Last updated: 6 November 2026
The Vietnamese Magazine (“The Vietnamese”, “we”, “us”) is published by Legal Initiatives for Vietnam (LIV), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in the United States. This policy explains what personal information we collect when you read thevietnamese.org, create an account, become a member or write to us, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to this website and to the emails we send; it does not cover third-party websites we link to.
Who is responsible for your data
The data controller is Legal Initiatives for Vietnam, 2261 Market Street STE 64583, San Francisco, California 94114, United States. You can reach us about anything in this policy at editor@thevietnamese.org.
What we collect and why
Reading the site. Like most websites, our hosting provider records technical information when you visit a page: your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you open and the site that referred you. We use it to keep the site running, to defend it against attacks and spam, and to understand which stories are read. This information is kept in server logs and in aggregated statistics.
Free account. If you create an account you give us your name and email address, and you can add a photo and a short bio. We use them to sign you in, to show your name on comments, to keep the stories you save, and to send you the emails you asked for. If you sign in with Google, Google sends us your name, email address and profile picture; we do not receive your Google password.
Membership. Paid memberships are handled by Memberful (a service of Patreon, Inc.) and payments by Stripe. When you join, Memberful and Stripe collect your name, email address, billing details and payment card. We never see or store your full card number. Memberful shares with us your name, email address, the plan you chose and its status so that we can give you access to member content and manage your account. Their policies apply to the data they hold: Memberful privacy policy, Stripe privacy policy.
Newsletters and emails. If you subscribe to our emails we store your email address and a record of what you subscribed to, and we may record whether an email was opened or a link clicked so we can see which stories matter to readers. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
Comments. When you comment we store the comment, your name, your email address and your IP address (to help detect spam). Your name and the comment are public; your email address and IP address are not.
Writing to us and submissions. If you email us, pitch a story or submit an article through our submission form, we keep your message, your contact details and any attachments for as long as we need them to consider and, if accepted, publish and pay for your work. Submissions are collected through a form provided by monday.com. We take particular care with information that could identify sources or put people at risk, and we do not publish it without consent.
Donations. Donations to Legal Initiatives for Vietnam are processed by the payment providers named on the donation page; we receive your name, email address and the amount so that we can thank you and issue receipts required by law.
Cookies and similar technologies
We use a small number of cookies and browser-storage items: cookies that keep you signed in and protect forms from abuse; a setting that remembers whether you prefer light or dark mode; a cookie that counts how many free stories you have read if a reading limit applies; and analytics cookies from Jetpack Stats (Automattic) and Google Analytics that help us understand how the site is used. You can delete or block cookies in your browser settings; some features, such as staying signed in, will then stop working.
Who we share information with
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers. We share it only with service providers who process it on our behalf and under contract: WordPress.com and Jetpack (Automattic Inc.) for hosting, security, statistics and email; Memberful and Stripe for memberships and payments; Google for sign-in and analytics; Akismet (Automattic) for comment spam filtering; monday.com for the submission form; and the email service we use to send newsletters. Some of these providers are in the United States or other countries outside the one you live in. Where the law requires it, transfers are covered by standard contractual clauses or an equivalent safeguard. We may also disclose information when the law requires it or to protect the safety of our readers, sources and staff.
How long we keep information
Account information is kept while your account exists and deleted within 90 days of you closing it, except where we must keep records for tax, accounting or legal reasons. Membership and donation records are kept for as long as the law requires (normally seven years). Server logs are kept for up to 30 days. Comments remain on the site unless you ask us to remove them. Email subscriptions are kept until you unsubscribe.
Your rights
You can see and change most of your information on your account page, and you can unsubscribe from any email with the link in it. You also have the right to ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, to correct it, to delete it, to limit how we use it, to object to our use of it, and to receive it in a portable format. Readers in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom have these rights under the GDPR; where we rely on your consent you can withdraw it at any time, and you may complain to your local data protection authority. California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, to request its deletion and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights; we do not sell or share personal information as defined by the CCPA. To exercise any right, email editor@thevietnamese.org. We will answer within 30 days and may ask you to confirm your identity first.
Legal basis for processing (EEA and UK readers)
We process your information to provide the services you ask for (your account, membership and emails — performance of a contract); for our legitimate interests in running, securing and improving an independent news service (server logs, spam filtering, aggregated statistics); with your consent where we ask for it (optional cookies and marketing emails); and to meet legal obligations (payment and donation records).
Security
The site is served over HTTPS, access to reader data is limited to staff who need it, and our providers maintain their own security programmes. No system is completely secure, so we also ask you to use a strong, unique password and to tell us at once if you believe your account has been misused.
Children
Our services are not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has given us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
We will post any changes on this page and update the date at the top. If a change significantly affects how we use your information, we will also tell account holders by email.
Contact
Legal Initiatives for Vietnam, 2261 Market Street STE 64583, San Francisco, California 94114, United States · Taiwan office: 4th Floor, RIIC Building, National Chengchi University, No. 64, Sec. 2, Zhinan Rd., Wenshan Dist., Taipei City, Taiwan (ROC) 116 · editor@thevietnamese.org