Privacy & cookies

Who is responsible for your data

The data controller for Positive Times is Filippo De Gennaro. For information, requests about your data or concerns about our content, email filippodegennaro@hotmail.it.

This notice covers the Positive Times website and its iOS app. You can read our articles without creating an account or providing an email address.

Browsing and security

The website is hosted by Vercel Inc. Delivering pages and preventing abuse involves processing technical data such as IP address, time, requested page and browser information. For Positive Times’ delivery and security purposes, the legal basis is our legitimate interest in providing a working, secure website (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). This data is necessary for the connection.

We do not operate reader accounts, comments or a visitor database. Photographs and fonts are served by this website; links to sources and Instagram are not embedded content. When you open another website, its terms and privacy notice also apply.

Statistics and cookies

We use Vercel Web Analytics to understand which pages are read and update the public counter. We do not use advertising pixels or reader profiles for marketing. Our statistical purpose is based on the legitimate interest in measuring and improving the newspaper (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Vercel describes aggregate statistics without analytics cookies or cross-site identification. Data may include the page, referral source, date, approximate location, browser and device. A visitor session is derived from a request hash and discarded after 24 hours; that limit does not cover all statistics. Vercel Web Analytics details.

Before sending the page URL to analytics, the website removes query parameters, fragments and credentials. Archive search terms stay in your browser and the link fragment, which is excluded from that transmission. We send no custom events. The public counter shows only total page views, not a count of people.

Only after a successful restricted sign-in, the website sets the first-party technical cookie pt_private to maintain the session for up to eight hours. It contains a signature, an expiry time and a random value, not the password, and is removed from the browser on sign-out. It is not used for analytics or advertising. The personal area is excluded from Web Analytics. Access protection temporarily keeps an IP address and attempt count in memory to apply a 15-minute attempt limit. Expired counts are removed at the next check or when the server instance ends.

Quizzes and your discovery passport

You can read and try quizzes without an account. Choosing “Remember my progress on this device” turns on saving in your browser using localStorage at your request. Before you choose it, you can use quizzes without keeping a lasting record.

The browser stores identifiers of completed readings, the quiz revision, the first completion date and days spent on quizzes or revision. We do not save selected answers, names, email addresses or scores. Progress is shared between Italian and English in the same browser; it is not sent to Positive Times or Web Analytics and does not sync to other devices. Passport pages are also excluded from Web Analytics.

Progress stays until you clear it from your passport or delete browser data. Clearing progress also turns saving off. Anyone using the same browser profile can see the same passport; there are no separate profiles for different people. Reading and quizzes remain available if your browser prevents saving.

Music in your browser

When you use the music player, your browser may keep the composition date, playback position, volume and your atmosphere, speed, instrument and intensity settings in the tab session. This keeps playback available while you browse and restores your settings when you change language.

Settings are processed on your device and are not sent to Positive Times, AI services or Web Analytics. Close the player to clear them; they are stored using sessionStorage for the tab session. Instrument samples are downloaded from our website only when you start listening: these requests involve the ordinary technical connection data described above. We do not use your microphone or record you.

Chinese and Italian learning paths

Choosing “Save on this device” enables local saving of completed steps, their revisions and words to review. For each word we store the last practice step, the review interval and whether it needs another attempt; we do not keep the text of answers or voice recordings.

Progress is separate for each language you study and stays the same when you change the interface language. Before consent it stays only in memory for your visit. You can reset it in the learning path, which also turns saving off. It is not sent to the server or analytics and does not sync: the website uses localStorage and the app keeps its own progress on the device.

AI voice lessons

Card pronunciations are AI-generated audio. Listening to them does not activate your microphone. Optional individual lessons require an access code and start only after you select “Start” and grant microphone permission.

During a lesson, your voice is sent directly to OpenAI to understand your speech and generate the tutor’s reply. We also send the selected language and lesson; we do not ask for your name or email. You can mute or end the lesson at any time. The website and app close the connection after three minutes and when you leave the lesson or move the app to the background.

Positive Times does not record or archive conversations or transcripts: displayed text stays only in session memory. Connections involve technical data at Vercel and OpenAI. The access code is checked on the server and is not saved on your device. Request limits temporarily retain an IP address hash for 15 minutes in the server instance.

OpenAI states that API data is not used to train models by default. Abuse prevention logs may contain audio and content and are normally retained for up to 30 days, subject to the provider’s exceptions. We do not claim zero data retention for this service. OpenAI API data controls · OpenAI privacy policy. Avoid sharing personal information during exercises.

iOS app

The app downloads public editions and images from the website. Connections to Vercel involve the technical data described above; the app contains no Web Analytics, advertising or tracking tools. Opening an external source or a website page takes you to a service with its own privacy notice.

Your language choice and the text of opened editions are kept on your device. Passport progress is saved only after you choose “Remember my progress”: it includes reading identifiers, revisions, first completion dates and active days, never selected answers. Clear it from the passport page. App storage is separate from browser storage and does not sync across devices; deleting the app may remove progress. No quiz results are sent to Positive Times.

Email and newsletter

If you email us, we process your email address, message and any attachments to respond, based on our legitimate interest in handling correspondence (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). Requests to exercise data protection rights are handled to meet legal obligations (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR). Contacting us is optional; without contact details we cannot reply.

Our contact mailbox uses Microsoft Outlook/Hotmail. Microsoft privacy statement. Newsletter registration is not yet open and the website does not collect email addresses for promotional mailings. Before launching this service, we will update this notice and provide subscription and unsubscribe information.

Recipients and international transfers

The providers involved are Vercel for hosting and analytics, Microsoft for messages sent to our contact mailbox, and OpenAI for optional voice lessons. Data may also be disclosed to authorities where required by law. We do not sell reader data. Vercel also processes some service-generated data for its own purposes, as described in its notice.

Providers may process data outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. Vercel and Microsoft state in their respective notices that they participate in the Data Privacy Framework and describe other applicable safeguards, including standard contractual clauses. Vercel privacy notice · Microsoft privacy statement. Contact us for information about safeguards relating to the processing of your data.

How long data is kept

The provider retains technical data according to operational and security needs, applicable obligations and the handling of potential disputes, using the criteria described by Vercel. The website does not keep its own copy of visitor logs.

Our current plan offers a one-month analytics reporting window. This does not guarantee deletion of all provider data at the end of that month. Vercel reporting windows. Published aggregate totals may remain in the newspaper archive.

Messages are kept for as long as necessary to handle the request and any follow-up; further retention is limited to legal requirements or the protection of rights. Privacy requests and replies are retained to document how they were handled, subject to those same needs.

Your rights

Where provided by the GDPR, you may request access, rectification, erasure, restriction and portability of your data. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests on grounds relating to your situation. Where processing relies on consent, you may withdraw it without affecting processing carried out before withdrawal.

Email filippodegennaro@hotmail.it. We normally respond within one month; any extension allowed by the GDPR will be explained. We may request only the information necessary to verify your identity and locate your data. We do not collect additional identifiers solely to link aggregate statistics to you.

You may lodge a complaint with the Italian Data Protection Authority or your competent local authority. We do not make automated decisions that have legal effects on readers or carry out advertising profiling. AI assistance covers editorial content and optional language exercises.