Privacy Policy

Who we are

The Public News Hub is a subsidiary of Innovation Habit (Pty) Ltd. Our website address is: https://www.publicnewshub.com. The address https://newshub.co.za can also be used to access our website. More details about us and what we do can be found here as well as in the Terms and Conditions page.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Comments

When readers leave comments, we collect the data entered in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string (hash) created from the email address you provide may be sent to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

The comment form has three fields: Name, Email address and the comment text area. The email address is never displayed publicly if entered in the correct field. However, there are cases where readers fill in the form incorrectly, inadvertently entering the email address in the name or comment fields. This results in the email address being displayed publicly. In such cases we should be contacted at info@publicnewshub.com with details (title and/or URL) of the article on which the comment was made. The editor or comment moderator will remove the email address and enter it in the correct field.

There is no option to edit a comment you have submitted. The email address gives you the right to ask the moderator to modify or remove your comments.

Social Media

A comment made on posts that we share on social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, may be imported automatically and displayed on this website in the comments section of the post on which the comment was made, together with your name, which links to your social media profile. This enables our visitors to read all comments without having to leave the website. If you want your social media comment to be removed from this site, please let us know.

Facebook App

ThePublicNewsHub uses a Facebook app to enable social features on our website and to share content to our Facebook page (facebook.com/ThePublicNewsHub). Below, we explain how this app collects and uses data:

• Like Button: When you use the Like button on our site, Meta collects data such as your Facebook ID and interaction details (e.g., likes), as governed by Meta’s Data Policy (https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/). This data is used to display engagement (e.g., like counts) on our website and may be used for analytics by Meta. We may also collect anonymous usage data via our site’s analytics tools to improve user experience.
• Post Sharing: Our app posts content, such as news articles or links, from our WordPress site to our Facebook page, ThePublicNewsHub, using admin access. This feature does not collect personal data from users unless they interact with other app features (e.g., login, if enabled).
• Facebook Login: If you choose to log in to our site via Facebook, we may collect your name, email, and profile picture to create an account or enable commenting. This data is used solely for authentication and enhancing your experience on our site.

How We Use Social Media Data

• Comments imported from Facebook or Twitter are displayed to enhance engagement and allow visitors to view discussions without leaving our site.
• Like button interactions enhance user engagement and are processed primarily by Meta.
• Post sharing automates content distribution to our Facebook page, improving our news delivery.
• Login data (if applicable) is used to authenticate users and personalize their experience on our site.

Data Sharing

We share data with Meta as required to operate the Like button, post sharing, and login features, per Meta’s Data Policy. We may use third-party plugins that process data to enable these features, but we do not share your personal data with other third parties unless explicitly stated.

Data Storage and Security

Imported social media comments are stored in our database and displayed publicly on our site.

Data from Facebook Login (if applicable) is stored securely in our database with encryption.

Post sharing involves no user data storage, as it uses page admin access.

We use HTTPS for secure communication and follow industry-standard security practices.

Your Rights

You can:

• Request removal of your imported social media comments and any of your data that we may have collected by contacting us at info@publicnewshub.com.
• Revoke app permissions (e.g., for the Like button or login) via your Facebook settings.

Files

If you upload images to the website, please do not upload images that contain embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Contact form

Messages sent through our contact form only contain your email address and your message. Your email address is required to enable us to reply to you if a response is necessary. We do not use your email address for any other purposes.

Article submission form

The article submission form enables contributors to submit articles easily without registering on our  site. We only collect the data entered into the form. If your article is approved, your name and surname are displayed in the by line. Your email address is only used to inform you about the status of your article.

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in (if this functionality is enabled) to saving your name and email address in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics to gain insights into the web traffic we receive and improve our website according to the needs of our audience. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect information about each visitor’s use of a website which uses the service. When you visit our website, we collect the following data: the type of device and browser you are using, your IP address, search key words that led you to our site, and all the pages you visit. This information enables us to optimize our website for the majority of devices that our visitors use. It also helps us to see which content visitors from various parts of the world are interested in. As indicated in the Google Analytics Privacy Policy, no personally identifiable information is collected. However, if you wish to block Google Analytics, you may install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, which is supported by most major browsers.

Who we share your data with

We do not share your data with any third parties.

How long we retain your data

We retain the Google Analytics data for 26 months, as per the default settings.

If you leave a comment, the comment, email address and the IP address are retained indefinitely. This enables us to recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

If you register as a contributor, the personal information you provide is stored indefinitely in your user profile.

What rights you have over your data

If you are a registered user, you can log in and view, edit, or delete your personal information at anytime. You can also ask the administrator to do this on your behalf.

You can also request that we remove any comment that you left on our site in the past. This is only possible if you email us using the same email address that you used when you left the comment.

In some cases, we may be obliged to keep some data for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Data Deletion Instructions

Our contact information

• Email: info@publicnewshub.com
• Contact Form: https://www.publicnewshub.com/contact_us/