Privacy Policy

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INTRODUCTION

This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) explains how Texas Tribune, Inc. (“The Texas Tribune,” “we,” and “us”) collects, uses, discloses, and protects your information.

This Privacy Policy applies when The Texas Tribune collects data from guests (“you”) through the websites, mobile applications, software, and services controlled, whether partially or otherwise, by The Texas Tribune (the “Services”). If a service is co-branded or developed by a third party, the third party’s privacy statement may also apply.

We have included several annotations in boxes to help explain the legal jargon and emphasize key sections. These annotations are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

“Personal Information” includes information that alone or when in combination with other information may be used to readily identify, contact, or locate you (e.g., name, address, telephone number, email address, and location). We do not consider “Personal Information” to include information that has been anonymized so that it does not allow a third party to easily identify a specific individual. By disclosing your Personal Information to us or using the Services, you consent to our collection and use of it consistent with applicable data protection law and this Privacy Policy (which is expressly incorporated into any Service’s terms of use).

HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION

We collect Personal Information when you:

We also collect information, such as anonymous usage statistics, by using cookies, server logs, and other similar technology as you use the Services. When we link Personal Information with other information, we treat all of the linked information as Personal Information.

Personal Information Collection.

In general, you can visit the Services without identifying yourself or revealing any of your Personal Information. In a few areas on the Services, we ask you to provide Personal Information, such as your email address, first and last name, and address that will enable us to enhance your use of the Services or for purposes such as facilitating correspondence with you, registering your entitlement to access certain special features of the Services, in connection with your participation in promotions or special programs, or to complete transactions, including donations. It is always your choice whether or not to provide that Personal Information. If you choose not to provide requested Personal Information, you may not be able to use certain features of the Services.

Using the Services. We collect information you post through the Services. For example, when you interact with other users by commenting on stories or submitting a contribution, we will collect the information you provide in such submissions, including any Personal Information.

Making Payments. When you make payments through the Services, such as in connection with making a donation, you may need to provide Personal Information, such as your credit card number and billing address. That information will be provided directly to our third party payment processor, and The Texas Tribune will not have access to and will not store or maintain your credit card information on our servers.

Customer Support. We may collect Personal Information through your communications with our customer-support team.

Location Data. The Services may collect location data to provide location-related functionality (“Location Data”). For example, we may collect and store your location information if you enable your mobile device to send it to us. We may link Location Data to other information we have collected about you.

Social Sign-On. You may be given the option to access or register for some features of the Services through the use of your user name and passwords for certain services provided by third parties (each, an “Integrated Service”), such as through the use of your Facebook credentials through Facebook Connect, or otherwise have the option to authorize an Integrated Service to provide Personal Information or other information to us. By authorizing us to connect with an Integrated Service, you authorize us to access and store your name, email address(es), date of birth, gender, current city, profile picture URL, and other information that the Integrated Service makes available to us, and to use and disclose it in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You should check your privacy settings on each Integrated Service to understand and change the information sent to us through each Integrated Service. Please review each Integrated Service’s terms of use and privacy policies carefully before using their services and connecting to the Services.

Contests, Giveaways, and Promotions. From time to time, The Texas Tribune may offer you the opportunity to participate in contests, giveaways, and other promotions, which you may decline to participate in. Any information submitted in connection with such activities will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy, except as specifically set forth in the rules for the applicable contest, giveaway, or promotion.

Outside Sources. We may obtain information, including Personal Information, about you from third parties and sources other than the Services, such as our partners, advertisers, and Integrated Services. For example, we may obtain commercially available demographic information from third parties or collect device ID information from your device as you use the Services. If we combine or associate information from other sources with Personal Information that we collect through the Services, we will treat the combined information as Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Automatic Data Collection. We and our vendors and suppliers may collect your usage activity, preferences, and browser details (such as your IP address and browser type) during your use of the Services.

Cookies and Related Technologies. Cookies are small lines of text/data that are written onto your computer by a website. The Texas Tribune and others acting on our behalf may use cookies, pixel tags, web beacons or other similar technologies to operate the Services. These technologies may collect and store Personal Information as well as usage statistics and other non-personal information. Most browsers allow you to block and delete cookies. If you do that, however, the Services may not work properly.

By using the Services, you are authorizing us to gather, parse, and retain data related to the provision of the Services.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We use Personal Information to:

We may use this information for any purpose, including for marketing purposes.


Internal and Service-Related Usage. We use information, including Personal Information to complete a transaction or do something that you have asked us to do, including to process e-commerce transactions, and may provide it to third parties to allow us to facilitate the Services. We may use and retain any data we collect to provide and improve our services.

Customer Service. We may send email to the email address you provide to us to verify your account and for informational and operational purposes, such as account management, customer service, or system maintenance and to alert you to product upgrades, special offers, updated information, and other new products and services from The Texas Tribune. If you request support or other information, we may need to use Personal Information to respond to your request. With your consent, we may also use Personal Information to notify you periodically about important topics, like Services updates, changes to our Privacy Policy, or notice of a security breach.

Marketing. We may use information, including Personal Information and data collected through cookies and similar technology, to provide online advertising on the Services and for our advertising or marketing purposes including on other websites or media and to facilitate transmittal of information that we believe may be useful, relevant, valuable, or otherwise of interest to you. These mailings may be sent electronically or in physical form. Only The Texas Tribune (or agents or contractors working on behalf of The Texas Tribune and under obligations of confidentiality) will send you these mailings. If you do not want to receive such mailings, simply tell us when you give us your Personal Information. Additionally, at any time you can opt-out of receiving further marketing from The Texas Tribune by contacting us and requesting to have your name removed from our marketing lists. In addition, with respect to mailings sent via email, you may also click the “unsubscribe” link in the email to have your email address removed from our marketing list. All requests to unsubscribe will be handled in a prompt and efficient manner and in accordance with applicable law. However, please note that certain Services-related email messages that we send users are necessary for the proper functioning and use of the Services, and users do not have the ability to opt-out of such email messages.

Contests, Giveaways, and Promotions. We may use the information you provide when registering for a contest, giveaway, or promotion to manage your entry, fulfill prizes (which may include disclosure to third parties that assist with such fulfillment), and for other marketing and promotional purposes related to the contest, giveaway, or promotion as disclosed on the rules applicable to a particular contest, giveaway, or promotion.

Aggregate Data. We may anonymize and aggregate data collected through the Services and use it for any purpose.

Location-Based Functionality. We use Location Data to provide location-based functionality.

Donation Attribution. If you make a financial or other donation to The Texas Tribune (e.g., become a member), The Texas Tribune may use any Personal Information you specify to be used as the attribution for your contribution in connection with any lists of donors to The Texas Tribune, including any donor lists posted on the Services. If you do not want your Personal Information used in this manner, you must mark the “Anonymous” box next to the “Attribution” form field on the Services (or other similar indication) when making your contribution.

Feedback. Any feedback, questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, or the like that you send to The Texas Tribune (“Feedback”) will be treated as being non-confidential and nonproprietary, and The Texas Tribune will be free to use such information for any purpose whatsoever including, but not limited to, developing and marketing products and services incorporating the information. We may read on the air and/or publish on the Services or in any medium now known or unknown, the Feedback that we receive. In doing so, we may edit your written Feedback for clarity or brevity and identify you by name and location as the author of the Feedback.

Public Forums. We may offer chat rooms, blogs, message boards, or similar public forums where you and other users of the Services may be able to publicly post information or communicate with others. Any Personal Information you voluntarily include on public profile page or on submit on a forum, blog, message board, chat room, or communication service on the Services can be viewed and used by other users and could be used to send you unsolicited messages. We may use Personal Information and non-personal information about you to identify you with a posting in a public forum. Any information you share in a public forum, including any Personal Information, is public information and may be seen, collected, or used by anyone, including third parties that do not adhere to this Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for events arising from the distribution of any information you choose to publicly post or share through the Services. To request removal of your Personal Information from any of our public forums, contact us at webmaster@texastribune.org. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your Personal Information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why.

HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

We may share your information:

We do not rent, sell, or share Personal Information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies for their direct marketing purposes, unless we have your permission.

Except as set described in this Privacy Policy, The Texas Tribune does not rent, sell, or share Personal Information it collects about you to or with third parties.

We Use Vendors and Service Providers. Agents or contractors of The Texas Tribune may have access to your Personal Information and other information, including Location Data, for the purpose of performing services on behalf of The Texas Tribune, including as necessary to process your online purchases and ship your purchased products, and we may transfer your Personal Information third parties who process and maintain your Personal Information on our behalf. All such agents or contractors who have access to your Personal Information are required to keep the information confidential and not use it for any other purpose than to carry out the services they are performing for The Texas Tribune or as otherwise required by law. We may use third-party service providers to help us analyze certain online activities. For example, these service providers may help us measure the performance of our online promotions or determine activity on the Services. We do not share any Personal Information about our users with these third parties, and these third parties do not collect such information on our behalf. In addition, information collected about you may be shared with other third parties as expressly stated on the page on which you provided such information.

Displaying to Other Users. The content you post to the Services may be displayed on the Services. Additionally, you may elect to use functionality in the Services to post information to social media services such as Facebook and Twitter. Other users of the Services may be able to see some information about you, such as your comments. We are not responsible for privacy practices of the other users who will view and use the information you post to the Services or that you post to social media services. You may adjust your privacy settings by editing your profile on the Services.

Publication to Social Media Services. You may elect to use functionality in the Services to post information to social media services such as Facebook and Twitter. If you elect to use this functionality, other users of the social media service may see some information about you included in such posted information. To control who can view information you post to social media services, you should check the privacy settings on those social media services.

Aggregate Data. We may allow our affiliates, vendors, and suppliers to have access to aggregate statistics about our users, traffic patterns, and related Services information. These aggregate statistics do not include Personal Information.

As Required By Law and Similar Disclosures. We may access, preserve, and disclose your Personal Information, other account information, and content if we believe doing so is required or appropriate to comply with law enforcement requests and legal process, such as a court order or subpoena; respond to your requests; or protect your, our, or others’ rights, property, or safety.

Merger, Sale, or Other Asset Transfers. Information about our users, including Personal Information, may be disclosed and otherwise transferred to an acquirer, or successor or assignee as part of any merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or similar transaction, as well as in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership in which information is transferred to one or more third parties as one of our business assets.

With your Permission. We may also disclose your Personal Information with your permission.

UPDATING OR DELETING PERSONAL INFORMATION

To update any of your Personal Information we hold about you, to request that we delete any information about you that we have obtained from an Integrated Service, to cancel your account and have all account information associated with your account deleted, or to change any of your marketing preferences, you may contact us at webmaster@texastribune.org. In certain cases you may update your Personal Information and preferences through the account management features of the Services.

We will make a sincere effort to respond in a timely manner to your request and, if applicable and appropriate, provide you access to the Personal Information you have provided us or make the requested change in our active databases as soon as reasonably practicable. Your right to access or correct your Personal Information is subject to applicable legal restrictions. We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. Please note that we may not be able to fulfill certain requests while allowing you access to certain benefits and features of the Services. We may retain your Personal Information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services and to maintain a record of your transactions for financial reporting and compliance purposes. Additionally, we will retain and use your Personal Information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

The Texas Tribune maintains physical, organizational, and electronic safeguards that are designed to improve the integrity and security of Personal Information in our custody and control. While we strive to protect your Personal Information, The Texas Tribune does not ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. We also cannot guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our safeguards.

You are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords or any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you’re online. If you post Personal Information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return.

By using the Services or providing Personal Information to us, you agree that we may communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues relating to your use of the Services. If we learn of a security system’s breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically by posting a notice on the Services or sending an email to you. You may have a legal right to receive this notice in writing. To receive free written notice of a security breach (or to withdraw your consent from receiving electronic notice), please notify us at webmaster@texastribune.org.

THIRD-PARTY SITES

Please be aware that other websites that may be accessed through the Services may collect Personal Information about you. This Privacy Policy does not cover the information practices of those third-party websites. You should read the privacy statements and terms and conditions of linked or referenced sites you enter. These third-party websites may send their own cookies and other tracking devices to you, log your IP address, and otherwise collect data or solicit Personal Information.

THE TEXAS TRIBUNE DOES NOT CONTROL AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT THIRD PARTIES DO IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR WEBSITES OR HOW THEY HANDLE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. PLEASE EXERCISE CAUTION AND CONSULT THE PRIVACY POLICIES POSTED ON EACH THIRD-PARTY WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

INTERNATIONAL USERS

By using the Services, you will transfer data to the United States.


The Services are hosted in the United States and is intended for visitors located within the United States. If you choose to use the Services from Canada, the European Union or other regions of the world with laws governing data collection and use different from and potentially more strict than U.S. law, please note that you are transferring your Personal Information outside of those regions to the United States for storage and processing. Also, we may transfer your data from the U.S. to other countries or regions in connection with storage and processing of data, fulfilling your requests, and operating the Services. By providing any information, including Personal Information, on or to the Services, you consent to such transfer, storage, and processing.

CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13 and we do not want it. We will take steps to delete it if we learn we have collected it.


The Services are not intended for or directed to persons under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13 without obtaining parental consent. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use or access the Services at any time or in any manner. If we learn personally identifiable information has been collected from persons under the age of 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will take appropriate steps to remove that information from our database. If you are a parent or guardian and discover that your child under 13 years of age has obtained an account on the Services, then you may alert us at webmaster@texastribune.org and request that we delete that child’s Personal Information from our systems.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY AND PRACTICES

We may revise this Privacy Policy, so review it periodically.

Posting of Revised Privacy Policy. This is our entire and exclusive Privacy Policy and it supersedes any earlier version. We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we do so, we will post the new version on this web page, and the revised version will be effective when it is posted. If you are concerned about how your information is used, bookmark this page and read this Privacy Policy periodically.

New Uses of Personal Information. From time to time, we may desire to use or disclose Personal Information in ways not previously disclosed in our Privacy Policy. If our practices change regarding previously collected Personal Information in a way that would be materially less restrictive than stated in the version of this Privacy Policy in effect at the time we collected the information, we will make reasonable efforts to provide notice and obtain consent to any such uses as may be required by law.

CONTACTING THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

Please contact us with any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, your Personal Information, our use and disclosure practices, or your consent choices by email at webmaster@texastribune.org or by writing to us at the following address:

The Texas Tribune
919 Congress Ave
The Sixth Floor
Austin, TX 78701

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