Privacy Policy

ThinBlueNews.com is committed to maintaining your trust with respect to the information we collect from you. This privacy policy applies to ThinBlueNews.com sets forth what information we collect about you, how we use your information and the choices you have about how we use your information.

ThinBlueNews.com is dedicated to safeguarding your privacy online. As a policy, we will not sell or otherwise misuse your personal information. Your personal information helps us customize ThinBlueNews.com to your interests. Please read the following policy to understand how your personal information will be treated as you make full use of our many offerings.

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT AND HOW IS IT USED?

Information You Voluntarily Submit: ThinBlueNews.com may receive information such as your name, email address, agency or community relationship, source links, story details, corrections, memories, and media through our private editorial forms or social-media messaging. These submissions are editorial leads and are not public comments. Nothing is published automatically. Submitting information does not transfer ownership or grant ThinBlueNews permission to publish a personal memory, identify the submitter, or reuse submitted media; we seek explicit, purpose-specific permission before doing so.

Information We Collect from Others: ThinBlueNews.com may receive publicly available information from official agencies, government records, established memorial records, attributable news reports, Facebook or other social platforms, and people who submit editorial leads. We verify sensitive memorial and correction information before publication.

Automatically-Collected Information: ThinBlueNews.com automatically collects certain information about you and the device with which you access the Website. For example, when you use the Website, we will log your IP address, operating system type, browser type, referring website, pages you viewed, and the dates/times when you accessed the Website. We may also collect information about actions you take when using the Website, such as links clicked.

Cookies: ThinBlueNews.com may log information using cookies, which are small data files stored on your browser by the Website. We may use both session cookies, which expire when you close your browser, and persistent cookies, which stay on your browser until deleted, to provide you with a more personalized experience on the Website.

HOW YOUR INFORMATION MAY BE USED

ThinBlueNews.com may use the information collected in the following ways:

• To operate, secure, measure, and improve the Website;
• To review and verify story leads, remembrances, source material, corrections, and media permissions;
• To contact a submitter only when clarification, verification, or explicit publication permission is needed;
• To maintain editorial source, correction, rights, and publication records;
• To measure website traffic and advertising;
• To protect, investigate, and deter unauthorized or illegal activity.

THIRD-PARTY USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

ThinBlueNews.com may share your information with third parties when you explicitly authorize us to share your information.

Additionally, the Website may use third-party service providers to service various aspects of the Website. Each third-party service provider’s use of your personal information is dictated by their respective privacy policies.

The Website currently uses the following third-party service providers:

Google Analytics – this service tracks Website usage and provides information such as referring websites and user actions on the Website. Google Analytics may capture your IP address, but no other personal information is captured by Google Analytics.

Tally – ThinBlueNews uses a private Tally form for the separate Hometown Hero nomination program. Tally processes those form responses under its own privacy terms, and responses are not automatically displayed on ThinBlueNews. A dedicated End of Watch form is not currently available; the Hometown Hero form must not be used for End of Watch remembrances or corrections.

Customers.ai / MobileMonkey – this service may be used for website visitor analytics, X-Ray Pixel identity resolution, lead enrichment, audience segmentation, and marketing follow-up related to ThinBlueNews.com pages. Customers.ai may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to associate Website visits with contact or audience records when technically and legally available.

This list may be amended from time to time in the Website’s sole discretion.

Except when required by law, we will not sell, distribute, or reveal your email addresses or other personal information without your consent; however, we may disclose or transfer personal information collected through the Website to third parties who acquire all or a portion of our business, which may be the result of a merger, consolidation, or purchase of all or a portion of our assets, or in connection with any bankruptcy or reorganization proceeding brought by or against us.

ANONYMOUS DATA

From time to time, we may use anonymous data, which does not identify you alone, or when combined with data from other parties. This type of anonymous data may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses. Examples of this anonymous data may include analytics or information collected from cookies.

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS AND PUBLICATION

The current static Website does not offer public user profiles or an unmoderated public comment system. Editorial submissions are reviewed privately. ThinBlueNews does not publish a submitter’s email address, phone number, or other private contact information.

If ThinBlueNews wishes to quote a personal memory, identify a submitter, or use submitted photography, video, or audio, we seek clear permission for that specific editorial use. A submission may still be retained when reasonably necessary to document a source, correction, permission, or publication decision.

Do not submit private addresses, medical records, survivor contact information, details about minors, active-case evidence, passwords, financial information, or other material that should not enter an editorial review system.

COOKIES

ThinBlueNews.com uses cookies to store visitors’ preferences, record user-specific information on what pages users access or visit, ensure that visitors are not repeatedly sent the same banner ads, customize Website content based on visitors’ browser type or other information that the visitor sends. Cookies may also be used by third-party services, such as Google Analytics, as described herein.

Users may, at any time, prevent the setting of cookies, by the Website, by using a corresponding setting of your Internet browser and may thus permanently deny the setting of cookies. Furthermore, already set cookies may be deleted at any time via an Internet browser or other software programs. This is possible in all popular Internet browsers. However, if users deactivate the setting of cookies in your Internet browser, not all functions of our Website may be entirely usable.

ADVERTISING

Display Ads

ThinBlueNews.com may use third-party advertising companies to serve content and advertisements when you visit the Website, which may use cookies, as noted.

Retargeting Ads

From time to time, the ThinBlueNews.com may engage in remarketing efforts with third-party companies, such as Google, Facebook, or Instagram, in order to market the Website. These companies use cookies to serve ads based on someone’s past visits to the Website.

Affiliate Program Participation

ThinBlueNews.com may engage in affiliate marketing, which is done by embedding tracking links into the Website. If you click on a link for an affiliate partnership, a cookie will be placed on your browser to track any sales for purposes of commissions.

Editorial form privacy

Information submitted through a ThinBlueNews form is used for editorial review, verification, corrections, permission follow-up, and source documentation. Submission does not guarantee coverage. Family and agency corrections may receive priority, but factual changes still require a supportable source trail.

RIGHTS RELATED TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Choices – You may decline follow-up, decline publication permission, or request access to or deletion of personal information you submitted, subject to records ThinBlueNews reasonably needs to preserve for legal, security, source, correction, rights, or completed-publication purposes.

Access – You may access the personal information we have about you by submitting a request to us.

Please note that we may need to retain certain information for record keeping purposes or to complete transactions, or when required by law.

SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION

At no time should you submit sensitive personal information to the ThinBlueNews.com. This includes your social security number, information regarding race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, health information, criminal background, or trade union memberships. If you elect to submit such information to us, it will be subject to this Privacy Policy.

CHILDREN’S INFORMATION

The Website does not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 16. If a parent or guardian believes that the Website has personally identifiable information of a child under the age of 16 in its database, please contact us immediately and we will use our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.