Privacy Policy
Section 01
Privacy Policy of The Radical Commons & The Radical Dispatches
Effective Date: September 1, 2025
The Radical Commons respects your privacy. In an ideal world we'd all live analog lives and wouldn't need this page, or this website. We try our best to stay out of the internet culture we criticize. That means no tracking, no collecting data behind your back, no invasive emails. This policy explains what we collect, why, and what rights you hold, in line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and the Belgian Law of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data.
Section 02
Who is responsible for your data
The data controller is The Radical Commons ASBL, a non-profit association registered in Brussels.
Registered office: Rue Emile Feron 153, 1060 Saint-Gilles, Brussels, Belgium
Enterprise number (BCE/KBO): 1043.203.425
Contact for anything privacy-related: hello@theradicalcommons.com
We are a small non-profit and are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer. Privacy requests go to the address above and are handled by the people who run TRC.
Section 03
What we collect, why, and on what legal basis
We do not run analytics or advertising trackers today. If we add privacy-friendly audience measurement later, it will load only after you opt in, and this policy and the Cookie Policy will be updated first.
We don't ask for sensitive data (political opinions, religion, health, sexual orientation, and similar). TRC's work is political, so we know that even an email address on our list can be sensitive for some of you. If you submit a Contribution that reveals such information about you, you decide what to share, and by submitting you consent to us publishing what you choose to publish. You can withdraw that consent for future use at any time. We recommend using a pseudonym and a separate email address if your safety could be affected. Tell us and we'll accommodate it.
We don't use your data for profiling, automated decision-making, or targeted advertising.
Section 04
Transfers outside the European Economic Area
Some providers, such as Stripe, Google, and Meta, may process data in the United States or other countries. Where that happens we rely on an adequacy decision (for example, the EU-US Data Privacy Framework for certified companies) or Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission, together with additional safeguards where needed. You can ask us for a copy of the safeguards in place.
If you order a physical item for delivery outside the EEA, your address is necessarily shared with the carrier in the destination country. That transfer is necessary to perform your order.
Section 05
How long we keep data
Account data As long as your account is open. After you delete it, we erase or anonymize it within [30] days, except what we must keep by law
Newsletter subscription Until you unsubscribe, then we delete it, keeping only a minimal suppression record so we don't email you again
Contributions Published work stays in the archive for as long as the archive exists, unless you ask us to remove it. Unpublished submissions and related emails are deleted after [24] months
Messages to us Up to [24] months after the last exchange
Donation and order records [10] years, as Belgian accounting and tax law requires [confirm with your accountant]
Server logs Up to [90] days
Cookie consent record 6 months
Section 06
Your rights
Under the GDPR, you have the right to:
Access your data and receive a copy of it;
Rectify data that is wrong or incomplete;
Erase your data ("right to be forgotten"), when there is no overriding reason to keep it;
Restrict how we use your data in certain circumstances;
Data portability: receive the data you gave us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and have it transmitted to another controller where possible;
Object to processing based on our legitimate interests, at any time;
Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent (for example the newsletter). Withdrawal doesn't affect what was lawful before it;
Not be subject to automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects. We make none.
How to exercise them. Write to hello@theradicalcommons.com. We may ask you to confirm your identity, so we don't hand your data to someone else. We answer within one month. If a request is complex or we receive many, we may extend that by two months, and we will tell you why. Exercising your rights is free, unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
Your account. You can export or delete the data linked to your account from your account settings [confirm this feature exists; otherwise ask by email].
Complaints. You can lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority (Autorité de protection des données / Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit), Rue de la Presse 35, 1000 Brussels, contact@apd-gba.be, www.autoriteprotectiondonnees.be. You may also complain to the authority in the EU country where you live or work. We'd appreciate the chance to fix things first.
Section 07
Cookies and similar technologies
We set only strictly necessary cookies, detailed in our Cookie Policy. We don't place tracking or advertising cookies.
Section 08
Security
We apply appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data against unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. These include encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, access limited to the few people who need it, and processors bound by contract. No system is perfectly secure.
Section 09
Links to other sites
The Platform links to other websites. We don't control them. Read their policies before sharing data with them.
Section 10
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. We will post the new version here with a new effective date, and tell registered users and newsletter subscribers by email if a change materially affects how we use their data.
Section 11
Contact
The Radical Commons ASBL Rue Emile Feron 153, 1060 Saint-Gilles, Brussels, Belgium Enterprise number (BCE): 1043.203.425 hello@theradicalcommons.com