Privacy Policy

Effective September 28, 2026

This policy explains what information Pelican Media Development (“Pelican,” “we,” “us”) collects when you read, comment, post in the forum, share a testimonial or subscribe to our newsletter, and what we do with it. We are a non-commercial publication: we do not sell your information, show advertising, or use advertising trackers.

1. Who we are

Pelican Media Development is a non-commercial online publication of news, trainings, publications, reflections, homilies, pictures and videos, with space under every story for readers to respond. This policy covers the website and its newsletter (together, the “Site”).

2. Information we collect

What you give us

Newsletter: your email address, and your name if you give it.
Comments on stories: the name you choose to show, your email address (which is never published) and your comment.
Forum posts: the name you choose to show, a profile picture if you add one, your post and any pictures you attach. To let you recognise your own posts, your browser keeps a random identifier; it is not linked to your name or email.
Testimonials: your name, your role or affiliation if you give it, and your testimonial.
Team accounts: if you help run the Site, your name, email address and role.

What is recorded automatically

When you visit, we count page views so we know which stories are read. For each view we record the page, the site you came from, the type of device (phone, tablet or computer), and a random visit identifier. We also record the words typed into the Site's search box, without who typed them. We do not record your precise location, and we do not collect financial or government identity information.

3. How we use it

To run the Site and publish stories, pictures and videos;
To show comments, forum posts and testimonials that you asked us to publish;
To review comments and testimonials before they appear, and to remove posts that break our rules;
To send the newsletter to people who subscribed;
To tell our team when something new needs reviewing;
To understand, in total, which stories people read;
To keep the Site safe from spam and abuse, and to meet legal obligations.

4. Why we are allowed to use it

Your consent, when you subscribe, comment, post in the forum or send a testimonial. You can withdraw it at any time.
Our legitimate interest in running a safe, working publication and understanding what readers find useful.
Legal obligation, where the law requires us to keep or share information.

5. Cookies and page counts

We use a small number of cookies and similar browser storage: to keep team members signed in, to remember that you have closed a pop-up, to remember your forum name, and to count page views as described above. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party analytics.

Videos on our Watch page come from YouTube or Vimeo. They only load when you press play, and we use YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode; once a video plays, YouTube or Vimeo may set their own cookies under their own privacy policies.

We never sell your information. We share it only as follows:

Services that run the Site for us: Supabase (database, sign-in and file storage) and Netlify (hosting), and an email service to send the newsletter and notifications. They handle information only on our behalf.
The public, when you choose: comments, forum posts and testimonials are public once they appear, with the name (and role or picture) you gave. Your email address is never published.
When the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our readers, our team or the public.

7. How long we keep it

Newsletter details are kept until you unsubscribe. Published comments, forum posts and testimonials stay on the Site until you ask us to remove them or we take them down. Comments and testimonials we do not publish are deleted from time to time. Page-view counts are kept only in total form for as long as they are useful.

8. Your rights

You can ask us to:

show you the information we hold about you;
correct it;
delete it, including your comments, forum posts or testimonial;
stop sending you the newsletter (every newsletter also has an unsubscribe link).

Write to us at the address in section 13 and we will respond promptly.

9. Security

Information is stored and sent encrypted, and only team members who need it can see it, enforced by the database itself. No website can promise perfect security, but we take reasonable care to protect what you share with us.

10. Children

The Site is for a general audience and is not aimed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from them; if you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Nigerian data protection

We handle personal information in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023: lawfully, fairly and openly, for the purposes described here, and with appropriate safeguards. Our service providers may store information outside Nigeria; where they do, we rely on them to protect it to the same standard.

12. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will post the new version here with a new effective date. If a change is significant, we will say so on the Site.

13. Contact us

Questions or requests about your information: hello@pelicanmediacenter.com.