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Privacy Policy

Effective August 5, 2026

Short version.

We collect very little. We never sell reader data and we never hand an email list to an advertiser. If you send us a tip, protecting you is the whole point of how that form is built. If you opt in to text messages, your number stays with us and the carrier that delivers the message, and goes nowhere else.

1. What we collect

Usually just an email address, if you subscribe to the newsletter. Advertisers and obituary submitters give us the contact and billing details needed to run the notice. Anyone who opts in to text messages gives us a mobile number.

Site analytics are privacy-respecting: no third-party cookies, no behavioral profiling, no advertising trackers.

2. The tip line is different on purpose

The tip line does not require your name or your phone number. That is a deliberate design decision, not an oversight. If you choose to leave contact details so a reporter can follow up, we treat them as confidential source information and protect them accordingly. We do not publish a source's identity without that source's agreement.

3. Text messages

We text only people who opt in, by checking the consent box on a form here or by telling us directly. Consent is never a condition of reading the paper or of buying an ad.

Your mobile information will not be sold or shared with third parties for promotional or marketing purposes. No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Text messaging originator opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties. All other categories of information described in this policy exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent.

Messages carry breaking local news, publication notices, and, for advertisers, billing and proof notices. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.

Reply STOP to any message to stop receiving them. Reply HELP for help. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

4. Who we share with

Only the services that let the paper run: website hosting, the email service that sends the newsletter, our messaging provider, and payment processing for advertising. They may use the information only to do that work for us.

We do not sell, rent, or trade reader information, and we do not give advertisers our subscriber list. None of the categories above include text messaging opt-in data or consent.

5. Legal requests

We disclose information where the law requires it. Where a request touches source material, we will resist it to the extent the law allows, because a newspaper that gives up its sources on request stops being useful to the community it covers.

6. How long we keep it

Newsletter subscriptions are kept until you unsubscribe. Advertising records are kept as long as tax and contract obligations require. Opt-out records are kept indefinitely, so we never message someone again after they say stop.

7. Your rights

Texas residents may ask what we hold, get a copy, correct it, or have it deleted, and may opt out of sale or targeted advertising. We do not sell personal data or run targeted advertising in the first place. Ask through the contact details on our About page, and we will respond within 45 days.

8. Changes

We update this page when the paper or the law changes, and the effective date above always reflects the current version. Our full editorial standards and terms of use live on the Terms, Ethics & Privacy page.