Privacy Policy

Declaration

RainbowRing exists to connect independent websites. It is not an advertising network and personal information is not sold to advertisers, data brokers or other organisations for their own direct-marketing purposes.

By creating a RainbowRing account, submitting a website or using RainbowRing features, information may be processed as described below.

Information provided by members

When you create a RainbowRing account, information associated with that account may include your username, email address, password credentials in hashed form, account role, account creation date and last login information.

RainbowRing does not store your original account password. Passwords are stored using secure password hashing.

When you submit a website, information associated with that website may include its name, URL, description, category, submitted imagery or logo, RainbowRing configuration, membership and approval status, and other information that you choose to provide.

This information is required to administer membership and display participating websites within RainbowRing.

Website and widget information

RainbowRing automatically checks submitted websites so that the ring can determine whether they remain available and whether the required RainbowRing installation is present and operational.

These checks may record information including HTTP response status, final destination URL, response time, page title and metadata, favicon information, widget or Restricted Platform detection status, detected widget version and configuration, HTTPS and integrity information, timestamps, and errors encountered while accessing the site.

These checks are performed against the publicly accessible website submitted by the member. They are used to operate the ring, detect broken or missing installations and avoid deliberately directing visitors towards sites that RainbowRing knows are unavailable.

Automated detection does not grant final membership approval. Final approval remains an administrative decision by RainbowRing.

Operational visibility

A website that has previously been approved may temporarily disappear from public RainbowRing listings if its RainbowRing installation can no longer be detected.

This does not necessarily delete the site's account, settings, approval history or other membership information. Those records may be retained so that the website can return to normal public operation when the RainbowRing installation becomes available again.

Admin approval is persistent. Operational visibility is automatic.

WordPress plugin

The RainbowRing WordPress plugin communicates with rainbowring.zingot.graphics in order to connect a participating WordPress website to RainbowRing and provide the selected RainbowRing features.

During automatic pairing, the WordPress site's public Site Address is sent to RainbowRing. RainbowRing locates the corresponding submitted website and uses a short-lived random challenge to confirm that the WordPress website being connected is under the control of the person performing the connection.

Once pairing succeeds, information required for the connection is exchanged, including the RainbowRing Site ID, connection credentials and widget configuration.

The plugin does not send your WordPress administrator password to RainbowRing. It also does not require your RainbowRing account password to be stored within WordPress.

Screenshots and public site information

RainbowRing may obtain screenshots, favicons and publicly available metadata from submitted websites. These are used to represent participating websites within RainbowRing features such as the directory, member profiles, Featured Site and other discovery features.

Submitting a website to RainbowRing therefore involves RainbowRing accessing public information from that website. A member may contact RainbowRing if information representing their website is inaccurate or should be reviewed.

Site views

RainbowRing records daily view totals for participating websites. These records contain the member site's identifier, the date and the number of recorded views.

RainbowRing's application does not attach a visitor identity or visitor IP address to these daily site-view totals. The purpose of this information is to provide basic service statistics and features such as Trending sites rather than to create profiles of individual visitors.

Referrals

RainbowRing may record aggregated referral information when visitors follow JOIN or other tracked RainbowRing links associated with a member website.

These records are maintained as aggregate counts associated with a site, date and referral channel. RainbowRing does not store a visitor identity or IP address as part of these referral counters.

LUV

LUV is a RainbowRing feature that allows visitors to show appreciation for participating websites.

To prevent the same browser from repeatedly giving LUV to the same site on the same day, RainbowRing creates a random visitor token and stores it in the visitor's browser using browser storage technologies such as a cookie and local storage.

When LUV is used, RainbowRing stores a cryptographic hash of that visitor token rather than the original token itself. A LUV record may include the member site's identifier, the hashed visitor token, the date, the member page from which LUV was given, the RainbowRing widget version, the source of the LUV interaction and the time the record was created.

The visitor token exists to operate the LUV feature. It is not intended to identify a visitor by name or build an advertising profile.

Historical LUV information may be retained as part of a participating site's RainbowRing activity history in accordance with the retention principles described below.

Cookies, local storage and sessions

RainbowRing uses limited browser storage where it is required to provide particular features.

Logged-in RainbowRing accounts use normal session functionality for purposes including authentication, security, CSRF protection and temporary interface information.

The LUV feature uses a randomly generated visitor token stored within the browser so that RainbowRing can recognise whether that browser has already used LUV for a particular member website on that day.

RainbowRing does not currently use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel or a similar third-party advertising or behavioural-tracking system. If RainbowRing introduces non-essential tracking or advertising technologies in the future, this policy and any required consent mechanism will be updated before those technologies are used.

Server logs and IP addresses

RainbowRing's application does not deliberately store visitor IP addresses as part of its site-view or LUV analytics.

Like most Internet services, however, the hosting and web-server infrastructure used to operate RainbowRing may generate ordinary request and security logs. These may contain information such as IP address, requested URL, time of request, browser or user-agent information, HTTP response information and diagnostic or security information.

Such records may be used where reasonably necessary to operate, secure, troubleshoot or protect the service.

How information is used

Information processed by RainbowRing is used to create and manage accounts; administer submitted websites; provide RainbowRing navigation; operate the LUV system; maintain site-view and referral statistics; verify RainbowRing installations; monitor website availability; manage Restricted Platform membership; moderate and approve websites; provide member settings; detect abuse or manipulation; diagnose technical problems; protect the security and integrity of RainbowRing; and communicate with members where reasonably necessary to provide or administer the service.

Where applicable, processing necessary to provide RainbowRing to a member is carried out because it is required to provide the service requested by that member. Other processing may be carried out because RainbowRing has a legitimate interest in operating, securing, maintaining and protecting the service and its members.

Where consent is specifically requested for a particular activity, that activity will be based upon that consent and the consent may subsequently be withdrawn.

Third-party services

eUKhost

RainbowRing is hosted using infrastructure supplied by eUKhost Ltd. Information processed by RainbowRing may therefore be processed or stored using infrastructure supplied or supported by eUKhost.

eUKhost states that customer data is primarily stored in the United Kingdom, although information may also be processed by its staff, suppliers or subprocessors where necessary to provide and support its services.

Read eUKhost's Privacy Policy ↗

ScreenshotOne

RainbowRing uses ScreenshotOne to obtain screenshots of publicly accessible member websites.

When a screenshot is requested, the public URL of the member website and rendering instructions required to produce the screenshot are provided to ScreenshotOne. The resulting image is returned to RainbowRing and may then be resized, processed and stored by RainbowRing for use within the service.

RainbowRing does not provide member information to ScreenshotOne for advertising or direct-marketing purposes.

Read ScreenshotOne's Privacy Policy ↗

International processing

RainbowRing is operated from the United Kingdom and its primary hosting infrastructure is supplied by a UK hosting provider.

Some service providers or their subprocessors may nevertheless process information outside the United Kingdom where necessary to provide their services. Where personal information is transferred internationally, the relevant service provider is responsible for applying safeguards required by applicable data-protection law to its processing.

Information retention

RainbowRing retains personal and site information only while there is a continuing reason to hold it.

Information associated with an active account or participating website may be retained for as long as the account or website remains part of RainbowRing because that information is required to provide and administer the service.

Removing a website temporarily from public visibility does not necessarily remove its information. For example, if its RainbowRing installation becomes unavailable, the site's settings, approval state and membership history may be retained so that normal operation can later be restored.

If an account no longer contains any submitted websites and remains inactive for 12 months, the account and personal information that is no longer reasonably required may be removed.

A member does not have to wait for that inactivity period to request deletion of their account or personal information. Where a deletion request is received, information that is no longer reasonably required will be deleted or anonymised, subject to information that RainbowRing has a legitimate or legal reason to retain.

Operational and technical records are retained only while reasonably necessary for purposes such as operating the service, troubleshooting, security and abuse prevention.

Where particular records are reasonably required to investigate abuse or fraud; investigate a security incident; investigate serious or repeated violations of RainbowRing's Terms; establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or comply with a lawful request from a competent authority, relevant information may be retained for longer than its normal operational period. Such information will be retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for that purpose.

Anonymous statistical information may be retained after identifying or identifiable information has been deleted where the remaining information can no longer reasonably be associated with an individual.

Inappropriate use and abuse

Where RainbowRing identifies suspected abuse, manipulation, fraudulent activity, attempted interference with the service or other inappropriate use, relevant operational or security records may be preserved while the matter is investigated.

Where appropriate and lawfully required, information may also be supplied to competent authorities. RainbowRing does not routinely collect information on behalf of law-enforcement authorities.

Security

RainbowRing uses reasonable technical and organisational measures intended to protect information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or loss. These measures include limiting unnecessary collection of personal information and using appropriate authentication and credential-handling practices.

No Internet-connected service can guarantee absolute security. If a security incident occurs, RainbowRing will assess the incident and take action appropriate to its nature and severity.

Your rights

Depending upon the circumstances, UK data-protection law may give you rights relating to personal information held about you. These may include rights to request access, correction or erasure; request restriction of processing; object to certain processing; receive certain information in a portable format; and withdraw consent where processing is based upon consent.

These rights do not apply identically in every circumstance and may be subject to legal limitations. Requests relating to personal information held by RainbowRing can be made using the contact information below.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ↗ if you believe your personal information has been handled improperly.

Children

RainbowRing is a service intended primarily for website owners and visitors and is not specifically designed to collect personal information from children. RainbowRing does not knowingly seek personal information from children for advertising or profiling purposes.

If you believe that personal information relating to a child has been provided to RainbowRing inappropriately, please contact us so that the matter can be reviewed.

External websites

RainbowRing links to independently operated member websites. Those websites are not controlled by RainbowRing and may have their own privacy policies, cookies, analytics and other data-processing practices.

This Privacy Policy applies to RainbowRing itself and does not replace the privacy policies of member websites.

Changes to this policy

RainbowRing will continue to develop and this Privacy Policy may occasionally be updated to reflect changes to the service, its technology, service providers or legal obligations.

The current version will be published on the RainbowRing website together with its revision date. Where a change materially affects the way member personal information is used, reasonable steps will be taken to make that change clear.

Contact

Questions, requests or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or personal information processed by RainbowRing may be directed to:

Zingot Graphics / RainbowRing
Email: marcus@zingot.graphics
United Kingdom