Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice explains how Gulf Gallery LLC (trading as “AUZZ News”, “we”, “us”) collects, uses, shares and retains personal data when you use auzz.news and related services (the “Service”). Gulf Gallery LLC is the data controller for personal data processed through the Service. We aim to describe our actual practices — not a generic template — and to update this notice whenever those practices change.

1. Personal data we collect

• Account data — email address and, if you sign in with a social provider, the basic profile fields that provider returns (name, avatar). Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and are never visible to us.
• Reader activity you create — comments, bookmarks, reading history, followed topics/authors, and newsletter subscription preferences.
• Newsletter data — email address, subscription status, and delivery/open/unsubscribe events from our email provider.
• First-party product analytics — when you view an article, scroll through it, or run a search, we record the event on our own servers (article ID or search term, timestamp, referrer, a short-lived random session identifier, and — where you are signed in — your user ID). We do not build cross-site advertising profiles and we do not fingerprint your device.
• Support data — messages you send us and anything you choose to include.
• Server logs — standard request logs (IP address, user agent, requested URL, response status) kept by our hosting provider for security, abuse detection and debugging.

2. Why we process it

• To create and secure your account and deliver the Service (contract).
• To personalise your reading experience and send transactional emails such as sign-in links, receipts and newsletter confirmations (contract / legitimate interests).
• To detect fraud, abuse and to protect the security of the Service (legitimate interests, legal obligation).
• To understand which stories and searches serve readers well, using our own first-party analytics (legitimate interests).
• To send the newsletter and any optional marketing you have opted in to (consent, which you can withdraw at any time via the one-click unsubscribe link in every email).

3. Who we share it with

• Infrastructure providers — our hosting, database and authentication platform (Supabase / Lovable Cloud) and our content delivery network process personal data on our behalf to run the Service.
• Email delivery — Resend (via the Lovable Email service) delivers newsletter and transactional emails from news@auzz.news. Delivery, bounce and unsubscribe events are shared back to us.
• Merchant of Record — Paddle. Paddle.com Market Ltd. acts as our reseller and Merchant of Record for AUZZ News memberships. Paddle handles order fulfilment, billing, tax, invoicing, subscription management, refunds and payment-related support, and receives the personal and payment information needed to complete your transaction.
• Professional advisers — legal, accounting and audit providers under confidentiality.
• Authorities — where required by law or to protect our rights.

We do not sell your personal data, we do not share it with advertising networks, and we do not run behavioural ad targeting on this site.

4. Data retention

We retain personal data only as long as needed for the purposes above, to comply with our legal obligations, or to resolve disputes. Account and reader-activity data is kept while your account is active and for up to 24 months after closure. First-party analytics events (article views, scroll depth, searches) are kept for up to 24 months and then deleted or aggregated. Server logs are typically retained for up to 12 months. Newsletter records are kept until you unsubscribe, then retained only as needed to honour your unsubscribe.

5. Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to processing of your personal data, to withdraw consent, and to data portability. You may also lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@auzz.news. We aim to respond within 30 days.

6. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures — including encryption in transit, row-level access controls on our database, least-privilege administration and regular reviews — designed to protect personal data from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction. No system is perfectly secure.

7. International transfers

The Service is operated from the Sultanate of Oman and personal data may be processed in other countries where our providers operate. Where data is transferred internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms.

8. Cookies, storage and consent categories

We group anything that reads or writes to your device into five categories, which you can review and change at any time via the Privacy choices link in the site footer. Your choice is saved on this device and honoured on return visits.

• Essential — always on. Sign-in, security, language and personalisation choices, and abuse protection.
• First-party analytics — anonymous, no-cookie measurement (article impressions, scroll depth, reads, search terms) that stays on our own servers and is used to decide what to cover. This category does not use cookies or advertising identifiers, does not include PII, and never leaves our infrastructure. It is materially different from third-party tracking and is not lumped in with the categories below.
• Third-party analytics — measurement tools operated by other companies (for example Google Analytics). Not currently used on this site. Requires your consent before loading.
• Session recording — playback of anonymised interaction paths for debugging. Not currently used on this site. Requires your consent before loading.
• Advertising — advertising cookies or identifiers used to personalise or measure ads. Not currently used on this site. Requires your consent before loading.

You can clear or block cookies via your browser settings; disabling essential storage may prevent parts of the Service from working. We will not enable any new consent-requiring category without first presenting it in the Privacy choices dialog.

9. Children

The Service is not directed to children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them.

10. Changes

We may update this notice from time to time. Material changes will be signalled on this page and, where appropriate, by email.

11. Contact

Gulf Gallery LLC · Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
Privacy: privacy@auzz.news
Support: news@auzz.news