Privacy & Cookie Policy
Last updated on February 6, 2024
Introduction
Civic News Company, the publisher of Chalkbeat and Votebeat, is committed to keeping our community's personal information private and secure. This Privacy and Cookie Policy explains our practices regarding the collection, use, protection, and sharing of your information across all our platforms and services, including when you visit our websites or interact with us.
Information We Collect
We collect various types of information, including:
- Direct interactions: Information you provide by signing up for newsletters, making donations, or engaging with our services.
- Donations: Your donations are processed securely by News Revenue Hub, with only basic donor information retained by us for record-keeping.
- Automated technologies: We use cookies, web beacons, and other technologies to collect information about your online activities to enhance your experience and gather analytics data.
- Analytics and hosting: Our site employs analytics tools and other technologies. Please see the section below about third-party vendors and their policies.
- Location data: We use general location data to provide location-based functionality. This location data is based on your IP address or web browser and may reveal your general location, for example, your city, state, and country. We do not request or collect fine GPS location data.
Use of Personal Information
Your information is used to provide, improve, and personalize our services, process donations, communicate with you, and for compliance with legal obligations. We also use it for analytical purposes to understand service usage and visitor preferences.
Sharing Your Information
We share information with third-party service providers for processing donations, providing analytics, and improving our services. We do not sell your personal information. Any sharing is conducted in line with legal requirements and with service providers who assist in our operations. We encourage our users to review the privacy policies of our service providers to fully understand how their information may be collected, used, and protected. Should you have any concerns regarding your data's handling, or if you wish to exercise any rights under applicable privacy laws, please contact the relevant service provider directly.
Civic News Company is committed to maintaining transparency and safeguarding our users' privacy. Although we choose service providers that prioritize data security, we also emphasize the importance of informed consent and user choice. If you have any questions about our use of these service providers or our broader privacy practices, please feel free to reach out to us.
Vendors and Their Privacy Policies
Google (AdWords, Tag Manager, Ad Manager, Analytics)
Civic News Company utilizes a suite of services provided by Google, including AdWords, Tag Manager, Ad Manager, and Analytics, to manage our advertising strategies, analyze website traffic, and gain insights into user behavior. Google collects data to provide these services and may use this data to personalize the advertising content you see. For more information on how Google processes and protects your data across these services, please review its comprehensive privacy policy:
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is our chosen platform for email marketing campaigns and newsletters. It allows us to stay connected with our audience by providing updates, news, and other information relevant to our mission. Mailchimp collects information about email recipients to optimize the delivery and effectiveness of these communications. To learn more about how Mailchimp uses and protects your information, visit:
Arc XP
Our website is hosted on Arc XP, a digital experience platform that supports the publishing and management of our content. Arc XP collects data to ensure the secure and efficient operation of our site in addition to providing analytics and personalization features. For details on Arc XP's data handling practices, please see its privacy policy:
News Revenue Hub
For processing donations, Civic News Company works with News Revenue Hub, a platform specializing in supporting fundraising efforts for journalism organizations. When you make a donation, News Revenue Hub securely processes your payment information, adhering to high standards of data protection and privacy. To understand how your donor information is managed, refer to:
News Revenue Hub Privacy Policy
Parse.ly (An Automattic Company)
Civic News Company uses Parse.ly to gain insights into how our content is consumed, helping us to better understand our audience and improve our offerings. Parse.ly is a leading analytics platform designed with privacy in mind, offering comprehensive insights without compromising user data security. For more details on how Parse.ly handles data, including the use of cookies and other tracking technologies, please review its privacy policy:
Your Privacy Rights
Under the CCPA and other state privacy laws, you have rights regarding your personal information, including the right to know, delete, and correct your information, and the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information. We provide mechanisms to exercise these rights as detailed below.
Exercising Your Rights
To request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, or to opt-out of the sale of your personal information, please contact us at:
- Email: privacy@civicnews.org
- Postal Address: Civic News Company, 450 Seventh Avenue, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10123
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Civic News Company uses cookies on our website to improve your experience and provide services and features to our users. Cookies are small data files stored on your device that help us distinguish between users, maintain your preferences, and analyze how our website is used. Depending on their function, we categorize our cookies as follows:
- Essential cookies. Essential cookies are required for providing you with features or services that you have requested. Disabling these cookies may make certain features unavailable.
- Functional cookies. Functional cookies are used to record your choices and settings regarding our features, maintain your preferences over time, and recognize you when you return to our website.
- Performance/analytical cookies. Performance/analytical cookies allow us to understand how visitors use our website. They do this by collecting information about the number of visitors to the website, what pages visitors view on our website, and how long visitors are viewing pages on the website.
- Performance/analytical cookies also help us measure the performance of our advertising campaigns in order to help us improve our campaigns and the website’s content for those who engage with our advertising.
Children’s Privacy
Consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, we do not knowingly collect information from children under 13 without obtaining verifiable parental consent. If you are a parent or legal guardian and believe that your child under 13 years of age has volunteered personal information, and you do not consent to our possession of it, you may alert us at privacy@civicnews.org and we will delete that child’s Personal Information from our systems.
International Data Transfers
Our operations are based in the United States, and your information may be processed, transferred, and maintained on servers located outside of your country, where privacy laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.
Updates to This Policy
This policy may be updated to reflect changes to our information practices or relevant laws. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.
Contact Us
For any questions or concerns about our privacy practices, please contact us at
- Email: privacy@civicnews.org
- Postal Address: Civic News Company, 450 Seventh Avenue, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10123