Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-10-20

You can vote on Of The Week without an account and without telling us who you are. This page explains the little we do collect, why, how long we keep it and what you can do about it.

Who we are

Of The Week (oftheweek.com and its subdomains such as city.oftheweek.com) is run by Iedvesmo SIA, Latvia, European Union — the controller of your personal data. Write to us through the support form (topic “Privacy”) or at ask.oftheweek@gmail.com.

What we collect

Only what each feature needs. Nothing here is required to vote except your IP address.

When you vote: The IP address of your connection, the item and the time. It lets everyone vote once per hour per item and helps us spot cheating. An IPv6 address is cut to its network part and stored only as a hash. We do not link votes to your name or email.
“My votes” and your streak: Kept only in your browser (local storage). When you open “My votes”, the browser sends us the item links to show their live place; we do not store them.
When you follow an item: Your email address, the items you follow, the IP address of the request and when you confirmed. Nothing is sent until you confirm the address by the link in our first email.
Prediction game: The nickname you choose (shown on the public leaderboard), your weekly picks and the IP address of the request. Your browser remembers you with a cookie holding a random code. If you ask for the results by email: that address, after you confirm it.
Support form, “Claim this page” and suggestions: What you send us: your name, email address, message, for a claim also your role and where we can confirm it, for a suggestion the item and your email if you give it — together with the IP address of the request.
Server logs: Like every website, our server records the requests it gets (IP address, browser, page, time) for security and to find errors.
Analytics and advertising: Google Analytics counts visits and the use of features (for example votes and shares) without telling us who you are. Google AdSense shows the ads that pay for the site. Both use cookies — see below.

Why we use it

To run the voting fairly: one vote per hour, protection against bots and vote cheating (our legitimate interest).
To send the emails you asked for — the Monday email for the items you follow, the prediction game results — and nothing else (your consent, which you can withdraw with the link in every email).
To answer your messages and handle claims and suggestions (your request).
To understand how the site is used and keep it working (our legitimate interest; analytics cookies only with your consent where the law requires it).
To show ads (personalised ads only with your consent where the law requires it).
We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use your email for anything you did not ask for.

Cookies and local storage

Cookies set by oftheweek.com work on all its subdomains.

Name	Purpose	Duration
`ci_session`	Keeps the forms on the site safe (protection against forged requests)	Up to 10 hours
`otw_theme`	Light or dark theme, if you chose one	1 year
`otw_predictor`	Remembers you in the prediction game (random code, no personal data)	400 days
`otw.myVotes.*` (local storage)	Your “My votes” list and streak, separate for every list	Until you clear it
`FCCDCF, FCNEC` (Google)	Remembers your choice in the consent message	Up to 13 months
`_ga, _ga_*` (Google Analytics)	Visit statistics	Up to 2 years
`__gads, __gpi, __eoi, IDE and similar` (Google AdSense)	Showing ads, limiting how often you see the same ad, ad statistics	Up to 13 months

In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland analytics and advertising cookies are set only after you agree in the consent message. Change your choice any time with “Privacy settings” at the bottom of every page.

Google uses data from sites like ours as described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services. You can turn off personalised ads in Google Ad Settings.

How long we keep it

IP addresses of votes: 42 days, then deleted. The weekly results keep only vote counts and places.
Follows: until you stop following or unsubscribe. Addresses never confirmed are deleted after 30 days.
Prediction game: your nickname and picks stay on the leaderboard while the game runs; ask us to delete them any time. A results email address never confirmed is deleted after 30 days, a confirmed one when you stop the emails.
Support messages, claims and suggestions: as long as we need them to handle your request and keep a record of it.
Server logs: only as long as needed for security and fixing errors.

Who else gets it

Only the services that run the site for us: our hosting provider, our email provider for the emails you asked for, and Google for analytics and ads. Some of them may process data outside the EU under the safeguards the GDPR requires. We give data to authorities only when the law requires it.

Your rights

You can ask what we keep about you, get a copy, have it corrected or deleted, object to its use, and withdraw your consent at any time — every email we send has a link to stop it. Write to us through the support form (topic “Privacy”) and tell us the email address or nickname you used. If you think we handle your data wrongly, you can also complain to a data protection authority — in Latvia the Data State Inspectorate (dvi.gov.lv).

Children

The site is for a general audience. Children under 16 should not give us their email address without a parent agreeing.

Changes

When we change this policy, we update the date at the top of this page.