Privacy Policy

The Talk Lounge ("we," "us," "our") operates www.thetalklounge.com. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information when you use our website and services.

We comply with: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), UK Data Protection Act 2018, Brazil's LGPD, Canada's PIPEDA, Australia's Privacy Act 1988, South Africa's POPIA, Japan's APPI, South Korea's PIPA, and other applicable international privacy laws.

Account Information: Name, email, username, password (encrypted), profile picture when you register.

Authentication Data: If you sign in via Google, we receive your name, email, and profile picture from Google. We do not receive your Google password.

Usage Data: Pages visited, articles read, comments posted, time spent, device type, browser, IP address, referring URLs.

Cookies: Session cookies, authentication tokens, analytics cookies, advertising cookies (with consent where required).

User Content: Comments, reactions, bookmarks, and any content you voluntarily submit.

• Provide and maintain our services
• Process your account registration and authentication
• Personalize your experience and content recommendations
• Send newsletters (with your consent)
• Display relevant advertisements
• Analyze usage to improve our services
• Prevent fraud and ensure security
• Comply with legal obligations

Consent: Newsletter subscriptions, marketing communications, non-essential cookies.
Contract: Account creation, service delivery.
Legitimate Interest: Analytics, security, fraud prevention, service improvement.
Legal Obligation: Tax records, law enforcement requests.

We may share data with:

• Service Providers: Hosting (cloud providers), analytics (Google Analytics), email services, payment processors
• Advertising Partners: Google AdSense and advertising networks (anonymized/aggregated data)
• Legal Requirements: When required by law, court order, or to protect our rights
• Business Transfers: In connection with merger, acquisition, or sale of assets

We do NOT sell your personal information to third parties.

Your data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside your residence, including the United States. We ensure appropriate safeguards through Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and adequacy decisions where applicable.

• Account data: Retained while your account is active, deleted within 30 days of account deletion request
• Comments: Retained indefinitely unless you request deletion
• Analytics data: Aggregated and anonymized after 26 months
• Legal/tax records: Retained as required by law (typically 7 years)

Depending on your location, you have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of your personal data
• Rectification: Correct inaccurate data
• Erasure: Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Portability: Receive your data in a machine-readable format
• Restriction: Limit how we process your data
• Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent at any time
• Non-Discrimination: Exercise rights without discriminatory treatment

To exercise these rights, email: privacy@thetalklounge.com

California residents have additional rights under CCPA/CPRA:

• Right to know what personal information is collected, used, shared, or sold
• Right to delete personal information
• Right to opt-out of sale/sharing of personal information
• Right to correct inaccurate personal information
• Right to limit use of sensitive personal information

We do NOT sell personal information. To submit a request: privacy@thetalklounge.com

Our services are not directed to children under 13 (or 16 in the EU/UK). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately.

We implement industry-standard security measures including encryption (TLS/SSL), secure password hashing, access controls, and regular security audits. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.

Our site uses third-party services with their own privacy policies:

• Google Analytics & AdSense: Google Privacy Policy
• OneSignal (Push Notifications): OneSignal Privacy Policy
• Social Media Embeds: Subject to respective platform policies

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. We will notify you of material changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

For privacy inquiries or to exercise your rights:

Email: privacy@thetalklounge.com
Response time: Within 30 days (or sooner as required by law)

EU/UK Representative: Contact us at the email above for representative details if required.