Effective Date: [Jan 2026]

Last Updated: [30th May 2026]

Welcome to Tricity Local News. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, process, and protect your personal data when you visit our website, read our news articles, subscribe to our newsletters, or interact with our services.

We are fully committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring your personal information is handled in strict compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable data protection laws.

  1. Identity and Contact Details

For the purposes of the GDPR, the Data Controller is Tricity Local News. This means we determine the purposes and means of the processing of your personal data.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, you can reach our Data Protection Officer at:

Email: [email protected]

  1. Information We Collect

We collect various types of information to provide and improve our news services. The data we collect falls into two main categories:

  1. Information You Provide to Us Voluntarily

When you interact with our website, you may choose to provide us with personal data. This includes:

  • Newsletter Subscriptions: Email address, name, and reading preferences.
  • Account Registration (if applicable): First and last name, email address, password, and profile information.
  • Contact Forms & Inquiries: Name, email address, and the contents of your message when you email [email protected].
  • Comments & Community Participation: Information you post in article comments or forums.
  1. Information We Collect Automatically

When you visit Tricity Local News, our servers automatically record standard data provided by your web browser. This includes:

  • Device Information: Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, operating system, and device type.
  • Usage Data: The pages you visit, the time and date of your visit, time spent on each page, referring/exit pages, and clickstream data.
  • Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to track activity on our site.
  1. How and Why We Use Your Data (Legal Basis)

Under the GDPR, we must have a valid legal basis to process your personal data. We rely on the following grounds to process your information:

  1. Cookies, Analytics, and Advertising

Tricity Local News uses cookies to personalize content, analyze traffic, and provide tailored advertisements.

  • Essential Cookies: Required for basic site functionality. These cannot be disabled.
  • Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with our journalism, allowing us to improve user experience.
  • Marketing/Advertising Cookies: Used by our third-party advertising partners to deliver ads relevant to your interests.

Your Consent: When you first visit Tricity Local News, you will be presented with a cookie consent banner. You can manage your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by accessing our cookie preferences center.

  1. How We Share Your Data

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share your information with trusted third parties to facilitate our services:

  • Service Providers: Companies that provide website hosting, email delivery, analytics, and IT support. These processors are strictly bound by GDPR-compliant data processing agreements.
  • Advertising Partners: Third-party ad networks that may use cookies to serve personalized ads based on your consent.
  • Legal Compliance: We may disclose your data if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Tricity Local News, our users, or others.
  1. International Data Transfers

Tricity Local News operates globally, and your data may be processed outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by implementing appropriate safeguards, such as:

  • Transferring data to countries deemed by the European Commission to provide an adequate level of protection.
  • Using specific contracts approved by the European Commission (Standard Contractual Clauses) which give personal data the same protection it has in Europe.
  1. Data Retention

We keep your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy:

  • Newsletter/Marketing Data: Retained until you withdraw your consent or unsubscribe.
  • Account Data: Retained as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, data is erased securely within 30 days.
  • Inquiries: Communications sent to [email protected] are retained until the query is resolved, plus a standard archiving period.
  • Usage and Analytics Data: Retained for a maximum of 14 to 26 months.
  1. Your GDPR Data Protection Rights

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK, you have specific rights regarding your personal data. Tricity Local News is committed to allowing you to exercise these rights fully:

  • The Right to Access: You have the right to request copies of your personal data.
  • The Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • The Right to Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
  • The Right to Object to Processing: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, particularly for direct marketing purposes.
  • The Right to Data Portability: You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
  • The Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent to process your data, you can withdraw it at any time.

To submit a request regarding any of these rights, please email us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request within one month.

  1. Data Security

We implement commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and physical security measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or alteration. These measures include HTTPS encryption, secure server hosting, and restricted access controls for our staff. However, please be aware that no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.

  1. Third-Party Links

Articles on Tricity Local News may contain links to external sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites.

  1. Children’s Privacy

Our website provides general news and is not intended for children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at [email protected] so we can take immediate action to remove that information from our servers.

  1. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Effective Date” at the top. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

  1. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the data we hold on you, or if you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please do not hesitate to contact us:

By Email: [email protected]