Privacy Policy for words.hk and cantowords.com
1. Introduction
Hong Kong Lexicography Limited ("we," "our," "us," or "the Company") operates the websites words.hk and cantowords.com (collectively, the "Service"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about our data practices. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, whom we share it with, and the choices and rights available to you regarding your information. By accessing or using our Service, you signify that you have read, understood, and agree to our collection, storage, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.2. Information We Collect
We collect information to provide, improve, and secure our Service. The information we collect can be grouped into the following categories:
a) Information Collected Automatically (Usage Data)
When you visit our Service, we may automatically collect certain information about your device and your interaction with our website. This information may include:
Device Identifiers: Your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
Usage Information: Information about your visit, including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL) clickstream to, through, and from our site (including date and time), pages you viewed or searches you queried, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to browse away from the page.
This data is collected primarily using cookies and similar tracking technologies. For more information, please see our "Cookies and Tracking Technologies" section below.
b) Personal Information You Provide Voluntarily
User Registration and Login: When you register for an account and log in, we collect the information necessary to authenticate your identity and maintain your user session.
Editorial Activities: If you are a logged-in user who has been approved as an editor, we record and track edits you make to the dictionary contents. This includes the specific content added or modified, your username, and the precise date and time of the edit.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following business purposes:
- To Provide and Maintain the Service: To operate the Service, including user authentication and, for approved editors, to facilitate and maintain a historical record of editorial contributions.
- To Personalize Your Experience: To better understand how our users as a group use the services and resources provided on our Service.
- For Analytics and Improvement: To analyze usage trends and evaluate the effectiveness of our services, products, marketing, and user experience, with the goal of improving our Service.
- For Advertising: To deliver targeted advertising through our partners (such as Google AdSense) and to determine the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns.
- For Security and Fraud Prevention: To monitor and analyze usage and activities for security purposes and to protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity.
4. Sharing and Disclosing Your Information
We may share your information in the following situations:
With Service Providers: We employ third-party companies to facilitate our Service ("Service Providers"). These include:
Google Analytics: A web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Service. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. You can opt-out of Google Analytics here.
Google AdSense: An advertising service provided by Google that we use to serve ads. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our Service and other sites on the Internet.
We may also retain your data to comply with a legal obligation, protect and defend our rights or property, prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service, or protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public.
5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Our third-party analytics providers may use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.
6. Data Retention
We will retain your information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. Usage Data collected via analytics will be retained for a period that allows us to perform meaningful analysis. Editorial history data is retained permanently to serve as a historical record and to inform future editorial work, as this is a core function of our Service.
7. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.
8. Contact Us
To request removal of any of your personal data, or if you have any other enquiries, please contact us via email directly.