Privacy Policy for The Olive Branch Review
Last Updated: November 5, 2025
Who We Are
We are The Olive Branch Review. Our website address is: https://olivebranchreview.com
Website Ownership and Data Controller Information
This Privacy Policy applies to the website and online store operated and provided by Royal Coast Media LLC. For the purposes of this policy, “Royal Coast Media LLC” shall refer to the owner and data controller of this website and The Store @The Olive Branch Review. All references to “we”, “us”, or “our” in this Privacy Policy are to Royal Coast Media LLC. Royal Coast Media LLC is responsible for the collection, processing, and protection of your personal data in accordance with this policy and applicable data protection laws.
Information We Collect
We collect several types of information depending on how you interact with our website and services:
Website Visitors
When you visit our website, we may automatically collect:
- IP address
- Browser type and version
- Device information
- Pages visited and time spent on pages
- Referring website
- Geographic location (country/city level)
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect:
- The data shown in the comments form (name, email address, website)
- The visitor’s IP address
- Browser user agent string (to help with spam detection)
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Contributor Accounts
If you create a Contributor Account to submit works to The Olive Branch Review, we collect and store:
- Account credentials (username, email address, encrypted password)
- Profile information you choose to provide (name, bio, profile picture, website)
- Submitted works and associated metadata (submission date, title, content)
- Communication history related to your submissions
- Payment information for royalty distributions (bank account details, PayPal email, or other payment method information)
- Tax documentation as required by law (W-9, W-8BEN, or equivalent forms)
All contributors can access or update their account information at any time through their account dashboard, except for data we are legally required to retain for tax, accounting, and payment purposes. All accounts can be deleted upon request at communications@olivebranchreview.com
Store Customers and Purchases
When you make a purchase through The Store @The Olive Branch Review, we collect:
- Billing information (full name, billing address, email address, phone number)
- Shipping address for physical products
- Order details (items purchased, quantities, prices)
- Payment information (processed securely through our payment processor)
- Order history and transaction records
- Communication preferences for order updates
Important: We do not store complete credit card numbers or sensitive payment card data on our servers. All payment processing is handled by our PCI DSS compliant payment processor, Stripe, whose privacy policy can be found at https://stripe.com/privacy.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience on our website.
Comment Cookies: If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
Login and Session Cookies: If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser. When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
Editing Cookies: If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Analytics Cookies: We may use analytics services to understand how visitors use our website. These services may set cookies to collect information about your visit.
You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. However, if you do this, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit our site, and some services and functionalities may not work.
Media and Uploaded Content
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website. We recommend removing EXIF data from images before uploading them.
Embedded Content from Other Websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, social media posts, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website directly.
These third-party websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites or services.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
Website Functionality:
- To provide and maintain our website and services
- To notify you about changes to our website or services
- To allow you to participate in interactive features when you choose to do so
Contributor Services:
- To manage your Contributor Account
- To process and review submitted works
- To communicate with you about your submissions
- To calculate and distribute royalty payments
- To comply with tax and legal obligations related to payments
Store and E-commerce:
- To process your orders and deliver products
- To send order confirmations and shipping updates
- To handle returns, refunds, and customer service inquiries
- To maintain records for accounting and legal purposes
- To prevent fraudulent transactions
Communications:
- To respond to your inquiries and provide customer support
- To send administrative information, such as updates to our terms and policies
- To send marketing communications (only with your consent, where required)
Analytics and Improvements:
- To analyze website usage and improve our services
- To monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities
Legal Compliance:
- To comply with legal obligations
- To protect our rights, property, and safety, and that of our users
Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, our legal basis for collecting and using your personal information depends on the specific information and context:
- Contract Performance: Processing necessary to fulfill our contract with you (e.g., processing orders, managing contributor accounts)
- Consent: Where you have given us explicit consent (e.g., marketing communications, optional cookies)
- Legitimate Interests: Where processing is in our legitimate interests and not overridden by your rights (e.g., website analytics, fraud prevention)
- Legal Obligation: Where we must process data to comply with the law (e.g., tax documentation, record retention)
Who We Share Your Data With
We may share your personal information in the following circumstances:
Service Providers: We work with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf, including:
- Payment processors for handling transactions
- Shipping and fulfillment services for delivering physical products
- Email service providers for sending communications
- Web hosting providers
- Analytics services
- Tax and accounting services
These service providers have access to your personal information only to perform specific tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., court orders, subpoenas, government agencies).
Business Transfers: If Royal Coast Media LLC is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email and/or a prominent notice on our website of any change in ownership or uses of your personal information.
With Your Consent: We may share your information for any other purpose with your explicit consent.
Password Resets: If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email for security purposes.
Spam Detection: Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service, which may share data according to its own privacy policy.
We do not sell, rent, or otherwise share your personal information with third parties for their marketing purposes.
International Data Transfers
Your information may be transferred to, and maintained on, servers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, and your information is transferred to countries outside these regions, we will take appropriate safeguards to ensure your personal information remains protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy. These safeguards may include standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission or other legally approved mechanisms.
How Long We Retain Your Data
Comments: If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
User Accounts: For users that register on our website (including contributors), we store the personal information they provide in their user profile until the account is deleted or for as long as necessary to provide our services. Users can request deletion of their account at any time, subject to our legal retention obligations.
Store Purchases: We retain order information and customer data for accounting, tax, and legal purposes. Purchase records are typically retained for [7 years] or as required by applicable law. After this period, data will be anonymized or deleted unless we have a legal obligation to retain it.
Payment and Tax Information: Payment information for contributors is retained for as long as necessary to process payments and comply with tax laws, typically [7 years] from the last payment.
Analytics Data: Website analytics data is typically retained for [26 months] or according to the retention policy of our analytics provider.
You may request deletion of your personal data at any time, subject to legal and contractual retention requirements. For more information, see the “Your Rights” section below.
Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:
- Encrypted data transmission using SSL/TLS protocols (HTTPS)
- Secure password storage using industry-standard hashing
- Regular security assessments and updates
- Limited employee access to personal data on a need-to-know basis
- Secure payment processing through PCI DSS compliant processors
- Regular backups and disaster recovery procedures
However, please be aware that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
Your Rights Over Your Data
Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:
General Rights (All Users)
Access: You can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us.
Correction: You can request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
Deletion: You can request that we erase personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, tax, or security purposes.
Account Management: If you have an account on this site or have left comments, all users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time through their account dashboard (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
Additional Rights for California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):
Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose:
- Categories of personal information collected
- Categories of sources from which personal information is collected
- Business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling personal information
- Categories of third parties with whom we share personal information
- Specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you
Right to Delete: You have the right to request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to Opt-Out of Sale: You have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information. Note: We do not sell personal information.
Right to Non-Discrimination: You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising your CCPA rights.
Right to Correct: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information.
Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: You have the right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information (where applicable).
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [INSERT PRIVACY EMAIL]. We will respond to your request within 45 days. For verification purposes, we may ask you to provide additional information to confirm your identity.
California residents may also contact the California Attorney General’s office or the California Privacy Protection Agency to report concerns or complaints.
Additional Rights for EU/UK Residents (GDPR/UK GDPR)
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR:
Right of Access: You have the right to access your personal data and obtain information about how we process it.
Right to Rectification: You have the right to have inaccurate personal data corrected and incomplete data completed.
Right to Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): You have the right to request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances.
Right to Restriction of Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller.
Right to Object: You have the right to object to processing of your personal data based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.
Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (data protection authority) in your country.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [INSERT PRIVACY EMAIL]. We will respond to your request within one month, though this may be extended in complex cases.
Children’s Privacy
Our website and services are not directed to individuals under the age of 13 (or 16 in the European Economic Area). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at communications@olivebranchreview.com. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child without parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information from our servers.
Third-Party Services and Links
Our website may contain links to third-party websites, services, or applications that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the privacy policy of every site you visit.
We use the following categories of third-party services:
Payment Processing: Stripe – Privacy Policy: https://stripe.com/privacy
Shipping and Fulfillment: TBD – Privacy Policy: TBD
Email Communications: GoogleMail – Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US
We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services. These third-party services may have their own privacy policies governing their collection and use of your information.
Do Not Track Signals
Some web browsers include a “Do Not Track” (DNT) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference. Our website does not currently respond to DNT browser signals or mechanisms. If we do so in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy accordingly.
Marketing Communications
With your consent (where required by law), we may send you marketing communications about products, services, and promotions that may be of interest to you. You can opt-out of receiving marketing emails at any time by:
- Clicking the “unsubscribe” link in any marketing email
- Updating your communication preferences in your account settings
- Contacting us at [INSERT PRIVACY EMAIL]
Please note that even if you opt-out of marketing communications, we may still send you transactional or administrative messages related to your account, orders, or use of our services.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by:
- Posting a prominent notice on our website
- Sending an email to registered users and contributors at the email address associated with their account
- Updating the “Last Updated” date at the top of this policy
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information. Your continued use of our website and services after changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact Information
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:
Email: communications@olivebranchreview.com
For Privacy-Related Requests:
Please include “Privacy Request” in the subject line of your email or at the top of your written correspondence.
Response Time:
We will respond to privacy inquiries and requests within 30 days (or as otherwise required by applicable law).
Supervisory Authority Contact (EU/UK Residents)
If you are located in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom and believe we have not addressed your privacy concerns adequately, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority. Contact information for EU data protection authorities can be found at: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_en
This Privacy Policy was last updated on November 5, 2025 and is effective as of that date.
By using The Olive Branch Review website and services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and agree to its terms.