About this policy
Unpacked by Hectar (“Unpacked”) is published by Hectar Global Pte Ltd, a Singapore company (“Hectar”, “we”, “us”). This policy explains what personal data we collect when you read Unpacked, sign up for our newsletter or send us a message, what we do with it and the choices you have.
What we collect
We only collect what we need to run Unpacked. There are no reader accounts or paid subscriptions, so most visitors share nothing beyond the technical details every website receives.
- When you sign up for the newsletter, we keep your email address, the date you signed up, the form you used and your IP address.
- When you use the Contact, Partner with us or Write for us form, we keep your name, your email address and your message, plus anything else you choose to add, such as your organisation or a link to your work. We also store the IP address and browser details sent with the form, which help us filter out spam.
- When you read Unpacked, we receive the technical details every website gets from your browser: your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you visit, the page that sent you here and the time of your visit. We use Google Analytics and Jetpack Stats to count visits and see which stories people read, and our security tools log IP addresses linked to failed logins or suspicious requests.
How we use it
- To send you the Unpacked newsletter, if you signed up for it.
- To read and reply to your messages, story pitches and partnership requests.
- To understand which stories and topics readers find useful, so we can make Unpacked better.
- To keep the site secure and working, and to block spam and abuse.
- To meet our legal obligations.
We don’t sell or rent your personal data, and we don’t run advertising on Unpacked.
Our legal grounds
If you are in the UK or the European Economic Area, we rely on these legal grounds:
- Consent, for the newsletter and for analytics cookies. You can withdraw it at any time.
- Legitimate interests, for replying to messages, keeping the site secure and measuring basic site use, in ways that don’t override your rights.
- Legal obligation, where the law requires us to keep or share information.
Cookies
Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. Unpacked uses only a few.
_gais set by Google Analytics. It tells one visitor apart from another so we can count visits, and lasts 2 years._ga_followed by an ID is set by Google Analytics. It remembers your current visit, and lasts 2 years.wordpress_andwp-settings-cookies are set by Unpacked to keep our editors logged in. Readers don’t get them.
When you first visit Unpacked, we ask whether you allow analytics cookies. Google Analytics only sets its cookies after you click Allow all, and you can change your choice at any time in cookie settings.
When your browser loads files from Jetpack, Gravatar or Google Fonts, those services receive your IP address. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. To stop Google Analytics measuring your visits on any website, you can install Google’s opt-out browser add-on.
Who we share it with
We use a few trusted providers to run Unpacked. They handle your data only to provide their service to us.
- Google: Google Analytics for site statistics, Google Fonts for our typefaces, and Google Workspace, which sends our emails and receives your messages.
- Automattic, the company behind Jetpack and Gravatar: site statistics, security and faster delivery of site files.
- Our hosting provider, whose servers store the website, the newsletter subscriber list and the messages sent through our forms.
We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect our rights or the safety of others, or as part of a sale or merger of our business. If that happens, this policy will still apply to your data.
Where your data is processed
Our providers may store or process data outside your country, including in Singapore, the United States and the European Union. When data moves across borders, we rely on the safeguards the law requires, such as standard contractual clauses.
How long we keep it
- Newsletter: until you unsubscribe. After that we keep only a record that you unsubscribed, so we don’t email you again.
- Messages from our forms: as long as we need them to deal with your request, and then we delete them.
- Analytics: according to our Google Analytics retention setting, and never more than 14 months.
- Security logs: only as long as we need them to protect the site.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you can ask us to:
- show you the personal data we hold about you
- correct it if it is wrong
- delete it
- stop or limit how we use it
- give you a copy in a common format
You can withdraw your consent at any time, and every newsletter has an unsubscribe link. For anything else, email support@hectar.global and we will reply within 30 days. If you are unhappy with our answer, you can complain to your local data protection authority. In Singapore, that is the Personal Data Protection Commission.
Children
Unpacked is written for adults who work in or follow global trade. It isn’t meant for children under 16, and we don’t knowingly collect their data.
Security
We protect the site with HTTPS, security headers, login protection and regular updates. No website is completely secure, but we work to keep your data safe and to limit who can see it.
Links to other websites
Our stories link to other websites and data sources. Their privacy practices are their own, so please check their policies.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will post the new version here and update the date below. If a change is significant, we will also tell newsletter subscribers by email.
Contact us
Hectar Global Pte Ltd
Email: support@hectar.global
Website: hectar.global
This policy was last updated on 16 October 2026.