Privacy Policy

1. Introduction & Scope

Vision News (“we”, “us”, or “our”), a digital publication of Vision International Group, respects your privacy and is committed to protecting any personal data you share with us. This Privacy Policy applies to information collected when you visit https://visionnews.uk, read our stories, subscribe to our newsletters, submit editorial pitches, or interact with our advertisements.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in three ways:

• Information you provide directly: When you subscribe to our newsletter (email address), submit a general enquiry through our contact form (name, email, subject, message), or submit a contributor pitch (name, email, portfolio URL, pitch description).
• Automatically collected technical data: Standard web server log information, including Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, operating system, referring/exit pages, date and time stamps, and clickstream data to diagnose server issues, administer the site, and prevent fraudulent activity.
• Cookies and tracking technologies: Small data files stored on your device that enable core site functions, remember your preferences, and facilitate ad delivery and traffic measurement.

3. How We Use Your Information

We process your data strictly for legitimate publication purposes:

• To provide, operate, maintain, and secure our website and digital issues.
• To deliver the Vision Dispatch newsletter upon your explicit request.
• To review, respond to, and process editorial submissions and general enquiries.
• To prevent unauthorized activity, spam submissions, and malicious attacks.
• To serve relevant, non-intrusive advertisements in compliance with applicable laws.
• To analyze aggregated readership trends to understand which topics resonate with our audience.

4. Advertising & Google AdSense

To support our independent journalism and maintain complimentary access to our archive, Vision News partners with third-party advertising providers, including Google AdSense.

Google uses cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to this website or other websites on the Internet:

• Google DoubleClick / Advertising Cookies: Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
• Personalized vs. Non-Personalized Advertising: In regions where applicable (such as the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland), we request your prior consent through our consent management mechanism before personalized ads are served. When consent is denied or not granted, only non-personalized ads (which do not use cookies for ad personalization, though they may use cookies for frequency capping, aggregated ad reporting, and fraud detection) are shown.
• Opting Out: You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. Alternatively, you can opt out of third-party vendor use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting aboutads.info or Your Online Choices.

5. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use necessary cookies for essential website navigation and security, functional cookies to remember preferences, and analytical/advertising cookies through vetted third parties.

For a full breakdown of every cookie category, retention periods, and granular browser controls, please review our dedicated Cookie Policy.

6. Legal Bases for Processing (GDPR / UK GDPR)

If you reside within the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom (UK), our legal bases for processing your personal data include:

• Consent: Where you have granted clear permission (e.g. subscribing to our newsletter or consenting to advertising cookies).
• Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate journalistic, publishing, security, and editorial interests, provided those interests do not override your fundamental rights.
• Contractual Necessity: Where processing is necessary to review or execute an agreement (e.g. editorial commissioning).
• Legal Obligation: Where compliance with statutory disclosure or regulatory obligations is required.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy:

• Newsletter subscriptions: Retained until you choose to unsubscribe, which can be done via the link in the footer of every email dispatch.
• Editorial correspondence & contact requests: Retained for the duration needed to handle your enquiry, commissions, and standard verification periods (routinely reviewed and purged).
• Server log data: Retained in rolling intervals of up to 90 days for security diagnostics and traffic integrity.

8. Data Security

We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal data against accidental, unlawful, or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure, or use. All web traffic to Vision News is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (HTTPS).

9. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your location, you have statutory rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You can request correction of inaccurate or incomplete records.
• Right to Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): You can request that we delete your personal information where no overriding legal basis exists for continued processing.
• Right to Restrict or Object: You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
• Right to Data Portability: You can request transfer of your data to another service provider in a structured, machine-readable format.

To exercise any of these rights, please write to hello@visionnews.uk. We respond to all legitimate requests within statutory timeframes (typically 30 days).

10. California Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the CPRA, California residents have specific rights regarding personal information:

• The right to know the categories and specific pieces of personal information collected.
• The right to request deletion of personal information.
• The right to correct inaccurate personal information.
• The right to opt-out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not sell personal data for monetary consideration.
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising privacy rights.

11. Children’s Privacy

Vision News is an editorial and cultural publication designed for general adult audiences. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in certain jurisdictions). If we discover that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child without verifiable parental consent, we will promptly delete that information from our records.

12. Third-Party Links

Our articles and resources may contain links to third-party websites, institutions, and external publications. We do not control and are not responsible for the privacy practices, policies, or content of external sites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of every site you visit.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our editorial operations, legal obligations, or advertising partner guidelines. Any revisions will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.

14. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our handling of your data, please contact our Data Protection desk:

Vision International Group
Attn: Privacy & Data Protection Desk
Email: hello@visionnews.uk
General Enquiries: hello@visionnews.uk
Postal Address: Vision International Group, Editorial & Publishing Office