Privacy Policy
Effective date: November 1, 2026
This policy describes what happens to information when you read hearitlocal.com, a small publication about community stories, local business and music and arts. The operator runs the site, and the words we and us refer to the operator.
Visit logs
The servers that deliver Hearitlocal keep ordinary logs. An entry can hold your IP address, the time of the request, the article asked for, your browser and device type and the referring page. We use logs to keep the site running, to catch errors and abuse, and to see broadly whether a bakery profile or a gig write-up is being read. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in running a secure, working site.
Cookies and similar technology
Hearitlocal may store a few small technical items in your browser so that article pages load and display as intended. None of them is there to follow readers from one site to another. If the site ever adds analytics, advertising or affiliate tracking, this policy will be updated first, and where the law requires it we will ask for consent.
Browser controls and opt-out signals
Your browser lets you block or clear cookies, browse privately and install tools that limit tracking. If it sends a do-not-track or global privacy signal, we treat it as an opt-out wherever the technology behind the site can honour it. Articles stay readable even with storage blocked.
Emails and anything you send
When you write to [email protected], we receive your address and whatever you include, such as a story tip, a correction or details about your shop or event. We use it to answer you and to check or fix an article, because you asked us to. We do not sell messages and will not quote or name you publicly without asking.
Newsletters and forms
If Hearitlocal offers a newsletter or form, the details you enter are used only for that purpose, such as sending the issue you chose or considering your event listing. Our basis is your consent, and every mailing explains how to stop it.
Outside services
Publishing online relies on a hosting provider and delivery infrastructure, which handle technical data about each visit so pages arrive. We currently have no embedded videos, maps or music players. If we add one, such as a track from a local band, its provider could receive data about your visit under its own privacy notice, and we will say so here.
How long we keep things
Logs are held for a limited period, then deleted or reduced to anonymous totals. Emails are kept while they help us answer you, correct a story or meet a legal duty, then removed.
Asking us about your data
Depending on where you live, you may ask what personal information we hold, have it corrected or deleted, object to some uses, restrict processing or receive a copy. Email [email protected] and say what you want. We may need to confirm who you are first, and we will reply within the legal time limit.
Withdrawing consent
Where we rely on consent, you can take it back whenever you like. Look to the Cookie Policy page linked in the footer for the steps, and write to us if you want a newsletter stopped or a message you sent erased.
Complaints to a regulator
If you feel we have mishandled your information, you may complain to your local data protection authority in the EU, EEA or UK, or to the OAIC in Australia. You may go straight to a regulator without writing to us first.
Young readers
Hearitlocal covers pubs, venues and local trades, and hearitlocal.com is meant for adults, not under-13s. Details about children are not something we seek out. A parent whose child has sent us a message can email from their own address, name the message, and we will delete it and any reply.
Security
The site is served through a hosting provider that handles encrypted delivery, our mailbox sits behind a private login, and we store little personal data. Organisers sometimes email contact details in tips, so we delete those once the story is done. No online system is perfectly secure.
Data moving between countries
Our hosting and email providers may run systems in several countries, so information about your visit or message may be handled where privacy laws differ from yours. We choose providers with care and share only what the service needs.
Changes to this policy
We will revise this policy if the site changes, for instance by adding a newsletter, embedded media or analytics. The effective date above shows when this version began, and significant changes will be flagged here.