Who We Are
I’m Victoria Weisfeld, and my website address is: https://vweisfeld.com. I am a fiction writer and reviewer of books, movies, and theater. I occasionally post about other subjects (the writing craft, travel tips, cultural events, genealogy) of interest. To contact me, send an email to vweisfeld7@gmail.com.
What personal data this site collects and why it’s collected
To be more responsive to you, my site visitors, this website automatically collects and stores your name and email address when you 1) submit comments (details below) or 2) sign up to receive my posts by email. There is an implied consent in either of these actions, both of which are under your control.
Comments
When you leave a comment on the site, it collects the data in the comment form, your IP address and browser user agent string. The purpose of this is to detect spam, using the Akismet, software.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see whether you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
If you leave a comment on this site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as you have visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. So, should you read one of my reviews of a book or movie and be motivated to click on the link at the end (usually a photo) to order the item, the good news is I’ll receive a few cents in return. If a million people did this, the effort put into creating content for the site would start to pay off in hard cash!
Search
Data used by my site’s “search” function are limited to the search filters and query data needed to process your request and not saved.
Analytics
My website uses the statistical package provided by Automattic (parent company of WordPress and Akismet). It collects IP address, WordPress.com user ID (if logged in), WordPress.com username (if logged in), user agent, visiting URL, referring URL, timestamp of event, browser language, and country code.
Important note from Automattic: “The site owner does not have access to any of this information via this feature.” For example, I can see that a specific post has 285 views, but I cannot see which specific users or accounts viewed that post.
Automattic retains stats logs containing visitor IP addresses and WordPress.com usernames (if available) for 28 days. These are used for the sole purpose of powering this feature. To the website creator (me), data about visitors are anonymous.
Who we share your data with
This website and WordPress do not share your personal data with anyone.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. If you sign up to receive posts in your email, that data is retained until you rescind your request.
What rights you have over your data
If you have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data the site holds about you, including any data you have provided. You can also request that I erase any personal data about you. This does not include any data I am obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
If you sign up to receive posts in your email, you can see, edit, or delete your personal information at any time (except that you cannot change your username).
Where we send your data
Visitor comments are checked through the automated spam detection service described above.
My contact information
If you have privacy-specific concerns, email me at vweisfeld7@gmail.com
How your data are protected
Taking into account the limited personal data collected by my website, plus WordPress’s built-in security features, current protections appear adequate and security breaches unlikely. If you disagree, contact me at the above address. No financial data are gathered by this site.