Privacy Policy

What Granite State Report collects, why, and what you can do about it.

Granite State Report is a one-person newsroom, not a data business. This page explains what the site collects when you read it, comment on it, or sign up for anything, why that information exists, who else can see it, and how to get it removed. If a practice described here ever stops matching what the site does, the site is wrong and this page will be corrected.

What this covers

This policy applies to granitestatereport.com and to email you send to the addresses listed on the site. It does not cover other websites the site links to. Each of those runs its own operation and keeps its own records.

Information collected automatically

Like almost every website, the hosting platform records basic technical data when a page loads: the requesting IP address, browser and device type, the page you came from, and the date and time. This is standard server-log information used to keep the site running, guard against abuse, and understand aggregate traffic. It is not used to build a personal profile of individual readers.

The site runs on WordPress with built-in platform features and uses small cookies to keep the site working, remember basic preferences, and measure aggregate traffic through the hosting platform’s own statistics and Google Analytics (see Third-party services below). You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; some conveniences may stop working if you do.

Information you choose to give

Some information exists only because you hand it over:

• Comments. If you comment, the comment form collects the name and email you enter and your IP address. Your name and comment are public once approved; your email is not published.
• Newsletter. If you sign up for email updates, the site stores the email address you provide so it can send them. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any message.
• Polls and surveys. If the site runs a reader poll or survey, your responses are recorded, and depending on the tool your IP address may be logged to limit duplicate voting.
• Email and phone. When you email or call the newsroom, that message and your address or number stay with the editor until deleted.

Third-party services on the site

Some services on this site are run by other companies, and their scripts set or read their own cookies when a page loads. As of the date at the top of this page, they are:

• Google Analytics, through Google’s Site Kit plugin, measures aggregate traffic (pages viewed, rough location, device type). It sets _ga cookies, and on every page view it also sends a measurement request to Google’s doubleclick.net domain, which is how Google’s advertising-measurement features work. Google’s practices are described in its privacy policy; the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on blocks the measurement.
• WordPress.com and Jetpack host the site, run its own traffic statistics, deliver the newsletter, and provide the comment, sharing, and subscription features. Akismet checks comments for spam, which means the text of a comment and the commenter’s IP address are sent to Akismet. Gravatar supplies commenter avatars.
• Sharing buttons and embeds. The share buttons load scripts from Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and X, and embedded videos load from YouTube. Each of those companies may set its own cookies when the script or embed loads, under its own privacy terms.
• Crowdsignal runs reader polls when one appears; responses and, to limit duplicate votes, an IP address are recorded there.

Who else sees it

The site does not sell reader information and does not trade it. The service providers named above handle some of it to make the site function, and they process the data under their own terms. Information may also be disclosed if the law requires it, for example a valid court order.

How long it is kept

Comments stay attached to their articles unless removed. Newsletter addresses are kept until you unsubscribe or ask to be deleted. Server logs and analytics are retained on the hosting platform’s normal schedule. Email is kept until the editor clears it.

Your choices

You can unsubscribe from the newsletter, ask to have a comment removed, or ask what the site holds about you and request that it be deleted. Send the request from the email address involved so it can be matched. Depending on where you live, local law such as the EU/UK GDPR or California’s privacy statutes may give you formal rights to access, correct, or delete your information; the newsroom will honor a reasonable request under those laws.

Children

This site is intended for a general adult audience and is not directed to children under 13. The site does not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided information, contact the editor and it will be deleted.

Security and changes

The site uses reasonable measures to protect the limited information it holds, but no website can promise perfect security. This policy may change as the site does; the date at the top of this page marks the current version, and material changes will be noted here.

Version log. July 7, 2026: first published. September 17, 2026: added the Third-party services section. The July 7 text described analytics as the hosting platform’s own and named only the hosting and email providers; Google Analytics, Google AdSense, Akismet, Gravatar, and the sharing and embed scripts were in use and were disclosed, with opt-out links. Also: rebuilt in the site shell (no in-card masthead or title block), added the newsroom phone line, named phone contact alongside email. September 17, 2026, later the same day: Google AdSense was disconnected from this site, so its entry has been removed from Third-party services and the site no longer carries advertising; the Google Analytics entry now also notes the measurement request each page view sends to Google’s doubleclick.net domain. Google Analytics itself is unchanged, and so is what the newsroom collects and keeps.