1. Introduction
Welcome to MERO . We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data with transparency and care. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website and its related services.
By accessing or using our Website, you agree to the terms outlined in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our Website. This policy is designed to be compliant with general privacy principles and aims to be understandable for our audience in India, the United States, and around the world.
2. Information We Collect
We collect information to provide better services to our readers. The information we collect can be broadly categorized as follows:
a) Personal Information You Voluntarily Provide:
- Contact Information: When you subscribe to our newsletter, contact us via a form, or leave a comment, you may provide your name and email address.
- User Content: Any information, including personal data, you voluntarily submit when posting a comment or interacting publicly on the blog.
- Transaction Information: If you purchase a digital product or service through our site (e.g., an e-book or course), we collect necessary billing details, which are processed securely by our third-party payment processors.
b) Automatically Collected Non-Personal Information:
When you visit our Website, our servers and third-party services may automatically record information that your browser sends. This data does not reveal your specific identity but may include:
- Log Data: Your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, pages visited, time and date of visit, time spent on pages, and other diagnostic data.
- Device Information: Information about the device you use, including device type, operating system, and unique device identifiers.
- Location Data: Approximate geographic location derived from your IP address (country/region level).
3. How We Use Collected Information
We use the information we collect for various legitimate business purposes, including:
- To operate and maintain the Website: To provide, operate, and manage our blog and its services.
- To improve user experience: To understand how our visitors interact with our content (e.g., which articles are most read) so we can improve our Website’s design, content, and functionality.
- To communicate with you: To send you newsletters (if you opted in), respond to your comments or inquiries, and send administrative information (e.g., updates to our policies).
- For advertising and monetization: To display personalized and non-personalized advertisements through our advertising partners, like Google AdSense.
- To protect our Website: To detect, prevent, and address technical issues, fraud, or security breaches.
4. Cookies and Web Beacons
a) What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that a website places on your device to store information about your preferences and browsing history. Web beacons (or pixels) are tiny graphics used to track user activity.
b) How We Use Them:
We, along with our third-party partners (like Google AdSense and affiliate networks), use cookies and web beacons to:
- Remember your preferences (e.g., comment details).
- Analyze website traffic and user behavior.
- Deliver and measure the effectiveness of advertisements.
- Enable affiliate marketing tracking (to credit us if you make a purchase through our links).
c) Your Choices Regarding Cookies:
Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. You can choose to set your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. However, if you disable cookies, some parts of our Website may not function properly. You can learn more about managing cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org.
5. Google AdSense & Advertising Partners
We use Google AdSense to serve advertisements on our Website. Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies (like the DoubleClick cookie) to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to our Website or other sites on the Internet. This enables Google and its partners to display ads to users based on their browsing profiles.
a) Interest-Based Advertising:
You may see ads that are tailored to your interests. This is known as Interest-Based Advertising (IBA).
b) Your Ad Choices:
- Google’s Policy: You can review Google’s Advertising Principles and how it uses cookies here.
- Opt-Out: Users can opt out of personalized advertising from Google by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. Alternatively, you can opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.
6. Third-Party Privacy Policies
Our Privacy Policy applies only to our Website. We contain links to external sites and use services provided by third parties. We have no control over the content, policies, or practices of these third-party sites. Therefore, we cannot accept responsibility or liability for their respective privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of every site you visit.
Key Third-Party Services We Use Include:
- Google Analytics: For analyzing website traffic. View their policy.
- Email Marketing Service (e.g., Mailchimp, ConvertKit): For managing newsletter subscriptions.
- Affiliate Networks (e.g., Amazon Associates, ShareASale): For tracking affiliate sales.
- Hosting Provider (e.g., SiteGround, Bluehost): For storing website data.
7. How We Protect Your Information
We implement commercially reasonable security measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include the use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology and regular security reviews.
However, please understand that:
- No method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
- You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any login information associated with any account you use to access our resources.
8. Children’s Information (COPPA Compliance)
We do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children under the age of 13. Our content is directed at individuals who are at least 18 years old or the age of majority in their jurisdiction. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers.
9. Your Consent
By using our Website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms. This includes your consent to the collection and use of your information as described, including the use of cookies for advertising and analytics.
10. Updates to This Privacy Policy
We may update this 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. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.
11. Contact Information
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, or if you wish to exercise any rights you might have regarding your personal data, please do not hesitate to contact us.