OurPrivacyPolicy
Effective: 17 October 2026 · Last updated: 17 October 2026
The short version #
- We collect what you give us (email, name, optional pronouns, messages, comments) plus basic technical data about your visit.
- We use it to run the site, send the newsletter you sign up for, reply to you, keep the site secure, and fund the work through ads and affiliate links.
- We do not sell your personal information for money. Ad and affiliate partners can collect data through cookies on our site, and you choose what they get in the cookie settings.
- Pronouns are always optional. We never use them for advertising and never share them with advertisers.
- You can see, fix or delete your data at any time: legal@enbymeaning.com.
1. Who we are #
Enby Meaning™ Media is a queer and non-binary culture and editorial publication at enbymeaning.com. Two companies run it, and each has a different job:
- Enby Meaning Limited, a New Zealand company, Suite 15130, Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road, Johnsonville, Wellington 6037, New Zealand. It runs Enby Meaning worldwide and owns the brand, the content, and the website. It is the company responsible for your personal information, except where the next point applies.
- Enby Meaning LLC, a US company, c/o Northwest Registered Agent LLC, 7901 4th St N, STE 300, St. Petersburg, FL 33702, USA. It looks after customers and payments, and it is the business responsible for meeting US privacy laws for readers in the United States.
Together they are "Enby Meaning", "we" and "us".
- For the GDPR and UK GDPR, the controller of your data is Enby Meaning Limited.
- For the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, each company is responsible for the personal information it holds.
- For US state privacy laws, and for customer and payment information, the responsible business is Enby Meaning LLC.
enbymeaning.com is our main site for readers everywhere. enbymeaning.co.nz is our New Zealand address.
Privacy questions and requests go to legal@enbymeaning.com from anywhere in the world, or to legal@enbymeaning.co.nz for New Zealand matters. Our privacy officer is the Editor-in-Chief.
2. What we collect #
| Where it comes from | What we collect |
|---|---|
| You, when you subscribe | Email address, first name (optional), pronouns (optional) |
| You, when you use a form | Name, email, pronouns (optional) and your message, on our partnership, pitch, tips and corrections, support and contact forms. Some partnership forms also ask for your role, company and phone number. |
| You, when you comment | A name (any name you like), and an email address and website if you choose to add them |
| You, when you pay or donate (once we offer it) | Name, email, amount and payment method. Enby Meaning LLC takes these payments. Card and bank details go to the payment processor. We do not see or store them. |
| You, when you message us | Emails and direct messages, including anything you put in them |
| Your device, automatically | IP address, browser and device type, approximate location, pages viewed, referring site, date and time, and cookie or similar identifiers |
| Other sources | Affiliate networks report sales and clicks. Social platforms pass on messages you send our accounts. Payment processors confirm payments. |
3. Why we use it, and our legal bases #
| What we use it for | Legal basis (GDPR and UK GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Run and secure the site, block spam and bots | Legitimate interests |
| Send the newsletter you asked for | Consent |
| Reply to messages, pitches, tips and corrections | Legitimate interests, or steps you asked us to take |
| Moderate comments | Legitimate interests |
| Measure how the site is used | Consent where cookies need it by law, otherwise legitimate interests |
| Show ads and track affiliate sales | Consent where cookies need it by law, otherwise legitimate interests |
| Process payments and keep tax records | Contract and legal obligation |
| Handle legal claims and follow the law | Legal obligation and legitimate interests |
Under the NZ Privacy Act we collect personal information only for these purposes, directly from you wherever practical, and we tell you why at the point we ask. We do not make automated decisions that have legal or similarly serious effects on you.
4. Sensitive information #
What you tell us can reveal your gender identity or sexual orientation, and being on a queer newsletter can imply it. We treat all of it as sensitive.
- Pronouns are optional. We use them only to address you correctly in emails and replies.
- We never use pronouns, newsletter membership or anything you say about your identity for advertising, and we never sell it or give it to advertisers.
- Our forms do not ask about your health, sexuality or gender identity. If we ever run a survey that does, we will say so first, keep it optional, and make it anonymous where we can.
- Tips and messages can include sensitive details. Section 12 explains how we handle them.
5. Cookies and similar technologies #
We use cookies and similar tools for security, to remember your choices, to measure visits, and to run ads and affiliate tracking. Our Cookie Policy lists each one.
- If you are in the EU, UK or Switzerland, we set analytics and marketing cookies only after you opt in.
- Elsewhere, you can opt out at any time in the cookie settings.
- We honour the Global Privacy Control signal from your browser for advertising and marketing cookies.
- We do not respond to "Do Not Track" signals, because there is no agreed standard for them.
6. Who we share it with #
These companies process data for us or run services on our site. We list only what we use today.
| Provider | What it does for us | What it handles |
|---|---|---|
| Squarespace | Hosts the site, forms and comments | Visits, form submissions, comment details |
| Mailchimp (Intuit) | Sends the newsletter | Email, name, pronouns, and opens and clicks if tracking is on |
| Google Workspace (Gmail, Sheets, Drive, Gemini) | Email and internal records | Messages and copies of form submissions |
| Google Analytics and Tag Manager | Measures site use | Pseudonymous IDs, pages viewed, approximate location. Google signals are off and data is kept 14 months. |
| Google AdSense | Shows display ads | Ad cookies, IP address, activity on our pages |
| Google reCAPTCHA | Blocks bots on forms and comments | IP address and interaction signals |
| Google Fonts | Loads typefaces | IP address |
| Cloudflare | DNS, security and delivery | Request data, including IP address |
| Partnerize | Affiliate tracking | Its script loads on every page and sends the page address and technical data |
| Awin, Amazon Associates, Bookshop.org | Affiliate programmes | A click identifier when you use an affiliate link. They set their own cookies on their own sites. |
| YouTube, Instagram, TikTok | Embedded video and posts | Data about your interaction once you play or open an embed |
| Amazon, jsDelivr | Product images, a small open-source video-embed library | IP address |
| Stripe, PayPal, our banks | Payments and donations | Payment details. We do not see card numbers. |
| Accounting software we host ourselves | Invoices to partners | Business contact details |
We also share data with our accountants and lawyers, with authorities when the law requires it, and with a buyer if we sell the business. We do not sell personal information for money. Some ad cookies count as "sharing" for targeted advertising under US state laws. Section 17 explains your choices.
7. Moving data between countries #
We operate from the US and New Zealand, and most of our providers store data in the US. When data from New Zealand, the EU, the UK or Switzerland goes to the US, it relies on a legal safeguard: the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (and its UK and Swiss extensions) where the provider is certified, or standard contractual clauses. The EU recognises New Zealand's privacy law as adequate. Under NZ Privacy Principle 12, we send data overseas only to providers that protect it to a comparable standard.
8. How long we keep it #
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Newsletter subscribers | Until you unsubscribe. Contacts who never open or click are removed after 24 months. |
| Support, contact and pitch messages | 24 months after we close them |
| Tips and corrections | Until reviewed, and up to 12 months after we publish or decide. We delete earlier if you ask. |
| Comments | Until you ask us to remove them or we moderate them |
| Analytics | 14 months |
| Invoices, payments and tax records | Up to 7 years, as tax and audit rules require |
| Backups | Cleared on a rolling basis, usually within 90 days |
9. Security #
We rely on our providers' security, including encrypted connections, limit access to the people who need it, and use two-factor authentication on key accounts. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will tell the people affected and the regulator where the law requires it, including the NZ Privacy Commissioner.
10. Your rights #
Everyone can ask what we hold about them, ask us to correct or delete it, unsubscribe, and object to how we use it. Email legal@enbymeaning.com.
- New Zealand: access and correction rights under Privacy Principles 6 and 7. You can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.
- EU, UK and Switzerland: access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability and objection, plus the right to withdraw consent at any time. You can complain to your local data protection authority. In the UK that is the ICO (ico.org.uk).
- US states: the rights to know and access, delete, correct, opt out of targeted advertising and sales, and limit use of sensitive information, without being treated worse for using them. You can appeal a refusal by replying to our decision. If you are still unhappy, contact your state attorney general.
How it works: email us from the address you used with us. We check it is really you, and we usually only need to match that address. It is free. We reply within 20 working days, or sooner where the law gives a shorter limit. We can decline in limited cases, such as when a legal duty requires us to keep something, and we will tell you why. You can use an authorised agent.
11. Children #
Enby Meaning is written for readers 16 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16, and never from anyone under 13. If you think a child has given us information, email us and we will delete it.
12. Tips, pitches and confidential messages #
If you send a tip, a correction or a pitch and ask for privacy:
- Only the Enby Meaning editorial team reads it.
- It is stored with our service providers (Squarespace and Google Workspace), who process it for us under contract.
- We will not use your name or details without your say-so. You choose whether you are credited or anonymous.
- We cannot promise legal protection. A court order or a legal duty could force us to hand it over.
- We do not currently offer a secure or encrypted way to send tips. Email and our forms pass through Squarespace and Google. Anonymity here means we will not name you. It does not mean the message itself is hidden. If sending something could put you at risk, weigh that before you send it.
13. Email #
We email you only if you subscribed or wrote to us. Every newsletter has an unsubscribe link, and we remove you promptly. We may track opens and clicks to see what readers find useful. Blocking remote images in your email app stops open tracking.
14. AI tools #
We use Gemini inside Google Workspace Business to help draft replies to email, so it can read the messages it is helping with. We do not paste form submissions, tips or comments into consumer AI tools, and we keep AI tools away from the tips inbox. Under Google's Workspace terms, this content is not used to train Google's models outside our organisation.
15. Links, embeds and social media #
Our pages link to and embed other sites, including YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and we run accounts on social platforms. Those companies have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for their practices. If you message our accounts, the platform's rules apply to the message.
16. Advertising and affiliate links #
The site carries display ads, affiliate links and sponsored content, and we label each. Our Disclosures page explains how. Advertisers and affiliate partners do not get your name, email or pronouns from us.
17. California and other US states #
We may not yet meet the size thresholds of the California Consumer Privacy Act or similar state laws, but we honour these rights anyway. Enby Meaning LLC is the business responsible for the information of readers in the United States.
| Category (last 12 months) | Collected | Shared with ad partners for targeted advertising |
|---|---|---|
| Identifiers: name, email, IP address, cookie IDs | Yes | Cookie IDs and IP address, unless you opt out |
| Internet activity: pages viewed, ad interactions | Yes | Yes, unless you opt out |
| Approximate location | Yes | Yes, unless you opt out |
| Commercial information: payments, donations | When offered | No |
| Sensitive information: optional pronouns | If you give it | No |
To opt out of targeted advertising, use the cookie settings or turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser. Or email legal@enbymeaning.com. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16.
18. Changes #
We will post any change here with a new date. For material changes, we will also tell subscribers by email or put a notice on the site. Earlier versions are available on request.