Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Inkster Now! is a local news website serving Inkster, Michigan, operated by Inkster Now! ("we," "us"). Our mailing address is Inkster, Michigan 48141. This policy covers inksternow.com and our email newsletters. It does not cover other websites we link to.

2. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Newsletter signup: your email address.
• Comments: the display name and comment text you enter.
• Story submissions and tips: your name, email, optional phone number, the content you send, and any photos or files you attach; including whatever metadata those files carry.
• Marketplace and job listings: your name, contact details, listing content and photos. The contact information you enter on a listing is published publicly so buyers or applicants can reach you.
• Lost and found pet posts: the location, description, photo and any phone number you choose to include, all published publicly.
• Obituary and event notices: the information submitted for publication.
• Payments: handled by Stripe. See section 7.
• Correspondence: emails, letters and messages you send us.

Information collected automatically

• IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, screen size
• Pages viewed, time on page, referring site, links clicked
• Approximate location derived from IP address (city level, not precise GPS)
• Cookies and similar storage, see section 4

Information from others

Advertising and analytics providers may share aggregate reporting with us. We may receive information from a source or tipster about a third party in the ordinary course of newsgathering.

3. How we use information

• To publish the content you submit, after editorial review
• To send the newsletter you asked for
• To let a reporter follow up on a tip
• To process payments and deliver what you paid for
• To moderate comments and enforce our Terms of Use
• To understand what readers find useful and improve the site
• To sell and serve advertising
• To detect fraud, abuse and security problems
• To comply with law, respond to legal process, and protect our rights and the safety of others

We do not use your information to make automated decisions that produce legal effects about you.

4. Cookies and tracking

Cookies are small files stored by your browser. We and our partners use three kinds:

• Strictly necessary, remembering that you dismissed a banner, keeping a form's contents, storing your display name for comments. The site can't work properly without these.
• Analytics, counting visits and understanding which stories get read.
• Advertising, used by ad networks to limit repeat ads, measure performance, and in some cases personalize what you see.

Most browsers let you block or delete cookies in their settings. Blocking all cookies will break parts of the site. Some browsers send a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal; where required by law, we treat a GPC signal as a valid request to opt out of sharing your information for targeted advertising.

5. Advertising

We run advertising to pay for reporting. Specific disclosures our ad partners require us to make:

• 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 visit to our site and other sites on the internet.
• You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
• You may opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies at optout.aboutads.info or optout.networkadvertising.org.

Turning off personalized ads does not remove ads. You will still see advertising; it just won't be tailored to you.

Sponsored content; articles paid for by an advertiser; is always labeled as sponsored. Advertisers have no involvement in our news coverage. See our editorial independence policy.

6. How we share information

We share personal information only in these situations:

• Publicly, at your direction, content and contact details you submit for publication.
• Service providers who operate the site on our behalf: our web host, email newsletter provider, analytics provider, payment processor and advertising partners. They may use the information only to provide their service to us.
• Legal requirements, to comply with a subpoena, court order or other legal process, subject to section 12 below.
• Safety, where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to prevent imminent physical harm.
• Business transfer; if the publication is sold or merged, subject to this policy.

We do not sell your personal information for money. Some privacy laws define "sale" or "sharing" broadly enough to include the use of advertising cookies for cross-context behavioral advertising. To the extent that applies, you can opt out using the links in section 5 or a GPC signal.

7. Payments

Payments are processed by Stripe. When you pay, you are taken to a page hosted by Stripe. Your card number, expiration date and security code are entered on Stripe's systems and are never transmitted to or stored by us. We receive only a confirmation, the amount, the last four digits, and a reference identifying which listing or item was paid for.

Stripe's handling of your data is governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy.

8. Your choices and rights

• Newsletter: every email has an unsubscribe link. We honor opt-outs promptly and in any event within 10 business days, as required by federal law.
• Comments and listings: email privacy@inksternow.com to have something you posted removed. We'll generally do it, subject to section 12.
• Cookies: use your browser settings and the ad opt-out links in section 5.
• Access, correction, deletion: email privacy@inksternow.com. We respond to all requests, from any state, whether or not the law requires it of us.

We will never discriminate against you, charge you more, give you less, or refuse service, for exercising a privacy right.

9. State privacy rights

Michigan has no comprehensive consumer privacy law. Michigan protects personal data through targeted statutes including the Identity Theft Protection Act and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. Legislation to create a broader framework has been introduced but has not been enacted. We follow the practices in this policy regardless.

Roughly twenty states now have comprehensive privacy laws in effect. Most apply only to businesses above revenue or data-volume thresholds that a publication our size does not meet. We extend the core rights to everyone anyway:

• The right to know what personal information we hold about you
• The right to a copy of it
• The right to correct inaccuracies
• The right to deletion
• The right to opt out of targeted advertising
• The right to appeal if we deny a request

To exercise any of these, email privacy@inksternow.com with "Privacy Request" in the subject line. We may need to verify your identity before acting, and we'll respond within 45 days. If we deny your request, you may appeal by replying; if we deny the appeal, residents of some states may complain to their state attorney general.

An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf with written proof of authorization.

10. EEA, UK and Switzerland

We are a local publication in Michigan and do not target readers in Europe, but the web is global. If you are in the EEA, UK or Switzerland:

• Our legal bases for processing are consent (newsletter, advertising cookies), contract (payments), and legitimate interests (site security, understanding readership, journalism).
• Where required, advertising and cookie consent is collected through a consent management platform before ad cookies are set.
• You have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection, and may withdraw consent at any time.
• Your information is processed in the United States.
• You may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

Journalistic processing is subject to exemptions under GDPR Article 85 and equivalent UK provisions.

11. Children

This site is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. You must be at least 13 to submit content, post a comment or sign up for the newsletter, and at least 18 to make a purchase or post a marketplace or job listing.

If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, email privacy@inksternow.com and we will delete it.

When we publish photographs or information involving minors in the course of reporting, we apply the additional care described in our ethics policy.

12. Journalism and source protection

This section matters more than any other on this page.

We are a news organization. We do not disclose the identity of confidential sources, and we will resist any demand for source material to the fullest extent the law allows, including under Michigan's reporter shield protections and the First Amendment.

Requests to delete or correct personal information do not extend to information we hold for journalistic purposes, including reporting notes, source communications and published articles. A privacy request is not a mechanism for removing accurate news coverage. If you believe something we published is inaccurate, that is a correction request, and we take those seriously.

If we receive a subpoena or law-enforcement demand for reader or source information, we will notify the affected person before responding unless legally prohibited from doing so.

13. Retention and security

We keep information only as long as we need it: newsletter addresses until you unsubscribe; submissions and correspondence for our editorial archive; payment records for as long as tax and accounting rules require, generally seven years. Published articles are part of the historical record and are kept indefinitely.

We use HTTPS across the site, limit who can access reader information, and rely on established vendors for payments and email. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you as required by Michigan's Identity Theft Protection Act and any other applicable law.

14. Changes and contact

If we make material changes to this policy we'll post the revised version here with a new effective date and, where the change is significant, note it on the front page or in the newsletter.

Questions, requests or complaints:

• Email: privacy@inksternow.com
• Mail: Inkster Now!, Inkster, Michigan 48141
• Phone: (424) 235-8216