Privacy

This page explains, in plain language, what information this website does and does not collect. We try to collect as little as possible.

The short version

• Our own pages do not set cookies. The advertising service on this site does; see below.
• Article read counts are anonymous totals. Nothing about who read an article is stored.
• The site carries labeled ads from Google AdSense. It has no social-media tracking pixels.
• The contact, question and newsletter forms open your own email app. The website does not store what you type into them. The community achievements form is the one exception: it stores what you submit and shows it publicly.
• We do not sell reader personal information.

Advertising

This site shows ads placed by Google AdSense. We do not choose individual ads and advertisers have no say in our reporting. Google and its partners use cookies and similar technology to show and measure ads, and may use information about your visits to this and other websites to show ads that are more relevant to you.

You can turn off personalized advertising at adssettings.google.com, and learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. You can also opt out of many ad networks at aboutads.info/choices. We receive totals from the ad service, such as how many times ads were shown, not information about individual readers.

Google's ad code can also load other Google services in the background, such as a reCAPTCHA security frame and ad-traffic quality checks that look for invalid clicks and automated visits. Those services run on Google's servers and under Google's privacy policy.

Technical information and server logs

Like nearly every website, this one is delivered through hosting and network services that automatically process technical information when a page is requested. That can include your IP address, browser and device type, the page requested and the date and time. This information is used to deliver the site, keep it running and protect it from abuse.

Visit counts

We use a privacy-focused, cookie-free analytics service, operated by the same network provider that delivers this site, to count visits and see which pages are read. The provider adds a small script to each page for this. The service does not use cookies, does not build profiles of individual readers and does not follow you to other websites. We see totals, such as how many times a page was viewed, not who viewed it. The provider keeps its own technical records under its own retention schedule, which we do not control.

Read counts on articles

Each article shows how many times it has been read. A read is counted only when an article stays open long enough to be read and the reader reaches the end of it. When that happens, the read-count application records only the article identifier. It does not store your IP address, a device identifier or any other information about you with the count. Routine hosting and network services may still process the technical request information described above.

The counts are approximate. They are reported by readers' browsers and a person can inflate them, so treat them as rough totals. The anonymous totals are kept for as long as the article is on the site.

So that one person reading an article is counted once and not many times, the page saves a small note in your own browser recording that the article was read and when. That note stays on your device, is not a cookie, is not sent to us and is not used for anything else. You can clear it at any time by clearing this site's data in your browser.

If you switch the site between its light and dark display, the page saves that choice (the word light or dark) in your own browser so it is remembered on your next visit. It stays on your device, is not a cookie and is not sent to us.

The contact form, the question form and the newsletter form

These forms prepare an email in your own email app. They do not send what you type to the website, and the website does not save it. Nothing is sent until you review the message and press Send. If no email app opens, the page offers a Copy the message button; it copies the text to your own device's clipboard and sends nothing anywhere. The email itself travels through your email provider and ours, and your email address is on it.

Email you send us

Email sent to contactus@gcwhistleblower.com is received and kept in the publication's email account, the same as any email you send to anyone. It includes your email address and anything you choose to write or attach. Our email provider may apply automated spam filtering to incoming mail. We keep correspondence for as long as it is needed to follow up, check facts and keep our records of requests for comment, and we delete an email on request unless it is part of a published correction or request log entry.

The Friday Five, questions and reader photos

Signing up for The Friday Five, sending a question to Ask the Whistleblower, or sending a reader photo each opens your own email app. Nothing is sent until you press Send. We keep a newsletter address only to send the weekly email, until you ask us to remove it. A question or photo is published only as described on the form, and a name is never published without permission.

Community achievements

Community achievement submissions are intended for public display. The form sends what you type (display name, community, category and the achievement) to our website, where it is stored and shown publicly right away. The site stores those four items and the time of the post, and nothing else: not your email address, IP address or browser details. Posts stay on the site until you ask us to remove them. To have a post removed, write to contactus@gcwhistleblower.com; a removed post stops being shown and we delete its stored text. Please post only about yourself or about someone who has given you permission, and never include a child's name or any private details.

Children

This site is for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you think a child has sent us personal information, write to us and we will remove it.

Tips and sensitive information

Ordinary email is not a secure channel. Please avoid sending confidential or highly sensitive information through the contact form or ordinary email, and think about whether the address you write from, or details in your message, could identify you. If you want your name withheld from publication, say so in your message. We do not publish a source's name without permission.

Links to other sites

Our reports link to government websites, documents, video recordings and social-media pages. Those sites have their own privacy practices, which we do not control.

Questions and removal requests

Privacy questions and removal requests can be sent to contactus@gcwhistleblower.com.

If the way this site works changes, this page will be updated to match.