Privacy Policy

Introduction

Welcome to Rang De Pakistan ("we," "us," or "our"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit rangdepakistan.com.pk (the "Website").

By using our Website, you consent to the data practices described in this policy. If you do not agree with these practices, please do not use our services.

Who We Are

Rang De Pakistan is a digital news and information publication operating from Pakistan. For the purposes of applicable data protection law, we act as the data controller for personal information collected through this Website.

Contact for privacy matters: info@rangdepakistan.com.pk

Information We Collect

Personal Information

We may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you:

• Subscribe to our newsletter — we collect your email address only.
• Contact us through our contact form — we collect your name, email address, subject, and message.
• Comment on articles or posts — we collect the display name you enter and the text of your comment.

Please note: comments you post on our articles, including the display name you use, are publicly visible and may be indexed by search engines. Do not include information in a comment that you do not wish to be public.

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our Website, we automatically collect certain information about your device and browsing behavior, including:

• IP address (which may be truncated or anonymized by our analytics provider)
• Browser type and version
• Operating system and device type
• Pages you visit and time spent on pages
• Referring website addresses
• Date and time of your visit
• Approximate geographic location derived from your IP address

Information We Do Not Collect

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal information such as government identification numbers, financial account details, biometric data, or information about your health, religious beliefs, or political opinions. Please do not submit such information to us.

Legal Basis for Processing

Where data protection law requires us to identify a lawful basis for processing your personal information, we rely on the following:

• Consent — for newsletter subscriptions and for non-essential cookies, including advertising cookies. You may withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing or by using the opt-out options described below.
• Legitimate interests — for website analytics, security monitoring, responding to enquiries you send us, and improving our content and services, where these interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Legal obligation — where we are required to retain or disclose information under applicable law.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

• To provide, maintain, and improve our services
• To send you newsletters, updates, and promotional materials (with your consent)
• To respond to your inquiries and provide customer support
• To display advertising, including personalized advertising where permitted
• To analyze website usage and trends to improve user experience
• To detect, prevent, and address technical issues, abuse, and security threats
• To moderate user-generated content such as comments
• To comply with legal obligations and protect our rights

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our Website and store certain information. Cookies are small data files stored on your device that help us improve your experience.

We use the following categories of cookies:

• Strictly necessary cookies — required for the Website to function, including security and load balancing. These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies — help us understand how visitors use the Website.
• Advertising cookies — used by our advertising partner, Google, to deliver and measure advertisements, including personalized advertisements.

Separately from cookies, we store a small amount of information in your browser's local storage to remember your display preferences, such as your chosen light or dark theme, and which articles you have reacted to. This information stays on your device and is not transmitted to us.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, some portions of our Website may not function properly. Instructions for managing cookies are available in your browser's help documentation.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Some browsers transmit "Do Not Track" (DNT) signals. There is currently no industry standard for responding to DNT signals, and we do not respond to them at this time. Where legally required, we honour Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals as opt-out requests for the sale or sharing of personal information.

Advertising

Our Website is supported by advertising served by Google through the Google AdSense programme.

• Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our Website.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to our Website and other websites on the Internet.
• You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
• You may opt out of third-party vendor cookies more broadly at aboutads.info/choices or youronlinechoices.com.
• Third-party vendors other than Google may also place cookies on your device through the AdSense programme. We do not control these cookies, and their use is governed by the respective vendor's own privacy policy.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics and Vercel Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our Website. These services collect information such as pages visited, session duration, and referral sources.

You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Google's privacy practices are described at policies.google.com/privacy, and Vercel's at vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Third-Party Services

We may use third-party services that collect, monitor, and analyze information to help us operate and improve our Website. These third parties have access to your personal information only to perform specific tasks on our behalf and are contractually obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose, except where they act as independent controllers as described in this policy.

Categories of third-party services we use include:

• Analytics services (Google Analytics and Vercel Analytics)
• Advertising services (Google AdSense)
• Content delivery and hosting providers

Links to Other Websites

Our Website contains links to external websites that we do not operate. We are not responsible for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party site. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of every website you visit.

International Data Transfers

We operate from Pakistan. Some of our service providers, including our analytics and hosting providers, are located in the United States, the European Union, and other jurisdictions. This means your personal information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in countries whose data protection laws differ from those of your country of residence.

Where such transfers involve personal information protected under the EU or UK GDPR, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or an applicable adequacy decision.

Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

• Newsletter subscriptions — until you unsubscribe. We keep a record of your unsubscribe request so that we can honour it.
• Contact form submissions — up to 24 months after the enquiry is resolved.
• Comments — for as long as the associated article remains published, unless you request removal.
• Analytics data — retained by our analytics providers in line with their own retention settings.
• Server logs — retained by our hosting provider for a short period for security and diagnostic purposes.

We may retain information for longer where required by law or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls, and regular review of our systems.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you and any relevant authority where required by applicable law.

Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, including:

• The right to access your personal information
• The right to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
• The right to request deletion of your personal information
• The right to restrict or object to processing of your personal information
• The right to data portability
• The right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal
• The right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights

To exercise these rights, contact us at info@rangdepakistan.com.pk. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. There is no charge for exercising your rights, although we may charge a reasonable fee for manifestly unfounded or excessive requests.

If You Are in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom

You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority if you believe our processing of your personal information infringes applicable law.

If You Are a California Resident

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended), you have the right to know what personal information we collect, to request its deletion, to correct it, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell personal information for money. However, the use of advertising cookies may constitute "sharing" for cross-context behavioural advertising under California law. You can opt out using the advertising opt-out links above or by transmitting a Global Privacy Control signal.

Newsletter and Marketing Communications

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we store your email address so that we can send you updates. You may unsubscribe at any time by contacting us at info@rangdepakistan.com.pk, and we will process your request promptly. Where a newsletter email includes an unsubscribe link, you may also use that link.

Children's Privacy

Our Website is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. In jurisdictions where a higher age of digital consent applies, such as certain European Union member states where the age is 16, we do not knowingly collect personal information from children below that age without verifiable parental consent.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at info@rangdepakistan.com.pk and we will delete it.

Applicable Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, including the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and any data protection legislation subsequently enacted. Where we serve visitors in other jurisdictions, we also seek to comply with applicable regulations including the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date at the top.

Where changes are material, we will provide more prominent notice, such as a banner on the Website or an email notification to registered users. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Changes are effective when posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Consent

By using our Website, you consent to this Privacy Policy and agree to its terms. If you do not agree, please do not use our Website.