Privacy policy
What we collect, why we collect it, and what you can do about it. We have tried to write this the way we write everything else, in plain language.
Who we are
Diurna is an independent publication about everyday wellness, published by Hanzla Amjad. For the purposes of data-protection law, the publisher is the controller of the personal information described here.
To ask a question about this policy or to use any of your rights:
Use the contact page.
The short version
- You can read Diurna without creating an account or telling us who you are.
- We collect personal information only when you send it to us (a contact message or a newsletter sign-up) and through the ordinary technical logs any website keeps.
- We do not sell personal information.
- Analytics and advertising cookies are used only after you agree to them.
- You can ask to see, correct or delete the information we hold about you.
Information you give us
Contact messages. When you use the contact form we receive your name, your email address, the topic you chose and whatever you write in the message. We use this only to read and answer your message. Please do not include medical details: we cannot give personal medical advice and do not need that information.
Newsletter sign-ups. If you subscribe to email updates we receive your email address and use it only to send those updates. Every email includes a way to unsubscribe.
Information collected automatically
Server logs. Like every website, ours is delivered by servers that record technical details of each request: your IP address, the page requested, the time, and the type of browser and device. Our hosting provider, Vercel Inc., processes this on our behalf to deliver the site, keep it secure and diagnose faults.
Preferences stored in your browser. The site saves a few small settings in your own browser's storage so that it behaves the way you asked: whether you have paused the animated scene, whether the opening animation has already played in this session, and your cookie choice. These stay on your device. They are not cookies, they are not sent to us, and they contain nothing that identifies you.
Analytics
We may use Google Analytics to understand, in aggregate, which articles are read and how people find them. It uses cookies and collects information such as pages viewed, approximate location derived from your IP address, and the type of device. We do not use it to identify individual readers.
Current status: no analytics service is in use on this site yet, and no analytics cookies are set. This section describes how analytics will work once it is introduced.
Where analytics is in use, it does not load until you have accepted cookies in the banner shown on your first visit.
Advertising and cookies
Diurna is free to read and is intended to be funded by display advertising served through Google AdSense.
Current status: no advertising is running on this site yet, and no advertising cookies are set. This section describes how advertising will work once it is introduced.
When advertising is running, the following applies:
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites.
- Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
- You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalised advertising at www.aboutads.info/choices or, in Europe, at www.youronlinechoices.eu.
Google explains how it uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
We do not place advertising beside content in a way that suggests the advertiser has reviewed or endorsed the article, and advertisers have no influence over what we publish.
Your cookie choice
On your first visit, where analytics or advertising is in use, we ask whether you accept cookies. If you decline, the site works in exactly the same way, without analytics, and any advertising shown is not personalised using cookies.
You can change your mind at any time:
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser's settings.
How we use information, and our legal basis
| What we do | Why | Legal basis (UK and EU law) |
|---|---|---|
| Deliver and secure the website | So that it works and stays safe | Legitimate interests |
| Answer contact messages | Because you asked us something | Legitimate interests, or steps taken at your request |
| Send email updates | Because you subscribed | Consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Measure readership in aggregate | To decide what to write and improve | Consent |
| Show advertising | To fund the publication | Consent for cookies and personalisation |
Who we share information with
We share personal information only with the services that help us run Diurna, and only as far as they need it:
- Vercel Inc., which hosts the website.
- Google, for analytics and advertising, where those are in use and you have consented.
- A form and email service that receives contact messages and newsletter sign-ups on our behalf.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with anyone for their own marketing.
International transfers
Some of these providers are based in, or use servers in, the United States and other countries. Where personal information is transferred out of the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, the providers rely on recognised safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or an adequacy decision.
How long we keep information
- Contact messages: for as long as it takes to deal with them, and for up to two years afterwards.
- Newsletter sign-ups: until you unsubscribe.
- Server logs: for the short period set by our hosting provider.
- Analytics data: according to the retention setting in Google Analytics, at most 14 months.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct it if it is wrong;
- ask us to delete it;
- object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use it;
- withdraw consent you have given, for example to cookies or to email updates;
- receive information you gave us in a portable format.
To use any of these rights, contact us using the details at the top of this page. We will reply within one month. There is no charge.
If you live in the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area you also have the right to complain to your data-protection authority; in the UK this is the Information Commissioner's Office.
If you live in California or another US state with a privacy law: you have the right to know what personal information we collect, to have it deleted or corrected, and to opt out of its sale or sharing. We do not sell personal information. Using advertising cookies can count as "sharing" under California law; you can opt out by declining cookies in the banner or by clearing your choice above. We will not treat you differently for using these rights.
Children
Diurna is written for adults and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
Security
We limit the personal information we collect in the first place, use reputable providers, and serve the whole site over an encrypted connection. No method of sending or storing information is completely secure, so we cannot promise absolute security.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle personal information we will update this page and change the date at the top. If a change is significant we will say so on the site.