Privacy Notice

This notice explains what personal information The Thursday Times collects, why we collect it, who else sees it, how long we keep it and what you can do about it. The Thursday Times is published by Thursday Media International (“we”, “us” or “our”).

It covers thursdaytimes.com in English and Urdu, Westline, the Thursday Times app, our newsletters and alerts, and any other service of ours that links to this notice (together, the “Services”). Thursday AI has its own privacy notice, which applies when you use it.

If you have a question about this notice or about your information, write to us at pr@thursdaytimes.com.

In short

• You can read The Thursday Times without telling us who you are.
• We collect what you choose to give us, such as your email address when you sign up for a newsletter, and the technical information every browser sends when it opens a page.
• We count readers with Google Analytics. Readers in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland are asked first, and nothing is stored on their device until they say yes. Anyone can change their answer from “Privacy choices” at the foot of every page.
• We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it to show you personalised advertising.
• Depending on where you live, you have rights over your information, and you can use them by writing to us.

1What information do we collect?

Information you give us

• Newsletters. Your email address, the newsletters you chose and when you confirmed your subscription.
• Breaking-news alerts. If you turn on alerts in your browser or in the app, your browser gives us a subscription address on its push service and we record which alerts you chose. We do not receive your name or email address.
• Comments. The name and email address you enter, your comment, and the IP address and browser details recorded with it to fight spam. Your email address is never published.
• Writing for us, contacting us and applying for jobs. Whatever you send us, such as your piece, biography, photograph, CV and contact details.
• Supporting the paper. If you make a payment to support The Thursday Times, your name, email address, phone number (for JazzCash and Easypaisa), the amount, how often you give and the payment reference. Card details are taken by Stripe and wallet details by JazzCash or Easypaisa; we never see or store your full card number or wallet PIN.

We do not ask for sensitive information, such as your religion, health or political opinions. Please do not send it to us.

Information collected automatically

• Server logs. When your browser opens a page, it sends your IP address, browser and device type, the page requested, the page you came from and the time. Our servers record this to keep the Services running and secure.
• Analytics. Google Analytics records the pages you read, how you reached them, your device and browser, and your approximate location (country or city, worked out from your IP address). It does not store your IP address. Where we ask first, this happens only if you say yes.
• Our own read counts. To show what is most read and to understand our readership, our own server counts page views. For each one it records the page, the site or app you came from, your country and nearest city, your device type and browser, how far you scroll, how long the page is in use, how quickly it opened, and actions such as sharing, listening or signing up, but nothing you type. It uses your IP address and browser details briefly to work out your country and nearest city and to make a code that tells one visit from another. The IP address is not stored, the secret behind the code is destroyed every day, and nothing is stored on your device.
• Newsletter opens. Each newsletter carries a small image that counts how many times that edition is opened. It uses your IP address and browser details briefly to make a code that tells one opener from another for that day. The code is not linked to your email address, the IP address is not stored, and the secret behind the code is destroyed every day. You can turn images off in most mail apps.
• Settings kept on your device. Choices such as dark or light mode, listening settings and the stories the app keeps for offline reading are stored in your own browser and are not sent to us.

We use cookies and similar technologies for some of this. Our Cookie Policy lists them.

Information about people in our reporting

Our journalism names and describes people. That information is handled under our Editorial Policy and the protections the law gives to journalism, not under this notice. If you think something we have published about you is wrong, please write to us.

2How do we use your information?

• To send you the newsletters and alerts you asked for.
• To publish and moderate comments.
• To read and reply to pieces, letters, applications and other messages you send us.
• To process support payments, send receipts and payment reminders, and keep the records that tax and accounting law requires.
• To run, protect and fix the Services, including stopping spam, abuse and attacks.
• To understand which stories are read and how the Services are used, so we can improve them.
• To meet our legal obligations and to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it to build an advertising profile of you.

3What legal bases do we rely on?

If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland

Data protection law there requires us to explain the legal basis for each use of your information:

• Consent. For Google Analytics cookies, newsletters and alerts. You can withdraw consent at any time: use “Privacy choices” at the foot of any page, the unsubscribe link in every newsletter, or your browser’s notification settings. Withdrawing consent does not affect what we did before.
• Contract. To process a payment you make and to provide what you signed up for.
• Legitimate interests. To keep the Services running and secure, to moderate comments, to count reads on our own server and to reply to you. We rely on these interests only where they are not outweighed by your rights and freedoms.
• Legal obligation. To keep financial records and to respond to lawful requests from authorities.
• Vital interests. Rarely, to protect someone’s life or safety.

If you are in Canada

We process your information with your consent, express or implied, or where Canadian privacy law allows us to without it. You can withdraw your consent at any time.

4Who do we share your information with?

We use service providers who handle information for us under contracts that require them to protect it and to use it only to provide their service:

• Hosting and delivery. Our web host in the United Kingdom, and Cloudflare, which delivers our pages and protects the site from attacks.
• Analytics. Google (Google Analytics).
• Email. The email delivery provider that sends our newsletters.
• Payments. Stripe, JazzCash and Easypaisa.
• Alerts. Browser push services, such as those run by Google, Mozilla and Apple, which carry our alerts to your device.

Some pages show content from other services, such as YouTube videos and posts embedded from X, Instagram or Facebook. Those services receive your IP address and browser details when their content loads, and may set their own cookies. Our YouTube players load only when you press play. Google may also serve ads in some spaces on our pages; we instruct it not to store advertising cookies or personalise those ads.

We may also disclose information:

• when the law requires us to, such as under a court order, or to protect the rights, safety or property of our readers, our staff or others;
• to other companies controlled by Thursday Media International, which must follow this notice; and
• if our business, or part of it, is merged, sold or reorganised, in which case your information will remain protected by this notice.

5What about third-party websites?

Our stories link to other websites and services. We are not responsible for their content or for how they handle your information, and this notice does not cover them. A link is not an endorsement. Please read the privacy notices of any site you visit.

6Do we use cookies?

Yes, a small number. Our Cookie Policy explains each of them and how to refuse the ones that are not essential.

7Is your information transferred internationally?

Our website is hosted in the United Kingdom and delivered through Cloudflare’s global network. Our team works in Pakistan, and some of our providers, including Google, process information in the United States and elsewhere. Your information may therefore be handled in countries whose data protection laws differ from yours.

When information leaves the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, we rely on safeguards the law recognises, such as adequacy decisions, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (with the UK and Swiss equivalents) and the EU–US Data Privacy Framework where a provider is certified under it. You can ask us for details.

8How long do we keep your information?

• Newsletter and alert subscriptions: until you unsubscribe or turn alerts off.
• Comments: for as long as the comment stays published.
• Pieces, letters and applications: for as long as we need them to deal with what you sent, and then deleted.
• Payment records: for as long as tax and accounting law requires.
• Server logs and analytics: for a limited period, then deleted or reduced to totals.

When we no longer need information, we delete it or make it anonymous. If that is not yet possible, for example because it sits in a backup, we keep it securely and out of use until it can be deleted.

9How do we keep your information safe?

Every page is served over an encrypted connection, staff accounts are protected, and only the people who need your information can see it. No system is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee that information sent over the internet will never be intercepted or misused. If we learn of a breach that puts you at risk, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

10Do we collect information from children?

The Thursday Times is a general news service. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Readers under 18 should have a parent’s or guardian’s permission before signing up, commenting or sending us anything. If you think a child has given us personal information, write to us at pr@thursdaytimes.com and we will delete it.

11What are your privacy rights?

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• have it corrected if it is wrong, or deleted;
• object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use it;
• receive it in a portable format; and
• withdraw your consent at any time.

To use any of these rights, write to pr@thursdaytimes.com. We may need to confirm your identity first, and we will use the information you give us for that only. We reply within one month, or sooner where the law requires.

If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland and are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to your data protection authority: in the EU, through the European Data Protection Board’s list of members; in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office; in Switzerland, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. We would like the chance to put things right first, so please write to us.

Do-not-track signals

Some browsers can send a “Do Not Track” signal. There is no agreed standard for responding to it, so we do not change what we do when we receive one. You can still refuse analytics cookies from “Privacy choices” at the foot of any page.

12Rights for California and other US residents

If you live in California, or another US state with a consumer privacy law, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, use and disclose; to ask us to delete or correct it; to opt out of its sale or sharing; and not to be treated differently for using these rights.

In the past twelve months we have collected these categories of personal information, from you and from your browser, for the purposes set out in section 2:

• Identifiers, such as your name, email address, phone number and IP address.
• Commercial information, such as records of support payments.
• Internet activity, such as the pages you read and how you use the Services.
• Approximate location, worked out from your IP address.
• Professional information, if you send us a job application.

We disclose these only to the service providers listed in section 4, for the business purposes described there. We do not sell personal information, we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, and we do not collect sensitive personal information. We have not done so in the past twelve months.

To make a request, write to pr@thursdaytimes.com. You may use an authorised agent, but we may ask for proof that they are allowed to act for you. California residents may also ask, once a year and free of charge, which personal information we disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing in the previous year; the answer is none.

13Do we make updates to this notice?

We update this notice when what we do changes or the law requires it. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If a change is significant, we will say so on the site or tell you directly.

14Contact details

Write to pr@thursdaytimes.com. The Thursday Times is published by Thursday Media International.