Prince Harry, Meghan Markle May Share Archewell-Collected Information With 'For-Profit Ventures,’ Journalist Warns

An Australian journalist has warned that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry may share the information they collected from their Archewell website with existing and future "for-profit ventures."

Just days after the launch of the Archewell website, 7News journalist Taylor Auerbach shared its privacy notice page, highlighting the section mentioning how information collected from those who sign up could be used.

"FYI Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - who are suing photographers for invasion of privacy - may collect your name, address, IP address, texts, videos etc. and share them with profit-making companies," he wrote on Twitter, along with a link to the website.

"We may share the information we collect with other parties, including the following: with third-party service providers who process data on our behalf, such as email service providers; with other charitable, nonprofit, and for-profit ventures associated with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex that exist now or may be established in the future," read the highlighted section of the Archewell website privacy policy.

As stated in the policy, those who use the website — which includes all ventures under the Archewell umbrella, including their charity, their collaboration with Netflix and their new Spotify podcast — may voluntarily provide information about themselves, such as their name, email address and location. These are collected when users subscribe to the website's mailing list or send feedback or requests.

"We will also collect any content that you provide to us, such as text, videos, or social media posts, when you link to or otherwise submit that content on the Site," it added.

According to its privacy policy, the website may also share the information "pursuant to a subpoena, court order, governmental inquiry, or other legal process or as otherwise required or permitted by law." Archewell may also do it to protect its rights or the rights of third parties with the user’s consent or as otherwise disclosed at the time of data collection or sharing.

It should be noted that the collection of personal data is common among many websites and apps and doesn't necessarily mean that users' information will be shared with a third party.

In fact, the website of Prince William and Kate Middleton's charity Royal Foundation also makes it clear in its privacy policy page that it may "collect, store and use" personal information such as a user's name, postal address, telephone number, email address and social media identity.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge guarantee that they will not "share, sell or rent" users' personal information to third parties for marketing purposes. However, they may disclose data to charity partners listed on the website when necessary for certain projects. They may also do so when they have the users' consent, when the user is at risk or when required by law.

Meanwhile, the launch of the Archewell website comes a few weeks after Prince Harry and Markle won their privacy case against paparazzi agency Splash U.K., which took photos of their son, Archie, without their consent. Markle filed the lawsuit in March after snapshots of her and their son were taken during an outing at a Canadian park.

While the paparazzi agency has promised to never take photos of the Sussexes again, Prince Harry and Markle still have another lawsuit against Splash U.S. that is ongoing in British courts.