Privacy Policy
Who We Are
This website is operated by the editorial team of Congo Sciences, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Our website address is: https://congosciences.ac.cd.
We are committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy in accordance with applicable data protection regulations.
What Data We Collect and Why
Comments
When visitors submit comments on our website, we collect the information entered in the comment form, including the commenter’s name, email address, and optional website URL. We also collect the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to assist with spam detection and site security.
An anonymized string derived from your email address (commonly referred to as a hash) may be transmitted to the Gravatar service in order to determine whether you use it. The Gravatar service’s privacy policy is available at: https://automattic.com/privacy/. Once your comment has been approved, your profile picture — if associated with your email via Gravatar — will be publicly visible alongside your comment.
Media Uploads
If you upload images or other media files to this website, please be aware that uploaded files may contain embedded metadata, including GPS location data (EXIF data). Visitors to the website may be able to download these files and extract any location information they contain. We recommend removing such metadata from files prior to uploading.
Cookies
Comment Cookies
If you post a comment on our site, you may opt in to storing your name, email address, and website URL in cookies. This is provided for your convenience so that you do not need to re-enter your details when submitting future comments. These cookies are retained for one year.
Session and Authentication Cookies
When you visit our login page, a temporary cookie is set to verify whether your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is automatically deleted when you close your browser.
Upon logging in to your account, several cookies are set to store your login session and display preferences. Login session cookies expire after two days; display preference cookies are retained for one year. If you select the “Remember Me” option, your login session will persist for two weeks. Logging out of your account will remove all login-related cookies from your browser.
Editorial Cookies
When you create or edit a published article, an additional cookie is saved in your browser. This cookie contains no personal data and serves only to record the post ID of the article most recently edited. It expires after one day.
Embedded Content from Third-Party Websites
Articles and pages published on this site may contain embedded content from external sources, such as videos, images, or interactive elements. Embedded content from third-party websites behaves in the same manner as if you had visited those websites directly.
These third-party websites may independently collect data about you, use their own cookies, deploy additional tracking technologies, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content — including tracking interactions if you hold an account with and are logged in to those websites.
We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services whose content appears on our site.
Who We Share Your Data With
We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal data to third parties.
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the automated reset email for security verification purposes.
Visitor comments and submitted content may be screened through automated spam detection services. These services may process limited data (such as IP addresses and message content) solely for the purpose of spam filtering.
How Long We Retain Your Data
Comments and their associated metadata are retained indefinitely in order to enable automatic recognition and approval of follow-up comments from the same commenter, rather than holding them in a moderation queue.
For users who register on this website, the personal information provided during registration is stored in their user profile. Registered users may view, update, or delete their personal information at any time through their account settings, with the exception of their username. Website administrators are also able to view and modify this information.
Your Rights Over Your Data
If you hold an account on this website or have submitted comments, you have the right to request:
- Access: A copy of all personal data we hold about you, exported in a portable format.
- Erasure: The deletion of any personal data we hold about you, where we are not legally or operationally required to retain it.
Please note that we may be required to retain certain data for administrative, legal, or security purposes even following a deletion request.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at the email address provided on our website.
Data Security
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no method of data transmission or storage over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to This Policy
We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised effective date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
Contact
For any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact the editorial office via the contact information available on our website at https://congosciences.ac.cd.