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We use cookies to improve our services and remember your choices for future visits. For more information see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Last updated: May 25, 2024
Welcome to the website of The Sun at https://www.thesunmagazine.org (the “Website”), which includes all subdomains and subpages present and future. Thank you for choosing to visit and use the Website and otherwise interact with The Sun.
We take your privacy and the protection of Personal Information very seriously. We are providing this Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) to tell you about who we are, what Personal Information we collect from you and about you, and what we do with your Personal Information, all while you use the Website or otherwise interact with us. The Policy also explains your rights under the law, and how you can contact us, and the necessary authorities to enforce those rights. We ask that you please read it carefully.
Here are the key elements of the Policy so you can know the most important parts right away to make an informed decision about your consent for our collection, use, disclosure, and processing of your Personal Information. You can find the details in the rest of the Policy.
| Personal Information we collect from you but only with your consent | What we do with it | Third parties we share it with |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription Information; Delivery Information | Manage your Subscription to The Sun Magazine; Deliver the Print Edition if applicable | Companies that provide the infrastructure for the Website, specifically ePublishing and Multipub; USPS for delivery of the Print Edition |
| Account Information | Manage your account and communicate with you about your account and Subscription | Companies that provide the infrastructure for the Website, specifically ePublishing and Multipub, and email providers |
| Donation Information | Process your Donation and communicate with you about it | Companies that provide the infrastructure for the Website, specifically ePublishing and Multipub, and email providers |
| Billing Information | Process your payments for your Subscription Fees or Donation | Third-Party Payment Processor, specifically Stripe |
| Newsletter Information | Send you our newsletters | Companies that manage our mailing list, specifically Mailchimp and SendGrid |
Before we get started with the details, here are a few terms we think you should know as you read the Policy.
“Data Protection Laws” refers to the laws designed to protect your Personal Information and privacy in the place where you live. These include: (i) the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and its related law the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”) that we apply to our activities in the United States; (ii) the “GDPR,” the European Data Protection Law that stands for “General Data Protection Regulation,” with the official name Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council; and (iii) the “UK GDPR” which applies to our activities in the United Kingdom; please note that when the Policy refers only to the “GDPR,” this includes the UK GDPR as applicable. The Sun is committed to adhering to these and any other applicable Data Protection Laws.
“Personal Information” is information we collect from you or about you and which is defined in the CCPA as “information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household.” The similar concept in the GDPR is “personal data,” defined as “any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.” In either case, it can be as simple as your name or your email address, or something more complicated like an online identifier (usually a string of letters and/or numbers) that gets attached to you. Any mention of “Personal Information” in the Policy shall also mean personal data as defined in the GDPR.
Other terms and definitions used in the Policy may be found in our Terms of Use, and will have the same meaning in the Policy as they do there.
The Sun Publishing Company (“The Sun”) is a duly-registered, domestic non-profit organization in the State of North Carolina, USA, at the address listed below. Where the Policy refers to “The Sun,” it may refer to The Sun Publishing Company and/or its officers, directors, employees, agents, partners, principals, representatives, successors, and assigns, depending on the context. “The Sun Magazine” refers to the actual magazine published by The Sun, whether in digital or print form.
Under the CCPA and CPRA, The Sun does not meet the definition of a “business,” but we voluntarily conform to the obligations for businesses under the CCPA and CPRA, the gold standards for privacy and data protection in the United States. Under the GDPR, The Sun is a “data controller.” That means we collect Personal Information directly from you and determine the purpose and means of “processing” that data. “Processing” is a broad term that means collection, use, storage, transfer, or any other action related to your Personal Information; it is used in the Policy in that way. The CCPA defines processing as “any operation or set of operations that are performed on Personal Information or on sets of Personal Information, whether or not by automated means”; any use of “processing” in the Policy would also meet such definition.
If you want to ask us anything about what’s in the Policy, or anything else privacy- or data-related, or exercise any of your available privacy rights, you can email:
The Sun Privacy Officer
privacy@thesunmagazine.org
Here is the mailing address for you as well:
The Sun Privacy Officer
109 N. Roberson Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
USA
You have the following rights regarding your Personal Information held by The Sun, and other privacy rights. Please note that not necessarily all of these rights may be available to you; this depends on the Data Protection Laws where you are located that apply to you. These rights may be exercised without affecting the price you pay for any use of the Website or your Subscription. Notwithstanding that, exercising certain of these rights may affect your ability to use some or all of the Website, or your Subscription.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact our Privacy Officer at the contact information above, or refer to certain relevant sections further in the Policy.
In the table below, please find all the Personal Information we may collect from you directly, what we use it for, and the legal basis under the GDPR for us having and processing this Personal Information. Under the CCPA and CPRA, there is no equivalent concept. However, by submitting this Personal Information, you acknowledge having granted to The Sun your consent to process the Personal Information.
| Personal Information category | Personal Information processed | What we use it for (the “purpose” of processing) | Legal basis for processing under the GDPR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Information | Your name and email address, and optionally your ZIP or Postal Code | To communicate with you in reply to your inquiry or relating to a Letter to the Editor you wrote to The Sun Magazine | Your consent in giving us this information |
| Account Information | Your email address | To communicate with you about your account and Subscription; to allow you to log in to your account | Your consent in giving us this information |
| Subscription Information | Your name and mailing address | To manage your Subscription | Your consent in giving us this information |
| Donation Information | Your name and email address | To communicate with you about your Donation and process your Donation | Your consent in giving us this information |
| Billing Information | Credit card holder’s name, billing address, credit card number, expiration date, and CVV/CVC number | To process the payments for your Subscription Fees or Donation you make to The Sun | Performance of a contract between you and us |
| Delivery Information | Your name and mailing address | Deliver your Print Edition of The Sun Magazine if you have chosen that option | Performance of a contract between you and us |
| Newsletter Information | Your name and email address | To send you our newsletters | Your consent in giving us this information |
Sometimes we get Personal Information about you from third parties. The table below explains the details about this Personal Information – what it is, where it comes from, what we do with it, and the legal basis for us having and processing this Personal Information under the GDPR. Under the CCPA and CPRA, the legal basis is your consent. None of this Personal Information comes from publicly-available sources.
| Personal Information category | Personal Information processed | Who we get it from | What we use it for (the “purpose” of processing) | Legal basis for processing under the GDPR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account Information | Your email address | The third party who bought a Gift Subscription for you | Create an account for you | Performance of a contract |
| Subscription Information; Delivery Information | Your name and mailing address | The third party who bought a Gift Subscription for you | Manage your Subscription and deliver your Print Edition (if applicable) | Performance of a contract |
| Contact Information | Your name | Our third-party service provider Submittable | To communicate with you via the Submittable messaging system about your Submission when you have created an account on Submittable | Performance of a contract |
We do not collect any of what the CPRA or GDPR considers sensitive Personal Information from you, unless you voluntarily submit it to us, which we encourage you not to do.
We routinely share some of your Personal Information with certain types of third parties who are identified in the table below along with what they do with it. Some of those third-party recipients may be based outside your home jurisdiction. If you are in the European Economic Area or the UK—please see the Transfer of Your Personal Information Outside of the European Economic Area and the UK section below for more information including on how we safeguard your Personal Information when this occurs.
We will share Personal Information with law enforcement or other public or governmental authorities (including but not limited to the Internal Revenue Service) if: (i) we are required by applicable law in response to lawful requests, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements, or are otherwise required to according to any applicable law; (ii) we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, fraud, or situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, or any violation of The Sun’s Terms of Use; or (iii) we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding situations that involve abuse of the Website infrastructure or the Internet in general (such as voluminous spamming or denial of service attacks).
We may also share Personal Information: (i) with a parent company, subsidiaries, joint ventures, or other companies under common control with The Sun (in which case we will require such entities to honor the Policy); or (ii) if The Sun merges with another entity, is subject to a corporate reorganization, sells or transfers all or part of its business, assets, or shares (in which case we will require such entity to assume our obligations under the Policy, or inform you that you are covered by a new privacy policy).
We will never share your Personal Information with other third parties except under these circumstances. We do not sell, rent, or lease your Personal Information to any third party for direct marketing purposes or any other purpose.
| Personal Information category | Who we transfer it to | What they do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Contact Information | Companies that provide email services, specifically Mailgun | Transfer it to us so that we can reply to your inquiry |
| Account Information | Companies providing technical infrastructure for the Website, specifically ePublishing and Multipub | Store it and manage it, so that you can access your account |
| Subscription Information | Companies providing technical infrastructure for the Website, specifically ePublishing and Multipub | Store it so that we may retrieve it to use it to manage your Subscription |
| Donation Information | Companies providing technical infrastructure for the Website, specifically ePublishing; email service providers, specifically Mailgun | Communicate with you about your Donation, and manage your recurring Donation |
| Billing Information | Third-Party Payment Processor, specifically Stripe | Process the payments for your Subscription Fees or Donation you make to The Sun |
| Delivery Information | The United States Postal Service | Deliver your Print Edition of The Sun Magazine if you have purchased that option |
| Newsletter Information | Companies that provide newsletter and mailing list services, specifically Mailchimp and SendGrid, as detailed more fully in the Email Communications and Compliance with Anti-Spam Laws section below | Help us manage our mailing list and send you our newsletters |
| Analytics identifiers and IP address | Companies that provide data analytics for the Website, specifically Google Analytics | Provide us with analytics as to how the Website is used, as further detailed in the Limited Gathering of Information for Statistical, Analytical, and Security Purposes section below |
The Sun automatically collects certain information using the third-party analytics program Google Analytics to help us understand how our users use the Website, but none of this information identifies you personally. For example, each time you visit the Website, we automatically collect (as applicable) your IP address, browser and computer or device type, access times, the web page from which you came, the web pages or content you access, and other related information. We use information collected in this manner only to better understand your needs and the needs of Website visitors and users in the aggregate. The Sun also makes use of information gathered for statistical purposes to keep track of the number of visits to the Website, the specific pages viewed on the Website, and users to develop and introduce improvements to the Website.
Your IP address and other relevant information we collect using Google Analytics may be used to trace any fraudulent or criminal activity, or any activity in violation of the Terms of Use.
We have implemented very strict technical and organizational procedures to ensure that, by default, only Personal Information that is necessary for each specific purpose of the processing is processed by us. These procedures prevent your Personal Information from being lost, or used or accessed in any unauthorized way.
We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable supervisory authority of a suspected data security breach where the Data Protection Laws require us to do so, and within the time frame required by the applicable Data Protection Law.
The Sun uses only industry best practices (physical, electronic, and procedural) in keeping any data collected (including Personal Information) secure. In addition, we use third-party vendors and hosting partners to provide the necessary hardware, software, networking, storage, and related technology required to operate the Website, and these third parties have been selected for their high standards of security, both electronic and physical.
Finally, all information, including Personal Information, is transferred with encryption using Secure Sockets Layer (“SSL”) or Transport Layer Security (“TLS”), robust security standards for Internet data transfer and transactions. You can use your browser to check The Sun’s valid security certificate.
The Sun uses tracking technology (“cookies” and related technology such as tags, pixels, and web beacons) on the Website, and by interacting with the Website you agree to their use. Cookies are small text files placed on your computer or device when you visit a website or use an online service to track use of the site or service and to improve the user experience by storing certain data on your computer or device.
Specifically, we use cookies and related technologies for the following functions:
Your browser can be set to refuse cookies or delete them after they have been stored. You can refer to your browser’s help section for instructions, but here are instructions for the most commonly used browsers and operating systems:
Please note that deleting or blocking certain cookies may detract from your user experience by requiring you to re-enter certain information, including information required to use the Website or access your Subscription and account. Furthermore, deleting certain cookies may prevent certain functions from working at all.
The Sun uses Mailchimp and SendGrid to manage our mailing list and send out our newsletters, and Mailgun to send out emails related to various account, Subscription, and Donation functions (Mailchimp, SendGrid, and Mailgun, collectively the “Email Service Providers”). Personal Information is transferred to the Email Service Providers to manage the mailing list and for the emails to be sent out properly. Your Newsletter Information, Subscription Information, and Donation Information is only used to send out emails; the Email Service Providers do not use this Personal Information for any other purpose and will not transfer or sell your Personal Information to any other third party. For more information, please refer to Mailchimp’s Intuit Global Privacy Statement, SendGrid’s Twilio Privacy Notice, and Mailgun’s Privacy Policy.
You may unsubscribe from The Sun’s newsletter mailing list at any time by following the link at the bottom of all The Sun newsletters. Other types of emails, such as transactional, relational, and other emails related to your account, Subscription, or Donation will not have an opt-out option as they are necessary for the use of the Website.
The Sun’s practices in regard to its email communications are designed to be compliant with anti-spam laws, specifically the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. If you believe you have received email in violation of any anti-spam law, please contact us using the information in the About Us and Contacting Us section above.
For our European users, we endeavor to keep your Personal Information inside the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK (as applicable). However, certain of our data processors (and The Sun) are in other countries where your Personal Information may be transferred. However, these countries are limited to countries with particular circumstances that protect your data, specifically:
That’s it! You have the right, however, to refuse to have your data transferred outside the EEA or the UK. Please contact our Privacy Officer using the information in the About Us and Contacting Us section above to make that request. Please note that making this request may prevent you from being able to use a portion or all of the Website.
If you are in the EEA or the UK, under the GDPR you have the right to make a complaint to the appropriate supervisory authority. If you are not satisfied with the response received or the actions taken by our Privacy Officer, or if you would like to make a complaint directly about The Sun’s data practices, we invite you to contact the supervisory authority in your country. For example, if you are in the UK, you should contact the Information Commissioner’s Office who is the supervisory authority. You can reach them in a variety of ways, including by phone (0303 123 1113 in the UK) and mail (Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, United Kingdom, SK9 5AF). If you are in France, you should contact the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés who is the supervisory authority there. Their contact information can be found here.
The full listing of all Data Protection Authorities (the supervisory authorities) across the EEA can be found here.
Your Personal Information will only be kept for as long as it is necessary for the purpose needed for that processing. For example, we will only keep your Account Information or Subscription Information for as long as you have an account or Subscription with us.
The Sun does not use any automated decision-making processes in providing the Website.
The Website is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from a child under 13. If we become aware that we have inadvertently received Personal Information from a person under the age of 13 through the Website, we will delete such information from our records.
The date at the top of this page indicates when the Policy was last updated. Every now and then, we will have to update the Policy, and we will update it no less than once every 12 months. You can always find the most updated version at this URL, and we will always post a notice on the Website if we make significant changes. If we have your email, we will also email you to tell you the Policy has been updated and what the important changes are.
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