The naïve still cling to the notion of the dominion of mankind and believe the world to be governed by the Laws of Man. From ages past, those more wise have known that the universe truly answers to the lore of the Great Old Ones. But now there is a still greater power: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). I, dear reader, abide by GDPR, which means I am bound (by forces I dare not disobey) to protect your personal data.
Invoking the dread power of GDPR, I shall act as the Data Controller for any data you offer to me. I undertake to process it in accordance with all relevant standards and in compliance with GDPR (though certain fungus-based lifeforms have further rights – please refer to your local supervisory authority if you are reading this on Yuggoth). Your data will primarily be processed in the United Kingdom (see below for exceptions).
The personal data I collect allows me to update you on news concerning my writings. I may gather the following precious knowledge from you:
- Your name and your email address
- Your reviews of my writing
Why I hold personal data
- Sharing reviews: with great wisdom comes the responsibility to share your insights. Should you say something nice in a communication about my writing, I may share that on my website. You send me your review with your consent and you may at any time withdraw your consent for me to share it online.
- Marketing: if you share your email address with me, I will add it to the great tome known as ‘Mark’s Email List for Darkisle and Stuff’. On the basis of Legitimate Interests, I shall use this to let you know the latest news about my writing.
Who sees your personal data
- Me. Obviously.
- Aethos Publications (my publisher) if you subscribed via their site. They comply with GDPR.
- Azathoth, the Blind Idiot God that dreams at the Centre of the Universe, for he is all knowing. But don’t worry about it, cos he’s, you know, an idiot.
- Mailerlite, a highly reputable company that will fulfil my email-outs. Their servers are in the EU (Lithuania, to be precise) and they undertake to comply with GDPR.
- BookFunnel, another highly reputable company through which I distribute free fiction in return for the customer’s email address. Whilst they are based in the USA, they use contractual clauses that legally oblige them to comply with GDPR.
Data retention
I intend to hold the data you share with me indefinitely, for I hope to have a long writing career! Also, I have promised subscribers access to free stories, previews, etc. and intend to produce such material indefinitely. However, I will cease to hold your data if one of the following happens:
- Great Cthulhu rises from his slumbers.
- You request that I delete it (see below).
How I will uphold your rights as a data subject
- I will always do my best to keep the data I hold on you accurate. If you spot an error, please let me know and I’ll amend it.
- I promise to you that I will never use your personal data for anything I haven’t already told you about (unless obliged to do so by law or to allow me to exercise my legal rights). And I won’t share your data with anyone other than the organisations I have told you about. I will not use your data for profiling purposes or for any form of automated decision-making.
- If you wish, you can ask to see the personal data I hold on you at any time. Where you gave your consent for me to process your data, you can withdraw that consent. You can at any time ask me to delete your personal data.
- You can request to be removed from my marketing email lists at any time. Each marketing email I send will have an ‘Unsubscribe’ option.
- If there is some dispute about my use of your personal data, you have the right to ask me to suspend the processing of your data until the dispute is resolved.
- Where applicable, I can provide your data to you in a portable digital format. I was thinking of sending it etched in tablets of obsidian, but apparently that’s neither digital nor very portable. So you’ll have to make do with a CSV file.
Please note that if you ask for your data to be deleted or its use restricted, I will be unable to tell you about further developments on Darkisle, including the occasional freebie. Just saying.
Contact me
If you have any questions about how I use your personal data or want to ask me to assist you in exercising your rights, please email me at drakenmark@gmail.com with the subject line GDPR REQUEST.
If you are unhappy with any aspect of how I use your personal data, do please let me know. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (www.ico.org.uk).
Mark N Drake 