Privacy Policy

At Sona Times, our mission is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. We want you to understand how we handle your personal information. We also want you to know your rights and choices.

This policy describes how we handle your personal information when you use the "Kona Services" listed below:

• Sona Times Newspaper, including our International Edition.

• Our websites, such as konatimes.org.

• Our email newsletters, like Cooking and Morning Briefing.

• Our social media pages or advertisements, such as our pages on Facebook and Instagram.

• Anywhere we collect information from you and refer you to this Privacy Policy.
   

How we handle information about you depends on the Sona Services you use—and how you use them. For instance, we use different information about print subscribers than we do about website visitors.
Please note that certain Sona Services operate differently. Some have additional terms that complement this policy (e.g., Reader Submissions). Others, like A Hooks, refer to a different privacy policy, so this one does not apply in those cases.

Cookie Policy - Basic Principles

1. What Information Do We Collect About You?

The information we collect about you depends on the context. Generally, this includes information that can personally identify you—whether on its own or when combined with other data. Below, we describe the types of information we collect and how we obtain them.

1. (A) Information Collected Through Sona Times Services
I. Information You Voluntarily Provide to Us

• 
  For Registration:
  When you sign up for a Sona Times Service (e.g., a subscription), we collect your contact details and account credentials. Once registered, we assign you a unique ID number, which helps us recognize you when you're logged in.

  For some Sona Times Services, you may register by linking your Apple, Facebook, or Google account. See Information Collected from Other Sources below.

  If you register for an event or conference, we may request additional details (e.g., your company name, job title, or dietary restrictions).
   

• For Billing:
  To process payments or donations, we collect and use your payment information. This may include your name, address, phone number, email address, and credit or debit card details, as well as other relevant data.

• 
  For User-Generated Content:
  We provide you with the ability to post content that other users can read (e.g., comments or recipe reviews). Any personal information accompanying your posts can be read, collected, and used by others. See the FAQ on Comments or read the User-Generated Content section in our Terms of Service for more details.

  We are not required to publish any of your content. If the law requires us to remove, delete, or edit your personal information, we will do so as necessary.

• 
  For Contests, Sweepstakes, and Special Offers:
  When you sign up for these, you provide us with your name, email, and any other required information.
   

• For Reader Surveys, Research, Panels, and Experience Programs:
  We collect information via questionnaires, surveys, and feedback programs, including demographic data like your age, ethnicity, race, or gender. Similar research is conducted for advertisers, and we seek your authorization to use such information when you participate in these programs and events.
   

• During Contact with Our Service Centers:
  We collect information from you when you place an order by phone or contact customer service through our toll-free numbers. This may include your name, contact details, and any other information you choose to share.
   

• Personal Contact Data:
  We never scan your device for your contacts or upload such data.

  With your consent, we fulfill your requests to collect data about your friends, family, or acquaintances (e.g., Refer a Friend campaigns). This feature is only available to U.S. residents. By using it, you acknowledge that both you and your contacts reside in the U.S.—and that you have their consent to share their contact information with us.
   

II. Information Collected Automatically

When you use Kona Times Services, we automatically collect certain information. The technologies we use for data collection include cookies, web beacons, tags, scripts, and software development kits (SDKs). These are used across our digital properties, including our websites, apps, email communications, and newsletters.
For more information about tracking methods on Sona Times Services and how to manage them, read our Cookie Policyand the section What Are Your Rights and Choices? below.
The categories of personal information we automatically collect include:
 

• Identifiers and Device Information:
  When you visit our Services, including our websites, apps, emails, and newsletters, our servers automatically log information about your device, including unique identifiers.

  If your browser does not accept our cookies or similar technologies, you may not be able to access certain parts of our websites (e.g., your account on hooksmagazine.com).

  The logged items include:
   

  • Your IP address

  • Cookie identifiers

  • Your operating system and browser (e.g., type, version, and settings)

  • Your browser's language

  • Device identifiers (e.g., MAC address)

  • Advertising identifiers

  We combine this data with other information we collect about you.
   

• Geolocation Information:
  
  Some of our apps may provide content based on your GPS location if you enable this feature. GPS location is considered a type of sensitive personal information.

  You choose whether to enable GPS features during the app's initial setup. You can adjust this setting on your device at any time.

  If you enable these features, your GPS location may be determined by satellite, cell tower, or Wi-Fi and used by the app. Saved location-based searches in your history will be transferred to our service provider's servers.

  If you do not enable GPS-based location services, or if a specific app lacks such features, we will not collect your precise GPS location. However, we may collect your IP address, which can determine your approximate location. Ads on our websites and apps may be targeted based on this approximate location but never on your precise GPS location.
   

• Other Usage Data:
  We collect certain internet and network activities on our Services, such as the URLs of pages you visit on our websites and apps, the referring site URL, the time spent on a page, access times, and other details about your usage and interactions with our Services.
   

III. A Note on Sensitive Personal Information
We generally do not seek to collect sensitive information about you. This includes:
 

• Government-issued IDs (e.g., driver's license, passport, or Social Security number).

• Your racial or ethnic origin.

• Political opinions.

• Religious or other beliefs.

• Health, biometric, or genetic data.

• Union membership.

• Sexuality (e.g., sexual life or orientation).

• Criminal background.

• The content of private communications (aside from messages you may send to us).
  
   

• In addition, some laws define account access information, such as username and password, as sensitive personal information, but we collect this information only for accounts you create directly with us and not for any other account you may have with third parties. Finally, there are situations in which we request some of the above information (for example, a reader survey asks about your political inclinations or ethnicity), but you can choose not to answer. Outside of these situations, we would prefer that you never share this type of information with us.
   

• (B) Information We Create or Generate. We infer new information from other data we collect, including the use of automated means to generate information about your probable preferences or other characteristics ("inferences").

•  

• (C) Information Collected from Other Sources. i. Privately Owned Databases: Marketing databases, data analysis and social media ownership give us access to a variety of information - such as public data, research data.