This PRIVACY POLICY notice is for the website www.SharonLathanAuthor.com owned by Sharon Lathan, Novelist and includes all the nestled pages within. This website is administrated solely by author Sharon Lathan. Herein is the explanation of how I control, process, handle, and protect your personal data while browsing or using this website, including your rights under current laws and regulations. This privacy policy has been compiled to better serve those who are concerned with how their “Personally Identifiable Information” (PII) is being used online, specifically at Sharon Lathan’s website. PII, as described in US privacy law and information security, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context.
GDPR Compliance
This page also complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into effect on May 25, 2018 to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens for transactions that occur within EU member states. For more information on the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, click this link here.
Use of Cookies
Cookies are used on this website to provide you with a better user experience. A “cookie” is a small text file placed on your device or computer hard drive to track how you use the website, to record or log whether you have seen messages that we display, to keep you logged into the website where applicable, to display relevant adverts or content, and for referral to a third-party website. Any cookies on this website are used to ensure normal website functions (for instance, YouTube videos won’t work without their own identifiers) and to track visitor stats with Google Analytics. These cookies cannot be switched off because the website wouldn’t work properly without them. However, these identifiers do not store any personal data. Some cookies will be saved for specific time periods, where others may last indefinitely. Every web browser provides options and controls to manage and delete cookies from your device.
What personal information is collected from visitors, when and where is it collected, and how is it used?
1) When you leave a comment on a blog post, WordPress automatically stores your name, IP Address, the comment itself, and your email. Therefore, leaving a comment is considered a clear affirmative, specific, and unambiguous action as defined by the GDPR giving us consent to store this information, and permission to contact you in the future by email if necessary. If you do not consent to the above, please don’t leave a comment. For further information on how WordPress stores and uses your data, read this post here and/or this post here.
2) A Rafflecopter form is used occasionally for giveaways. Submitting information via the Rafflecopter form is voluntary but if specified for a particular giveaway, using the form is required to be entered into the giveaway and selected for a prize. As with leaving a comment, submitting the information gives Sharon Lathan consent to store it and to contact by email if a prize has been won. Rafflecopter Privacy Policy
3) The Newsletter Update of Sharon’s blog posts is an optional, voluntary subscription offered to visitors. This sign-up is located on the blog page sidebar and on the “Contact” page. It is administered by WordPress plugin MailPoet (created by Automattic) and has a double-opt-in feature to ensure all subscribers are confirmed. Information required is limited to your full name and email address, with MailPoet noting the IP address when an update is sent. This information is stored on the account with MailPoet and used solely for the automatic newsletter updates. The option to unsubscribe is available in the footer of each email. MailPoet Privacy Policy
4) The Contact Form located on the Contact page is created with WordPress plugin Forminator (created by Incsub). Submitted emails via the Contact Form or those sent directly to Sharon Lathan via [email protected] are kept on the website server for future reference and to reply to the sender as necessary. Forminator Privacy Policy
How is your personal information protected?
Your personal information entered and stored in any of the above places will not be sold or shared under any circumstances with other third parties beyond those specifically mentioned.
Sharon Lathan, Novelist website and blog is managed, stored, and securely protected by my webhost GoDaddy. GoDaddy Privacy Policy
This website also uses Akismet anti-spam service for comments as a protection against malware and other malicious attacks. The information collected includes the commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, and Site URL (along with other information directly provided by the commenter such as their name, username, email address, and the comment itself).
If you feel your data has been misused, you have a right to complain to the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA). As laws change or needs arise, Sharon Lathan may amend this policy in future without necessarily notifying our visitors and subscribers. If concerned about any future changes, please check this page from time to time.
NOTE: This Privacy Policy and GDPR Compliance are applicable to the Sharon Lathan, Novelist website only.
This page was last updated on October 15, 2022.