Privacy Policy
Last updated: 26 July 2026. This policy is being finalized as a small number of legal-entity details are confirmed; the sections below describe our actual, current data practices in full.
1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how Herald Express (“Herald Express”, “we”, “us”) collects, uses, stores, and protects information when you visit herald.express or interact with our forms, features, and services. Herald Express is an AI-powered, evidence-first independent news publication.
2. Identity of the data controller
Herald Express is the data controller responsible for the personal data described in this policy. Our full legal-entity registration details (registered name, address, and country of establishment) are being finalized and will be published here once confirmed.
3. Contact details
General enquiries, including privacy-related questions, can be sent through our Contact page. A dedicated data-protection contact address will be published here once designated.
4. Scope
This policy covers herald.express, including our homepage, category and article pages, search, contact and submission forms, contributor and press-release tools, and any account areas. It does not cover third-party websites we may link to.
5. Information collected automatically
When you visit Herald Express, our hosting environment and the tools listed below may automatically collect standard technical information, including:
- IP address and approximate location derived from it
- Browser type, device type, and operating system
- Pages visited, referring page, and time spent on the site
- Standard web server access logs
6. Information you submit directly
We collect information you choose to provide through our forms and features, described by feature below.
Contact form
Our Contact page uses a form (built with the FormLayer plugin) that collects your name, email address, a department/subject selection, and your message content.
Corrections requests
Our Corrections page accepts correction requests, which may include your name, email address, and details of the correction you are reporting.
Write With Us / contributor submissions
Our Write With Us page and related contributor tools (contributor signup, login, dashboard, and article studio) collect information you provide as a prospective or active contributor, which may include your name, email address, a proposal or writing sample, source links, and — where our contributor tools support file attachments — uploaded documents or evidence files.
Press-release submissions
Our Submit Press Release tool collects the press-release content and submitter contact details you provide.
Comments
Our articles allow comments by default at the platform level. If you post a comment, we collect the name, email address, and comment content you submit. Comment email addresses are not published publicly.
7. Account and subscription data
Public self-registration for general reader accounts is currently disabled. A separate contributor account system (signup, login, dashboard, and profile) exists for approved contributors and collects the profile information you provide when completing your contributor profile. Herald Express also has subscription-plan infrastructure in place (see our Plans page); if and when paid subscriptions are active, this policy will be updated to describe payment-related data handling and the payment processor used.
8. Cookies
Herald Express uses cookies and similar technologies for essential site functionality, analytics, and advertising. We use a consent management tool (CookieAdmin) that blocks non-essential scripts until you make a choice, and lets you accept, reject, or customize your cookie preferences at any time via the cookie banner shown on our site.
9. Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4, connected via Google Site Kit, to understand how visitors use our site (pages viewed, general traffic patterns, and similar aggregate metrics). Google acts as a data processor for this analytics data, subject to Google’s own privacy and data-processing terms.
10. Advertising
We use Google AdSense, connected via Google Site Kit, to display advertising on Herald Express. Google AdSense may use cookies and similar technologies to serve and measure ads, including personalized ads where you have consented to this via our cookie tool.
11. Security and fraud prevention
We use standard WordPress security tooling (including login-attempt monitoring) to help protect the site and its administrative accounts against unauthorized access. Outbound system email (for example, form-submission notifications) is delivered through an SMTP relay service configured on our hosting environment.
12. AI-assisted processing
Herald Express is an AI-powered news publication. Article drafting, rewriting, and editorial-assistance functions use third-party AI language-model providers, and featured images are generated using third-party AI image-generation providers (currently Cloudflare Workers AI). Personal data you submit through our public-facing forms (contact, corrections, contributor, or press-release submissions) is not intentionally included in prompts sent to these AI providers; these providers primarily process article source material and editorial content, not visitor personal data. Where AI providers process any incidental technical data as part of serving these requests, they act as processors subject to their own respective terms.
13. Legal bases for processing (where GDPR applies)
Where the GDPR applies to our processing of your personal data, we rely on the following legal bases: your consent (for cookies/analytics/advertising, where required), our legitimate interests (for site security, fraud prevention, and understanding site usage), and the performance of a contract or steps taken at your request (for example, when you submit a contributor application or press release and we act on it).
14. Service providers and processors
The following third-party services currently process data on our behalf, based on verified, active configuration on our site as of this policy’s last update:
- Google (Google Analytics 4 and Google AdSense, via Google Site Kit)
- Cloudflare (Workers AI, for article featured-image generation)
- CookieAdmin (cookie consent management)
- FormLayer (contact, corrections, and contributor form processing)
- An SMTP email-delivery service configured on our hosting environment (for outbound transactional email)
- Our hosting provider (full name to be added here once confirmed)
- Third-party AI language-model and AI image-generation providers used in our editorial and image pipeline
15. International data transfers
Some of the service providers listed above (including Google and Cloudflare) operate global infrastructure that may process data outside your own country, including outside the European Economic Area. Further detail on our hosting location and the specific safeguards that apply to any such transfer will be added here once confirmed.
16. Data retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected for, or as required by law. Specific retention periods for each category of data will be published here once finalized.
17. Your rights
Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to our processing of your personal data, and to request a portable copy of data you provided to us. You may also withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent (for example, by changing your cookie preferences).
18. Access, correction, and deletion
To exercise these rights, contact us via our Contact page. We will respond to verified requests in accordance with applicable law.
19. Objection and restriction
You may object to or request that we restrict certain processing (for example, processing based on legitimate interests) by contacting us as described above.
20. Data portability
Where applicable law grants a right to data portability, you may request a copy of the personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used format.
21. Consent withdrawal
Where our processing relies on your consent (such as non-essential cookies or personalized advertising), you can withdraw that consent at any time by adjusting your cookie preferences through the cookie banner or its settings link.
22. Right to complain
If you believe we have not handled your personal data properly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority. The specific authority applicable to Herald Express will be named here once our entity’s country of establishment is confirmed.
23. Children’s privacy
Herald Express is a general-audience news publication. We do not knowingly direct any part of this site at young children or knowingly collect personal data from them. A specific minimum-age policy will be published here once finalized.
24. External links
Herald Express articles and pages may link to third-party websites, including original news sources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those external sites, and we encourage you to review their own privacy policies.
25. Internal editorial system (Mr. Editor / /mreditor/)
Herald Express operates a restricted, authenticated internal tool at /mreditor/ used only by authorised Herald Express editors to submit source material, notes, and editorial direction for article production. This system is not accessible to the public and requires an authenticated staff account holding the appropriate editorial permission. When an authorised editor uses this tool, we process: their WordPress account identity and login session; the source URLs, notes, and editorial directions they submit; records of the AI-assisted drafting and editorial-validation steps performed on that submission; and security and audit logs of access and actions taken, including timestamps and the submitting user. This data is used solely to produce, review, and publish news articles and to maintain an internal accountability record of editorial decisions. It is not used for any other purpose and is not shared outside the service providers already described in section 14 (Service providers and processors), where the same AI-provider processing described in section 12 applies. Access to this tool and its underlying data is restricted to authorised Herald Express staff.
26. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by an updated “Last updated” date at the top of this page.
27. Contact
Questions about this Privacy Policy can be sent through our Contact page.