Introduction

Orlando Signal (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy of our newsletter subscribers and website visitors. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website at https://orlandosignal.com or subscribe to our email newsletter through Beehiiv.

Geographic Scope and Intended Audience. Orlando Signal is a local news and information service directed to and intended for residents of the Orlando, Florida metropolitan area. Our advertising, content, and subscriber acquisition efforts (including paid advertising campaigns) are targeted exclusively to individuals located within the Central Florida region. We do not target, solicit, or direct our services to residents of any other state. Any incidental access to our website or newsletter by individuals outside of Florida does not alter the local, Florida-directed nature of our services.

By subscribing to or reading our newsletter, or by visiting our website, you consent to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Information We Provide to Us

Information That You Actively Provide:

Newsletter Subscription Information:

• Email address (required)
• First and last name (optional)
• Phone number (optional)
• ZIP code or city (optional)
• Any information or interests you choose to share

SMS/Text Message Service Information:

• When you sign up for our text messaging service, we collect:
• Mobile phone number (required for SMS delivery)
• Time zone or geographic location preferences
• Email address (if you choose to provide it)
• Your text message replies and commands (like STOP, START, or HELP)
• Delivery confirmations and read receipts
• Timestamps of all message interactions
• Your marketing preferences and frequency settings

Website Checkout / Purchase:

• Name
• Email address
• Billing information
• Any other information you choose to provide

Payment Information:

• When making purchases or donations, payment data is processed directly by Stripe.
• We do not store credit card numbers or banking information on our servers.
• We may retain purchase records for accounting purposes.

Comments:

• Information you provide when commenting on articles (name, email, IP address).

Information Automatically Collected

Website Analytics:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Device information
• Pages visited and time spent
• Referring website
• Geographic location (city/region level only)

Email Analytics:

• Email open rates
• Click-through rates
• Device and email client data
• General geographic location

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Send you our Orlando Signal newsletter
• Deliver timely, relevant local news, events, and updates
• Respond to your inquiries and communications
• Personalize your experience with content and offers
• Better your communication preferences and manage opt-out requests
• Improve our content and expand our audience insights
• Track readership, engagement, and performance of our newsletter
• Analyze trends for advertising and sponsorship decisions
• Maintain compliance with advertising policies, including Meta ad targeting
• Process advertising budgets
• Monitor spam, fraud, or misuse for security

Third-Party Services

Beehiiv

We use Beehiiv as our email service provider. When you subscribe to our newsletter, your information is stored on Beehiiv’s servers. Beehiiv’s privacy policy can be found at:

https://www.beehiiv.com/privacy

WordPress

Our website is built on WordPress. WordPress’s privacy policy can be found at:

https://automattic.com/privacy/

Analytics Tools

We use the following analytics and conversion tracking tools to understand how visitors interact with our website:

Google Analytics:

• Collects anonymized usage data to help us understand website traffic and user behavior.
• Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Microsoft Clarity:

• Records session replays to help us improve website usability and user experience.
• Collects information about mouse movements, clicks, and scrolling behavior.
• Privacy policy: https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement

Google Tag Manager:

• We use Google Tag Manager (“GTM”) to manage and deploy analytics and marketing tags on our website.
• GTM itself does not collect personal data but facilitates the loading of scripts that may collect data as described in this policy.
• Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Learn more about opting out of analytics tracking tools by visiting your browser's privacy settings, or by using opt-out tools provided by Google, Microsoft, and other partners.

Social Media and Advertising

Meta (Facebook/Instagram) Pixel:

• Used to measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns on Meta platforms.
• Processes audience data for conversion tracking, ad performance measurement, and audience insights.
• Privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy

Geographic Restriction of Tracking Technologies. Consistent with our commitment to privacy and our Florida-directed service model, we have implemented geographic-based controls on certain tracking technologies used on our website. Specifically:

• Florida-Only Pixel Activation: The Meta Pixel and related advertising tracking technologies deployed through Google Tag Manager are configured to activate only for visitors whose IP-based geolocation indicates they are located within the State of Florida.
• Non-Florida Visitors: If you are visiting our website from outside the State of Florida, advertising tracking pixels and conversion tracking scripts are blocked by default and will not load or execute unless you affirmatively opt in. Non-Florida visitors are presented with a cookie consent banner upon visiting our website. Advertising-related tracking (including the Meta Pixel will remain blocked unless and until the visitor affirmatively opts in through the consent banner. If you do not interact with the banner or if you decline, no advertising-related tracking data is collected from or transmitted to Meta (or any other advertising platform). No cookies, pixel fires, browser identifiers, or other tracking signals are sent to Meta for non-Florida visitors who have not opted in.
• Implementation: These geographic restrictions are implemented through the WPConsent consent management platform integrated with Google Tag Manager. This system uses IP-based geolocation to determine visitor location before any tracking scripts are loaded. For visitors geolocated within Florida, advertising tracking technologies load automatically. For visitors geolocated outside of Florida, a cookie consent banner is displayed that requires affirmative opt-in before any advertising tracking technologies are activated. This opt-in consent model ensures that non-Florida visitors are never tracked for advertising purposes without their explicit, informed consent.
• Analytics Distinction: Basic website analytics (such as Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity) may still operate for all visitors for the purpose of understanding general website traffic and improving user experience. These tools collect anonymized or aggregated data and do not serve advertising purposes.

Payment Processing

Stripe:

• When you make a payment, your financial data is processed securely through Stripe’s payment infrastructure.
• Stripe processes payment information, including credit/debit card details, billing address information, and transaction data.
• Privacy policy: https://stripe.com/privacy

Comments and Community Features

Disqus:

• Powers our commenting system for blog posts.
• Collects commenter information including names, email, and IP addresses.
• May use third-party advertising within comments.
• Privacy policy: https://disqus.com/privacy-policy/

Security and Anti-Spam Services

Cloudflare:

• Provides security, performance optimization, and DDoS protection.
• May challenge visitors with CAPTCHAs to prevent automated abuse.
• Collects IP addresses and browser information for security purposes.
• Privacy policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/

SMS/Text Messaging Service

We use text messaging (SMS) via our newsletter and text message application. When you opt in to our SMS service:

• Your phone number and associated data are stored securely with our messaging provider.
• Message and data rates may apply based on your mobile plan.
• You can text STOP at any time to unsubscribe from text messages.
• Text HELP for assistance with the service.
• We typically send 1 message per week about Orlando events and updates.
• Privacy policy: https://www.klaviyo.com/legal

Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We may disclose or transmit your information in the following limited circumstances:

• With service providers who assist in our operations (e.g., Beehiiv for email delivery).
• If required by law or in response to valid legal process.
• To protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property.
• With advertising technology partners for campaign measurement (Florida visitors only): For visitors geolocated within the State of Florida, certain visitor data (such as IP addresses, browser identifiers, and cookie data) is transmitted to Meta Platforms, Inc. through the Meta Pixel deployed on our website via Google Tag Manager. This data transmission occurs automatically for Florida visitors and is used to measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram). Meta may use this data for its own advertising and measurement purposes in accordance with Meta’s privacy policy. By using our website from within the State of Florida, you acknowledge and consent to this data transmission as described in this policy and in the “Geographic Restriction of Tracking Technologies” section below. For visitors located outside of Florida, this data transmission is blocked by default and occurs only if the visitor affirmatively opts in through our cookie consent banner. See the “Geographic Restriction of Tracking Technologies” section of this policy for full details.
• With your express consent for any other purpose: For any disclosure not described above, we will obtain your express consent before sharing your personal information with any third party.

No Sale or Sharing of Personal Information. We do not “sell” (as that term is defined under applicable state privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act) the personal information of any consumer.

With respect to “sharing,” we acknowledge that the operation of the Meta Pixel on our website involves the transmission of certain visitor data (such as IP addresses, browser identifiers, and cookie data) to Meta Platforms, Inc., which Meta may use for its own advertising and measurement purposes. Under the broad definition of “sharing” in the CCPA, this data transmission could be construed as sharing personal information with a third party for cross-context behavioral advertising.

However, as described in the “Geographic Restriction of Tracking Technologies” section of this policy, the Meta Pixel are configured to activate automatically only for visitors geolocated within the State of Florida. For visitors located outside of Florida (including California), these tracking technologies are blocked by default and will not load or execute unless the visitor affirmatively opts in through a cookie consent banner displayed on the website.

If a non-Florida visitor does not interact with the consent banner or declines consent, no Meta-related data transmission occurs. Any data transmission to Meta from a non-Florida visitor who has affirmatively opted in is based on that visitor’s informed, voluntary consent.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

• Email subscriber data: Your subscriber profile and email address are retained in our email service provider (Beehiiv) for as long as you remain an active subscriber. If you unsubscribe, your profile is marked as inactive but is not automatically deleted from Beehiiv’s system. This allows us to honor your unsubscribe request and prevent inadvertent re-subscription. If you wish to have your email address and subscriber profile permanently deleted from our records, you may request deletion by contacting us at hello @ orlandosignal.com, and we will process your request promptly.
• SMS subscriber data: As long as you remain opted in to our text service.
• Website analytics data: Typically retained for 26 months.
• Saved content and user preferences: Retained for up to 3 years of inactivity.
• Transaction records and receipts: Retained for 7 years for accounting and tax purposes.

Your Rights and Choices

Email Preferences

You can:

Unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time using the link at the bottom of any email.

Update your subscription preferences through the preference center in our emails.

Contact us to request changes to your subscriber profile.

SMS/Text Message Preferences

You can:

• Text “STOP” to any message to immediately unsubscribe from our SMS service.
• Text “HELP” for assistance from our customer service department.
• Email us if you encounter any issues with the SMS service.
• Contact us to update your phone number or messaging preferences.
• Manage your notification frequency preferences.

Access and Correction

We respect your right to:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Request correction of your inaccurate information.
• Request deletion of your personal information.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at hello @ orlandosignal.com.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience. These may include:

• Session cookies to maintain your browsing session.
• Persistent cookies to remember your settings.
• Advertising cookies from Meta (Facebook) for conversion tracking and ad measurement, active only for visitors geolocated within the State of Florida (see “Geographic Restriction of Tracking Technologies” above).
• Security cookies from Cloudflare for site protection.
• Third-party cookies from Disqus for the comment system.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect website functionality.

Consent Management. We use the WPConsent plugin as our consent management platform. WPConsent manages cookie consent preferences and enforces the geographic restrictions on tracking technologies described in this policy. For visitors geolocated within Florida, advertising tracking technologies load automatically.

For visitors located outside of Florida, advertising-related cookies and tracking scripts are blocked by default before they load. These non-Florida visitors are presented with a cookie consent banner that allows them to affirmatively opt in to advertising tracking if they choose. If the visitor does not interact with the banner or declines consent, advertising tracking remains blocked.

Children’s Privacy

Orlando Signal is not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete such information.

Security

We use commercially appropriate safeguards to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Links to Other Websites

Our website and newsletter may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of every website you visit.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised “Effective Date” and “Last Updated” date at the top of this policy. Your continued use of our website, newsletter, or any of our Services after the posting of a revised Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.

For material changes that significantly affect how we handle your personal information, we may, at our discretion, provide additional notice through our newsletter or website, but we are not obligated to do so.

Contact Information

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

Orlando Signal

Email: hello @ orlandosignal.com

California Privacy Rights

Applicability. Orlando Signal is a locally focused newsletter and website directed exclusively to residents of the Orlando, Central Florida metropolitan area. Based on the nature and scale of our operations, we do not believe we meet the threshold requirements for mandatory compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”). Specifically, we do not have annual gross revenues exceeding $26,625,000; we do not buy, sell, or share the personal information of 100,000 or more consumers or households; and we do not derive 50% or more of our annual revenue from selling or sharing consumers’ personal information.

No Sale or Sharing. Regardless of the CCPA’s applicability to our business, we affirmatively state that we do not sell the personal information of California residents or any other consumers. With respect to “sharing,” we recognize that the Meta Pixel and Meta Conversions API involve data transmission to Meta that could be construed as “sharing” under the CCPA’s broad definition. To address this, we have implemented geographic controls that block the Meta Pixel and Meta Conversions API from loading or executing by default for any visitor located outside the State of Florida, including California residents. Non-Florida visitors are presented with a cookie consent banner and may affirmatively opt in to advertising tracking if they choose. Absent such opt-in, no California resident’s personal information is transmitted to Meta through our website.

Geographic Restrictions on Tracking. As described in the “Geographic Restriction of Tracking Technologies” section above, advertising-related tracking pixels (including the Meta Pixel and Meta Conversions API) are blocked by default for all website visitors located outside the State of Florida. California residents who visit our website will see a cookie consent banner and will not be subject to advertising pixel tracking unless they affirmatively opt in. If a California resident does not opt in, no advertising tracking data is collected or transmitted.

Voluntary Rights Accommodation. Although we do not believe we are required to do so under the CCPA, as a courtesy and in the interest of good privacy practices, we extend the following rights to California residents who believe they have provided us with personal information:

• Right to Know: You may request that we disclose what personal information we have collected about you.
• Right to Delete: You may request that we delete your personal information from our records.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing: We do not sell your personal information. Our geographic controls block advertising tracking for California visitors by default, and any tracking occurs only if you affirmatively opt in through our cookie consent banner. You may decline or withdraw consent at any time by clearing your cookies or contacting us. You may also contact us at any time to confirm our data practices.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

How to Submit a Request. If you are a California resident and wish to exercise any of the rights described above, or if you believe we have collected your personal information and wish to request its deletion, please email us at: hello @ orlandosignal.com. We will respond to verifiable consumer requests within 45 days of receipt. We may request additional information to verify your identity before processing your request.

“Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” Link. The CCPA requires certain businesses that sell or share consumers’ personal information to provide a “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” link on their website. Orlando Signal does not provide this link because: (a) we do not believe we meet the CCPA’s threshold requirements for mandatory compliance; (b) we do not sell consumers’ personal information; and (c) our geographic controls block advertising-related data transmission to Meta (which could otherwise constitute “sharing” under the CCPA) by default for all visitors located outside of Florida, including California residents.

Any such data transmission for non-Florida visitors occurs only upon a visitor’s affirmative opt-in through our cookie consent banner. Because we do not sell personal information and we have implemented technical controls that prevent non-consensual sharing with respect to California residents, a “Do Not Sell or Share” link is not required. Nonetheless, if you are a California resident and have any concerns regarding the use of your personal information, you may contact us at hello @ orlandosignal.com at any time.

Other State Privacy Rights

Several U.S. states have enacted consumer privacy laws that may grant residents certain rights regarding their personal information (including but not limited to Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana, and others). While Orlando Signal is directed to Florida residents, and we do not believe we are subject to these state privacy laws based on our operations, we respect the privacy of all visitors and block all cookie scripts by default.

If you are a resident of any state with an applicable consumer privacy law and you wish to submit a request regarding your personal information, please contact us at hello @ orlandosignal.com. We will evaluate your request in good faith and respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.

European Economic Area and United Kingdom (GDPR)

Applicability. Orlando Signal is a locally focused newsletter and website based in the United States and directed exclusively to residents of the Orlando, Central Florida metropolitan area. We do not target, offer goods or services to, or monitor the behavior of individuals in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), the United Kingdom (“UK”), or Switzerland. Accordingly, we do not believe we are subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the UK GDPR, or the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (“FADP”).

Consent-Based Protections. Notwithstanding the above, our technical infrastructure provides protections consistent with GDPR principles for visitors located outside of the United States. Specifically, advertising-related tracking technologies (including the Meta Pixel and Meta Conversions API) are blocked by default for all visitors geolocated outside the State of Florida. Visitors from the EEA, UK, or Switzerland who access our website are presented with a cookie consent banner and must affirmatively opt in before any advertising tracking technologies are activated. This opt-in consent model aligns with the GDPR’s requirement of freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous consent prior to the processing of personal data for advertising or analytics purposes.

Voluntary Rights Accommodation. Although we do not believe we are required to comply with the GDPR, as a courtesy we will accommodate reasonable requests from EEA, UK, or Swiss residents who wish to exercise the following rights with respect to any personal information we may hold:

• Right of Access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You may request that we correct inaccurate personal data.
• Right to Erasure: You may request that we delete your personal data from our systems.
• Right to Restrict Processing: You may request that we limit the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: You may request a machine-readable copy of the personal data you have provided to us.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: If you have opted in to advertising tracking via our cookie consent banner, you may withdraw your consent at any time by clearing your browser cookies or contacting us.

How to Submit a Request. To exercise any of the rights described above, please email us at hello@orlandosignal.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days. Please note that we do not have a representative in the EEA or UK, as we do not believe we are subject to the GDPR’s mandatory compliance obligations.

Legal Basis for Processing (If Applicable). To the extent that we process personal data of EEA, UK, or Swiss residents, the legal bases for our processing are: (a) your consent, where you have opted in to advertising tracking or subscribed to our newsletter; (b) our legitimate interests in operating and improving our local news service, provided those interests are not overridden by your data protection rights; and (c) compliance with legal obligations, where applicable.

International Users

Orlando Signal is based in the United States. If you are accessing our services from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where our servers and central database are operated.