Privacy Policy

WorldSleep (worldsleep.net, “this website,” “WorldSleep,” or “we”) respects your personal information and privacy. This Privacy Policy applies when you browse the website or use Global Events, the Sleep Industry Encyclopedia, News, member accounts, profile management, content submissions, and contact features. It explains what information we process, why and how we process it, how long we keep it, and how you can exercise your rights.

1. Controller and Scope

The controller for this website is the WorldSleep website operator. You can contact us at we@worldsleep.com. This Policy applies to services provided directly by this website. Third-party sites or services reached through external links are independently responsible for their own practices.

2. Information We Process

Depending on the features you use, we may process:

• Browsing and device data: IP address, browser and device type, operating system, access time, pages visited, referring page, request status, and necessary security logs.
• Account and sign-in data: username, account type, password authentication data, email address, phone number, registration and sign-in times, account status, and security verification records.
• Business account data: company name, unified social credit code or equivalent registration identifier, contact name and title, business email, and contact number for verification and business communications.
• Profile data: information you voluntarily add, such as your name, title, organization, biography, and avatar.
• Submission and contact data: submitted news or event details, author or organizer information, contact details, text, image links, files, review records, and inquiries or feedback sent to us.
• Preferences and interactions: language preference, interface-tip status, search criteria, saved like status, page views, and clicks. Some of this data remains only in your browser.

Ordinary browsing of the Sleep Industry Encyclopedia, Events, and News generally does not require your name or contact details. Do not include unrelated sensitive information—such as identity documents, medical or health data, financial account data, or precise location—in submissions, profiles, or messages.

3. Purposes and Legal Grounds

We process relevant information only where lawful, fair, and necessary to:

• display and enable searches of Global Events, the Sleep Industry Encyclopedia, and News;
• create and manage member accounts, authenticate sessions, and maintain personal or business profiles;
• receive, review, manage, and—once approved—publish news or event submissions;
• respond to inquiries and send necessary account- or submission-related notices;
• measure visits and interactions and improve content, performance, and usability;
• prevent fraud, attacks, unauthorized access, and other misuse; and
• meet applicable legal obligations.

Depending on the circumstances, we rely on your consent, necessity to enter into or perform a contract with you, compliance with legal obligations, or another legal basis permitted by applicable law. Where separate consent is required, we will request it separately.

4. Cookies, Local Storage, and Sessions

This website may use necessary cookies, session storage, and local storage to maintain sign-in and security verification, remember language and interface preferences, retain like status or one-time prompts, and keep pages functioning. We do not currently use these technologies for cross-site advertising targeting. You can clear or restrict them in your browser settings, but sign-in, preference memory, or some interactive features may stop working correctly.

5. Publication, Processors, and Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. Information is disclosed or otherwise made available only where necessary:

• Public publication: if your submission is approved, author, affiliation, organizer, public contact details, and content included in the submission may appear publicly. Submit only information you are authorized to publish.
• Service providers: hosting, content-delivery, object-storage, security, maintenance, and email providers may process information only as needed to supply their services and are required to use appropriate safeguards.
• Law and safety: information may be provided to comply with applicable law or a valid request from a judicial or administrative authority, or to protect the lawful rights and safety of users, WorldSleep, or the public.
• With your authorization: after we explain the recipient, purpose, and information involved and obtain consent where required.

If a merger, division, dissolution, bankruptcy, or another transaction transfers personal information, we will provide notice as required and require the recipient to continue complying with this Policy and applicable law.

6. Third-Party Resources and External Links

Some pages may load Google Fonts, content-delivery or object-storage resources, and date components used on event pages. Providers may receive necessary technical data such as IP address, browser details, and request time and process it under their own privacy policies. Event, product, news, or encyclopedia content may also link to external sites. Once you leave WorldSleep, the third party’s privacy terms apply independently; review them before using the service.

7. Retention

• Account and profile data is generally retained while the account remains active. After account closure, it is deleted or anonymized after any legally required or dispute-resolution period ends.
• Submissions and review records are retained as needed for review, publication, copyright evidence, dispute handling, and content archives. Necessary back-office records may remain for a reasonable period after public content is removed.
• Inquiries, feedback, and security logs are retained for the shortest period necessary to resolve the matter, manage risks, and meet legal duties.
• Data stored in your browser remains until you clear it, the browser removes it, or the relevant feature replaces it.

Where law requires a different retention period, that requirement applies. At the end of the applicable period, we delete or anonymize personal information unless retention is otherwise required by law.

8. Security

We use technical and organizational measures appropriate to the risks involved, including access controls, identity and security checks, transmission protection, logging, backups, and vulnerability response, to reduce unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or loss. If a personal information incident may affect your rights, we will take remedial action and provide legally required notices or reports. No internet service can guarantee absolute security, so please protect your account credentials.

9. Your Rights and Account Choices

Subject to applicable law, you may request access to, a copy of, correction of, supplementation of, or deletion of your personal information; withdraw consent-based authorization; restrict or object to particular processing; or close your account. You can edit certain details on your account page. For other requests, email we@worldsleep.com. To protect your account, we may verify your identity before acting. Withdrawal does not affect processing already carried out lawfully before withdrawal.

10. Children

This website is intended primarily for adults and industry users and is not directed mainly to children under 14. Children under 14 should not register, submit content, or provide personal information on their own. Where necessary, a parent or guardian must first read this Policy and provide legally valid consent. Guardians who believe a child provided information without consent should contact us.

11. Updates and Contact

We may update this Policy to reflect changes to the website or applicable requirements. The revised version and update date will be posted here. If a change materially affects your rights, we will provide a page notice or another appropriate form of notice.