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PRIVACY POLICY

Thank you for visiting our website!
Privacy Policy
This privacy policy (“Policy”) describes how the personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) you may provide on the www.pearlwoman.org website (“Website” or “Service”) and any of its related products and services (collectively, “Services”) is collected, protected and used. It also describes the choices available to you regarding our Personal Information use and how you can access and update this information.
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This Policy is a legally binding agreement between you (“User,” “you” or “your”) and this Website operator (“Operator,” “we,” “us” or “our”). By accessing and using the Website and Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by the terms of this Agreement.
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This Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, or to individuals that we do not employ or manage.
Collection of Information
Our top priority is customer data security, and, as such, we exercise the no-logs Policy. We may process only minimal user data, only as much as necessary to maintain the Website and Services. Information collected automatically is used only to identify potential cases of abuse and establish statistical information regarding the usage and traffic of the Website and Services. This statistical information is not otherwise aggregated in such a way that it would identify any particular user of the system.
Collection of Personal Information
You can access and use the Website and Services without telling us whom you are or revealing any information you could identify as a specific, identifiable individual. If you wish to use some of the features on the Website, you may be asked to provide certain Personal Information (for example, your name and email address). We receive and store any information you knowingly provide when you fill any online forms on the Website. When required, this information may include the following:
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​– Personal details such as name, country of residence, etc.
– Contact information, such as email address, address, etc.
– Account details such as user name, unique user ID, password, etc.
– Any other materials you willingly submit to us, such as articles, images, feedback, etc.
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You can choose not to provide us with your Personal Information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of some of the features on the Website. Users who are uncertain about what information is mandatory are welcome to contact us.
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Other information we may collect:
Apart from the information stated above, we may collect additional information such as
  1. From you: this is any additional information that you provide to us voluntarily
  2. Activity: We automatically collect the following information when you are using our Website:
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IP address, which includes both dynamic and static IP address, which might point reveal the type of computer or device; browser and language; referring and exit pages and URLs; date and time; amount of time spent on particular pages; what sections of the Websites you visit; and similar data:
  1. Cookies: These are the small packets of data that a website will store on your computer to help your computer remember the settings the next time you revisit it.
Use and Processing of Collected Information
To make the Website and Services available to you, or to meet a legal obligation, we need to collect and use certain Personal Information. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide you with the requested products or services. Some of the information we collect is directly from you via the Website and Services. However, we may also collect Personal Information about you from other sources. Any of the information we collect from you may be used for the following purposes:
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– Create and manage user accounts
– Send administrative information
– Respond to inquiries and offer support
– Request user feedback
– Improve user experience
– Administer prize draws and competitions
– Enforce terms and conditions and policies
– Protect from abuse and malicious users
– Respond to legal requests and prevent harm
– Run and operate the Website and Services
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Processing your Personal Information depends on how you interact with the Website and Services, where you are located in the world, and if one of the following applies: 
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  1. You have given your consent for one or more specific purposes; this, however, does not apply, whenever the processing of Personal Information is subject to California Consumer Privacy Act or European data protection law;
  2. Provision of information is necessary for the performance of an agreement with you and/or for any pre-contractual obligations thereof;
  3. Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which you are subject;
  4. Processing is related to a task that is carried out in the public interest or the exercise of official authority vested in us;
  5. Processing is necessary for the legitimate interests pursued by a third party or by us.
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Note that we may be allowed to process information under some legislations until you object to such processing (by opting out), without having to rely on consent or any other of the following legal bases below. In any case, we will be happy to clarify the specific legal basis that applies to the processing. In particular, whether the provision of Personal Information is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract.
Disclosure of Information
Depending on the requested Services or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide any service you have requested, we may share your information with your consent with our trusted third parties that work with us, any other affiliates and subsidiaries we rely upon to assist in the operation of the Website and Services available to you. We do not share Personal Information with unaffiliated third parties. These service providers are not authorized to use or disclose your information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements. We may share your Personal Information for these purposes only with third parties whose privacy policies are consistent with ours or agree to abide by our policies with respect to Personal Information. These third parties are given Personal Information they need only to perform their designated functions, and we do not authorize them to use or disclose Personal Information for their marketing or other purposes.
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We will disclose any Personal Information we collect, use or receive if required or permitted by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or similar legal process, and when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.
Retention of Information
We will retain and use your Personal Information for the period necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. We may use aggregated data derived from or incorporate your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally. Once the retention period expires, Personal Information shall be deleted. Therefore, the right to access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification, and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after the expiration of the retention period.
Transfer of Information
Depending on your location, data transfers may involve transferring and storing your data in a country other than your own. You are entitled to learn about the legal basis of information transfers to a country outside the European Union or to any international organization governed by public international law or set up by two or more countries, such as the UN, and about the security measures taken by us to safeguard your information. If any such transfer occurs, you can find out more by checking the relevant sections of this Policy or asking us to use the information provided in the contact section.
The Rights of Users
You may exercise certain rights regarding your information processed by us. In particular, you have the right to do the following:
 
  1. You have the right to withdraw consent where you have previously given your consent to the processing of your information;
  2. You have the right to object to your information processing if the processing is carried out on a legal basis other than consent;
  3. You have the right to learn if we are processing the information, obtain disclosure regarding certain aspects of the processing and obtain a copy of the Data undergoing processing;
  4. You have the right to verify the accuracy of your information and ask for it to be updated or corrected;
  5. You have the right, under certain circumstances, to restrict the processing of your information, in which case, we will not process your information for any purpose other than storing it;
  6. You have the right, under certain circumstances, to obtain the erasure of your Personal Information from us;
  7. You have the right to receive your information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and, if technically feasible, transmitted to another controller without any hindrance. This provision is applicable provided that your information is processed by automated means and that the processing is based on your consent, on a contract you are part of, or on pre-contractual obligations thereof.
The Right to Object to Processing
Where Personal Information is processed for the public interest, in the exercise of an official authority vested in us or for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us, you may object to such processing by providing a ground related to your particular situation to justify the objection.
Data Protection Rights under GDPR
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. The Operator aims to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Information. If you wish to be informed of what Personal Information we hold about you and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us. In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:
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– You have the right to request access to your Personal Information that we store and have the ability to access your Personal Information.
– You have the right to request that we correct any Personal Information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete the Personal Information you believe is incomplete.
– You have the right to request the erase your Personal Information under certain conditions of this Policy.
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You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Information.
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You have the right to seek restrictions on the processing of your Personal Information. When you restrict the processing of your Personal Information, we may store it but will not process it further.
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You have the right to be provided with a copy of the information we have on you in a structured, machine-readable, and commonly used format.
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You also have the right to withdraw your consent when the Operator relied on your consent to process your Personal Information.
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You have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Information. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority in the European Economic Area (EEA).
California Privacy Rights
In addition to the rights as explained in this Policy, California residents who provide Personal Information (as defined in the statute) to obtain products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us, once a calendar year, information about the Personal Information we shared, if any, with other businesses for marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of Personal Information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared such personal information for the immediately prior calendar year (e.g., requests made in the current year will receive information about the prior year). To obtain this information, please contact us.
How Long We Retain Your Data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
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For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
How to Exercise These Rights
Any requests to exercise your rights can be directed to the Operator through the contact details provided in this document. Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests. Your request must provide sufficient information that allows us to confirm that you are the person you are claiming to be or the authorized representative.
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You must include enough details to enable us to understand the request and respond to it appropriately. We cannot reply to your request or provide you with Personal Information unless we first verify your identity or authority to make such a request and confirm that the Personal Information relates to you.
Privacy of Children
We do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, please do not submit any Personal Information through the Website and Services. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and help enforce this Policy by instructing their children to never provide Personal Information through the Website and Services without their permission.
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If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 18 has provided Personal Information to us through the Website and Services, please contact us. You must also be at least 16 years of age to consent to the processing of your Personal Information in your country (in some countries, we may allow your parent or guardian to do so on your behalf).
Cookies
The Website and Services use “cookies” to help personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.
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We may use cookies to collect, store, and track information for statistical purposes to operate the Website and Services. You can accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not fully experience the features of the Website and Services. To learn more about cookies and how to manage them, visit internetcookies.org

Do Not Track Signals
Some browsers incorporate a Do Not Track feature that signals to websites you visit that you do not want to track your online activity. Tracking is not the same as using or collecting information in connection with a website. For these purposes, tracking refers to collecting personally identifiable information from consumers who use or visit a site or online service as they move across different websites over time. How browsers communicate the Do Not Track signal is not yet uniform. As a result, the Website and Services are not yet set up to interpret or respond to Do Not Track signals communicated by your browser. Even so, as described in more detail throughout this Policy, we limit our use and collection of personal information.
Email Marketing
We offer electronic newsletters to which you may voluntarily subscribe at any time. We are committed to keeping your email address confidential. We will not disclose your email address to any third parties except as allowed in the information use and processing section or to utilize a third-party provider to send such emails. We will maintain the information sent via email in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
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In compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, all emails sent from us will clearly state who the email is from and provide clear information on how to contact the sender. You may choose to stop receiving our newsletter or marketing emails by following the unsubscribe instructions included in these emails or by contacting us.
Links to Other Resources
The Website and Services contain links to other resources that are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that we are not responsible for such additional resources or third parties’ privacy practices. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Website and Services and to read the privacy statements of every resource that may collect Personal Information.
Information Security
We secure information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of Personal Information in its control and custody. However, no data transmission over the Internet or wireless network can be guaranteed. Therefore, while we strive to protect your Personal Information, you acknowledge that: 
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  1. There are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control;
  2. The security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and the Website and Services cannot be guaranteed; and
  3. Any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party, despite best efforts.
Data Breach
In the event we become aware that the security of the Website and Services has been compromised or users Personal Information has been disclosed to unrelated third parties as a result of external activity, including, but not limited to, security attacks or fraud, we reserve the right to take reasonably appropriate measures, including, but not limited to, investigation and reporting, as well as notification to and cooperation with law enforcement authorities.
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In the event of a data breach, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals if we believe that there is a reasonable risk of harm to the user due to the breach or if notice is otherwise required by law. When we do, we will post a notice on the Website, send you an email.
Changes and Amendments
We reserve the right to modify this Policy or its terms relating to the Website and Services from time to time at our discretion. We will notify you of any material changes to how we treat Personal Information. When we do, we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. We may also provide notice to you in other ways in our discretion, such as through contact information you have provided. Any updated version of this Policy will be effective immediately upon posting the revised Policy unless otherwise specified. Your continued use of the Website and Services after the effective date of the revised Policy (or such other act specified at that time) will constitute your consent to those changes. However, without your permission, we will not use your Personal Information in a manner materially different than what was stated at the time your Personal Information was collected. 
Acceptance of This Policy
You acknowledge that you have read this Policy and agree to all its terms and conditions. By accessing and using the Website and Services, you agree to be bound by this Policy. If you do not agree to abide by the terms of this Policy, you are not authorized to access or use the Website and Services.
Contact Us
If you would like to learn more about this Policy or contact us related to how we use our cookies, you may do so via the contact form or send an email to apearlauthor@gmail.com.
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