Privacy Policy
How Writing Worlds collects, uses, stores, and protects personal information.
Last Updated: August 28, 2026
Writing Worlds is an international platform for discovering, experiencing, and publishing creative expression.
This Privacy Policy explains how Writing Worlds collects, uses, stores, protects, and otherwise processes personal information when you use our website, services, and features.
Writing Worlds complies with applicable data-protection laws based on the user's location and the circumstances of processing.
By creating an account or using Writing Worlds, you acknowledge this Privacy Policy.
1. Information We Collect
We collect information that is necessary to provide, secure, operate, and improve Writing Worlds.
Account Information
When you create an account, we may collect:
- Email address
- Username
- Password information in securely hashed form
- Account status
- Account role
- Account creation and update timestamps
- Email verification information
We do not store your password in plain text. Passwords are securely hashed before being stored.
Profile Information
If you create or complete a public profile, we may collect:
- Display name
- Username
- Biography
- Profile image
- Cover image
- External links you choose to provide
- Other information you voluntarily add to your profile
Information included in your public profile may be visible to other users and visitors.
Creative Content
Writing Worlds stores content you create, upload, submit, or publish through the platform, including:
- Works
- Chapters
- Drafts
- Translations
- Images
- Artwork
- Audio
- Video
- Other supported media
- Comments and other user-generated content
Draft content is private unless and until it is intentionally submitted and subsequently approved for publication.
Published content is intended to be publicly accessible.
Reading and Interaction Information
We may collect information about how you interact with Writing Worlds, including:
- Reading progress
- Works and chapters you read
- Likes
- Bookmarks
- Follows
- Comments
- Public collections
- Other interactions with published content
Analytics Information
Writing Worlds uses internal analytics to understand how the platform and published works are used.
Events may include:
- Reading activity
- Reading progress
- Reading completion
- Likes and unlikes
- Bookmarks
- Follows
- Comments
- Other relevant platform interactions
Some analytics events may be associated with your account when you are signed in. Certain analytics may also be collected without associating them with a user account.
Writing Worlds does not currently rely on third-party advertising trackers such as advertising pixels or third-party analytics services for these internal analytics.
Moderation and Safety Information
When content or activity is reported or reviewed, we may process information relating to:
- Reports
- Appeals
- Moderation decisions
- Account restrictions
- Safety classifications
- Administrative actions
- Other information necessary to protect the community and enforce platform policies
2. Information Collected Automatically
When you use Writing Worlds, certain technical information may be processed automatically.
Depending on the circumstances, this may include:
- IP address
- Browser and device information
- Operating system
- Session information
- Authentication information
- Security and access logs
- Error and diagnostic information
- General usage information
This information may be used to operate the service, maintain security, prevent abuse, diagnose technical problems, and improve reliability.
3. Cookies and Similar Technologies
Writing Worlds uses essential cookies necessary for authentication and functionality, including session management and language preferences.
Our current essential cookies include:
- `session_user_id` — used to maintain your authenticated session.
- `locale` — used to remember your selected language preference.
Writing Worlds does not currently use third-party advertising or marketing cookies.
Because these cookies are necessary for core functionality, disabling them may prevent certain features from working correctly.
If we introduce non-essential cookies or similar tracking technologies in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy and provide any controls or notices required by applicable law.
4. How We Use Personal Information
Writing Worlds uses personal information for purposes including:
Providing the Service
To:
- Create and maintain accounts
- Authenticate users
- Maintain user sessions
- Store and display profiles
- Store and deliver creative works
- Save drafts
- Process submissions
- Publish approved works
- Provide reading and discovery features
Social and Community Features
To:
- Process follows
- Display follower and following information
- Process likes
- Process bookmarks
- Display comments
- Deliver relevant notifications
- Support interaction between users and creators
Editorial Review
To:
- Process submissions
- Conduct editorial review
- Communicate editorial decisions
- Record review outcomes
- Manage requested changes and resubmissions
- Maintain publication records
Security and Moderation
To:
- Protect accounts
- Detect and prevent abuse
- Investigate reports
- Enforce platform policies
- Detect potentially harmful or prohibited content
- Restrict accounts where necessary
- Maintain platform security
Analytics and Improvement
To:
- Understand how published works are experienced
- Provide Contributors with analytics
- Measure engagement
- Identify technical problems
- Improve Writing Worlds and its features
Legal and Compliance Purposes
To:
- Comply with applicable laws
- Respond to lawful requests
- Protect our rights and users
- Investigate suspected violations
- Resolve disputes
- Maintain necessary records
5. Legal Bases for Processing
Where applicable law requires us to identify a legal basis for processing, we may rely on one or more of the following:
Performance of a Contract
Processing necessary to provide services you request, such as:
- Creating your account
- Authenticating you
- Saving your drafts
- Processing submissions
- Publishing approved works
- Providing requested platform functionality
Legitimate Interests
Processing necessary for legitimate interests such as:
- Platform security
- Fraud and abuse prevention
- Moderation
- Service improvement
- Maintaining platform integrity
We consider the impact on users before relying on legitimate interests.
Consent
Where required, we may rely on your consent for specific processing activities.
Where consent is the legal basis, you may withdraw it where applicable.
Withdrawal of consent does not affect processing that was lawfully carried out before withdrawal.
Legal Obligations
We may process information where necessary to comply with applicable legal obligations.
6. Public and Private Information
Writing Worlds is a publishing and discovery platform, so some information is intentionally public.
Information That May Be Public
Depending on your account and activity, this may include:
- Username
- Display name
- Biography
- Profile images
- External links you provide
- Published works
- Published chapters
- Public collections
- Public comments
- Follower and following information
- Engagement information associated with published works
Do not place information in a public profile, published work, comment, or other public area that you do not want others to see.
Information That Is Generally Private
This may include:
- Email address
- Password hash
- Draft works
- Private collections
- Reading history and progress
- Private analytics
- Notification history
- Email preferences
- Session information
- Reports and appeals
- Internal moderation information
We may disclose private information where necessary to provide the service, protect users, comply with applicable law, or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy.
7. Drafts and Private Content
Draft works and other content that has not been made public are treated as private.
Writing Worlds uses access controls to restrict access to private content.
Submitting a work for editorial review does not automatically make the work publicly available.
A submitted work becomes public only if it is approved and subsequently published through the platform's publication process.
8. AI-Assisted Platform Processing
Writing Worlds may use artificial intelligence and automated systems to help operate certain platform functions.
These may include:
- Comment safety classification
- Content moderation assistance
- Semantic search
- Content embeddings
- Other automated platform-support functions
Where third-party AI services are used, relevant content or information may be transmitted to the applicable service provider for the specific processing purpose.
Writing Worlds seeks to limit information shared with AI providers to what is reasonably necessary for the relevant function.
Contributor Use of AI
Writing Worlds allows Contributors to use AI-assisted and AI-generated content subject to the Contributor Guide and editorial standards.
This is separate from AI processing performed by Writing Worlds itself.
Using AI to create content does not automatically make that content eligible for publication.
All submitted work remains subject to editorial review.
9. Third-Party Service Providers
Writing Worlds uses third-party providers to operate parts of the platform.
These providers may process personal information on our behalf where necessary to provide their services.
Neon
Neon provides database infrastructure used to store Writing Worlds account information, platform data, and user-generated content.
Resend
Resend provides transactional email delivery.
Information such as your email address and relevant email content may be processed by Resend to deliver messages including:
- Email verification
- Password resets
- Account notifications
- Contributor lifecycle notifications
- Other transactional communications
Object Storage Provider
Writing Worlds uses S3-compatible object storage to store uploaded media such as:
- Images
- Audio
- Video
- Other supported files
Uploaded files are accessed using security controls such as short-lived presigned URLs where applicable.
AI Service Providers
Writing Worlds may use third-party AI services for functions such as moderation and semantic search.
The specific provider and processing arrangements may change as Writing Worlds develops.
Vercel
Vercel provides application hosting and infrastructure services for Writing Worlds.
Third-party providers may have their own privacy policies and terms governing their processing of information.
Writing Worlds does not sell personal information to third-party advertising networks.
10. International Data Processing
Writing Worlds and its service providers may process or store information in countries other than the country where you live.
For example, infrastructure used by Writing Worlds may be located or operated in regions outside Uganda.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, Writing Worlds will take steps required by applicable data-protection laws to provide appropriate protection for that information.
The exact location of processing may vary depending on the infrastructure configuration and service providers used by Writing Worlds.
11. Data Security
Writing Worlds takes reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information.
Security measures include, where applicable:
- Password hashing using Argon2id
- HTTP-only authentication cookies
- Server-side authorization
- Session expiration and revocation
- Hashed verification and password-reset tokens
- Restricted access to private resources
- Short-lived presigned media URLs
- Content Security Policy protections
- Access controls based on user roles
- Security monitoring and administrative controls
No method of transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to protect information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.
12. Data Retention
Writing Worlds retains personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer period is required or permitted by applicable law.
Retention periods depend on the type and purpose of the information.
For example:
- Account information may be retained while your account remains active.
- Authentication sessions are retained only for their applicable session lifetime.
- Verification and password-reset tokens are retained only for their applicable validity period.
- Drafts may remain associated with your account until you delete them or your account is deleted.
- Published works may be retained while they remain part of the Writing Worlds publishing ecosystem.
- Analytics and security records may be retained for defined operational periods.
- Reports, appeals, and moderation records may be retained when necessary for safety, enforcement, legal, or dispute-resolution purposes.
When information is no longer required, Writing Worlds will delete, anonymize, or otherwise appropriately dispose of it where applicable.
13. Account Deletion
Writing Worlds provides users with a process for requesting deletion of their account.
Account deletion may involve a verification and processing period to prevent accidental or unauthorized deletion.
When an account is deleted, Writing Worlds will delete or anonymize personal information where appropriate and where required by applicable law.
This may include:
- Account information
- Profile information
- Drafts
- Private collections
- Reading progress
- Follows
- Likes
- Bookmarks
- Notification information
Some information may be retained where necessary for:
- Legal obligations
- Copyright disputes
- Security investigations
- Fraud or abuse prevention
- Moderation records
- Resolution of disputes
- Enforcement of platform policies
Published works may require separate handling because they have been intentionally published on the platform.
Deleting an account does not necessarily mean that every record associated with a previously published work will be immediately and permanently erased.
14. User Rights
Depending on where you live and the law that applies to you, you may have rights concerning your personal information.
These may include the right to:
- Request access to personal information we hold about you
- Request correction of inaccurate information
- Request deletion of personal information
- Object to certain processing
- Request restriction of certain processing
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
- Receive or request a copy of certain information
- Lodge a complaint with an applicable data-protection authority
These rights are subject to applicable legal limitations and exceptions.
For example, Writing Worlds may need to retain certain information to comply with legal obligations, protect the platform, investigate abuse, or resolve disputes.
15. How to Exercise Your Privacy Rights
For privacy questions or requests, contact Writing Worlds at:
writingworlds26@gmail.com
You may contact this address to request:
- Access to your personal information
- Correction of inaccurate information
- Deletion of your account or personal information
- Information about how your data is processed
- Other privacy-related assistance
We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests to protect your account and personal information.
We will handle requests within the timeframes required by applicable law.
16. Children's Privacy and Minimum Age
Writing Worlds is intended for users who are 16 years of age or older.
You must be at least 16 years old to create or maintain a Writing Worlds account.
We do not knowingly permit individuals under the minimum age to create accounts.
If we become aware that an account belongs to someone below the applicable minimum age, we may restrict or terminate the account and take appropriate steps regarding the associated personal information.
If you believe that someone under the minimum age has created an account, contact us at:
writingworlds26@gmail.com
17. Communications and Notifications
Writing Worlds may send communications necessary to operate your account and provide the service.
These may include:
- Email verification
- Password resets
- Security notifications
- Editorial decisions
- Contributor lifecycle notifications
- Important account notifications
- Platform notifications
Where applicable, you can manage optional notification categories through your account settings.
Some communications are necessary for the operation and security of the service and may not be disabled while you maintain an account.
18. Analytics
Writing Worlds uses internal analytics to understand how users interact with published works and platform features.
Analytics may include:
- Views
- Reads
- Reading progress
- Reading completion
- Likes
- Bookmarks
- Comments
- Follows
- Other engagement events
Analytics may be associated with a user account when the user is signed in.
Writing Worlds uses these analytics to provide Contributors with information about how their published works perform and to improve the platform.
We do not currently use third-party advertising analytics or tracking pixels for these purposes.
19. Reports, Moderation, and Safety
Writing Worlds processes information needed to maintain a safe and respectful creative community.
When a user reports content or an account, information associated with the report may be processed by authorized personnel.
Moderation information may include:
- The reported content
- The reason for the report
- Relevant account information
- Moderation decisions
- Appeals
- Safety classifications
- Administrative actions
This information is generally not public.
Writing Worlds may use automated tools, including AI-assisted safety systems, to help identify potentially harmful or prohibited content.
Automated systems may assist moderation, but important enforcement decisions may involve human review where appropriate.
20. Copyright and Creative Work
Writing Worlds is a publishing platform and respects creators' rights.
Users retain the rights they have in their creative work, subject to the platform's Terms of Service and applicable licenses.
Users are responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary rights or permissions to submit content.
Writing Worlds may process information related to copyright complaints, disputes, or takedown requests to protect creators, rights holders, and the platform.
21. External Links
Writing Worlds may contain links to websites or services operated by third parties.
Contributors may also provide links to their own websites, portfolios, or external platforms where permitted by Writing Worlds policies.
Writing Worlds is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites.
When you leave Writing Worlds and visit another service, that service's privacy policy and terms will apply.
22. No Sale of Personal Information
Writing Worlds does not sell users' personal information to advertising networks or data brokers.
Writing Worlds is a creative publishing and discovery platform and does not operate a personal-data marketplace.
If Writing Worlds introduces a new business practice involving personal-information sharing that requires additional notice or consent under applicable law, this Privacy Policy will be updated accordingly.
23. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy when Writing Worlds changes, when our data practices change, or when applicable legal requirements change.
When we make changes, we will update the Last Updated date at the beginning of this Privacy Policy.
Where required by applicable law, we will provide additional notice or obtain consent for material changes.
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.
24. Contact Us
For privacy questions, data-protection requests, account-related privacy concerns, or other questions about this Privacy Policy, contact:
Writing Worlds Email: writingworlds26@gmail.com
You may also use this address for general support and other platform concerns.
25. Related Writing Worlds Policies
This Privacy Policy should be read together with the other Writing Worlds policies governing use of the platform.
These include:
Together, these documents explain how Writing Worlds operates, how creative work is handled, and what users can expect from the platform.
Last Updated: August 28, 2026