Privacy Policy

The short version

Reading this site takes no account. We measure how the site is used with Google Analytics and Meta Pixel, and beyond that we only hold personal information about you if you gave it to us by filling in a form. You can have it deleted by asking.

What we collect, and when

Just reading

We use Google Analytics and Meta Pixel to understand which pages are read and how people arrive, so we know what is worth covering. Google Analytics sets cookies on your device and shares data with Google; you can opt out with their browser add-on or by blocking cookies for this site. The Meta Pixel shares which pages you visit with Meta, so we can measure what our Facebook and Instagram posts and ads bring in; you can limit it in your Facebook ad preferences or by blocking cookies for this site. Our web server also keeps ordinary access logs, which include IP addresses and are used to keep the site running and to spot abuse.

If you sign up or contact us

The forms on this site ask for:

• your name
• your email address
• your phone number, where a form asks for one
• a referral or affiliate code, if you were given one
• whatever you choose to write to us in a message

If you pay for something

Payments are handled by Stripe. Your card details go to Stripe and never to us -- we store only the customer reference Stripe gives back, so we can tell which account a payment belongs to.

Email and text messages

We record separately whether you have agreed to email and to text messages, and we treat them as separate permissions. Agreeing to one is not agreeing to the other, and neither is a condition of anything else.

If you give us a mobile number when you sign up, we text you a one-time code to verify your account. We send other text messages -- local alerts and updates -- only if you tick the box agreeing to them, and we keep a record of when you agreed and the words you agreed to. Every message says who it is from; reply STOP to end them or HELP for help. Message frequency varies, and message and data rates may apply. Consent to texts is never required to buy anything.

No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Text-messaging opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third party, except the provider that delivers the messages for us.

To stop email, use the unsubscribe link in any message or write to us. To change either permission, write to info@emeraldcoastconnected.com.

Who else sees it

We do not sell your information, and we do not share it for anyone else's marketing. It reaches only:

• Stripe, to take a payment
• the services that deliver our email and, if we ever send them, our text messages
• our own hosting, which stores the data
• our analytics provider (Google Analytics and Meta Pixel)
• anyone we are legally required to give it to

The news on this site

Stories on the news page summarise what other publishers and public bodies have already published, and link back to them. If you are named in something here and want it removed, write to us and it comes down while we look at it. That applies whether or not the original publisher takes theirs down -- we can only speak for our own page.

Conditions data

Weather and beach conditions are read from public government sources -- the National Weather Service, NOAA, NASA and the EPA. We ask them for readings for a fixed location on this coast; we do not ask for or use your location.

How long we keep it

For as long as you have an account or an open enquiry with us, and after that for as long as we need it for our records or the law requires. Ask us to delete it and we will, except where we are required to keep something.

Your choices

Write to info@emeraldcoastconnected.com and ask us to show you what we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or stop contacting you. You do not need to give a reason, and it costs nothing.

Children

This site is not aimed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their information. If you believe we have, tell us and we will delete it.

Changes

If this policy changes we will update the date at the top. The date is the honest signal -- a policy with no date is one nobody can check.

Contact

Emerald Coast Connected, Fort Walton Beach, Florida. info@emeraldcoastconnected.com