Privacy Policy

At The Wild Iceberg ("we," "our," or "us"), your privacy matters as much as the natural world we write about. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit thewildiceberg.com (the "Site"), why we collect it, how we use it, and the choices you have. Please read it carefully.

1. Who We Are

The Wild Iceberg is an independent wildlife and nature editorial publication. Our registered contact address and data controller details are:

The Wild Iceberg
thewildiceberg.com
Email: privacy@thewildiceberg.com

If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please contact us at the email above.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in two ways: information you give us directly and information collected automatically when you use the Site.

2.1 Information You Provide

• Comments. If you leave a comment on a story, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your comment. Your email is never published publicly.
• Contact and enquiry forms. Any name, email address, subject, and message you submit through a contact form.
• Newsletter subscription. If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address and, optionally, your first name.
• Account registration. If you create an account, we collect your name, email address, password (stored in hashed form), and any profile information you choose to provide.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Log data. Our web server automatically records your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referrer URL, pages visited, and timestamps.
• Cookies and similar technologies. We use cookies to keep you logged in, remember your preferences, and understand how visitors use the Site. See Section 6 for full details.
• Analytics data. We may use privacy-respecting analytics tools to understand aggregate traffic patterns, popular articles, and geographic distribution of readers. This data is not linked to individual identities.
• Device information. Screen resolution, device type, and browser capabilities may be recorded to improve our responsive design.

2.3 Information From Third Parties

If you interact with social share buttons or embedded content (such as videos or maps), the third-party provider may collect data according to their own privacy policy. We do not receive personally identifiable information from those interactions unless you explicitly grant permission.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Delivering the Site. To serve pages, images, and content correctly to your device.
• Publishing comments. To display your name and comment on articles (never your email address).
• Sending newsletters. To deliver editorial newsletters you have subscribed to. Every email includes an unsubscribe link.
• Responding to enquiries. To reply to messages you send us through contact forms or email.
• Account management. To authenticate you, maintain your account, and send transactional emails (e.g. password resets).
• Security and fraud prevention. To detect, investigate, and prevent spam, abuse, or other harmful activity.
• Analytics and improvement. To understand which stories resonate, fix technical problems, and improve the Site experience.
• Legal compliance. To comply with applicable laws and regulations.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We do not use your data for automated profiling or advertising targeting.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom, our legal bases for processing personal data are:

• Consent — where you have given clear consent, such as subscribing to a newsletter or accepting non-essential cookies.
• Contract — where processing is necessary to fulfil an agreement with you, such as managing your account.
• Legitimate interests — where processing is in our legitimate interest and does not override your rights, such as basic server logging and spam prevention.
• Legal obligation — where we are required to process data to comply with the law.

5. How We Share Your Information

We share personal data only in the following limited circumstances:

• Service providers. We use a small number of trusted third-party service providers to operate the Site (e.g. hosting infrastructure, email delivery, analytics). These providers process data only on our instructions and are bound by data processing agreements.
• Legal requirements. We may disclose information if required to do so by law, court order, or governmental authority.
• Business transfers. If The Wild Iceberg is acquired by or merged with another organisation, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your data is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
• With your consent. We may share information with third parties when you have given us explicit permission to do so.

We never sell, rent, or trade your personal information to marketers or unaffiliated third parties.

6. Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device. We use the following categories of cookies:

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling strictly necessary cookies may affect Site functionality. You can withdraw consent for non-essential cookies at any time.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, unless a longer period is required by law:

• Comments — retained for the lifetime of the article, or until you request deletion.
• Newsletter subscriptions — retained until you unsubscribe and for up to 30 days thereafter for suppression list purposes.
• Contact enquiries — retained for up to 2 years for reference and follow-up.
• Account data — retained while your account is active and for up to 90 days after deletion.
• Server logs — retained for up to 90 days for security monitoring.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access. Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification. Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure. Request deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to certain legal exceptions.
• Restriction. Request that we limit how we process your data in certain circumstances.
• Portability. Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format and transfer it to another service.
• Objection. Object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
• Withdraw consent. Where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
• Lodge a complaint. File a complaint with your local data protection authority (e.g. the ICO in the UK, or your national supervisory authority in the EU).

To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@thewildiceberg.com. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request.

9. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include:

• HTTPS encryption across the entire Site
• Hashed and salted password storage
• Restricted access to production systems
• Regular software updates and security patches
• Periodic reviews of our data handling practices

No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that affects your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by law.

10. International Transfers

The Wild Iceberg operates from servers located in the European Union / United Kingdom. If you access the Site from outside these regions, your data may be transferred to and processed in your country or another country where data protection laws may differ.

Where we transfer data outside the EEA or UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place — such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission — to protect your information.

11. Children's Privacy

The Wild Iceberg is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or 16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us immediately at privacy@thewildiceberg.com and we will promptly delete it.

12. Third-Party Links

Our stories and pages may contain links to external websites, research institutions, or conservation organisations. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites and encourage you to read their privacy policies before submitting any personal information.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify registered users by email.

Your continued use of the Site after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please reach out:

The Wild Iceberg — Privacy Team
Email: privacy@thewildiceberg.com
Website: thewildiceberg.com

We take privacy seriously and will do our best to address your concerns promptly and transparently.