Last Updated: January 26, 2026
Who We Are
MelonBeat is a K-pop news and entertainment website operated at https://melonbeat.com. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring transparency about how we collect and use your information.
For privacy-related inquiries, please contact us at: support@melonbeat.com
What Personal Data We Collect and Why We Collect It
Comments
When you leave a comment on our site, 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 string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Legal Basis: Legitimate interest in maintaining community engagement and preventing spam.
Media
If you upload images to the website (such as in comments or user submissions), you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Contact Forms
When you submit a contact form on our site, we collect your name, email address, and any other information you provide in your message. We retain this information for up to 6 months for customer service purposes. We do not use contact form submissions for marketing purposes without your explicit consent.
Legal Basis: Legitimate interest in responding to user inquiries and providing customer support.
Cookies
Our site uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. Cookies are small files stored on your device that help us remember your preferences and improve site functionality.
Cookies we use:
- Session Cookies: These temporary cookies expire when you close your browser and help maintain your session while browsing our site.
- Preference Cookies: These remember your settings and preferences (such as language preferences or display options).
- Analytics Cookies: These help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting and reporting information anonymously.
You can control cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our website.
Caching
This site utilizes caching in order to facilitate a faster response time and better user experience. Caching potentially stores a duplicate copy of every web page that is on display on this site. All cache files are temporary, and are never accessed by any third party, except as necessary to obtain technical support from the cache plugin vendor. Cache files expire on a schedule set by the site administrator, but may easily be purged by the admin before their natural expiration, if necessary.
We may use QUIC.cloud services to process and cache your data temporarily. Please see https://quic.cloud/privacy-policy/ for more details.
Analytics
We use analytics tools to understand how visitors use our website. This helps us improve our content and user experience. Analytics data is collected anonymously and includes information such as:
- Pages visited
- Time spent on pages
- Browser type and version
- Device type
- Geographic location (country/city level only)
- Referring websites
You can opt out of analytics tracking by enabling “Do Not Track” in your browser settings or by using browser extensions designed for this purpose.
Newsletter and Email Communications
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address and name (if provided). We use this information solely to send you K-pop news updates, exclusive content, and announcements. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link provided in every email.
Legal Basis: Active consent provided when you subscribe to our newsletter.
Social Media Integration
Our website may include social media sharing buttons and embedded content from platforms such as YouTube, Twitter/X, Instagram, and TikTok. When you interact with these features, those platforms may collect information about your visit to our site. Please refer to their respective privacy policies for more information.
Who We Share Your Data With
We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share your data with the following service providers:
- Web Hosting Provider: To store and serve website content
- QUIC.cloud: For caching services (see https://quic.cloud/privacy-policy/)
- Analytics Services: To analyze website traffic and user behavior (anonymized data only)
- Email Service Provider: To send newsletters and communications (only if you’ve subscribed)
- Comment Management Services: To manage and moderate user comments
All third-party service providers are required to maintain the confidentiality and security of your personal information.
How Long We Retain Your Data
We retain your personal data for the following periods:
- Comments: Indefinitely, unless you request deletion
- Contact Form Submissions: 6 months
- Analytics Data: 12 months (anonymized)
- Newsletter Subscriptions: Until you unsubscribe
- Cache Files: Temporary storage based on our caching schedule (typically 24-72 hours)
- Cookies: According to cookie-specific expiration dates (session cookies expire when you close your browser; persistent cookies may last up to 12 months)
What Rights You Have Over Your Data
If you have left comments, submitted a contact form, or subscribed to our newsletter, you can request the following:
- Access: Receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you
- Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
- Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data
- Restriction: Request that we limit the processing of your data
- Portability: Receive your data in a structured, commonly used format
- Objection: Object to our processing of your personal data
- Withdraw Consent: Unsubscribe from newsletters or withdraw other consents previously given
To exercise these rights, please contact us at support@melonbeat.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
If you have an account on this site, you can also request a file containing all personal data we hold about you by visiting your account settings page.
Where Your Data Is Sent
Your data may be transferred to and stored on servers outside the European Union, including:
- Our web hosting servers
- QUIC.cloud caching servers
- Third-party service providers’ servers
We ensure that all data transfers outside the EU are protected by appropriate safeguards, including:
- Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission
- Service providers certified under recognized privacy frameworks
- Encryption during transmission and storage
How We Protect Your Data
We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organizational measures, including:
- Encryption: SSL/TLS encryption for data transmitted between your browser and our servers
- Secure Hosting: Our website is hosted on secure servers with regular security updates
- Access Controls: Limited access to personal data on a need-to-know basis
- Regular Backups: Secure backups to prevent data loss
- Security Monitoring: Ongoing monitoring for potential security threats
Data Breach Procedures
In the event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will:
- Notify the appropriate supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach
- Notify affected users without undue delay
- Take immediate steps to contain and remedy the breach
- Document the breach and our response for compliance purposes
Third-Party Data Sources
We may receive data from the following third-party sources:
- Publicly Available Information: News from official K-pop agencies, artist social media accounts, and public press releases
- Analytics Providers: Aggregated, anonymized usage statistics
- Social Media Platforms: When you interact with our social media accounts or embedded content
Automated Decision Making and Profiling
We do not engage in automated decision making or profiling that produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects you.
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 collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately so we can delete it.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Last Updated” date.
Contact Information
For privacy-specific concerns or to exercise your data rights, please contact us at:
Email: support@melonbeat.com
Website: https://melonbeat.com
If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.