Welcome to CycleZone! We are dedicated to protecting your privacy and ensuring a transparent, safe, and enjoyable experience on our website focused on electric personal vehicles (e-bikes, e-scooters, etc.). This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, safeguard, and provide choices regarding your information when you visit and interact with our website, CycleZone (https://cyclezone.org/).

By using CycleZone, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information to provide and improve our services, comply with legal obligations, and support our business operations, including advertising. We may collect the following types of information:  

• Personal Information / Personal Data: This is information that identifies you as an individual or relates to an identifiable individual.
  
  • Identifiers: Such as your name and email address when you subscribe to our newsletter, create an account, participate in forums/contests, or contact us.
  • Contact Information: Collected when you contact us for support or inquiries, including your email address or other identifiers and the content of your communication.
  • Commercial Information: Such as records of subscriptions purchased (e.g., CycleZoneSubscriptionMonthly/Yearly details).
  • Information You Voluntarily Provide: Any other information you choose to share, for example, in forum posts or survey responses.
• Non-Personal Information / Other Information: This is information that does not directly reveal your specific identity or does not directly relate to an identifiable individual.
  • Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity Information: We automatically collect information about your device and Browse activity using cookies and other tracking technologies. This includes your IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers, referring URLs, pages visited on our site, time spent on pages, links clicked, and general location data derived from your IP address.
  • Usage Data: Aggregated information about how users interact with our website, such as popular articles, sections visited, and general traffic patterns. This helps us understand user interests and improve the site.
  • Information from Advertising Partners: Our advertising partners, like Google AdSense, may collect information via cookies and similar technologies to serve ads (see Section 3).

2. How We Use Your Information & Legal Basis (GDPR)

We use your information for the following purposes, relying on specific legal bases where applicable under laws like the GDPR:

• To Provide and Maintain Our Services: To deliver news articles, newsletters, manage accounts, process subscriptions, and provide other website features. (Legal Basis: Performance of a contract, Legitimate interests)
• To Improve User Experience: To personalize your experience, analyze website usage (analytics), diagnose technical issues, and optimize our content and features. (Legal Basis: Legitimate interests, Consent for non-essential cookies/personalization)
• To Communicate with You: To send newsletters, updates, respond to your inquiries, and provide customer support. (Legal Basis: Performance of a contract for service communications, Consent for marketing communications)
• To Administer Contests and Promotions: To manage entries and fulfill prizes. (Legal Basis: Performance of a contract)
• To Serve Advertising: To display advertisements, including personalized ads through partners like Google AdSense, which helps support our website. (Legal Basis: Consent for personalized advertising cookies/tracking, Legitimate interests for contextual advertising)
• To Ensure Security: To monitor for and prevent fraud, abuse, security incidents, and other harmful activity. (Legal Basis: Legitimate interests, Legal obligation)
• To Comply with Legal Obligations: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, court orders, or other legal processes. (Legal Basis: Legal obligation)

3. Cookies, Advertising, and Tracking Technologies

We and our third-party partners use cookies (small text files placed on your device) and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons, pixels, and ad tags) to collect and store information about your Browse activities and preferences.

• Types of Cookies We Use:
  
  • Necessary Cookies: Essential for the website to function properly (e.g., login sessions).
  • Performance/Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting information anonymously (e.g., Google Analytics).
  • Functionality Cookies: Allow the website to remember choices you make (e.g., username, language) to provide enhanced, personalized features.
  • Advertising/Targeting Cookies: Used by us and our advertising partners (like Google AdSense) to deliver advertisements more relevant to you and your interests. They track your Browse habits across websites.
• Google AdSense & Personalized Advertising:
  
  • We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on our website.
  • Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies (such as the Google advertising cookies, formerly DoubleClick cookies) to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to our website or other websites.
  • Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to our site and/or other sites on the Internet.  
  • This may include personalized advertising, where ads are tailored based on your interests, demographics, and online behavior.
  • You can learn more about how Google collects and uses data by visiting Google’s Privacy & Terms page: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites?hl=en-US
  • Opting Out of Personalized Advertising: Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9606827?hl=en.
  • Alternatively, you can opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices/ (for US users).

• Your Choices Regarding Cookies:
  
  • Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings preferences. You can set your browser to refuse all cookies or indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, some parts of our Service may not function properly.  
  • When you first visit our site, especially from regions like the EU/UK, we may present you with a cookie consent banner allowing you to manage your preferences for non-essential cookies, including those for advertising.

4. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your Personal Information in the traditional sense. However, we may share your information with certain third parties under the following circumstances:  

• Service Providers: We share information with third-party vendors and service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as website hosting, data analysis, email delivery, customer service, and analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics). These providers are obligated to protect your information and use it only for the services they provide to us. 
• Advertising Partners: As described above, we partner with third-party advertising networks like Google AdSense. These partners may collect information directly from your browser or device through cookies and other tracking technologies when you visit our site to serve relevant ads and measure their effectiveness. This sharing might be considered a “sale” or “sharing” under laws like the CCPA/CPRA, which you can opt-out of (see Section 7).
• Legal Compliance and Protection: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) comply with a legal obligation, (b) protect and defend the rights or property of CycleZone, (c) prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service, (d) protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public, or (e) protect against legal liability.  
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, financing due diligence, reorganization, bankruptcy, receivership, sale of company assets, or transition of service to another provider, your information may be transferred as part of such a transaction as permitted by law and/or contract.  
• Affiliated Partners: With your explicit consent, we may share information with affiliated partners offering related cycling services or products.

5. Data Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security measures designed to protect your information from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disclosure. However, please be aware that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.  

6. Data Retention

We will retain your Personal Information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies. Non-personal information may be retained for longer periods for internal analysis purposes.  

7. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information. These may include:  

• General Rights:
  
  • Access: Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
  • Correction/Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
  • Deletion/Erasure: Request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
  • Unsubscribe: Opt-out of receiving marketing communications (like newsletters) by using the unsubscribe link in the emails or contacting us.
• Rights for Residents of the European Economic Area (EEA), UK, and Switzerland (under GDPR):
  
  • Restriction of Processing: Request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under certain conditions.  
  • Data Portability: Request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.  
  • Object to Processing: Object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as the legal basis.
  • Withdraw Consent: Withdraw your consent at any time where we relied on your consent to process your personal information (e.g., for personalized ads or marketing emails).
  • Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
  • Data Controller: For GDPR purposes, CycleZone is the Data Controller of your personal data.

• Rights for Residents of California (under CCPA/CPRA):
  
  • Right to Know: Request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, the purposes for collecting/selling/sharing, and the categories of third parties we disclose it to.  
  • Right to Delete: Request deletion of personal information collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
  • Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing: Request to opt-out of the “sale” or “sharing” of your personal information. As used here, “sharing” can include disclosing personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising (like personalized ads served via AdSense). You can exercise this right by contacting us via the email address below with the subject “CCPA Opt-Out”.
  • Right to Correct: Request correction of inaccurate personal information.  
  • Right to Non-Discrimination: You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your CCPA/CPRA rights.
  • Shine the Light: California residents may request information regarding the disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes once per calendar year. We currently do not share personal information with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.  
  • Authorized Agent: You may designate an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf.
• Exercising Your Rights: To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided below (Section 11). We will respond to your request consistent with applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.  

8. Children’s Privacy

Our website and services are not intended for or directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect Personal Identifiable Information from children under 16. In compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the U.S., we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Information without your consent, please contact us immediately. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Information from a child under 16 (or 13 where applicable) without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers. Google AdSense policies also prohibit its use on sites directed at children.  

9. International Data Transfers  

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction. If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to the United States and process it there. Our service providers and advertising partners may also process data in the US or other countries. For transfers out of the EEA/UK, we rely on mechanisms like Standard Contractual Clauses or the recipient’s Binding Corporate Rules where required. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.  

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy  

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Effective Date” at the top. We may also provide notice via email or through a prominent notice on our website prior to the change becoming effective. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.  

11. Auto-Renewable Subscription Details

For users who subscribe to our services, the following subscription information applies: a. Subscription Title: CycleZoneSubscriptionMontly b. Subscription Length: one month and will be automatically renewed unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. c. Pricing Information: Subscription Price: $0.99 per month d. Payment Processing: Subscriptions are billed to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase, and the subscription fee will be charged automatically. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription.

a. Subscription Title: CycleZoneSubscriptionYearly b. Subscription Length: one year and will be automatically renewed unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. c. Pricing Information: Subscription Price: $9.99 per year d. Payment Processing: Subscriptions are billed to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase, and the subscription fee will be charged automatically. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription.

12. Contact Us  

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: info@cyclezone.org