Privacy Policy
Effective date: November 1, 2026
This policy describes what information is handled when you read guelph.org, how the operator uses it and the choices you have. The operator is the person or organisation running this community publication, and when we write we or us, that is who we mean.
Visit logs
Whenever a page of Guelph is requested, the server notes a few technical facts: your IP address, the moment of the request, which article or page was fetched, the type of browser and device, and the address of any page that linked you here. We use these records to keep the site running, to catch faults and abuse and to see in broad terms whether readers are finding stories about local business, community life or arts and events.
Cookies and similar tools
Guelph can place small files in your browser, or use comparable local storage. A few of them keep basics such as page display working. Others, where switched on, count audiences, remember a setting, support advertising or record that a visitor arrived from a Guelph article before visiting a retailer or ticket seller, which is how affiliate attribution works. A cookie set by an advertiser, analytics tool or embedded map is under that provider’s control, not ours.
Controlling tracking in your browser
Your browser’s settings let you refuse or erase cookies, and private windows or tracker-blocking add-ons reduce what is recorded about a browsing session. When a do-not-track or global privacy signal is sent, we treat it as a request to opt out of analytics and ad tracking wherever our tools can recognise it. Blocking certain cookies may change how embedded maps, calendars or videos behave.
What you send us
When you write to [email protected], we receive your email address and whatever you include, such as a tip about a new shop or a correction to an event listing. We use it to answer you, check facts, fix the page and keep a record of the exchange. We do not sell what you send, and we will not publish your message or name without asking first.
Newsletters and forms
If we offer a newsletter, event alert or submission form, the details you enter are used only for that purpose, such as sending the bulletin you requested. Every bulletin will carry a way to stop receiving it, and a short email to us will also get you taken off the list.
Outside services
A site like this relies on providers for hosting, content delivery, analytics, advertising and affiliate tracking, and for embeds such as event maps, video clips or social posts. These providers may receive technical details about your visit so their service works. Their handling of that data is set by their own policies and is outside our control.
How long information is kept
Visit logs are kept for a short window before being erased or boiled down to anonymous counts. Emails are kept while they are useful for replying, correcting an article or meeting a legal duty, then deleted. Tips about local businesses or events are not kept longer than the story or correction requires.
Asking about your information
Depending on your place of residence, the law may let you request a copy of the personal details we hold, ask for errors to be fixed or records erased, object to particular uses, or take back a consent you gave. Email [email protected] and say what you would like done. Before acting, we may ask for proof that the request is really yours, and we answer within the period legislation sets.
Younger readers
Guelph is written for a general audience, including families looking at community events, but it is not directed at children under 13. We make no effort to gather personal details from young children. If a child has written to us, let us know and we will delete the message.
Security
Reasonable safeguards are in place, including encrypted page delivery and a restricted inbox. No online service can be made perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute protection.
Data moving between countries
Some of the providers behind this site may process information in other countries, where data protection rules may differ from those where you live. Using the site means your information may travel in that way.
Updates to this policy
This policy will be revised when the site, its tools or the rules around them change. The effective date at the top shows when the current version began, and continuing to read Guelph after a change means the revised version applies to you.
Withdrawing consent and complaints
Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time; this does not affect anything done before. The cookie policy page lists every cookie this site sets and explains how to change your choice. If you live in the EU, EEA or UK you can complain to your local data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office); in Australia, to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.