Privacy Policy | Melon Beat - Your Data & Privacy Matters

Last Updated: April 17, 2026

MelonBeat (“we“, “us“, or “our“) operates the website at https://melonbeat.com, a K-pop and Korean entertainment news site. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information when you visit or interact with our site.

For any privacy-related questions, contact us at: [email protected]

1. Information We Collect

Comments

When you leave a comment, we collect the data shown in the comment form, plus your IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection. An anonymized hash of your email address may be shared with the Gravatar service to display your profile picture. See Gravatar’s privacy policy at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

Contact Forms

When you submit a contact form, we collect your name, email address, and message. We retain this for up to 6 months for support purposes only. We do not use this for marketing without your explicit consent.

Analytics

We use analytics tools (such as Google Analytics) to understand how visitors use our site. Data collected includes pages visited, time on page, browser/device type, geographic location (country or city level), and referring websites. This data is collected in an anonymized or aggregated form. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking via the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Newsletter Subscriptions

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address and, if provided, your name. We use this solely to send K-pop news updates and announcements. You may unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email.

Media Uploads

If you upload images to the website, avoid images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors may be able to extract location data from images on the website.

2. Cookies

Our website uses cookies, small text files stored on your device. We use the following types:

Strictly Necessary Cookies: Required for the site to function (e.g., session management). These cannot be disabled.
Preference Cookies: Remember your settings and language preferences.
Analytics Cookies: Collect anonymized data about how you use the site (e.g., Google Analytics).
Advertising Cookies: Used by our advertising partners (see Section 3 below) to serve relevant ads and measure ad performance.

You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may impact certain site functionality. For full details on every cookie we use, opt-out options, and third-party cookie information, please see our Cookie Policy.

3. Advertising

Important Notice: We display advertisements on this site. Our advertising partners may use cookies and similar technologies to serve you ads based on your browsing activity on this and other websites.

Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google and its partners may use cookies (including the DoubleClick cookie) to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website and other websites. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings or www.aboutads.info.

Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to our site and/or other sites on the Internet. For more information, see Google’s Privacy & Terms at https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

Other Advertising Networks

We may also work with other advertising networks. These partners may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect information about your activity on our site for the purpose of serving you targeted advertisements. This information does not directly identify you personally.

Interest-Based Advertising Opt-Out

You can opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies by visiting:

4. How We Use Your Information

To operate and improve the website and its content
To respond to your comments and inquiries
To send newsletters, you have subscribed to
To analyze site traffic and user behavior (in aggregated, anonymized form)
To display advertisements and measure their effectiveness
To detect and prevent spam, abuse, and security threats
To comply with legal obligations

5. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share data with:

Web Hosting Provider: To store and serve our website
QUIC.cloud: For caching services (Privacy Policy)
Google LLC: For analytics (Google Analytics) and advertising (Google AdSense)
Other Advertising Partners: To serve and measure ads (anonymized/aggregated data)
Email Service Providers: To send newsletters to subscribers
Comment Management Services: To moderate user comments

All third-party providers are contractually required to handle your data securely and only for the purposes we specify.

6. Data Retention

Comments: Retained indefinitely unless deletion is requested
Contact Form Submissions: 6 months
Analytics Data: 12 months (anonymized)
Newsletter Subscriptions: Until you unsubscribe
Cache Files: Temporary (typically 24–72 hours)
Cookies: Session cookies expire when you close your browser; persistent cookies last up to 12 months

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate data
Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data (“right to be forgotten”)
Restriction: Request that we limit how we process your data
Portability: Receive your data in a portable, machine-readable format
Objection: Object to our processing of your data for certain purposes (including direct marketing)
Withdraw Consent: Unsubscribe from newsletters or withdraw any other consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days. EU/EEA residents may also lodge a complaint with their local data protection authority.

8. International Data Transfers

Your data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside your own, including the United States, where our hosting and service providers operate. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for such transfers, including Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission where applicable.

9. How We Protect Your Data

SSL/TLS Encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted
Secure Hosting: Our servers receive regular security updates
Access Controls: Personal data is accessible only on a need-to-know basis
Regular Backups: To prevent data loss
Security Monitoring: Ongoing monitoring for threats

10. Data Breach Procedures

In the event of a data breach posing risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the appropriate supervisory authority within 72 hours, inform affected users without undue delay, and take immediate steps to contain the breach.

11. Children’s Privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us immediately at [email protected].

12. Automated Decision-Making

We do not engage in automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. Material changes will be communicated by updating the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

14. Contact Us

For any privacy-related concerns or to exercise your data rights:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://melonbeat.com