Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and how to contact us

Caffeine Anime at caffeineanime.com is operated by The Ordinary Trade Pty Ltd (we, us or our). This policy explains how we handle personal information through our website, advertising, reader communications and contributions.

Privacy Officer — The Ordinary Trade Pty Ltd
Email: hello@caffeineanime.com
Post: 179 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood VIC 3134, Australia

Where European or UK data protection law applies to our own processing, we act as a controller. Other organisations may have separate responsibilities for information they process through advertising, analytics or external services.

This policy provides information about our practices. Reading the website or accepting its terms does not itself provide consent to optional tracking where separate consent is required.

2. Information we collect

We collect information you provide when you contact us, submit a contribution, leave a comment or use an available subscription feature. This may include your name, display name, email address, message, photographs, author biography and details relevant to your submission. Photographs can contain location and other metadata. Please remove information you do not want to share and avoid submitting unnecessary sensitive information or private details about other people.

Our website and its service providers also process technical and usage information, such as:

• IP address, browser, device and operating-system information;
• requested pages, referral sources, campaign parameters, visit times and interactions;
• cookie, browser and advertising identifiers;
• approximate location derived from a connection or device information; and
• operational, error and security records.

Advertising and measurement services may associate activity with a browser or device identifier. Information does not become anonymous merely because a name is absent or an identifier is transformed or hashed.

We obtain information directly from readers, automatically through the website and from providers supporting its operation, analytics and advertising. You can read articles without supplying a name or email address, although technical information is still processed to deliver the website. Without relevant contact details, we may be unable to answer an enquiry or assess a contribution.

3. Why we use information

We use personal information to:

• deliver, maintain and protect the website;
• answer enquiries and manage reader correspondence;
• assess contributions, agree publication arrangements, credit authors and publish accepted material;
• moderate comments and address complaints or corrections;
• understand readership, engagement and website performance;
• deliver and measure advertising and attribute affiliate referrals;
• send updates where you have subscribed or otherwise requested them; and
• handle privacy requests, meet legal obligations and establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Where EU or UK law requires a legal basis, we rely on legitimate interests for necessary website operation, security, responding to readers and managing editorial submissions; performance of a contract where processing is necessary for an agreed contributor or other service arrangement; legal obligations where applicable; and consent where required for optional tracking, personalised advertising or marketing. Our legitimate interests include maintaining a reliable publication, communicating with readers and protecting our services and legal rights. These interests must be balanced against your rights.

A legitimate-interest basis does not remove a separate legal requirement for consent to store or access information on your device. Where processing relies on consent, you may withdraw it without affecting the lawfulness of earlier consent-based processing.

Contacting us or sending a story does not sign you up for marketing. If you have subscribed, use the unsubscribe link or contact us to stop further updates. Removing a signup form does not itself erase records from earlier subscriptions.

4. Advertising, analytics and our technologies

Advertising

CMI Marketing, Inc., d/b/a Raptive (“Raptive”) is a service provider of this Site for the purposes of placing advertising on the Site, and Raptive will collect and use certain data for advertising purposes. To learn more about Raptive’s data usage, click here: https://raptive.com/creator-advertising-privacy-statement

Analytics and measurement

We use Google Analytics, where enabled, to understand how readers find and use Caffeine Anime, including pages visited, engagement, referral sources and broad device and location information. This helps us measure readership and improve the website. Google Analytics may process cookie identifiers and technical information. See Google’s Privacy Policy and its Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

We also use website technologies and provider reports to understand operation, readership and advertising performance. Measurement records can be associated with browser or session identifiers and are not necessarily anonymous totals. Applicable consent and opt-out requirements apply to these activities as well as advertising.

Affiliate links and external media

Affiliate links may use cookies or similar technologies to attribute a purchase or booking to our website. We identify relevant affiliate relationships in the article concerned.

Embedded videos and other external features may send your IP address, browser information and interaction details to their providers. Google services, including YouTube, are covered by Google’s Privacy Policy. Other linked websites have their own notices. Their independent responsibilities do not remove our responsibility for our own processing.

5. Cookies and advertising choices

Cookies and similar browser-storage technologies support website functionality, preferences, analytics, advertising and referral attribution. Some last only for a session; others remain until their expiry or removal. Provider technologies and durations vary. Browser-storage expiry does not necessarily delete related records held by us or a provider.

Where a consent notice is presented, use it to accept, decline or customise the permissions offered. You may revisit the available privacy settings to change a choice. A provider’s control applies to the processing it covers and should not be assumed to control every separately implemented website technology.

For applicable advertising opt-outs, use the Raptive-provided footer control, which may be labelled Ad privacy choices or Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. You can also contact us to request an opt-out of sale, sharing or targeted advertising relating to our own processing. An opt-out does not necessarily remove all advertising. Browser choices can be specific to a browser or device and may need to be renewed after storage is cleared.

Some advertising disclosures may constitute a sale, sharing or targeted advertising under US privacy law even without payment for a particular record.

Global Privacy Control (GPC) communicates an opt-out preference. Where applicable law requires a recognised preference signal to be honoured, that requirement applies to the relevant processing. GPC is different from the older Do Not Track (DNT) signal. A DNT setting should not be assumed to stop all collection. For help with a particular browser choice or an identifiable email-based record, contact us.

Browser settings offer additional cookie controls but may not control every form of storage, previously collected information or server-side processing.

6. Who receives information

Information may be disclosed to hosting, security, email, publishing, analytics, advertising and other service providers as needed for the purposes described here. Advertising and analytics providers receive information through their tools where enabled.

We may also disclose relevant information to professional advisers, authorities or other parties where necessary to comply with law, address security or fraud, or establish, exercise or defend legal claims. A prospective or actual business successor may receive information subject to appropriate confidentiality and privacy arrangements. A transfer of the business does not itself override your privacy rights.

An agreed author profile, published contribution or public comment is available to readers and may be copied or indexed. Please do not include private contact details in material intended for publication. Sending an unpublished story pitch is not the same as agreeing to public publication.

7. Overseas processing and editorial tools

We are based in Australia and use cloud and other providers that may process information overseas, including in the United States. Processing locations depend on the service. Contact us for information about a particular recipient or transfer.

Where Australian cross-border disclosure requirements apply, we take the steps required by those requirements. Where EU or UK restricted-transfer rules apply, transfers require an applicable lawful mechanism, such as an adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards. You may contact us for information about the mechanism relevant to your data and any available copy of the safeguards.

Our editorial workflow uses AI tools for text and some image work, as explained in our Editorial Policy. Material used with an external service may be processed by that provider, including overseas. Our editorial standard is to remove unnecessary identifying details and not upload private correspondence, sensitive information or unpublished contributor material without an appropriate permission and privacy assessment.

8. Retention and security

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for its purpose and applicable requirements:

• Enquiries and complaints: while the matter remains open and for necessary follow-up, accountability or legal records.
• Contributions and author records: while assessing a submission, managing an agreed publication and retaining necessary rights, attribution or dispute records.
• Public comments: while published, subject to moderation, removal requests and justified recordkeeping.
• Subscription records: while providing requested communications; limited suppression records may remain to respect an unsubscribe request.
• Technical and measurement records: for the period needed for operation, security, reporting or advertising purposes, subject to applicable privacy choices and legal requirements.
• Privacy-request records: as needed to document our response and compliance.

When information is no longer needed, we delete it or genuinely anonymise it, subject to applicable requirements. Deletion from active systems may not immediately remove scheduled backup copies. A legal obligation or dispute can require particular records to be retained longer.

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards. No online service can guarantee absolute security. Where an incident creates a legal notification duty, we will make the required notification.

9. Access, correction, complaints and other rights

Contact us to request access, correction or deletion where available, withdraw consent, exercise another applicable right or make a complaint. Explain the issue and provide enough information to locate relevant records. Do not initially send identity documents unless we explain why they are needed.

We may undertake proportionate verification to protect information. Browser records may not be identifiable from a name alone. We will explain any further information reasonably needed, any lawful refusal and any permitted extension. We respond within applicable legal deadlines and do not charge a fee where the law requires a free response.

We aim to provide a substantive complaint response within 30 days, or explain a delay. This does not extend a shorter legal deadline. If dissatisfied, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner where it has jurisdiction, or another relevant regulator.

EEA and UK

Where applicable, your rights include access, correction, erasure, restriction and portability. You may withdraw consent at any time. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests on grounds relating to your situation, and object at any time to direct marketing, including related profiling. Rights have legal conditions and exceptions.

We normally respond to GDPR requests within one month. Where an extension is permitted, we explain it within that initial period. You may complain to your relevant EEA supervisory authority or the UK Information Commissioner.

United States

Depending on your state and whether its law applies to our business and processing, you may have rights to know/access, obtain a copy, correct or delete information; opt out of sale, sharing or targeted advertising; and exercise applicable rights concerning sensitive data or qualifying automated decisions.

Use the advertising controls described above or contact us for requests relating to our information. An authorised agent may act where permitted, subject to reasonable evidence of authority and legally permitted verification. Where an appeal right applies, email us with “Privacy appeal”; we will review the decision and explain the outcome and available escalation within the applicable deadline. We will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights.

10. Children and published information

Caffeine Anime is a general-interest culture publication, not a service directed to children under 13. If you believe we have collected a child’s information inappropriately, contact us so we can investigate. Protections for older children may also apply under relevant law.

Articles may refer to people and publicly available information. For a privacy concern about an article, send its URL and an explanation. We assess requests with regard to applicable law, freedom of expression and other relevant rights. An advertising opt-out does not itself remove editorial content.

11. Changes

We update this policy when our practices or relevant requirements change and revise its effective date. Where appropriate, we provide notice of material changes. A new use requiring consent will require that consent before the use begins; a revised policy does not retrospectively authorise earlier processing.