogged it. These emails will be deleted once I’ve checked where my blog has been published.
Giveaways – When entering my giveaways you are either requested to like and comment on a post on Facebook or, more recently, to enter via Rafflecopter where you’re requested to perform certain actions. For information on what data Rafflecopter record and how it’s used and stored, please read their privacy policy. When entering via Rafflecopter I receive data including your name, your Facebook profile (if you choose to enter that way), your email address, your IP address, an approximate location, your Instagram ID, your Twitter handle and a list of all of the actions you perform that are required to gain entries to my giveaway. All of these bits of data are given by you with positive consent, you are not required to give any data to enter other than your name and email address which is required so that I can identify and contact the winner when they are chosen. The data is stored on Rafflecopter and can be downloaded by me but I have never and will never do this as I have no need to do so and so it’s kept within my password-protected Rafflecopter profile. The data is only used to check that entries are valid and to contact the winner. If you have ever won one of my giveaways then you will have sent me your postal address so that I can send you your prize. This data where necessary has been shared, with your prior permission, with the relevant publisher so your prize can be sent out. Once your prize has arrived I delete any emails containing your postal address so that I no longer hold that data. If you request it, I can give the publisher’s name and help direct you to their privacy policy.
Contact Form and Contact via Social Media – When contacting me via my blog you are requested to provide your name and email address as well as a message to me. I have now added a tick box that has to be ticked in order for me to be sent the data stating that you’re aware that I will be sent your name and email address so that I have the ability and your permission to respond to your message/query. These messages are emailed to me by WordPress, along with your IP address (I have no control over being sent this piece of data and do nothing with it) and most will be kept indefinitely so that I can continue to deal with future queries and be reminded of our previous interactions or conversations. If you would like me to delete any communication with you then please contact me and I will happily do this. Otherwise, they will be indefinitely kept in my password-protected email account and accessed via a password-protected laptop computer. Emails containing your postal address will be deleted as soon as the items I’m sending you have been received. The same process will be applied to any contact via social media either through my dedicated Facebook page – In The Midst Of Madness, or through my personal profile, or any other social media websites. I do not routinely delete messages and these will therefore remain unless you request me to delete them, or they contain sensitive data like your postal address, in which case I will delete those messages as soon as your item has been delivered.
Are there multiple data controllers?
I am a data controller as described above. Additionally, WordPress is also a data controller. As the host of my blog, they have access to your data and operate their own cookie policy. Any adverts you see on my blog are provided by WordPress, not myself. I have no control over what data they can and can’t see or how they store any data. I strongly recommend viewing their privacy policy here.
What will I not do with the data?
Any data that I keep is kept for the purpose of replying to comments, dealing with giveaways, and recording traffic to my blog. All data when no longer needed is deleted. Data will NOT be sold to any third parties by myself or, to my knowledge, by any of the companies I use. I will also never use your data for any purposes other than it was intended when you provided it.
Data Storage
Any data that I store is stored on a private password protected email account, on a password protected computer with up to date anti-virus software. My blog is password-protected and data there can only be accessed by me or WordPress.
Affiliate Links and 3rd Parties
I use affiliate links and some other 3rd party sites on my blog. These sites are listed below and may gather data for their own purposes please read their privacy policies;
Goodreads
Amazon
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
PayPal
Rafflecopter
Book Depository
Bloglovin’
Instagram
Cookie Policy
I don’t use any cookies myself but WordPress and the other companies who I use widgets for may do. In line with GDPR guidelines, they should be giving you warning messages if they are using these but they are outside my control. For their policies on Cookies please go to their sites. I use widgets for Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.
In The Midst Of Madness 