Privacy Policy

What we collect

We collect information in two ways: when you send it to us, and automatically when you visit.

• Newsletter sign-ups. Your email address, so we can send you The Lock Report.
• Contact form. Your name, email address, topic, subject, and message, whether it's a tip, a correction, an advertising question, or a complaint about how we covered your municipality.
• Email. Whatever you include when you write to [email protected].
• Analytics. Information about how you use the site, collected automatically. See Analytics.
• Advertising. Information Google and its partners collect when ads load. See Advertising.
• Server logs. When a page loads, our web host may automatically record technical details such as your IP address, browser type, the page requested, and the time. These records keep the site running and protect it from abuse. We don't use them to build a profile of you.

What stays on your device

A few features work entirely in your browser. The information they use is never sent to us.

• Theme choice. If you switch the site's look, your browser saves that choice in local storage so it sticks between visits. You can clear it in your browser settings.
• Search. The search box downloads a list of our headlines and matches your query on your device. We never see what you searched for.
• Copy link. The copy link button on articles puts the address on your clipboard. We don't see where you paste it.

Analytics

We use an analytics service to understand how readers use the site: which stories get read, where visitors come from, and whether anyone reaches the end of a Regional Council budget story. It records the pages you view, how you arrived, how long you stay, your device and browser type, and your approximate location based on your IP address. It may use cookies or similar technology to tell new visitors from returning ones.

We look at these reports as totals and trends. We don't use them to identify you, and we don't connect them to your newsletter address or messages.

Advertising

We use Google AdSense to show ads on The Niagara Star. The ads help pay for the newsroom, including the gas our roads reporter burns idling at canal bridges.

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and other sites on the internet. Other ad vendors and networks may also serve ads through AdSense and use cookies in the same way.

Google and its partners also use this information to measure how ads perform, limit how often you see the same ad, and prevent fraud. Learn more in how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

Your ad and cookie choices

• Google ads. Turn off personalized ads in Google's Ads Settings.
• Other ad vendors. Opt out of personalized ads from participating companies at YourAdChoices.ca in Canada or aboutads.info in the United States.
• Cookies. Block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The site still works without them, though your theme choice may not stick if you block all site data.

Opting out doesn't remove ads. You'll still see them, but they'll be based on the page you're reading instead of your browsing history. A story about the Welland Canal may still get you an ad for boats.

How we use it

We use the information we collect to:

• send The Lock Report each weekday, if you subscribed;
• reply to your message, look into your tip, or fix the error you spotted;
• see which stories readers find useful and improve the site;
• show ads that help pay for the site;
• keep the site secure and working;
• meet our legal obligations.

We won't add you to the newsletter because you sent us a correction. That would be petty, and we save our pettiness for council coverage.

Who else sees it

We share personal information with the service providers that help us run The Niagara Star: our web host, analytics service, newsletter service, and email provider. They handle it to provide those services to us.

Google and its advertising partners collect information directly from your browser when ads load, and they use it under their own privacy policies, including Google's Privacy Policy.

Some of these companies may store information outside Canada, including in the United States. Information stored in another country is subject to that country's laws and may be accessible to its courts and authorities.

We may also disclose information when the law requires it, such as in response to a valid court order. We never hand your newsletter address or messages to advertisers, data brokers, or Regional Council.

Tips and sources

If you send us a tip, we won't publish your name or contact details without your permission. Email and web forms aren't secure channels, so please don't send anything that could put you at risk if someone else read it.

Unsubscribing

Every issue of The Lock Report includes an unsubscribe link. Click it and you're off the list, no public consultation required.

How long we keep it

• Newsletter addresses. Until you unsubscribe. After that, we keep only a note that the address opted out so it doesn't get added again by mistake.
• Messages. As long as we need them to respond, follow up, or keep a record of a correction.
• Analytics data. For a limited retention period set in our analytics service.
• Ad cookies. Set and kept by Google and its partners under their own policies. You can delete them in your browser at any time.
• Server logs. For a limited period set by our web host.

When we no longer need personal information, we delete it.

Your rights

Under Canada's federal privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), you can ask us to:

• tell you what personal information we hold about you and how we've used it;
• correct information that's wrong;
• stop using your information, or delete it where we aren't required to keep it.

Email [email protected] with "Privacy request" in the subject line. We'll respond within 30 days, and we may ask you to confirm your identity first.

We can't access or delete the information Google collects through ads. For that, use the choices above or contact Google directly.

Other websites

Our social media links, the links in our stories, and the ads on our pages lead to sites we don't control, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Once you leave niagarastar.com, their privacy policies apply instead of this one.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle personal information, we'll update this page and the date at the top. If we ever want to use information you've already given us in a new way, we'll ask for your consent first. Unlike most construction schedules in the region, that date will be accurate.

Contact

Send questions about this policy, or requests about your information, to [email protected]. Put "Privacy request" in the subject line so it skips the queue of goose tips.