Privacy Policy


The Baltimore Banner Online Privacy Policy

Effective Date May 2, 2022

Welcome to The Baltimore Banner Online Privacy Policy (”Privacy Policy”). This Privacy Policy describes the information The Baltimore Banner (“we", “our”, or “us”) collect or allow others to collect from you and your computer or device used to access thebaltimorebanner.com or other sites, email newsletters, features such as marketing messages, digital platforms or other interactive services provided by The Baltimore Banner that link to or refer to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the ”The Baltimore Banner Services” or ”our Services”). This Privacy Policy also explains how that information may be used and shared and the choices you have to limit or prevent certain uses or sharing of that information. Please note that this Privacy Policy does not govern the websites and services of The Baltimore Banner’s affiliates, or the websites and services of third parties that may link to or be linked to from The Baltimore Banner.

NOTICE TO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: This notice provides additional information and privacy options for California residents. Learn more about your options here.

By using, registering for, or otherwise accessing our Services, you agree to this Privacy Policy and The Baltimore Banner’s Terms of Service and you give your express "opt-in" consent to the collection, use, storage, sharing, transfer, and processing of information about you and your interactions with our Services as explained in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy or The Baltimore Banner's Terms of Service, please do not use The Baltimore Banner Services or provide us with your contact or other information.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us.

Children

The Baltimore Banner cares about protecting the privacy of children. If you are a parent or guardian, we encourage you to become involved in your children’s online experience, and to share your knowledge and experience with your young ones. If you are under 13, please do not register for our Services or provide us with any contact or other information, including your name, postal address, or email address. If you are between the ages of 13 and 18, you must obtain permission from your parent or guardian before registering for The Baltimore Banner Services or otherwise sending any contact or other information to The Baltimore Banner.

Information Collected Through Our Services

Information You Provide Directly Through Our Services We and service providers working on our behalf will collect any information that you choose to provide directly through our Services, including your name, email address, postal address, telephone number, password, age, payment card information, country of residence, communications and content preferences, and The Baltimore Banner’s affiliates. For example, such information may be collected when you:

  • Use The Baltimore Banner’s application programming interface (API) content access or any The Baltimore Banner email newsletter(s).
  • Email, text or otherwise share a story from any of the Baltimore Banner.
  • Contact us with a message.
  • Post, upload, or otherwise submit to The Baltimore Banner a comment, story idea, essay, photo, or other content or user-generated material (“User Materials”).
  • Register for a The Baltimore Banner event or any contest we sponsor.
  • Apply for a job, internship, or fellowship at The Baltimore Banner.
  • If you choose to participate in a survey, we may ask you to provide your date of birth, gender, education level, information about your employment, income level and other information.

Like other non-profit organizations, we also track donation activity on an individual basis. Accordingly, if you choose to donate to The Baltimore Banner through The Baltimore Banner Services, or express interest in or request information about making donations, we may keep a record of these contacts that includes your name, contact information and other information about your donation or inquiry.

We also may ask you to provide other information about yourself for various other purposes that we specify or make apparent at the time of collection.

Information Automatically Collected Through Technology We, our service providers, and our vendors working on our behalf automatically collect certain information about your computer or device and your interactions with our Services through access logs, cookies, pixel tags and other tracking technologies. Depending on which The Baltimore Banner Services you use and how you access them, the information collected automatically may include:

  • The Internet Protocol address (IP address) of your computer or device used to access The Baltimore Banner Services or play podcasts or other media content downloaded through our Services.
  • The domain name of your Internet Service Provider.
  • The website, application, platform, or service you visited before and after visiting a The Baltimore Banner Service.
  • Search terms you enter using The Baltimore Banner Services or on a referring website.
  • Your approximate geographic location information (derived from request header information, such as your IP address) and/or more precise information about the specific location of your device if you have given The Baltimore Banner explicit consent to receive this information for a The Baltimore Banner application on your mobile device.
  • The make, model, carrier and unique device identifier for your mobile device, the unique advertising identifier (for example, Google Advertising ID) that allows mobile applications running on your mobile device to gather data for purposes of serving targeted advertising and other information about your computer or mobile device and its browser, operating system, settings, and software. If you have an iOS mobile device, we may collect the Apple IDFA (a unique advertising identifier) if you have given The Baltimore Banner consent to receive this information for a The Baltimore Banner mobile application on your device.
  • The dates, times, duration, and frequency of your interactions with our Services.
  • Your navigation path through The Baltimore Banner Services, including any "favorites" you select, and patterns in the paths you take.
  • A list of files you download, listen to, view, email, text or otherwise share and other content preferences.
  • The amount of time spent listening to or viewing media files or pages.
  • Listening data collected both when you download and listen to media files. Listening data includes descriptions of the title, episodes, and segments included in a media file, time and date stamps for download and playback events (for example, when a file is downloaded and when playback of a particular segment starts, stops, is skipped or is paused), the unique advertising identifier for your mobile device (for example, Google Advertising ID), session IDs and information about the device or platform used to download or play a particular file. The producers of any independently produced media we distribute may also collect the same types of listening data subject to their own privacy policies, which may differ from ours.
  • Information about your interactions with our email messages, such as links you click on and whether you open or forward a message, the date and time of these interactions, and information about the computer or device you use to read emails.
  • Any errors you encountered during your use of our Services.

Our Services also make use of third-party analytics, cookie data collection and linking services (collectively "Analytics Services”), including Google Universal Analytics, Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting, Remarketing with Google Analytics, and Google Ad Manager. These Analytics Services may use cookies, pixel tags, and other tracking and storage technologies to collect or receive information (not including your name or the email address you register with The Baltimore Banner) from our Services and elsewhere on the Internet and use that information to analyze and measure our audience and target and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing messages in our Services. For example, The Baltimore Banner and Analytics Services may use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the Remarketing with Google Analytics and DoubleClick cookies) together to inform and optimize based on your past interactions with our Services and other websites or services. In connection with an affiliate-marketing relationship with platforms such as Apple or online retailers, Analytics Services working with us and such platform or online retailer may also use cookies to uniquely identify the browsers of users who click on links to an online retailer in content mentioning books, music, or other related merchandise and then later purchase that merchandise on the online retailer’s site. In addition, we may use analytics data, including but not limited to, geographic, demographic, and interest reporting information to recognize and understand user preferences, make improvements, and for other operational purposes. An Analytics Service’s ability to use and share analytics information is covered by that service’s terms of use and privacy policy. To learn more about how Google uses data, visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.

Further information about our use of cookies, pixel tags and other tracking technologies can be found here and in "Your Choices" section below.

How We Use the Information We Collect

We and service providers and vendors working on our behalf collect and use information to provide you with a customized interactive experience and to make our Services more valuable to you. We also may use the information we collect for fundraising purposes to support our affiliates and our mission. The Baltimore Banner and service providers and vendors working on our behalf also may use the information collected through our Services:

  • To manage, administer, deliver, and improve The Baltimore Banner Services.
  • To respond to your questions or messages
  • To provide you with personalized features and content, including content from affiliates that are associated with your account or located near you and other content that may be of interest to you.
  • To publish, broadcast, attribute and otherwise use and license any User Materials you submit according to our Terms of Service.
  • To offer you access to The Baltimore Banner tours, events, and travel programs.
  • To process applications for jobs, internships, and fellowships at The Baltimore Banner.
  • To process applications for volunteers for The Baltimore Banner Ambassador program.
  • To manage contests you enter.
  • To contact you for an online survey, or for other editorial purposes.
  • To recognize you as the same user when you access our Services, content, and marketing messages using different computers, devices, and browsers, and to deliver our Services, content, and marketing messages to you on different computers, devices, and browsers.
  • To save and "remember" your registration information, settings, and preferences so you do not have to re-enter this information each time you visit.
  • With your consent where required by applicable law, to send you The Baltimore Banner email newsletters and other communications, including marketing, fundraising, membership, and other messages from The Baltimore Banner or our affiliates.
  • To understand whether and when you read our email messages and click on links in those messages.
  • To control the sequence and frequency of marketing messages you hear and see, control the platform on which you hear and see marketing messages, and tailor the content of those messages to your perceived interests.
  • To conduct market or audience analysis and related reporting, including analysis to evaluate the performance of marketing messages.
  • To help us measure and analyze user traffic and usage patterns and improve the quality and effectiveness of content, features, marketing messages and other communications.

  • To prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities, comply with applicable laws, and enforce our Terms of Service or other legal rights.
  • To generate aggregate or other information that is not reasonably linkable to you, or your devices used to access our Services, and use and share that information for The Baltimore Banner’s purposes.
  • In other ways and for other purposes that are described to you at the time we collect the information or for which we otherwise have your consent.

How We Disclose Information

The Baltimore Banner is committed to maintaining your trust. We want you to understand when and with whom we and service providers working on our behalf may share information about you that is collected through our Services.

User Materials. Any User Materials you submit to community@thebaltimorebanner.com, social networking services or similar features can be seen, collected, and used by us and anyone else who has access to the applicable service. Such information is likely to become public and we cannot be responsible for any unauthorized third-party use. Any User Materials you submit may also be freely used and shared by The Baltimore Banner and its affiliates in accordance with our Terms of Service.

Affiliates. The Baltimore Banner may share your name, email address, other contact information, and information about your subscriptions, listening and usage activity, donations and interests with the affiliate stations that are associated with your account or that are local to you. When we do so, we require those affiliates to commit to the same policies regarding further sharing with third parties that we follow under this Privacy Policy. If you do not want us to share your name, contact information, or other information, including information about your donations to The Baltimore Banner, you can contact us any time. However, if you choose to donate to an affiliate through our Services, your information may be collected directly by that affiliate. In that case, the collection of your information is subject to that affiliate’s privacy policy.

Authorized service providers and vendors. We may share any information we collect with service providers or vendors who provide us with specialized services or otherwise help us operate our Services including, without limitation, service providers or vendors that provide customer support, email deployment, account sign-in services, subscription services, payment processing, order fulfillment, analytics, marketing, suppression list management, contest management and data processing services. Subject to applicable law and your opt-out choices described below, and as we deem appropriate, we may share with vendors or allow them to collect directly information about your devices and your use of our Services. We will not share your name or contact information with these vendors. These vendors may use such information pursuant to their own respective privacy policies, which we do not control. For example, we may share or authorize the collection of such information by vendors that help us analyze and improve our Services (including marketing messages in our Services), or to tailor marketing messages to your perceived interests. As described above, we may work with Analytics Services to set tracking cookies or pixels on browsers of users who click on links to an online retailer in content mentioning books, music, or other related merchandise and then later purchase that merchandise on the online retailer’s site. We do this to measure the performance of these marketing messages and to facilitate the calculation of commissions we may receive when a person purchases the mentioned merchandise on the online retailer’s site. Our service providers and vendors include the service providers’ or vendors’ subcontractors that provide specialized services to us or otherwise help us operate our Services. If you wish to make a payment or receive a refund through our Services, your information will be collected and controlled by the payment processor and not by us and will be subject to that payment service provider’s privacy policy and practices.

Authorized third-party applications. We may share with authorized third-party applications information that you provide directly through our Services and information collected automatically through technology for the purpose of providing certain The Baltimore Banner to you on the applications. In such cases, the information that we share may include your name, favorite stations, and listening and usage activity. The Baltimore Banner prohibits the third-party developers of those applications from accessing, storing, or sharing any such non-public information. However, please be aware that your use of the third-party application is otherwise subject to the third-party application’s privacy policy, which we do not control, and which may differ significantly from ours. The Baltimore Banner is not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-party application, and we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of any third-party sites, applications, platforms, and services that you visit or access.

Business transfers. We may share any collected information in connection with a substantial corporate transaction, such as the sale of a The Baltimore Banner or division, a merger, a consolidation, an asset sale, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy.

Legal requirements. We and service providers working on our behalf may disclose any collected information to respond to subpoenas, court orders, legal process, and other law enforcement measures, and to comply with legal or regulatory obligations.

Protect our Services and user. We and service providers working on our behalf may disclose any collected information to enforce our Terms of Service and to protect and defend the legal rights, interests, and safety of The Baltimore Banner, The Baltimore Banner’s affiliates, their respective employees, agents, contractors, sponsors, listeners and users, members of the general public, or others.

With your consent. We and service providers working on our behalf may share any collected information when you expressly or implicitly consent to such disclosure. For example, if you use our Services to email or text a story to a friend, we would disclose your name to that friend together with the content you directed us to send.

Wireless carriers and automobile manufacturers. Wireless carriers and automobile manufacturers also may collect contact and other information and precise location data from our mobile services users through processes we do not control. You should check the privacy policies of your wireless carriers and automobile manufacturers for additional information.

Bitly. The Baltimore Banner uses a service called Bitly to create shortened uniform resource locators (”URLs" – the "addresses" of individual web pages) for our content so that it can be shared easily, particularly through social media. Bitly collects information as our shortened URLs are shared and clicked on, including IP addresses, general location information, the time and day each shortened URL is accessed, and the social media or other channels through which our content is shared. If you have established a separate account with Bitly, Bitly may associate the foregoing information with personal information it has stored in your Bitly account in accordance with Bitly’s own privacy policy. To share our content without using Bitly, copy the full URL of the story you want to share from your browser and paste it into your email, text, or social media message.

Aggregated and anonymous information. Subject to applicable law and your opt-out choices described below, and as we deem appropriate, we may share with third parties or allow them to collect directly aggregated or other information that is not reasonably linkable to you or your device. These third parties may use such information pursuant to their own respective privacy policies, which we do not control. For example, we may share or authorize the collection of such information by our service providers or our vendors that help us analyze and improve our Services, provide us and other digital media organizations with ratings and ranking data, or help us to create personalized content. We may also share or authorize the collection of such information by sponsors or their agencies to help them measure the impact of their sponsorship campaigns.

Your Choices

You have the following choices to update, correct, and limit the collection and use of information gathered through our Services.

Don’t volunteer information. If you do not consent to the collection, use, or sharing of your contact and other information as described in this Privacy Policy, please do not use The Baltimore Banner Services or provide information to us. By using The Baltimore Banner or providing information to us through The Baltimore Banner Services, you are "opting in" to the collection, use and sharing of that information as described in this Privacy Policy

Registration information. Sign in to your The Baltimore Banner account or contact us to correct or update any registration information you provided to us or to cancel your The Baltimore Banner account or other The Baltimore Banner registrations. You can stop the delivery of marketing emails or email newsletters from The Baltimore Banner by following the unsubscribe instructions in any such email you receive or by contacting us. For your protection, we may only act on requests with respect to the registration data associated with the particular email address that you use to send us your request, and we may ask you to verify your identity before implementing your request. We will try to comply with your request as soon as reasonably practicable. We may need to retain certain information for recordkeeping purposes and/or to complete any transactions that you began prior to requesting a correction, update, or cancellation.

Cookies. You have the option to set your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, notify you when a cookie is set, or delete cookies. Each browser is different, so select the "Help" menu in your browser for instructions on how to use the relevant tools and settings. Note that if you disable or delete cookies, you may lose access to certain features of The Baltimore Banner Services. For additional information regarding the cookies used in The Baltimore Banner Services, read The Baltimore Banner ’s Statement Regarding Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies.

Google Analytics. To prevent data from being collected by Google Universal Analytics, use the opt-out browser add-on developed by Google for this purpose available here.

"Interest-based" marketing messages. To opt out of receiving personalized or "interest-based" online marketing messages from our service providers, our vendors, and other participating companies, visit https://optout.aboutads.info. For information about controlling the collection of cross-app data from your mobile device for personalized or "interest-based" advertising, visit http://youradchoices.com/appchoices. UK users, European Economic Area (EEA) users and Swiss users can learn more and access opt-out tools from http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/. You also may press the button below (at the bottom of this section) to opt out of the sharing of your information with our sponsorship vendor Google for delivery of "interest-based" marketing messages on thebaltimorebanner.com. If you opt out, Google may continue to serve you non-personalized, non-"interest-based" and marketing messages on thebaltimorebanner.com. Google also offers opt-out features to limit the use of your information for "interest-based" marketing messages at https://adssettings.google.com/.

You also may adjust the settings on your device. For iOS mobile devices, go to "Settings" from your device’s home screen, scroll down to find and select "Privacy", and then select "Tracking" to adjust tracking permission. For Android mobile devices, go to "Google Settings" on your device, select "Ads"; and check the box labeled "Opt Out of Interest-Based Ads" or "Opt Out of Ads Personalization." (Please note these settings allow you to opt out of interest-based messages for all applications, not just The Baltimore Banner’s mobile applications. These device settings options may change in the future or otherwise may differ for certain devices; consult your device manufacturer’s support literature for the most current information.)

You can block thebaltimorebanner.com and our other sites from setting cookies used for "interest-based" marketing messages by using browsers or browser plugins with privacy features.

Note that if you opt out, you may still receive the same number of marketing messages as before, but they may not be as relevant to your interests. Opting out of third-party "interest-based" marketing messages and opting out of sharing of your information with our sponsorship vendor Google for delivery of "interest-based" marketing messages on thebaltimorebanner.com by pressing the opt-out button below, is a cookie-based process and will only affect the specific computer, device, and browser on which your opt-out choice is applied. If you subsequently delete your browser cookies or if your browser cookies expire, you will need to opt out again. For more information about opting out of "interest-based" messages, visit https://youradchoices.com/control.

To opt out of the sharing of your information with our vendor Google for delivery of "interest-based" marketing messages on thebaltimorebanner.com (as described above), visit this link.

OPT OUT

To opt out of the sharing of your information with our newsletter sponsorship vendor for delivery of "interest-based" marketing messages through our email newsletters, please contact us or email us at privacy@thebaltimorebanner.com.

Precise location information. If you consent to our collection of your precise device location through a The Baltimore Banner mobile application, you can withdraw your consent at any time and prevent the further collection of your precise location by accessing the privacy settings of your mobile device and/or the settings of The Baltimore Banner mobile application..

Do Not Track

We do not currently respond to browser do-not-track signals. Instead, we adhere to the standards set out in this Privacy Policy and offer the choices described above.

Security

We employ physical, electronic, and managerial safeguards in an effort to secure the information we collect. These safeguards vary based on the sensitivity of the information. Because no security system is impenetrable, however, we cannot guarantee the security of our databases or that information you supply will never be intercepted, accessed, or disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Policy. Because most email and mobile transmissions are not encrypted, you should take special care in deciding what information you send to us via email, text messages, or other mobile transmissions.

Retention

We retain personal information collected from our mobile applications as necessary to perform the processing described in this Privacy Policy and in case of any legal claims or complaints, or as otherwise required or permitted by law.

Links to and from Other Sites and Services

Our Services contain links to other sites, applications, platforms, and services operated by third parties whose privacy policies we don’t control and may differ significantly from ours. For instance, clicking or tapping on a marketing message or some third-party logos on The Baltimore Banner will take you to an entirely different site or service that may collect, use, and share information in ways that The Baltimore Banner would not. You also may access The Baltimore Banner content and The Baltimore Banner Services from a third-party site or service that may collect, use, and share information in ways that The Baltimore Banner would not. The Baltimore Banner is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of these third-party services, and we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of any such sites or services you visit or access.

Social Networking Services Sign-in and Sharing Tools

Our Services allow users to sign into their The Baltimore Banner accounts using their credentials on social networking services such as Facebook (an "SNS”). If you sign into our Services through an SNS, we will receive your email address and certain profile information from such SNS in accordance with its privacy policy and your SNS account privacy settings. Any information that we collect from your SNS account may depend on the privacy settings you have selected with that SNS, so please consult the applicable SNS’s privacy and data policies to learn how to manage these settings.

If you use tools on our Services that allow you to share stories or other content with your friends and followers on an SNS such as Facebook, Twitter, Flipboard, or Google+, that action and any information you share may be used by the SNS according to its own privacy policy.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

The Baltimore Banner reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. Any changes will be posted to this page, so please check back periodically. Your use of our Services constitutes consent to the Privacy Policy then in effect. Please read The Baltimore Banner’s Terms of Service to understand additional terms and conditions that apply to your use of our Services.

Users Outside the U.S.

Our Services are controlled and operated within the United States. Any information we collect may be transferred to, and processed, stored, and accessed by, us, our service providers, and our vendors in the United States and in other jurisdictions where we, our service providers, or our vendors operate. These jurisdictions may have data privacy laws that may not be as protective as those of your home jurisdiction, and courts and other authorities may, in certain circumstances, be entitled to access information about you subject to such data privacy laws. By using The Baltimore Banner Services, you agree to this transfer, processing, storage, and access of your information as described in this Privacy Policy.

NOTICE TO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS:

In this notice, The Baltimore Banner is providing additional information and choices to California residents. We are providing this information voluntarily. The law that requires additional notice – the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (”CCPA”) – does not apply to non-profit entities like The Baltimore Banner.

Personal Information that We Collect, Use and Share

The chart below describes how we currently collect, use and share personal information, and how we have collected used and shared the information in the preceding 12 months. Information you voluntarily provide to us, such as when you contact us, may contain other categories of personal information.

Your California Privacy Choices

We offer California residents the ability to make the requests listed below. However, in certain circumstances we may decline your request, including, but not limited to, circumstances where fulfilling a request may interfere with the exercise of freedom of speech or freedom of the press, journalistic activities, or other rights provided under other applicable laws. If we deny your request, we will communicate our decision to you. You will not be penalized for making a request.

  • Information. You can request information about how we have collected, used, and shared your personal information during the past 12 months. We have also made this information available to California residents without having to request it by including it in this notice, in the above chart.
  • Access. You can request a copy of the personal information that we maintain about you.
  • Deletion. You can ask us to delete the personal information that we collected or maintain about you.
  • List of Third Party Marketers. Under California’s Shine the Light law, The Baltimore Banner users who are California residents may request a notice identifying the categories of personal information that we share with third parties for their own direct marketing purposes, and such third parties’ contact information.

How to Submit a Request

  • To request access to or deletion of personal information:
  • Identity verification. We will need to confirm your identity and California residency to provide a substantive response to your request.
  • Authorized agents. California residents can empower an "authorized agent" to submit requests on their behalf. We will require the authorized agent to have a written authorization confirming that authority.

Notice of Your Right to Opt-Out of Sale of Personal Information

The Baltimore Banner does not sell personal information of its readers as the term “sell” is traditionally understood. But “sell” under the CCPA is broadly defined. It includes the sharing of personal information with third parties in exchange for something of value, even if no money changes hands. For example, sharing an advertising or device identifier to a third party may be considered a “sale” under the CCPA.

To the extent The Baltimore Banner “sells” your personal information (as the term “sell” is defined under the CCPA), you have the right to opt-out of that “sale” on a going-forward basis at any time.

If your browser or device is using a “do not track” setting, we will detect it and honor it on that specific browser or device only. If you wish to have a “do not track” experience across all of your browsers and devices, please make sure that all of your browsers and devices are set on “do not track.“

After you opt out of the “sale” of your personal information, we will no longer “sell” your personal information to third parties (except in an aggregated or de-identified manner so it is no longer personal information), but we will continue to share your personal information with our service providers, which process it on our behalf. Exercising your right to opt out of the “sale” of your personal information does not mean that you will stop seeing ads on our sites and apps.

To opt-out of interest-based advertising as much as technically possible, go to “Interest-Based Marketing Messages” in our Privacy Policy. To opt out of the “sale” of your personal information from participating companies, please visit the Digital Advertising Alliance website or apps. We do not control these opt-out mechanisms and are not responsible for their operation.

You can designate someone else to make a request on your behalf. To protect your information, we will ask for a signed permission from you authorizing the other person to submit a request on your behalf. We will contact you to verify your identity before we respond to your authorized agent’s request.

After 12 months, we may ask you if you want to opt into the “sale” of your personal information.

For further information, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

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