1. Introduction

Welcome to The Rational Mind (“we,” “us,” “our”). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website at markesta2.wordpress.com and subscribe to our newsletter.

This policy is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 and applicable European data protection laws.

2. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal data is:

3. Data We Collect

3.1 Information you provide directly

• Email address and first name — when you subscribe to our newsletter
• Name and message — when you submit a contact form
• Comments — if you leave a comment on an article (name, email, website)

3.2 Information collected automatically

• Log data — IP address, browser type, pages visited, time and date of visit, referring URL
• Cookies — small files placed on your device (see Section 7)
• Analytics data — aggregated usage statistics via WordPress.com Stats and/or Jetpack Analytics

4. How We Use Your Data

We use the data we collect for the following purposes:

• To send you our newsletter and new article notifications (legal basis: consent, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR)
• To respond to your contact form enquiries (legal basis: legitimate interest, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR)
• To analyse website traffic and improve content quality (legal basis: legitimate interest)
• To comply with legal obligations (legal basis: legal obligation, Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR)

We never sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

5. Data Retention

• Newsletter subscribers: retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion
• Contact form messages: retained for 24 months, then deleted
• Log data: retained for 12 months
• Comment data: retained until deleted by the moderator or by you upon request

6. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a data subject, you have the following rights:

• Right of access (Art. 15) — request a copy of your personal data
• Right to rectification (Art. 16) — request correction of inaccurate data
• Right to erasure (Art. 17) — request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”)
• Right to restriction (Art. 18) — request restriction of processing
• Right to data portability (Art. 20) — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Right to object (Art. 21) — object to processing based on legitimate interest
• Right to withdraw consent — withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing

To exercise any of these rights, contact us via our Contact page. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national supervisory authority. In France, this is the CNIL (Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés): www.cnil.fr.

7. Cookies

We use the following categories of cookies:

• Strictly necessary cookies: required for the website to function. Cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies: used to understand how visitors interact with the website (e.g., WordPress.com Stats). You may opt out via browser settings.
• Preference cookies: remember your settings and preferences.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect site functionality.

8. Third-Party Services

This website is hosted on WordPress.com (Automattic Inc.). Their privacy policy applies: automattic.com/privacy.

We may use Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) to send newsletters. Their privacy policy: brevo.com/legal/privacypolicy.

9. Children’s Privacy

Our website is not directed to individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such data, please contact us immediately.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by updating the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Continued use of the website after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact

For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your rights, please use our Contact page.