Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2026

Welcome to apocalypse.top (the “Website”), a blog dedicated to publishing articles about academic writing. Your privacy matters to us. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, and your rights when you interact with our Website.

By using apocalypse.top, you agree to the practices described in this policy. If you do not agree, please discontinue use of the Website.

1. Who We Are

Website: apocalypse.top
Contact email: [email protected]
Postal address: 2149 Cedar Ln, Madison, WI 53703, USA

We operate a non-commercial blog focused on academic writing guidance. We do not sell products, process payments, or maintain user accounts for purchases.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Voluntarily Provide

• Contact form submissions: When you send us a message via the contact form, we collect your name (if provided) and email address, along with the content of your message. We use this solely to respond to your inquiry.
• Comments: If you leave a comment on an article, we collect your name (or display name), email address, and the comment text. Your email is not publicly displayed; it is stored securely and used only for comment-related communications (e.g., moderation notifications).

2.2 Automatically Collected Information

• Cookies and similar technologies: We use minimal cookies to improve your browsing experience. These may include session cookies (temporary) and persistent cookies that remember your preferences (e.g., commenter details for convenience). No third-party advertising cookies are used.
• Basic analytics: We collect anonymized, aggregated data such as page views, referring URLs, browser type, and general geographic location (country/city level). This helps us understand which academic writing topics interest our readers and improve content quality. We do not track individual users across other websites.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected data exclusively for the following purposes:

• To respond to your inquiries submitted via the contact form.
• To publish and manage comments on blog posts (including spam detection).
• To analyze general usage patterns and improve our content and user experience.
• To ensure the security and proper functioning of the Website.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing or any commercial purpose.

4. Cookies

apocalypse.top uses cookies to enhance functionality. Here’s what you need to know:

4.1 Types of Cookies We Use

• Essential/Functional cookies: Required for basic site operations (e.g., remembering your commenter details so you don’t re-enter them).
• Analytics cookies: We use a privacy-friendly analytics tool (e.g., a self-hosted or anonymized solution) that does not share data with third parties. These cookies collect non-identifiable aggregate data.

4.2 Managing Cookies

Most browsers allow you to control cookies through settings. You can block or delete cookies, but this may affect certain features of the Website. We recommend keeping cookies enabled for the best experience.

5. Comments

When you leave a comment, we collect the data shown in the comment form, your IP address, and browser user agent string to help with spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. After approval of your comment, your profile picture (if any) is visible to the public alongside your comment.

Your email address will never be published or shared. We reserve the right to moderate or delete comments that violate our commenting guidelines (e.g., spam, offensive language).

6. Contact Forms

If you use our contact form, we retain your message and email address only as long as necessary to address your request. We do not use this information for marketing. We will not add you to any mailing list without your explicit consent.

7. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored on secure servers with appropriate technical measures (encryption, firewalls, access controls) to prevent unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy or as required by law.

• Contact form submissions: retained for up to 12 months after the last correspondence.
• Comments: retained indefinitely unless you request deletion.
• Analytics data: retained in aggregated form for up to 26 months.

8. Third-Party Services

We do not integrate third-party advertising networks, payment processors, or e-commerce platforms. The only external services we may use are:

• Gravatar (for commenter profile pictures) – see Automattic’s privacy policy.
• Web hosting provider (which stores server logs for security purposes). Our hosting provider has its own privacy policy but does not access your personal data beyond what is necessary for server maintenance.

9. Your Rights

Depending on your location (e.g., under GDPR or similar laws), you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal obligations).
• Restriction: Limit how we process your data in certain circumstances.
• Data portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests (including analytics).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

10. Children’s Privacy

apocalypse.top is not directed at individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately, and we will delete it.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Material changes will be communicated via a notice on the Website.

12. Contact Us

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This Privacy Policy was created for apocalypse.top and is effective as of June 2026.