Privacy Policy

1. Privacy as Part of the Product Philosophy

At Lumen Weekly, privacy is part of the product philosophy.

Lumen Weekly platform is designed as a reflective writing space where people can think, write, read, and connect through ideas. We aim to collect only the information we need to operate the platform and to give users a calm, respectful, and privacy-conscious experience.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, how long we keep it, and what rights you may have.

By accepting this Privacy Policy, you expressly consent to the collection, use, storage, and other processing of your personal data in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth herein.

2. Who We Are

Lumen Weekly is operated by Belox IT, the business name of Milica Labus PR Konsultantske usluge BELOX IT Beograd, registered in Serbia.

Registered address: Bulevar despota Stefana 18, Belgrade, Serbia.

For privacy-related questions, requests, or concerns, you can contact us at: support@lumenweekly.com

For the purposes of applicable data protection laws, Lumen Weekly is the controller of the personal data processed through the platform, unless stated otherwise.

3. What Data We Collect

We aim to keep data collection minimal in compliance with the applicable privacy law.

Depending on how you use Lumen Weekly, we may collect the following categories of information.

4. What We Do Not Intend to Collect

Lumen Weekly is not designed to collect real names, profile photos, public identity profiles, or unnecessary personal details.

We do not want users to feel pressured to reveal their real-world identity publicly.

We also ask users not to include sensitive personal information in published reflections or highlights unless they are fully comfortable with the possibility that others may read or discover that information.

Sensitive personal information may include information about health, religion, political opinions, sexuality, ethnicity, criminal history, or other deeply personal matters.

5. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data to:

• create and manage your account;
• authenticate you and keep your account secure;
• provide the core writing and reading features of the platform;
• save drafts and publish reflections according to your actions;
• display your pseudonym, highlights, previews, and published reflections where appropriate;
• show published reflections in Discover;
• support platform sharing features and limited public previews;
• remember your language and account preferences;
• enable Inspire, Follow, reporting, and related community features;
• moderate content and protect the community;
• approve, reject, review, remove, or limit content where needed;
• apply temporary publishing limits, feature restrictions, account restrictions, suspension, or termination where needed to enforce rules;
• prevent abuse, spam, misuse, and security incidents;
• support translation or display versions of content where available;
• respond to your messages or support requests;
• improve the platform, fix bugs, and understand how users interact with the service;
• comply with legal obligations where required.

6. Legal Bases for Processing

In accordance with the Serbian Law on Personal Data Protection, we process personal data based on one or more of the following legal bases.

7. Drafts, Published Reflections, and Visibility

8. Pseudonymous Use

Lumen Weekly encourages pseudonymous participation.

Your public identity on the platform is based on your chosen pseudonym, not your real name.

However, even if your public profile is pseudonymous, your account may still be linked internally to your email address for authentication, security, account recovery, moderation, abuse prevention, and service operation.

We do not publicly display your email address.

Your pseudonym should be chosen in line with the Community Guidelines and Lumen Weekly values.

9. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Lumen Weekly may use cookies or similar technologies to:

• keep you logged in;
• remember preferences;
• improve security;
• understand basic usage patterns;
• improve the platform;
• detect errors or abuse.

If we use non-essential cookies, analytics, or tracking technologies that require consent, we will provide appropriate notice and, where required, ask for consent.

10. Third-Party Service Providers

We may use trusted third-party providers to help operate Lumen Weekly, such as:

• hosting providers;
• authentication providers;
• database and infrastructure services;
• email delivery services;
• analytics or error monitoring tools;
• AI-assisted or automated moderation tools;
• translation or language-processing tools, where available;
• payment providers, if payments are introduced in the future;
• security and abuse-prevention tools.

These providers may process personal data only as needed to provide their services to us.

If payments are introduced, payment information will generally be processed by a payment provider, not directly by Lumen Weekly.

11. AI-Assisted Features

Lumen Weekly may use automated, AI-assisted, or third-party tools to support platform functionality, such as moderation, translation, safety checks, abuse prevention, or quality review.

These tools are used to help operate the platform and protect the community. They do not replace all human judgment, and we may review or adjust outcomes where appropriate.

AI-assisted features may change over time as the platform evolves.

12. International Data Transfers

Depending on the providers we use, your personal data may be processed in countries other than your own.

Where required by applicable law, we will use appropriate safeguards for international transfers, such as contractual protections or other legally recognized mechanisms.

13. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

In general:

• account data is kept while your account is active;
• drafts and reflections are kept while your account exists or until you delete them, where deletion is available;
• published reflections may remain visible until removed, withdrawn, deleted, archived, or otherwise handled according to platform rules;
• highlights and previews may remain associated with published reflections while those reflections are active;
• technical logs are kept for a limited period needed for security, debugging, and platform operation;
• communication records may be kept as long as needed to respond to your request and maintain appropriate records;
• moderation and abuse-prevention records may be kept where necessary to protect the platform, enforce rules, prevent repeated misuse, and maintain community safety.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete it or anonymize it where reasonably possible in accordance with the applicable privacy laws.

14. Your Rights

You may have the following rights over your personal data.

These include the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• correct inaccurate data;
• request deletion of your data;
• restrict or object to certain processing;
• request a copy of your data;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• lodge a complaint with a data protection authority.

To make a privacy request, contact us at: support@lumenweekly.com

We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests.

15. Deleting Your Account

You may request deletion of your account by contacting us at: support@lumenweekly.com

When your account is deleted, we will delete or anonymize your personal data where reasonably possible, unless we need to keep certain information for legal, security, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, moderation, abuse-prevention, or legitimate operational reasons.

Some content may remain in backup systems for a limited period before being fully removed.

If published reflections have been shared outside Lumen Weekly through previews, links, screenshots, copies, or user actions, we cannot fully control or remove copies or references that exist outside the platform.

16. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal data from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.

These steps may include access controls, secure authentication, encrypted communication, provider security measures, monitoring, and operational safeguards.

No online service can be completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

You should also protect your account by using secure login methods and keeping your email account safe.

17. Email Communications

We may send you service-related emails, such as account confirmation, login, password reset, security notices, or important platform updates.

If we introduce newsletters or optional product updates, you will be able to unsubscribe from non-essential communications.

18. Payments

If Lumen Weekly introduces paid subscriptions or paid features, we will update this Privacy Policy with additional information about payment processing.

Payment, billing, and transaction information will typically be processed by a third-party payment provider, bank, or other payment processing service, not directly by Lumen Weekly.

Lumen Weekly does not intend to store full payment card details directly. Depending on the payment method, we may process limited billing or transaction-related information where necessary for payment confirmation, invoicing, accounting, tax, fraud prevention, customer support, dispute resolution, or legal compliance.

19. Children's Privacy

Lumen Weekly is not intended for children under 16.

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

20. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as Lumen Weekly evolves.

If we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify users, such as by posting the updated policy on the platform or sending an email notification.

The updated Privacy Policy will apply from the effective date shown at the top of the document.

21. Contact

For questions, requests, or concerns about privacy, contact us at: support@lumenweekly.com