Paradigm Shift (“Site”, “we”, “us”, “our”) operates the website paradigmshift.com.pk, including its publication, community forum, and associated services. These Terms of Service & Privacy Policy (“Terms”) govern your use of the Site.
By accessing, browsing, registering an account, submitting content, or otherwise using the Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, please discontinue use of the Site.
1. Eligibility and Age Requirement
You must be at least 13 years of age to register an account, post in our community forum, submit content, or subscribe to our mailing list.
If you are under the age of 18, you should review these Terms with a parent or legal guardian. By registering, you confirm that you meet this age requirement.
If we become aware that a registered user is under 13, we will remove the account and delete associated personal data. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will take appropriate action.
2. Intellectual Property and Permitted Use
2.1 Our Content
Unless otherwise stated, all content on the Site — including text, design, logos, graphics, sound, layout, and the selection and arrangement thereof — is the exclusive property of Paradigm Shift and is protected by copyright, trademark, trade dress, and other applicable laws.
You may not copy, reproduce, republish, modify, distribute, transmit, or imitate any part of the Site, in whole or in part, without our prior written consent.
Permitted limited use: You may quote brief excerpts from our articles for the purposes of review, commentary, news reporting, research, or education, provided that you (a) attribute the work to Paradigm Shift, and (b) include a link to the original article.
2.2 Images & Third-Party Material
Images used on the Site are either created by our own team, obtained from sources offering royalty-free or copyright-free material, or licensed under Creative Commons or similar licences. Where required, attribution is provided.
If you believe any material on the Site infringes your copyright, please see our Copyright Complaints procedure in Section 8.
2.3 Submitted Content — Articles, Papers, and Op-Eds
When you submit an article, research paper, opinion piece, or other written work to Paradigm Shift and we accept it for publication:
– You grant Paradigm Shift exclusive publication rights to that work. This means the work may not be published, republished, syndicated, or reproduced elsewhere — in whole or in substantial part, in any medium — without our prior written permission.
– You may request permission to republish your work elsewhere by contacting us. Permission will not be unreasonably withheld, and where granted will normally require that the republished version credit Paradigm Shift as the original publisher and link to the original article.
– You retain moral rights as the author, including the right to be identified as the author of the work.
– You warrant that the work is original, is your own, does not infringe any third party’s copyright or other rights, is not defamatory, and has not been published elsewhere prior to submission unless expressly disclosed to us in writing.
– You agree that we may edit the work for length, clarity, style, grammar, accuracy, and house standards prior to publication.
– We may publish your name as the author, and — where you provide one — your author biography (typically a short description of your educational background, affiliations, and achievements). If you do not wish your biography to be published, please inform us at the time of submission.
– We may decline to publish, or subsequently unpublish, any submission at our sole discretion.
2.4 Forum and User-Generated Content
Content you post in our community forum (including posts, replies, attachments, images, and profile information) remains yours. However, by posting, you grant Paradigm Shift a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, display, reproduce, and distribute that content on the Site for the purposes of operating and promoting the forum and the Site.
This license continues for as long as the content remains on the Site.
3. Community Forum — Acceptable Use
Our community forum is provided for discussion, learning, and the exchange of ideas relating to global politics, international relations, public policy, competitive examinations, and related topics.
3.1 You agree NOT to post content that:
– Is unlawful, defamatory, libellous, threatening, harassing, abusive, or hateful
– Incites violence, terrorism, or hatred against any individual or group on the basis of religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sect, or any other characteristic
– Infringes the copyright, trademark, privacy, or other rights of any third party
– Contains malware, viruses, or malicious code
– Constitutes spam, unsolicited advertising, or repetitive promotional material
– Impersonates any person or entity, or misrepresents your affiliation with any person or entity
– Discloses another person’s private information without their consent
– Is obscene, pornographic, or otherwise inappropriate for a general audience
– Violates the laws of Pakistan or any other applicable jurisdiction
3.2 Account Responsibility
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify us immediately of any unauthorised use.
You may not create multiple accounts to evade moderation, manipulate discussions, or circumvent restrictions.
3.3 Moderation and Enforcement
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion and without prior notice, to:
– Edit, move, close, or delete any post, topic, or attachment
– Suspend, restrict, or permanently terminate any account
– Block any IP address or range found to be engaged in abusive behaviour, hacking attempts, spam, harassment, or infringement
Moderation decisions are final. We are under no obligation to provide reasons, though we will generally do so where practicable.
3.4 No Endorsement
Forum content is user-generated and does not reflect the views, editorial policy, or position of Paradigm Shift. We do not pre-screen user posts and are not responsible for their content.
4. Limitation of Liability and Disclaimers
4.1 Editorial Content
The views and opinions expressed in any article, research paper, op-ed, or forum post are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy or position of Paradigm Shift.
Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy and veracity of their own statements. While we apply editorial review, we do not independently verify every factual claim.
4.2 No Warranties
The Site is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we make no warranties or representations, express or implied, regarding:
– The accuracy, completeness, reliability, or timeliness of any content
– The uninterrupted or error-free availability of the Site
– The Site being free of viruses or harmful components
4.3 Not Professional Advice
Content on the Site — including analysis, commentary, examination preparation material, and forum discussion — is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, financial, academic, career, or professional advice. You should not rely on it as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.
Examination-related content (including CSS/PMS material) is provided in good faith but is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or guaranteed to reflect the requirements of the Federal Public Service Commission or any provincial commission.
4.4 Limitation
To the fullest extent permitted under the laws of Pakistan, Paradigm Shift, its owners, editors, employees, and contributors shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of your access to, use of, or inability to use the Site, or reliance on any content published on it.
4.5 Third-Party Content and Statements
We are not responsible for statements, representations, or content made or provided by third parties, including advertisers, forum users, submitting authors, or linked websites.
5. Privacy — Information We Collect
5.1 Information You Provide Voluntarily
You are not required to submit personal information simply to read the Site. However, we collect personal information when you choose to provide it, including:
| Contact form/email: Name, email address, message content |
| Article submission: Name, email address, author biography, affiliation |
| Forum registration: Username, email address, password (encrypted), profile details you choose to add |
| Forum activity: Posts, replies, attachments, avatars, and other content you upload |
| Mailing list: Email address |
| Comments: Name, email address, comment content |
5.2 Information Collected Automatically
Like most websites, we and our third-party service providers automatically collect certain technical information, including:
– IP address
– Browser type and version
– Operating system and device type
– Referring website
– Pages visited, time spent, and navigation patterns
– Approximate geographic region (country/city level)
This information is collected via server log files, analytics tools, and cookies. Server log files are a standard component of virtually all web hosting services.
5.3 Legal Basis for Processing
Where applicable law (including the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation) requires a legal basis for processing personal data, we rely on:
– Consent — for mailing list subscriptions, push notifications, and non-essential cookies
– Contract — to provide forum accounts and publication services you have requested
– Legitimate interests — to operate, secure, analyse, and improve the Site, and to prevent abuse
– Legal obligation — where disclosure is required by law
6. How We Use and Share Information
6.1 How We Use It
We use the information we collect to:
– Operate, maintain, and improve the Site and forum
– Publish accepted submissions and credit their authors
– Respond to enquiries and correspondence
– Send newsletters and updates where you have subscribed
– Protect the Site against abuse, spam, hacking, and malicious activity
– Analyse traffic and usage patterns
– Serve and measure advertising
6.2 We Do Not Sell Your Data
Paradigm Shift does not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party.
6.3 When We May Share Information
We may share information in the following limited circumstances:
– Service providers — with the third-party services listed in Section 7, who process data on our behalf in order to provide their services
– Legal requirements — with authorised law-enforcement agencies, regulators, or courts where we are legally required to do so, or where necessary to protect our rights, safety, or property
– Public content — content you post publicly on the forum, and author names and biographies for published articles, are visible to the public by design
7. Cookies and Third-Party Services
7.1 Use of Cookies
We and our third-party partners use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to operate the Site, remember your preferences, secure your session, analyse traffic, and serve advertising.
Most browsers accept cookies by default. You may configure your browser to refuse or delete cookies — but note that some features of the Site (including forum login and certain preferences) may not function correctly if you do.
7.2 Third-Party Services We Use
We use the following categories of third-party services, each of which may collect information subject to their own privacy policies:
| Analytics: Google Analytics, Jetpack/WordPress.com Stats |
| Advertising: Google AdSense |
| Content delivery & security: Cloudflare |
| Hosting: Cloudways |
| Email marketing: SendFox |
| Push notifications: OneSignal |
| Security: Application and server-level security software |
We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these providers. This list may change from time to time as our service providers change.
7.3 Advertising and the Google DART Cookie
We use Google AdSense to serve advertisements. Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on the Site. Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads based on your visits to this and other sites on the internet.
You may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting Google’s ad and content network privacy policy at: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads
Other advertising partners may use their own cookies to track advertising statistics and performance.
7.4 Push Notifications
If you opt in to browser push notifications, you may unsubscribe at any time through your browser settings or by using the unsubscribe option provided within the notification service.
8. Copyright Complaints and Takedown Procedure
We respect intellectual property rights and expect our users and contributors to do the same.
If you believe that content on the Site infringes your copyright, please send a written notice to us including:
1. Identification of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed
2. The exact URL(s) on our Site where the allegedly infringing material appears
3. Your contact information (name, email address, and where relevant, postal address)
4. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law
5. A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorised to act on their behalf
6. Your physical or electronic signature
Send notices to: editor@paradigmshift.com.pk
Upon receipt of a valid notice, we will review the claim and, where appropriate, remove or disable access to the material. We may also terminate the accounts of repeat infringers.
If you believe your content was removed in error, you may submit a counter-notice to the same address setting out the basis for your position.
9. Mailing List and Communications
You may subscribe to our mailing list voluntarily by providing your email address.
By subscribing, you agree that we may send you periodic emails regarding new content, publications, and Site-related updates. You may unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link included in every email we send, or by contacting us directly.
We use SendFox as our email marketing service. When you subscribe, your email address is transmitted to and stored by SendFox so that we can send you these communications. Please review SendFox’s own privacy policy and terms of service for further detail on how they handle your data.
We do not share our mailing list with third parties for their own marketing purposes.
10. Your Data Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal data:
– Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
– Rectification — request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
– Erasure — request deletion of your personal data (“right to be forgotten”)
– Restriction — request that we limit how we process your data
– Portability — request your data in a structured, machine-readable format
– Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests, including profiling
– Withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the address in Section 14. We will respond within a reasonable period and, where required by law, within one month.
Note on published content: Where you have authored a published article or research paper, we may retain and continue to display your name and author biography as part of the permanent editorial record, in accordance with our legitimate interest in maintaining the integrity and attribution of published work. Forum posts may similarly be retained where deletion would disrupt the coherence of public discussions, though we will anonymise them on request where practicable.
11. Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in these Terms:
– Forum accounts and content — for as long as your account remains active, and thereafter as set out in Section 10
– Mailing list data — until you unsubscribe
– Contact form and email correspondence — for as long as reasonably necessary to address your enquiry and maintain our records
– Server logs and analytics — typically retained for a limited period in line with our service providers’ standard retention settings
– Published articles and author attribution — retained as a permanent editorial record
12. Data Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including encrypted connections (SSL/TLS), server-level and application-level security software, malware scanning, firewalls, and access controls.
However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
13. External Links
The Site contains links to third-party websites, including in articles, forum posts, and advertisements. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, accuracy, or security of any external site.
We encourage you to exercise caution when leaving the Site and to read the privacy policy and terms of service of any website you visit. We are not responsible for the collection of your information by these other websites.
14. Contact Us
For questions about these Terms, privacy enquiries, data rights requests, copyright complaints, or any other matter:
Email: editor@paradigmshift.com.pk
Website: https://www.paradigmshift.com.pk/contact/
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan
15. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, or legal obligations.
When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, provide additional notice on the Site.
Your continued use of the Site after any changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
16. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision shall be severed and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.
17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Paradigm Shift is based in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Islamabad, Pakistan.
Thank you for reading our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy.
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