Privacy Policy
Effective October 9, 2026
The Cape Ann Current (capeanncurrent.com and the Morning Current email) is an individual project. It is not a business or a nonprofit. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have. Questions go to [email protected].
The short version
- You can read everything on the site without giving us any information.
- We collect only what you give us: your email if you sign up for the Morning Current and whatever you send through our forms.
- We do not sell or rent your personal information, and we do not share it for targeted advertising.
- You can unsubscribe or ask us to delete your information at any time.
What we collect and why
| What | When you give it | Why we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Email address and the towns you pick | Signing up for the Morning Current | To send the email you asked for |
| Name, email, town and what you write | Crosscurrents, news tips, event listings, game reports, candidate questionnaires | To review, verify and publish what you sent |
| IP address, browser type, pages viewed, referring site | Any visit | To run and secure the site, count readership in total and see which organizations' networks and websites send visits |
| An anonymous push address for your browser or phone, and the alert topics you pick | Turning on alerts | To send the alerts you asked for. We never get your name, email or phone number for alerts. The address is deleted when you turn alerts off or it stops working. |
Ask the Current: when you use Ask AI on our search page, your question goes to Google, whose Gemini AI model writes the answer and may run Google searches to find it, and to Cloudflare, which runs our site. Google gets the words of your question, not your name or email from us. Do not type private information into a question. We do not save your questions or the answers. To limit each person to 15 questions a day, we keep a scrambled code made from your internet (IP) address and a count. The code changes every day, cannot be turned back into your address, and is deleted after two days.
What we publish from you
- Crosscurrents: we publish your entry with your name and town, or anonymous with town only, as you choose. We never publish your email address.
- Tips: we treat tips as confidential and do not publish your name without your permission.
- Events and game reports: the details you submit may be published, edited for length and style.
- Candidate questionnaires: we publish the candidate's answers, name, party, hometown, website and headshot. We never publish the contact name, email or phone of the person who submitted the form.
This policy covers information we collect from people who use the site. It does not limit our news reporting, which covers public meetings, public records and community events and may name people involved in them.
Cookies and analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how readers use the site, such as which stories are read and how people find us. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technology to collect information like the pages you view, the time you spend, your general location, your device and browser, and the site that referred you. Google processes this information for us under its own terms. You can learn how Google uses it at How Google uses information from sites that use its services, and you can opt out with the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on or by blocking cookies in your browser. The site works without them.
We do not use Google Analytics advertising features, and we do not use advertising cookies or ad trackers.
Search, weather and alerts: searching the site happens inside your browser, and we do not record what you search for. The weather and tides at the top of each page come straight from the National Weather Service and NOAA, so your browser asks their public websites for the forecast. Your browser also remembers which news alerts you have already seen, so the red dot on the bell goes away. That note stays on your device.
Do Not Track: our site does not change its behavior in response to a browser's Do Not Track signal. Google Analytics, described above, is the only third party that collects information about your visits through our site, and you can opt out of it at any time.
Who we share it with
We share personal information only with companies that help us run the Current, and only so they can do that work:
- Cloudflare: hosting, security, storage of form submissions, and sending the Morning Current
- Google: site analytics through Google Analytics
- Anthropic, Google (Gemini) and OpenAI: artificial intelligence services that help us review and edit reader submissions and prepare stories. We use their business services, whose terms say they do not use our data to train their models. We do not send payment information to these services, and we remove email addresses before sending them reader submissions.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, for example a valid subpoena or court order. As a news organization, we will resist demands to identify confidential sources or anonymous contributors to the full extent the law allows. If someone else ever takes over running the Current, reader information may go with it, and this policy will still apply.
How long we keep it
- Email list: until you unsubscribe. We keep your address on a do not email list so we honor your choice.
- Unpublished submissions: up to 2 years. Published submissions remain part of the published record.
- Server logs: up to 30 days. After that we keep only totals such as which network or website a visit came from and which page was read, without the IP address.
How we protect it
We use encrypted connections, limit access to the people who run the Current, and keep reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards. If a security breach affects your personal information, we will notify you as Massachusetts law requires.
Your choices
- Unsubscribe with the link at the bottom of any email.
- See, correct or delete your information by emailing [email protected]. We will reply within 30 days and may need to confirm your identity. Deleting your information does not remove published news stories. If you want your name removed from a Crosscurrents entry or other submission you sent, ask and we will review it.
- If a privacy law in your state gives you more rights than this policy describes, we will honor them.
Children
The Current is for a general audience. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Our forms are for people 13 and older, or for a parent, guardian or coach submitting on a child's behalf. If we learn we collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it. Contact [email protected].
Changes to this policy
We will post any update here with a new effective date. If a change is significant, we will also note it in the Morning Current or on the home page.
Contact
Cape Ann Current
[email protected]