Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Cerritos News ("we," "us," or "our") operates cerritosnewspaper.com. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you visit our website, subscribe to our newsletter, comment on articles, submit advertising inquiries, or otherwise interact with our services. Please read it carefully. By using our site you agree to these practices.

2. Information We Collect

a) Information You Provide:

• Newsletter / Subscription: Name, email address, phone/WhatsApp number (optional), ZIP code, content preferences.
• Comments: Name, email address, comment text, IP address.
• Contact & Advertising Forms: Name, email, phone, company name, inquiry details, and any message content you submit.
• Community Submissions: Name, email, news tip or story content, and any attached media.

b) Information Collected Automatically:

• IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URLs, pages viewed, and time spent on pages.
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 7).
• Device identifiers and mobile network information.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To send you our daily or weekly email newsletter (if subscribed).
• To send WhatsApp news alerts if you opted in and provided your number.
• To respond to your contact, advertising, or story submission inquiries.
• To publish approved comments on articles.
• To improve and personalize your experience on the site.
• To analyze traffic patterns using Google Analytics 4 (anonymized).
• To process advertising payments via Stripe.
• To detect and prevent fraud, spam, or unauthorized access.
• To comply with legal obligations.

4. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share information with:

• Service Providers: Email delivery (GoDaddy SMTP), payment processing (Stripe), WhatsApp notifications (Twilio), analytics (Google Analytics 4).
• Legal Authorities: When required by law, court order, or government regulation.
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the successor entity.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy or as required by law. Newsletter subscribers' data is retained until unsubscription. Comment data is retained unless deleted by administrators. Advertising inquiry data is retained for 3 years for business record purposes.

6. Your Rights (CCPA / California Residents)

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California residents have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell.
• Request deletion of your personal information.
• Opt out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information).
• Non-discrimination for exercising your rights.

To exercise these rights, email info@cerritosnewspaper.com with the subject "Privacy Request." We will respond within 45 days.

7. Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies including:

• Essential cookies: Required for the site to function (session management, CSRF protection).
• Analytics cookies: Google Analytics 4 to understand traffic (you may opt out via Google's opt-out tool).
• Preference cookies: Remembering cookie consent choices.

See our full Cookie Policy.

8. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us immediately.

9. Third-Party Links

Our site may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites and encourage you to review their privacy policies.

10. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures including HTTPS/TLS encryption, bcrypt password hashing, CSRF token protection, rate limiting, and SQL injection prevention via prepared statements. No internet transmission is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. We will notify you of significant changes by posting the updated policy with a new effective date. Your continued use of our site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

For privacy questions, requests, or complaints: