How we look after your information

Muzayrah Publications is run by its founders, Yumnaa Raja and M. Haris Rasheed. Most of the people who use our website are young writers, so we keep this simple: we collect as little as we can, we use it only to run Muzayrah, and we never sell or share your personal information.

What we collect, and why

• When you enter the Short Story Prize: your full name, pen name (if you choose one), age, grade or year, city, school, email address, your story, and, if you are under 18, your parent or guardian's name and phone number or email. We need these to judge entries, contact entrants, check consent, issue certificates and pay prizes.
• When you join the mailing list: your name and email address, so we can send you our weekly writing lesson and news about competitions and results. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe link. If you are under 13, please ask a parent before signing up.
• When you send a six-word story: the story, your first name or pen name, and your age, so we can feature it.
• When you vote in People's Choice: a random code stored on your device, so each device votes only once. It does not identify you.
• When you request a certificate: your reference number and email, which we check against your entry. We do not store them again.

What stays on your device

Your story draft, your story plan, your game scores and your 30-day challenge progress are saved only in your own browser. They are never sent to us. Your personal details on the entry form are never saved on the device, so a shared school computer is safe to use. We do not use cookies.

What we publish

Only if your story is shortlisted or wins: your name or pen name, your age, your school and your story. If your six-word story is featured: the story and your first name or pen name. We never publish email addresses, phone numbers or a parent or guardian's details. Shortlisted and winning stories may also be printed in the Muzayrah anthology, which is sold. The book includes writers' names, ages and schools, but never any contact details. Selling the anthology is the only thing we sell; we never sell or share anyone's personal information.

Young writers and parents

Writers under 18 need a parent or guardian's agreement to enter and to be published. We use the parent or guardian's contact only to confirm that agreement, to discuss a shortlisted story, and to pay any prize money, which always goes to the parent or guardian.

Who can see your information

Only our two founders. We use a small number of trusted services to run the website:

• Google stores competition entries and sign-ups in a private Google Sheet, and sends confirmation emails.
• Cloudflare hosts the website.
• Brevo sends our weekly writing lesson and news, only to people who have signed up.
• Cloudflare Web Analytics counts visits to each page. It uses no cookies and collects nothing that identifies you.

The Muzayrah account is protected with two-step verification, and access is limited to the founders.

How long we keep it

Twelve months after the winners of a competition are announced, we delete entrants' email addresses and all parent and guardian details. We keep entrants' names, stories and scores privately as a record of the competition. Published stories stay published. You stay on the mailing list until you unsubscribe, which you can do with one click in any email.

Your choices

You, or your parent or guardian, can ask us at any time to show you what we hold, correct it, or delete it, including withdrawing an entry before judging. To do this, message us on Instagram at @muzayrah_publications. We will reply within 14 days.

Changes

If we change this policy, we will update it on this page and change the date at the top.