THE SOUTHERN SENTINEL / READER TRUST
Privacy Policy
How this website handles information and the choices available to you.
Scope and contact
The Southern Sentinel Post is operated by Moorehouse Media Network, LLC. This notice covers the publication’s website and the features described here. Third-party sites reached through outbound links operate under their own policies. Contact the publication through our private request form. Moorehouse Media Network, LLC is the publisher and operator responsible for administering this notice. Use the private request form for privacy matters; a separate direct privacy contact has not been confirmed.
Information and purposes
| Information | Purpose and visibility |
|---|---|
| Account name, email, profile, and authentication records | Account operation and access. Login credentials are handled through Wix authentication. A chosen display name or photo may appear with approved public contributions. |
| Optional demographic answers, interests, and ZIP code | Private readership preferences and separately permitted internal matching. Optional profile details are not required to read public pages or maintain membership. Race or ethnicity is excluded from the current partner-targeting fields. |
| Saved stories, reading activity, followed stories, and participation records | Reader features and verification of programme participation. Recorded activity does not automatically establish eligibility for benefits. |
| Newsroom, group, privacy, copyright, and accessibility submissions | Reviewing requests and replying when needed. These are not automatically published. Copyright notices and counter-notices may need to be shared with the parties involved. |
| Business listings, campaign artwork, and license acceptance | Operating the directory and advertising programme. Approved business listings and ads are public; account and review records support administration. |
| Event registration and payment information | When offered, administering events and purchases through the identified provider. Review the checkout and event notice for details; do not send card numbers through ordinary forms. |
| IP address, browser and device details, and service logs | Hosting, delivery, security, and troubleshooting by the site’s service providers. External players may collect additional information when enabled. |
Service providers and external media
Wix supplies website, authentication, data-storage, and related business services. Authorized site staff can review records required to operate these features. The current media collections embed PBS/GPB players and support selected other providers. Enabling external media contacts the relevant provider, which may run its own cookies, analytics, or advertising. External media is off by default. Ordinary outbound links do not enable embedded players.
Advertising and data sharing
The current site implementation selects approved partner ads internally using a chosen ZIP code and, only with the required permissions, optional profile criteria. It does not intentionally export private demographic profiles or contact lists to advertisers through those matching functions. This is not a blanket representation about all provider processing or a legal determination of “sale” or “sharing.”
Your Privacy Choices lets you opt out of profile-based on-site targeting and turn off external players on this browser. Global Privacy Control forces those features off. Account-level permissions for survey invitations and partner inbox or email channels are separate and can be changed under Privacy & Preferences.
Storage and retention
This browser can store Wix authentication tokens, cookie/privacy choices, a manually selected reading ZIP code, and page-turn sound preferences. Signing out, clearing browser data, or using another device affects these separately. Do not clear authentication storage on a shared browser without understanding that it may sign you out.
Site records are retained for their operational purposes, moderation, security, accounting, and applicable legal obligations, and then should be deleted or anonymized when no longer needed. A verified collection-by-collection retention schedule has not yet been established. Provider backups and legal holds may delay removal. No fixed automatic deletion period is promised.
Your requests
Depending on applicable law, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of information, or to opt out of certain uses. Submit a privacy request without creating an account. Staff may need proportionate verification before disclosing or deleting account records. Do not submit passwords, government identifiers, or financial account details. An authorized representative should identify their authority; staff may request further verification. You may use the same form to ask for review of a request decision.
Browser opt-outs do not automatically erase account records or unsubscribe you from an existing newsletter. Use the unsubscribe mechanism in delivered messages or ask staff for help. Declining optional features does not remove access to public reporting.
Children and sensitive information
Do not submit information about a child or another person without appropriate authority. Parents or guardians can contact staff about a child’s information. If you believe information about a child was collected improperly, contact staff through the private request form. Avoid unnecessary health, financial, immigration, or other sensitive details in public contributions.
Security, location, and updates
Services may process information in locations used by their providers. No online system is guaranteed secure. This notice describes the reviewed implementation; provider settings, integrations, legal applicability, retention practices, and publisher contact details require ongoing review. Material changes will be reflected in the version and date on this page.
Private reading notebook and context drafts
When you choose to save highlights, notes, questions, reminders, or collections, they are stored with your reader account through Wix. Reader-facing access is limited to the account that created them; authorized site administrators can access records for operation, support, and legal obligations. These notes are not public, sent automatically to writers, or used by the site’s advertising-matching features. You can edit, export, or remove notes in My Reading Notebook. Exports are downloaded to your device. Keep your own copy before removal; provider backups and legal holds may affect final deletion.
Writer context drafts are private to the submitting account and authorized administrators. Only reviewed material deliberately published to the separate context collection is public. Signing out clears the notebook interface; data remains attached to the account. Saved quotations may need review when article text changes. Avoid placing passwords or unnecessary sensitive personal information in notes.
The Reader’s Perspective
Optional polls, quizzes, article feedback, and questionnaires are available across reader tiers. Checking a practice quiz without signing in does not save answers. Submitting a response requires sign-in and an affirmative choice under the activity privacy notice. Saved answers are linked to the reader account and accessible to that reader and authorized site administrators; they are not anonymous. Responses are not used for advertising. Only reviewed aggregate poll totals may be published, with response counts and reporting dates; individual responses and names are not published. Permission will be sought before quoting an individual response. These voluntary reader polls do not represent the wider population. Readers may use Private Requests to request access, correction, or removal. Membership credit requires verification, excludes duplicate participation, and does not depend on a perfect quiz score; launch-preview activities earn no credit.
My Reading Portfolio & Reader Contributions
Readers may choose to save typed reading-companion answers as drafts or completed entries in My Reading Portfolio. Entries are linked to the reader account, accessible to their author and authorized administrators, and can be reopened, edited, and exported. Private companion answers are not used for advertising, automatically published, or inspected for membership credit. Printing a blank companion does not save handwritten answers. Reader Contributions displays the reader’s submitted polls, surveys, questionnaires, and quizzes, including saved quiz answers, explanations, and scores where supplied. Scores and saved responses do not automatically award membership credit. Existing portfolio entries remain accessible and exportable if a tier changes. Use Private Requests to request removal of saved entries or participation responses.