Effective date: October 12, 2026
About this policy
Mississippi Delta Advocate ("we," "us," or "our") publishes MSDeltaAdvocate.News. This policy describes how we handle personal information in connection with our website, newsroom communications, and website features accessed through a mobile browser or an app that displays our website. Separate app permissions or software development kits may require additional disclosures in the app and its store listing.
Questions or requests about this policy may be sent to info@msdeltaadvocate.news with the subject "Privacy Request." This policy addresses information we handle through these services. It does not govern independent websites or services reached through our links.
Information we collect
Information you provide. When you contact the newsroom, submit a news tip, send a photograph or document, or use a form, we receive the information you choose to provide, such as your name, email address, telephone number, message, and attachments. If a newsletter, comment, account, subscription, or purchase feature is available and you use it, we also receive the information needed for that feature. Please avoid sending passwords, payment-card details, government identification numbers, or other sensitive information in ordinary email or news-tip forms.
Technical information. Our hosting and website systems may record IP addresses, browser and device information, dates and times of requests, referring pages, requested URLs, and security or error logs. IP addresses may indicate an approximate location. Cookies or similar technologies may keep you signed in, remember settings, support site functions, or measure usage when those tools are enabled.
Editorial information. We may obtain information from public records, public sources, interviews, contributors, and reporting partners for journalism. Information in published reporting may identify individuals. Publication of news content is separate from tracking readers or operating their accounts.
How we use information
We use information to deliver and maintain the website; respond to messages and privacy requests; investigate and report stories; manage accounts and reader features when available; deliver communications you request; understand site performance; detect abuse and security problems; and comply with applicable legal obligations. Where paid services are offered, information may also be used to complete transactions and maintain necessary records.
We use contact details for marketing communications when you sign up or when otherwise permitted by applicable law. You can unsubscribe through the link in a marketing email or contact us. Service messages and replies to your requests may still be sent.
Cookies and reader choices
Essential cookies support functions such as staff login, security, and saved preferences. Optional analytics, advertising, or embedded-media tools, when enabled, may use cookies, pixels, local storage, or similar technologies to measure visits or interactions. Third parties operating those tools may collect device identifiers, IP addresses, browsing activity, and approximate location.
You can use your browser settings to block or remove cookies. Some features may stop working. If the site displays a cookie or privacy-preference control, use it to manage the categories it covers. A setting on this website may not apply to another browser, device, external website, or app.
Some browsers offer "Do Not Track." Our website does not treat that signal as a universal opt-out because the signal has no uniform implementation standard. Where applicable law requires recognition of an opt-out preference signal such as Global Privacy Control, we will honor that signal for the processing it covers. You can also send an opt-out request to our privacy contact.
When information is disclosed
Service providers. We may disclose information to providers that support website hosting, storage, security, email delivery, analytics, technical maintenance, and payment processing, as needed for their services. Our website is hosted with Hostinger. A provider may process information on our behalf under its applicable terms and our instructions.
Public contributions. Comments or other material submitted for public display, when that feature is available, may be visible to other readers. News tips and attachments sent privately are not automatically published, but reporting based on them may be published. Do not assume ordinary email or a submission form guarantees anonymity or confidentiality; contact the newsroom to discuss a sensitive submission before sending it.
Legal and business purposes. We may disclose information when required by law or legal process, to protect rights or safety, to investigate fraud or abuse, or in connection with a business transfer such as a merger or acquisition, subject to applicable law.
Advertising and external services
If advertising, affiliate links, or sponsored content are enabled, advertisers and related technology providers may collect information about interactions with advertisements or links. These disclosures may be considered a sale, sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising, or targeted advertising under some privacy laws, depending on the tools and their configuration. Where those laws apply, you may request an opt-out through our privacy contact and any applicable on-site preference control.
Podcast players, videos, social-media features, and other third-party content may connect your browser to another provider when loaded or used. That provider may receive technical information and apply its own cookies or privacy practices. Links to external sites, social pages, app stores, and payment providers are governed by those services' own privacy policies.
AI assisted newsroom work
Where our staff use the MDA ChatGPT Newsroom tool, text that staff choose to submit is sent to OpenAI to assist with drafting stories, headlines, or excerpts. This is an editorial tool: using it is not required to read our stories. It does not automatically send every visitor's browsing activity to OpenAI.
Submitted text may include reporting notes or information about people if staff include that information. Staff should remove unnecessary personal information and avoid confidential source material. The provider processes submitted text under its applicable terms and privacy practices. Other AI features, if introduced, will require review of their data handling and corresponding updates to this policy.
Retention and security
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably needed for the purposes described here, taking account of the type of information, account activity, reporting needs, security, recordkeeping obligations, and legal disputes. Different categories may have different retention periods. Published stories and editorial archives may remain available for historical and journalistic purposes. Backup copies may persist until their normal replacement or deletion cycle.
We take reasonable measures intended to protect personal information. No website, email service, or storage system can guarantee complete security. Please use secure account credentials and avoid sending sensitive information through ordinary email.
Your privacy requests
Depending on where you live and which laws apply to our services, you may have rights to access or obtain a copy of personal information; correct inaccurate information; request deletion; opt out of sale, sharing, or targeted advertising; limit certain uses of sensitive information; or withdraw consent where processing depends on consent. These rights may be subject to exceptions, including legal obligations, security, and protected journalistic activities.
Send a request to info@msdeltaadvocate.news, identify the right you wish to exercise, and provide enough information for us to locate the relevant records. We may need to verify your identity for access, correction, or deletion requests, and may require proof of authority for an authorized agent. Do not email identification documents unless we have arranged a suitable method. We will respond within the period required by applicable law and explain a denial where required. Where you have a right to appeal a denial, reply with the subject "Privacy Appeal." You may also contact your applicable privacy regulator.
We will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights. Requests about the accuracy of published stories should identify the story and proposed correction; privacy requests do not automatically require removal of lawful reporting or public records.
Children and international visitors
Our website is a general-audience news service and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through reader-registration or subscription features. If you believe a child has supplied personal information to us, contact our privacy email so we can review and take appropriate action. Reporting about children is distinct from collecting information from children as service users.
Our services are operated from the United States. Information may be processed in the United States or other countries where our providers operate, which may have different privacy laws. Where applicable law requires safeguards for cross-border transfers, we will use the required safeguards.
Policy updates and contact
We may update this policy when our services or data practices change. We will post the updated policy here and revise the date below. If applicable law requires additional notice or consent for a change, we will provide it. Continued use of the site does not waive your privacy rights.
Privacy contact: Mississippi Delta Advocate, info@msdeltaadvocate.news. Website: https://msdeltaadvocate.news.