Privacy Policy

Last updated: 23 October 2026

Who we are

PublishingState.com is an independent website about publishing, written and edited by Zul M and based in Malaysia. This policy explains what personal data the site collects, why, who handles it, and the choices you have. Our website address is https://publishingstate.com.

In short

  • You can read the site without giving us any personal details.
  • If you comment or subscribe, we keep only what is needed to publish your comment or send the emails you asked for.
  • The site uses analytics and advertising services, which use cookies. Visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland are asked for consent first.
  • We do not sell personal data.

Newsletter

If you subscribe, we collect your email address, the emails you chose to receive (the monthly roundup and, optionally, new-article alerts), and the date and time you subscribed and confirmed. You confirm your subscription by clicking a link we email you.

The newsletter is sent using Kit (kit.com), a service based in the United States, which stores this information on our behalf. Kit records whether emails are opened and which links are clicked; we use this only to understand which articles readers find useful.

Every email includes a link to unsubscribe or change your preferences. When you unsubscribe, you stop receiving emails straight away. You can also ask us to delete your details entirely. Kit’s own practices are described in its privacy policy.

Comments

When you leave a comment, we collect the name, email address and website you enter, together with your IP address and browser details to help detect spam. Comments are checked by Akismet, a spam-protection service from Automattic; see Automattic’s privacy policy.

An anonymised string created from your email address (a “hash”) may be sent to Gravatar, also from Automattic, to show your profile picture if you have one. Once your comment is approved, your name, comment and profile picture are visible to the public. Your email address is never published.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how many people visit, which articles they read, and how they found the site. Google Analytics uses cookies and collects information such as pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser. It does not give us your name or email address. For visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, analytics cookies are not used unless you consent. Google explains how it uses data from sites that use its services.

Advertising

The site shows advertising through Ezoic and its advertising partners. They use cookies and similar technologies to show ads, limit how often you see the same ad, measure performance and, where you allow it, personalise ads. Visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland see a consent banner and can accept or refuse non-essential cookies, and change their choice at any time. Details of Ezoic’s partners and their cookies appear at the end of this page.

Cookies

  • Comment cookies: if you leave a comment, you can choose to save your name, email and website for next time. These last one year.
  • Login cookies: used only by site administrators.
  • Analytics cookies: set by Google Analytics, as described above.
  • Advertising cookies: set by Ezoic and its partners, as described above.

You can delete or block cookies in your browser settings; some parts of the site may then work less well.

Embedded content

Articles may include embedded content from other websites, such as videos. Embedded content behaves as if you had visited the other website, which may collect data about you and use cookies under its own policy.

Who we share data with

We share personal data only with the service providers named above, which process it on our behalf to run the site and the newsletter, or where the law requires it. We do not sell or rent personal data.

Where your data is processed

Some of these providers store data outside Malaysia, including in the United States. Where this happens, we rely on the providers’ own safeguards for international transfers.

How long we keep data

  • Newsletter: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it.
  • Comments: kept with the article unless you ask for removal.
  • Analytics: detailed data is kept for 14 months, the retention period set in Google Analytics.
  • Advertising data: kept by Ezoic and its partners under their own policies.

Your rights

You can ask to see the personal data we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or withdraw consent at any time. Depending on where you live, including under Malaysia’s Personal Data Protection Act and the EU and UK GDPR, you may also have the right to object to some uses of your data and to complain to your data protection authority.

Children

The site is written for adults working in or studying publishing and is not directed at children.

Contact

For any question or request about your personal data, email privacy@publishingstate.com. This address is for privacy requests only.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page if our practices change, and show the date of the latest version at the top.