Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Wagener Living ("we," "our," or "us") is a volunteer-operated community website serving Wagener, Salley, Perry, New Holland, and surrounding areas. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you use our website (the "Site").

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

We may collect information you voluntarily provide, including:

• Account Information: Name, email address, and password when you create an account
• User Submissions: Business listings, events, recipes, and other content you submit
• Contact Information: Information provided through our contact forms

2.2 Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our Site, we may automatically collect:

• Log Data: IP address, browser type, pages visited, and access times
• Cookies: Small data files stored on your device for session management and preferences
• Analytics: Basic usage statistics to help us improve the Site

3. How We Use Information

We use collected information to:

• Operate and maintain the Site
• Process and display user-submitted content
• Communicate with you about your account or submissions
• Improve user experience and site functionality
• Protect against misuse, spam, and unauthorized access
• Comply with legal obligations

4. Information Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties.

We may share information only in the following circumstances:

• Public Content: Information you submit for public display (business listings, events, recipes) will be visible to all site visitors
• Legal Requirements: When required by law, subpoena, or legal process
• Protection: To protect our rights, safety, or property, or that of our users
• Service Providers: With trusted third parties who help operate our Site (e.g., web hosting), bound by confidentiality obligations

5. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies for:

• Essential Functions: Maintaining your login session and preferences
• Analytics: Understanding how visitors use our Site (see below)

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect some Site functionality.

6. Analytics

We use Matomo, a privacy-focused, self-hosted analytics platform to understand how visitors use our Site. Unlike third-party analytics services:

• All analytics data is stored on our own servers, not shared with third parties
• We do not sell or share analytics data with advertisers or data brokers
• We collect basic usage information such as pages visited, referring sites, browser type, and general location (country/region level)
• Analytics data is used solely to improve site functionality and content

If you use a content blocker or privacy browser extension, our server-side analytics may still collect basic page view information, but this data is anonymized and never shared.

7. Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your information. However, no internet transmission or electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

8. Data Retention

We retain account information as long as your account is active. We retain user-submitted public content (listings, events, recipes) indefinitely unless you request removal. We retain log data and analytics for a reasonable period for security and improvement purposes.

9. Your Rights

You may:

• Access: Request a copy of information we hold about you
• Correct: Update or correct inaccurate information
• Delete: Request deletion of your account and associated data
• Opt-out: Unsubscribe from communications or disable cookies

To exercise these rights, please contact us using our contact page.

10. Third-Party Services

Our Site may include links to or integrations with third-party services (weather data, maps, external websites). These services have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for their practices.

11. Children's Privacy

Our Site is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post any changes on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. Your continued use of the Site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. California Privacy Rights

California residents may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). As a small, non-commercial community site, we may be exempt from certain CCPA requirements, but we respect your privacy rights regardless.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us through our contact page.