Privacy policy

Last updated 8 October 2026

1. Who is responsible

Tinge World Publishing is the controller of the personal data described here. Questions and requests go to Editor@TingeWorld.com.

2. This website

The pages of weightofsalt.com are plain files. They set no cookies, load nothing from advertising or social networks, and use no visitor analytics. The fonts are served from our own web space.

The site is hosted by HostGator in the United States. Like every web host, it keeps short-lived server logs of requests: IP address, date and time, the page asked for, and the browser type. We rely on our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure and working. We do not use these logs to identify visitors.

3. Links that leave this site

Some buttons take you to services run by others: the Lulu Bookstore, our order form, our shop application form and the Mermaid Universe directory sign-up form (all three hosted by Wix), mysticmermaiduniverse.com, and the Tinge World website. Each has its own privacy policy and may set its own cookies. What you enter on the shop application form is handled under the Tinge World privacy policy.

If you buy the plain copy at the Lulu Bookstore, Lulu is the seller. We do not receive your name, address or payment details from that purchase.

4. Mermaid Friend orders

What we collect

• Your first and last name, email address and, if you give it, your telephone number.
• Your shipping address.
• The name to print on the cover, and any notes you add.
• The photo you upload, and your answer about who is pictured.
• The consents you tick, with the date and time.
• Whether and when your pay link was paid. We do not receive your card or bank details.

Why, and on what legal ground

• To make, print and deliver the copy you ordered, and to write to you about it: performance of our contract with you (GDPR Article 6(1)(b)).
• To alter and print the image of the person in the photo: consent (Article 6(1)(a)), given on the order form.
• To keep invoices and order records for the tax authorities: legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)).
• To send news about our books, only if you ticked that box: consent. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

5. Your photo

Your photo is used for one thing: making the back cover of your copy. To create the mermaid image we upload the photo to an AI image-editing service, which processes it on its own servers. The finished image is placed on the cover in a design tool and the cover file is sent to the printer.

We do not publish your photo or your mermaid image, show it in a gallery, post it on social media or use it in advertising. If we would ever like to, we will ask you first, in writing, and you are free to say no.

We delete the original photo, the mermaid image, the proofs and the cover file from our own systems and from the printer account within 90 days of delivery. We keep them for those 90 days so that we can reprint your copy if it arrives damaged or goes missing.

6. Photos of children

We accept a photo of a person under 18 only when that person’s parent or legal guardian places the order and gives consent on the form. If we learn that a photo of a child was sent without that consent, we delete it and cancel the order. We do not knowingly collect details from children directly.

7. Who receives your details

We share only what each of these needs to do its part:

• Wix.com hosts the order form, stores the submissions and the uploaded photo, and provides the pay link.
• The payment provider named on the pay page processes your payment.
• Lulu Press, Inc. prints your copy and hands it to the carrier. It receives your name, shipping address, telephone number if given, and the cover file.
• The carrier delivers the parcel.
• The AI image-editing and design tools we use to build your cover receive the photo and the name to print.
• Our bookkeeper and the Dutch tax authorities may see invoice details.

We do not sell, rent or trade personal details, and we do not pass them to anyone for their own marketing.

8. Transfers outside the European Union

Several of these providers are based in the United States or process data there. Where personal data leaves the European Economic Area, it is covered by the provider’s certification under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or by the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses.

9. How long we keep things

• Photo, mermaid image, proofs and cover file: deleted within 90 days of delivery.
• An order form that is never paid for: deleted, with its photo, within 90 days.
• Invoices and order records: seven years, as Dutch tax law requires.
• Emails about an order: two years after the order is complete.
• News list: until you unsubscribe.

10. Your rights

You may ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, ask us to restrict how we use it, object to our use of it, or ask for it in a form you can take elsewhere. Where we rely on your consent you can withdraw it at any time. If you withdraw consent for your photo before you approve your proof, we stop, delete the photo and refund you. After your copy is printed, we delete our files but cannot recall the printed book.

Write to Editor@TingeWorld.com. We answer within one month and there is no charge.

You also have the right to complain to a data protection authority. In the Netherlands that is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl). You may instead go to the authority in the EU country where you live.

11. Changes

If we change how we handle personal data, we update this page and its date. For anything that affects an order already placed, we write to you.