Privacy Policy
Last updated: 5 October 2026
This policy explains what information the Madhadhu website (madhadhu.com) collects when you use it, what we do with it, and the choices you have. Madhadhu is a Dhivehi-language news publication run by Madhadhu Media in the Maldives (“we”, “us”).
1. What we collect
Reading the website
Like every website, our servers record technical details of each visit: your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you open and the time. We use this only to run and secure the site and to understand how many people read us. We do not build advertising profiles of visitors.
To count how many people read an article, your browser reports a view and remembers on your device (in local storage) that it did so for 24 hours. The count is a plain number; it is not linked to you.
Comments
If you post a comment, we store the name you type and your comment. WordPress also records the IP address and browser details of the commenter to help us fight spam. We do not ask for your email address. Comments are public.
Likes and reactions
The like and reaction buttons may keep a small cookie or browser-storage entry on your device so that your choice is remembered. They do not identify you.
Staff accounts
Madhadhu staff who write or manage the site have accounts with a name, username, email address and an encrypted password. Logging in sets login cookies. These cookies are only for staff.
2. Our TikTok connection
Madhadhu staff can connect Madhadhu’s own TikTok accounts to the website through TikTok’s official Login Kit and Display API, so that our latest TikTok videos appear in the website’s video section. This works as follows:
- We ask for read-only access to the connected account’s basic profile (display name and picture) and its list of videos (title, description, cover image, link, publish time). We cannot post, delete or change anything on the account, and we do not access private messages.
- The access tokens TikTok gives us are stored on our server and used only to fetch those videos. They are never shown to visitors.
- We store a copy of each video’s cover image and text so they display quickly. The videos themselves stay on TikTok.
- We do not collect any information about TikTok users who watch or interact with these videos.
- When you press play on a TikTok video on our site, the video is played by TikTok’s own player, and TikTok may collect data under its own Privacy Policy.
- The account owner can disconnect the account at any time from the website’s admin area, or revoke access in TikTok under Settings and privacy → Security & permissions → Apps and services. Disconnecting removes the account’s videos and tokens from our site.
3. Other services involved
- Hosting and network: the site is hosted on Railway and delivered through Cloudflare, which see visitors’ IP addresses in order to serve and protect the site.
- Fonts and code libraries: some fonts and design files are loaded from Google Fonts and the jsDelivr network, so those providers receive your IP address when a page loads.
- Sharing: the share buttons are ordinary links to Facebook, X, Telegram, Viber and WhatsApp. Nothing is sent to them unless you click.
- Advertising: if we show advertisements from advertisers or ad networks, they may use cookies of their own; we will update this page if that begins.
4. Cookies
We use only what the site needs to work (for example the comment form and the like buttons) and the login cookies for staff. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies of our own. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the site will still work.
5. How long we keep information
Server logs are kept for a short period for security. Comments stay until they are removed. TikTok tokens are kept only while an account is connected.
6. Your choices
You can ask us to correct or remove a comment you wrote, or to remove information that identifies you, by contacting us (see below). We will respond as soon as we reasonably can.
7. Children
Madhadhu is a news site for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
8. Security
We protect the site with HTTPS, encrypted staff passwords and limited access to the admin area. No online service is perfectly secure, but we work to keep your information safe.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. The “last updated” date above shows when it last changed, and the new version applies from that date.
10. Contact
To contact Madhadhu about this policy, message us on any of our official pages linked at the bottom of every page of the website (Facebook, TikTok, X, Telegram and Instagram).