Pop State developed the following policy to demonstrate its firm commitment to user data protection, privacy, and security. The information below illustrates the privacy policy followed by the Pop State website and wholly managed engagement platforms like email. It does not cover engagement that takes place on (and is managed by) external networks, such as Google AMP, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.

The following policy is effective as of December 15, 2025. Inquiries or applicable opt-out requests may be submitted via our official contact channels.

Access to User Data

Pop State publishes news, reviews, commentaries, and other forms of journalistic communication on a strictly outbound basis. Pop State does not offer user accounts, email memberships, subscriptions, items for purchase, or any similar features for which users must actively provide personally identifiable data.

 

Should users independently elect to email, mail, call, or otherwise correspond with Pop State or any of its employees, they grant Pop State explicit permission to store and use their information for reasons such as:

 
  • Addressing their inquiries.

  • Documenting interactions.

  • Researching news tips.

  • Correcting errant content.

  • Ensuring the quality of the user experience.

At any point, users may request that such correspondence be erased. Pop State will comply, barring legitimate interest (such as but not limited to legal documentation or use in publication) for retaining the data.


Third-Party Interactions and Cookies

Pop State does not independently create, issue, or monitor cookies or other tracking solutions to identify, recognize, or market to users. It does, however, engage with third parties who may use cookies for the sake of understanding user content preferences and optimizing the user experience. Pop State does not control or have access to any personally identifiable data that may be collected by these third parties.

 

Key Third-Party Services

  • Google Analytics: Pop State relies on aggregate Google Analytics reports to understand site traffic and identify performance issues. To protect user privacy, Pop State has proactively anonymized IP data and disabled UserID tracking. Google Analytics may employ cookies subject to its own privacy policy.

  • Disqus: Pop State embeds the Disqus platform for commenting. This service may collect data and use cookies to tailor advertising or manage user logins. Disqus acts as the controller and processor of this data.

  • Embedded Content: Pop State may feature content from YouTube, X, or Instagram. This content is not directly hosted by Pop State; therefore, any data collection falls under the respective third party’s privacy policy.

To ensure awareness of this policy, Pop State may use a toolbar to acquire user acknowledgement. While this acknowledgement may be tracked with a browser cookie, Pop State does not acquire or use this information for any other purpose.


Policy for Children

Pop State understands that children under thirteen have special privacy needs.

  • We will not knowingly collect or distribute personally identifiable information from children without parental consent.

  • We will not store children’s email addresses beyond the time needed to respond to a specific inquiry.

  • We will not entice children to submit more information than is necessary to access a site feature.

  • We encourage children to get parental consent before submitting any information online.


Future Data Collection & Retention

While Pop State does not presently request inbound data from customers, it may in the future offer heightened engagement mechanisms, such as giveaways or email newsletters.

Should Pop State introduce these features:

  1. Users will maintain the power to explicitly opt-in.

  2. Users will retain the right to opt-out and request data deletion at any time.

  3. Pop State will provide transparency regarding how information is processed.

Note: Pop State may be required to keep a record of deletion requests to ensure long-term compliance with those requests.