Information
Privacy
and Trust.
An information notice clearly explaining the purposes for which personal data is processed.
Last updated · 4 October 2026
This notice describes the contact form, reader comments, optional email list, security tools and anonymous usage statistics actually used on this site. No advertising, behavioural profiling or marketing cookies are used.
1. Data controller and contact
Under the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (KVKK), Özlem Akgül Altuntaş is the controller of personal data processed on this website. You may send a request about your data using the contact form .
2. Data processed, purposes and legal basis
Responding to your message
Your name, email address, subject and message are processed to receive and respond to your request and manage communication. Depending on your request, processing is based on its direct relationship to establishing or performing a contract, or on legitimate interests provided your fundamental rights are not harmed.
Sending announcements you request
Your email address and active/inactive subscription status are processed with your explicit consent solely to send new content and book announcements. Subscribing is optional. On the home page you can use‘Unsubscribe’ in the newsletter section to withdraw your consent in one step.
Publishing genuine reader notes safely
Your name, email address and comment are processed with your explicit consent to verify your email, review and publish your comment, and prevent abuse. Only your displayed name and approved comment are published. Your email is not displayed or added to the newsletter.
Preventing abuse
Your IP address, browser information and language header are not added directly to the form; they are converted into a one-way hash for rate limiting. Cloudflare Turnstile processes limited network and device data to distinguish automated submissions. This is based on the legitimate interest of keeping the site secure.
Improving the site
With your permission, page type, content name, source category, views and reading thresholds are counted as daily totals. IP addresses, device fingerprints, raw referrer addresses and visitor identifiers are not stored in the statistics database.
3. Data collection and transfer
Data is obtained electronically when you submit a form or enable optional statistics. The site uses Cloudflare for hosting, its database, media storage and bot protection, and Resend, when configured, for comment verification emails. Providers may access limited technical data only to deliver and secure these services. Where systems outside Türkiye are used, data transfers are subject to the applicable conditions and safeguards in Article 9 of the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK). Unless legally required, data is not sold or shared with advertising networks.
With optional statistics enabled, this site's daily totals also include the referring platform or hostname, non-personal sharing labels (utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign), and the first measured page path. Full referral URLs, other query parameters, IP addresses and visitor identifiers are not stored in these totals. Sharing labels must not contain personal information.
If you allow optional statistics, Google Analytics receives technical device and browsing data to measure visits. Google may process this data on systems outside your country. Advertising features are disabled. You can withdraw consent using Cookie preferences.
4. Retention periods
- Contact messages: retained as long as necessary to resolve your request and protect rights in a possible dispute; deleted when no longer needed.
- Newsletter records: active until you unsubscribe; an inactive status may be retained after unsubscribing.
- Reader comments: published comments and displayed names remain until you request deletion or the publication purpose ends. Email addresses are retained while needed for verification, moderation and abuse prevention. Unused verification links expire within 30 minutes.
- Rate-limit hashes: cleared automatically after no more than 7 days.
- Anonymous daily totals: contain no identifying personal data and are retained to compare site performance over time.
5. Your rights under the KVKK
Under Article 11 of the KVKK, you have the right to learn whether your personal data is processed; request information about processing; learn its purpose and whether use is consistent with that purpose; learn the recipients of transferred data; request correction of incomplete or incorrect data; request deletion or destruction where conditions are met and notification of these actions to recipients; object to a result arising from automated analysis; and seek compensation for damage caused by unlawful processing.
Your request must explain what you are asking for and include sufficient information to verify your identity. Requests are resolved within 30 days at the latest, depending on their nature.
Cookies and similar storage
6. Storage used on this site
Alongside cookies, this site uses browser local and session storage. Storage is not used for advertising or personalised marketing.
Google Analytics uses _ga and _ga_* cookies to distinguish browsers and sessions, with a configured lifetime of one year. Google Analytics is not loaded before you give permission. Page views may include validated, non-personal campaign labels (utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign) to distinguish ads from ordinary sharing. Form contents, other URL query parameters, click identifiers and URL fragments are not included in the page views sent by this site. Do not put personal information in campaign labels. The site’s own anonymous totals and Google Analytics are separate systems.
| Name / key | Purpose | Type | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
oa_privacy_preferences_v1 | Remembering your privacy choice | Essential · local storage | 180 days |
oa-visit, oa-view:*, oa-read:* | Preventing duplicate anonymous counts within a session | Optional statistics · session storage | Browser session |
oa_panel_session | Protecting authorised administrator sessions only | Essential · HttpOnly cookie | Browser session; up to 8 hours on the server |
sidebar_state | Remembering the administrator sidebar state only | Essential preference cookie | 7 days |
commenter_session | Avoiding repeat email verification for subsequent comments by a verified reader | Essential · HttpOnly cookie | 90 days |
| Cloudflare Turnstile security data | Bot and abuse checks on the contact form | Essential security · third party | Limited to the provider's security process |
Statistics are disabled by default. You can change your choice at any time using the button below. When permission is withdrawn, this site's statistics session records are cleared from your browser.