Privacy Policy – The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses under the Spotlight

Who we are

Our website address is: https://governingbody.net.

This privacy policy (“Policy”) and this site’s Terms of Service (together the “Terms”) govern all use of https://understandtheword.com and that site’s services (together the “Site” or “Services”). The owners and contributors to the Site will be referred to as “we,” “us,” or “our” in this Policy. By using the Site or its Services, and/or by clicking anywhere on this Site to agree to the Terms and this Policy, you are deemed to be a “user” for purposes of this Policy. You and every other user (“you” or “User” as applicable) are subject to this Policy. You and each user also agree to the Terms by using the Services. In these Terms, the word “Site” includes the site referenced above, its owner(s), contributors, suppliers, licensors, and other related parties. By using our site, you consent to our privacy policy.

What personal data do we collect and why do we collect it?

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help 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.

Media

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.

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.

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.

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.

[rcb-consent type=”change” tag=”a” text=”Change cookie settings”]

[rcb-consent type=”history” tag=”a” text=”Cookie settings history”]

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Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These 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.

Who we share your data with

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

How long we retain your data

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.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Captcha

Google Captcha Service is enabled to protect you and the site. For details on what data Google Captcha uses please click this link to Google.com

Your contact information

If prompted, Users must provide a valid email address to the Site, at which the User can receive messages. The User must also update the Site if that email address changes. The Site reserves the right to terminate any User account if a valid email is requested but is not provided by the User.
If the Site prompts or allows a User to create a username or profile, Users agree not to pick a username or provide any profile information that would impersonate someone or that is likely to cause confusion with any other person or entity. The Site reserves the right to cancel a User account or change a username or profile data at any time. Similarly, if the Site prompts or allows a User to create an avatar or upload a picture, the User agrees not to use any image that impersonates some other person or entity, or that is otherwise likely to cause confusion.
You are responsible for protecting your username and password for the Site, and you agree not to disclose it to any third party. We recommend that you use a password that is more than eight characters long. You are responsible for all activity on your account, whether or not you authorized it. You agree to inform us of unauthorized use of your account, by contacting us. You acknowledge that if you wish to protect your interactions while on this Site, it is your responsibility to use a secure encrypted connection, virtual private network, or other appropriate measures.

Additional information

How we protect your data

We protect your data with SSL end-to-end encryption.

What data breach procedures we have in place

We have a firewall in place and software to limit brute-force login hacking attempts and other software to protect the site and what little user data we might have.

What third parties we receive data from

We may receive non-personally identifying data through Google analytics or other visitor analytic firms.

What automated decision making and/or profiling we do with user data

There is no automated decision making and/or profiling we do with any user data we might have.

In plain English

We only hold the minimum amount of data about you that is absolutely necessary to hold to enable the site and its services to function and to protect the site for you and other visitors to enjoy reading it. We intend to treat your data in the same way that we would want you to treat our data if you had a website we visited. We will do everything we reasonably can to take care of your data. We will not sell your data. When we no longer need it we will delete it.

Industry regulatory disclosure requirements

Notwithstanding anything that may be contrary within the “Disputes” provisions above, all matters, and all claims within a multi-claim matter, that are arbitrable, including all claims for monetary damages, shall be decided by a single arbitrator to be selected by us, who shall hold hearings in or near Gloucester, England, under the rules of applicable English Law.

We are based in England and you are contracting to use our Site. This Policy and all matters arising from your use of the Site are governed by and will be construed according to the laws of England, without regard to any choice of laws rules of any jurisdiction. The courts that have geographical jurisdiction over disputes are the English courts. England will be the only permissible venues for any and all disputes arising out of or in connection with this Policy or the Site and Service.

If you have any questions about these Terms, please use the contact us form.

These terms were last updated on 10 March 2021.