Privacy Policy

PetalPoko (“PetalPoko”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect when you visit https://petalpoko.com (the “Site”), why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the choices and rights you have. We have tried to write it in plain language, because being clear and honest with you matters to us.

If you have any questions about this policy, you can reach us at support@petalpoko.com.

The short version

We keep data collection to a minimum. You can read PetalPoko without giving us any personal information. We only receive personal details when you choose to give them to us, for example by sending us a message or leaving a comment. We use a small number of trusted third-party services (such as our website host, Google Analytics, and advertising and affiliate partners) to run and support the Site. We do not sell your personal information. You can ask us to access or delete your information at any time using the contact details above.

The sections below explain all of this in full.

Who we are

For the purposes of data protection law, the data controller responsible for your information is PetalPoko, operating the website petalpoko.com from India.

You can contact us about privacy at any time at support@petalpoko.com.

What information we collect

We collect two kinds of information: information you give us directly, and information that is collected automatically when you use the Site.

Information you give us

You only share this information when you choose to. It may include your name, email address, and the content of your message if you contact us through a form or by email, or if you leave a comment on the Site.

We ask you not to send us sensitive personal information (such as details about your health, race, religion, or political views) unless it is genuinely necessary, and we do not ask for it.

Information collected automatically

When you visit the Site, some information is collected automatically by our servers and the tools we use. This may include:

• your device’s IP address (often shortened or anonymised),
• your browser type and version, and your operating system,
• the pages you visit, the time and date of your visit, and how long you stay,
• the website or source that referred you to us, and
• general location information, such as your country or region, inferred from your IP address.

This information helps us keep the Site secure and understand how it is used. Where it is combined in a way that could identify you, we treat it as personal information under this policy.

Cookies and similar technologies

A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your device. We use a limited number of cookies and similar technologies to make the Site work, to understand how it is used, and to support the advertising that helps keep the Site running.

Broadly, these fall into:

• Essential cookies, which are needed for the Site to function and cannot be switched off in our systems.
• Analytics cookies, which help us understand how visitors use the Site so we can improve it.
• Advertising cookies, which may be set by Google and other partners to measure and, in some cases, personalise the ads you see.

You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings, and you can usually set your browser to warn you before accepting them. Blocking some cookies may affect how parts of the Site work. Where we are required to, we will ask for your consent through a cookie banner before setting non-essential cookies (including analytics and advertising cookies), and you can change your choice at any time.

How we use your information

We use the information described above to:

• provide, operate, and maintain the Site,
• respond to your messages and moderate comments,
• understand how the Site is used so we can improve our content and layout,
• display advertising that helps support the Site,
• keep the Site secure and prevent fraud, abuse, and technical problems, and
• comply with our legal obligations.

We do not use your information to make decisions about you by automated means, and we do not sell your personal information.

Our legal bases for using your information (EU and UK visitors)

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, data protection law requires us to have a valid legal basis for using your personal information. Depending on the situation, we rely on:

• Consent, for example when you agree to non-essential cookies for analytics or advertising. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
• Legitimate interests, for example to respond to your messages, keep the Site secure, and understand how it is used, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Legal obligation, where we need to process information to comply with the law.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, to understand how visitors find and use the Site, measured in aggregate. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technologies to collect information such as the pages you view and how you reach the Site, and it may process some of this data on servers outside India, including in the United States.

Analytics data helps us see which articles are useful, how people navigate the Site, and where we can improve. Where the law requires it, we only enable analytics cookies after you have given consent. You can read about how Google uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/privacy, and you can opt out of Google Analytics across websites using Google’s browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Advertising and affiliate links

We use advertising and affiliate programmes to help support the Site. This never changes what we recommend or how we write, and our editorial standards always come first. See our Affiliate Disclosure for more on how these relationships work.

Google AdSense.We display ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its partners may use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. This enables Google and its partners to show you relevant ads. You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings at google.com/settings/ads, and you can learn about further choices at aboutads.info. Where required, we will ask for your consent before advertising cookies are set.

Amazon Associates. Some pages contain affiliate links to products on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, PetalPoko earns from qualifying purchases. If you click an affiliate link and go on to buy something, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Amazon may use cookies to track that a purchase came from our link.

These partners have their own privacy policies, which govern how they handle your information.

How we share your information

We do not sell your personal information, and we share it only in the limited circumstances below:

• Service providers. We share information with trusted third parties that help us run and support the Site, such as our website host, Google Analytics, and our advertising and affiliate partners (Google AdSense and Amazon). They may only use your information as needed to provide their service.
• Legal reasons. We may disclose information if we are required to by law, or to protect our rights, safety, or property, or those of others.
• Business transfer. If PetalPoko is ever transferred to new ownership, information may be transferred as part of that change, subject to this policy.

International data transfers

PetalPoko is operated from India, and the services we use, including Google, may store or process information in other countries, including outside India, the European Economic Area, and the United Kingdom. Where information is transferred internationally, we and our providers take steps to protect it using appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses or an equivalent legal mechanism.

How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, or for as long as the law requires. For example, we keep contact messages and comments for as long as needed to deal with your enquiry and our records. Aggregated analytics data may be kept for longer, as it does not identify you.

How we protect your information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information against loss, misuse, and unauthorised access. No website or internet transmission is ever completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to keep the risk low and to use reputable providers who do the same.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you have rights over your personal information. We honour these rights for all our readers wherever we reasonably can.

If you are in the EU or UK, you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, object to or restrict how we use it, withdraw consent where we rely on it, and ask for a copy of your information in a portable format.

If you are in California, you have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, request access to or deletion of your personal information, opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information (though we do not sell it), and not be treated differently for exercising your rights.

If you are in India, under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act you have the right to access a summary of the personal data we process, ask us to correct or erase it, nominate another person to exercise your rights in the event of death or incapacity, and raise a grievance with us.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@petalpoko.com. We will respond within the time the law allows. You may also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority, though we hope you will contact us first so we can help.

Children’s privacy

The Site is intended for a general, adult audience and is not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

Links to other websites

The Site contains links to other websites, including sources we cite and products we link to. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any website you visit.

Do Not Track

Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” signal. There is no common industry standard for how to respond to these signals, so we do not currently respond to them. We will update this section if that changes.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example if we add a new feature or use a new provider. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page, and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice. We encourage you to review this page occasionally.

Contact us

If you have any questions, requests, or concerns about this policy or your information, please contact us at support@petalpoko.com or via the contact page.