This privacy policy explains how linkzine (linkzine.com) handles personal data when you visit the website or subscribe to the newsletter. We aim to be plain about what we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what rights you have.
Who we are
linkzine is operated by:
Thorsten Ott Buschgasse 56, 50189 ELSDORF, DE Email: thorsten@linkzine.com
For privacy questions, email thorsten+legal@linkzine.com.
Where the website lives, and what that means
linkzine.com is hosted on WordPress.com, run by Automattic Inc. We chose WordPress.com because it gave us a website, an archive, search, RSS, the email newsletter system, and social syndication out of the box — which let us focus on the editorial product rather than maintaining infrastructure.
In practical terms:
- When you visit linkzine.com, your request is served by Automattic’s infrastructure. Automattic has its own privacy policy governing standard hosting telemetry (web logs, IP, user-agent, referrer) and the cookies the platform may set. See: https://automattic.com/privacy/.
- Newsletter subscriptions are managed by Jetpack Subscriptions (also Automattic). Email addresses, double-opt-in audit, engagement events (opens, clicks, unsubscribes) all live in their system.
- We — Thorsten Ott — are the publisher and editorial operator. We do not maintain a separate copy of the subscriber list.
What we collect — and what we don’t
When you visit linkzine.com
Standard hosting telemetry (collected by Automattic on our behalf): timestamp, requested URL, referrer, user-agent string, source IP. Used for service operation and security. Retention follows Automattic’s standard policy (see their privacy policy).
Cookies on the site: WordPress.com may set functional cookies on linkzine.com — for example, a session cookie, a language preference cookie, or comment-author memory if you ever leave a comment. We do not add Google Analytics, Plausible, Umami, or any third-party analytics or advertising tag on top of the platform. Jetpack Stats is enabled for aggregate page-view counts; it does not set its own cookies and does not track individual visitors.
If we ever change this — for example, by adding a third-party analytics plugin — this paragraph changes first.
When you subscribe to the newsletter
- Email address (required, used to deliver the newsletter).
- IP address and timestamp at signup, stored by Jetpack Subscriptions as a double-opt-in audit trail (GDPR consent record).
- Engagement events — opens, clicks, unsubscribes — recorded by Jetpack Subscriptions per Automattic’s privacy policy.
We do not collect: name, mailing address, phone number, payment information, device fingerprints, third-party tracking pixels, or social-media identifiers.
Legal bases (GDPR Art. 6)
| What | Basis |
|---|---|
| Newsletter subscription | Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)), confirmed via double opt-in. Withdrawable at any time. |
| Hosting telemetry / abuse prevention | Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) in keeping the service running. Operated by Automattic on our behalf. |
| Editorial AI processing of public RSS content | Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)). No subscriber data is sent to AI processors. |
| Aggregate site stats (Jetpack Stats) | Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) in understanding which content reaches readers. No individual identification. |
Data processors (Art. 28 GDPR)
We rely on the following processors. Each handles data on our behalf, only for the purpose described:
Automattic Inc. — Public website hosting (linkzine.com via WordPress.com), newsletter delivery (Jetpack Subscriptions), subscriber list management, double-opt-in confirmation, unsubscribe handling, aggregate site stats (Jetpack Stats — page-view counts, referrer, country; no individual cookies set by Jetpack Stats), and Publicize-driven syndication to connected social channels when posts publish.
Location: United States.
Privacy policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/
Automattic is the system of record for subscriber emails and engagement events. Email-related rights requests can be made directly via the unsubscribe link in any newsletter, the WordPress.com account UI, or by emailing us.Anthropic, PBC (via Amazon Web Services Bedrock) — AI-assisted curation: ranking candidate links and writing 1–2-sentence summaries from public RSS content. The model is invoked via AWS Bedrock; AWS acts as a passthrough infrastructure provider for the model call.
Location: United States.
Privacy policy: https://www.anthropic.com/legal/privacy
Subscriber data is NOT sent to Anthropic or AWS. Only public RSS content + link metadata is processed.OpenAI, L.L.C. — AI image generation (per-issue header images).
Location: United States (DPF-certified for EU transfers).
Privacy policy: https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy
Subscriber data is NOT sent to OpenAI. Only the issue’s category metadata + a generic abstract-art prompt are sent.
Cross-border transfers to the United States rely on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable.
What about the engineer’s internal editorial tool?
We run an internal editorial tool — a private application that polls RSS feeds, ranks candidate links, drafts summaries via AI, and publishes finished editions to WordPress.com via WP’s REST API. That tool is hosted on our own infrastructure (Hetzner, Germany) and is not accessible to the public.
Subscriber data does not flow through that tool. It only handles public RSS content, candidate scores, and the rendered post body that gets POSTed to WordPress.com. The subscriber list of record lives at Automattic.
How long we keep data
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Newsletter subscription | While subscribed; Automattic retains records per their data-retention policy after unsubscribe (audit trail, resubscribe protection). |
| Hosting telemetry | Per Automattic’s policy. |
| Internal editorial pipeline working data | 90 days max (the items table the curator pulls from is auto-pruned at 90 days). |
Your rights
Under GDPR you have the right to:
- Access (Art. 15) — receive a copy of personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification (Art. 16) — correct inaccurate data.
- Erasure (Art. 17) — request deletion (“right to be forgotten”).
- Restriction (Art. 18) — restrict processing.
- Portability (Art. 20) — receive your data in a machine-readable format.
- Object (Art. 21) — object to processing based on legitimate interest.
- Withdraw consent (Art. 7(3)) — at any time, no justification needed.
- Lodge a complaint (Art. 77) with a supervisory authority.
To exercise any of these, email thorsten+legal@linkzine.com. We respond within 30 days.
For purely list-management requests — unsubscribe, change email, etc. — the fastest path is the unsubscribe link in any newsletter, or managing your subscription directly in your WordPress.com account if you have one. We can also process these on request.
If you are in the EU, you can complain to your national data protection authority. In Germany, find yours at bfdi.bund.de.
Unsubscribing
Every newsletter issue includes a one-click unsubscribe link in the footer (provided by Jetpack Subscriptions). You can also email thorsten@linkzine.com with “unsubscribe” in the subject. Unsubscribe is processed within 24 hours.
Automated decision-making
We do not use personal data for automated decision-making or profiling that has legal or similarly significant effects on you. The AI we use for editorial curation processes only public link content from RSS feeds — never subscriber data.
Children
linkzine is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If you believe a minor has subscribed, email thorsten@linkzine.com and we will delete the data.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. The current version is dated below. Material changes will be announced via the newsletter at least 14 days before taking effect.
Last updated: 2026-06-15. Version: 3.0.
Structure adapted from Legalmattic, released under CC BY-SA 4.0. This document is licensed under the same terms.
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