TC Sentinel ("we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website at https://www.tcsentinel.com ("the Site").
1. Information We Collect
Information You Provide Voluntarily
- Newsletter subscriptions — Your email address and, optionally, your name and preferred news sections. We use double opt-in to confirm your subscription.
- Paid subscriptions — When you subscribe to a premium or insider plan, Stripe (our payment processor) collects your payment information. We receive your Stripe customer ID and subscription status but never see or store your full credit card number.
- Letters to the Editor — Your name, city, email address, and the text of your letter.
- Obituary submissions — Submitter name, email, and phone number; information about the deceased; an optional photo; and payment information processed through Stripe.
- Comments — Your name, email address, and comment text.
- News tips — Headline, description, and optionally your section preference. Insider-tier subscribers' tips are linked to their subscriber account.
- Corrections — A description of the error and suggested correction text.
- Data requests — Your email address when you submit a data export or deletion request.
Information Collected Automatically
- Analytics data — When you have consented to analytics cookies, we collect anonymous usage data including pages viewed, session duration, device type, browser type, and approximate geographic region through Google Analytics 4.
- Article view tracking — We track article views using a hashed identifier (derived from your IP address and browser user-agent) to enforce metered access limits. This hash cannot be reversed to identify you personally.
- Engagement events — For subscribers, we track email opens, link clicks, and article reads to improve our content and service.
- Server logs — Our servers automatically record standard request information including IP address, timestamp, requested URL, HTTP status code, and referring URL. These logs are retained for 30 days for security and troubleshooting purposes.
2. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use the following categories of cookies and browser storage:
Necessary (Always Active)
These are essential for the Site to function and cannot be switched off:
- Cookie consent preferences — Stores your cookie category choices (localStorage).
- Theme preference — Remembers your light/dark mode selection (localStorage).
- Push notification subscription — Service worker registration for browser push notifications, if enabled.
Analytics (Optional)
These help us understand how visitors interact with the Site. They are only loaded if you consent:
- Google Analytics 4 (via Google Tag Manager) — Collects anonymous data about pageviews, sessions, device type, and general geographic region. No personally identifiable information is sent to Google Analytics. Google's data processing terms apply.
- Engagement tracking pixel — A small transparent image in newsletter emails to track open rates.
Marketing (Optional)
These are used only if you consent:
- Social media sharing — When you share articles, the respective social platform may set its own cookies.
- Amazon Associates — Affiliate link tracking cookies set by Amazon when you click product links in our Deals & Picks section.
You can change your cookie preferences at any time using the cookie settings button in the Site footer or by clearing your browser storage.
3. Third-Party Services
We rely on the following third-party services to operate TC Sentinel:
| Service |
Purpose |
Data Shared |
| Stripe |
Payment processing |
Email, payment details |
| Google Analytics |
Website analytics |
Anonymous usage data |
| Resend |
Email delivery |
Email address, name |
| Amazon Associates |
Affiliate links |
Click-through data (set by Amazon) |
Each service processes data according to its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review them.
4. How We Use Your Information
- Deliver the daily newsletter and breaking news alerts to subscribers.
- Process subscription payments and manage account access.
- Publish letters to the editor, obituaries, and comments as submitted.
- Enforce metered article access limits for non-subscribers.
- Improve our content quality, coverage, and reader experience.
- Understand readership patterns and content performance.
- Respond to corrections, inquiries, and support requests.
- Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes.
5. Data Retention
- Subscriber data — Retained while your subscription is active, plus 30 days after unsubscription to process the removal.
- Payment records — Transaction records are retained for 7 years to comply with tax and accounting requirements.
- Published submissions — Letters to the editor, obituaries, comments, and corrections are kept indefinitely as part of the published record.
- Analytics data — Retained per Google Analytics' standard retention settings (14 months).
- Article view tracking — Hashed visitor records are retained for the current calendar month only.
- Server logs — Retained for 30 days.
- Engagement events — Retained for 12 months for active subscribers; deleted upon account deletion.
6. Data Security
We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect your personal information, including:
- HTTPS encryption for all data transmission.
- Nightly encrypted backups of all databases.
- Access controls limiting database access to authorized personnel.
- Secure password hashing for dashboard user accounts.
No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
7. Your Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Correction — Request correction of inaccurate personal data.
- Deletion — Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
- Portability — Request your data in a structured, machine-readable format (JSON).
- Objection — Object to certain processing of your personal data.
- Unsubscribe — Every newsletter email includes an unsubscribe link that takes effect immediately.
To exercise any of these rights, you may:
We will respond to verified requests within 30 days.
8. For European Users (GDPR)
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the following additional provisions apply:
Legal Basis for Processing:
- Consent — For analytics cookies, marketing cookies, and newsletter subscriptions (double opt-in).
- Contract — For processing payments and delivering paid subscription services.
- Legitimate Interest — For operating the Site, preventing fraud, enforcing metered access, and improving our services.
- Legal Obligation — For retaining financial records as required by law.
Data Transfers: Your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States, where our servers are located. We rely on Standard Contractual Clauses and our third-party providers' data protection frameworks to ensure adequate protection of your data.
Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority if you believe our processing of your personal data violates the General Data Protection Regulation.
9. For California Residents (CCPA)
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), California residents have additional rights:
- Right to Know — You may request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you in the preceding 12 months.
- Right to Delete — You may request deletion of personal information we have collected, subject to certain exceptions (e.g., completing a transaction, detecting security incidents, complying with legal obligations).
- Right to Opt-Out of Sale — We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- Right to Non-Discrimination — We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights. However, certain features (such as personalized content recommendations) may require data processing to function.
- Right to Correct — You may request correction of inaccurate personal information.
Categories of personal information collected in the preceding 12 months:
| Category |
Examples |
Sold? |
| Identifiers |
Email address, name |
No |
| Internet activity |
Pages viewed, session duration |
No |
| Commercial information |
Subscription tier, payment status |
No |
To exercise your CCPA rights, use our data request portal or email news@tcsentinel.com. We will verify your identity before processing any request.
10. Children's Privacy
TC Sentinel is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or 16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at news@tcsentinel.com and we will delete it promptly.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated through a notice on the Site or via email to active subscribers. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was most recently revised. Continued use of the Site after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
12. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, contact us at:
news@tcsentinel.com
TC Sentinel · Stuart, FL
For data access, export, or deletion requests, please use our
self-service data request portal.
