Privacy policy

1. Data controller

The site is published by loveMaghrib (نحبك يا المغرب), a Moroccan online news outlet, which is the controller of the processing described here. For any question about your data: [email protected].

2. Data we process

• Browsing: like any website, our servers and network provider receive the technical data needed to deliver pages (IP address, browser type, page requested, date and time). We do not use it to profile you.
• Comments: the name you choose (a nickname is fine), your message, the page language, the page you comment on and the date. Your IP address is never stored as such: we only keep an encrypted fingerprint of it (HMAC hash), used to limit abusive posting and detect spam.
• Polls and surveys: your answers (choices and, where applicable, free text), the language and the date. So that each person answers only once, the response is linked to a random identifier kept in a cookie (lm_voter) and to an encrypted fingerprint of your IP address. These do not reveal who you are; do not write personal information in free-text answers.
• Emails: if you write to us, your address and message, to reply to you.

3. Purposes and legal bases

• Delivering and protecting the site (security, fighting bots and abuse): our legitimate interest in providing a reliable service.
• Publishing your comment after review: your consent, given by submitting the form, under the Terms of use.
• Recording your participation in a poll and publishing its results as totals: your consent, given by answering.
• Replying to your messages: your request.

We do not sell your data or use it for advertising.

4. What is made public

Approved comments are visible to everyone, with the chosen name and date, and may be indexed by search engines. Your IP address and its fingerprint are never shown.

Poll results are published as totals, with no link to participants. Free-text survey answers are read by our team and are not published on the site.

5. How long we keep data

• Published comments: as long as the page is online, or until you ask us to delete them.
• Pending or rejected comments: for as long as moderation and abuse prevention require; they are never published.
• Poll responses: as long as the poll exists; they are deleted with it.
• IP fingerprints and voter identifier: with the related comment or response.
• Cookies: 1 year for lm_lang, 2 years for lm_voter.
• Emails: for as long as it takes to handle your request and its follow-up.

6. Cookies and local storage

We use no advertising or audience-measurement cookies. The items below only serve features you ask for, which is why no consent banner is shown:

• lm_lang (cookie, 1 year): the language picked in the language switcher.
• lm_voter (cookie, 2 years, only created when you vote): a random identifier that prevents multiple votes.
• lm_comment_name and lm_voted (browser local storage, which stays on your device): pre-filling your name in the comment form and remembering the polls you already answered.
• Cloudflare security cookies (e.g. __cf_bm, about 30 minutes): telling visitors from bots.

You can clear these cookies and data at any time in your browser settings.

7. YouTube videos and social networks

Videos are hosted by YouTube (Google). The player only loads when you press “play”, in privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com); Google then processes data under its own policy (policies.google.com/privacy). Video thumbnails are displayed from YouTube’s image servers (i.ytimg.com), which therefore receive your IP address.

Share buttons (WhatsApp, Facebook, X, Telegram) are plain links: no script from these networks loads unless you click. Our YouTube and Facebook pages are governed by those services’ policies.

8. Recipients and providers

Your data is only accessible to the loveMaghrib team in charge of moderation and to our technical providers, solely to run the site:

• Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany): server and database hosting.
• Cloudflare, Inc.: site delivery, security, domain names and image storage (cdn.lovemaghrib.com).
• LWS (France): mailbox for [email protected].
• DeepL SE (Germany): machine translation of our articles, videos and polls. Your comments and answers are not sent to it.
• Google (YouTube): see the previous section.

We may also disclose data to authorities when the law requires it.

9. Transfers outside Morocco

Our servers are located in the European Union (Germany), which offers a recognised level of protection. Cloudflare and Google may process data in other countries, including the United States, with the safeguards set out in their terms (standard contractual clauses).

10. Security

Encrypted connections (HTTPS), IP addresses stored only as fingerprints, administration protected by password and restricted to the team. As no system is infallible, we will inform you of any incident affecting you as provided by law.

11. Your rights

Under Moroccan Law No. 09-08 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and, if you live in the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right to access, rectify, erase and object to the processing of your data and, where applicable, to restrict it and to data portability. You can withdraw your consent at any time, for example by asking us to delete a comment.

Write to [email protected] stating the page and the name used (or, for a vote, the approximate date). As we do not ask for an email address with comments, we may ask a few questions to check the content is yours. We reply within one month.

You may also contact Morocco’s data protection authority (CNDP, www.cndp.ma) or, in the European Union, the authority of your country.

12. Minors

The site is open to everyone. If you are under 16, ask a parent before posting a comment or answering a survey, and do not share any information that could identify you.

13. Changes

We may update this policy, for example if we add a service (audience measurement, advertising). The update date is shown at the top of the page; for significant changes we will flag them on the site and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent.

If the language versions of this policy differ, the French version prevails.