Privacy policy

What we collect

Very little. You do not need an account to read anything on this site. We do not use advertising, tracking pixels, or analytics cookies, and we do not sell or share information about readers. If you choose to create an account, we keep what it needs and set a few small cookies for signing in. Accounts explains them.

We count page views with Vercel Web Analytics so we know which stories people read. It does not use cookies and does not identify individual readers.

Our host, Vercel, keeps standard server logs, such as IP address, browser type, and the page requested, to run and protect the site. Those logs are handled under Vercel's privacy policy.

Fonts, images, and maps are served from our own site, so reading a page does not send your information to font, image, or map services.

Saved on your device

On a phone or tablet, we offer one tip about adding this site to your home screen. To show it only once, your browser keeps a small note of how many pages you have opened here and whether you saw the tip. The note stays in your browser's storage and is never sent to us. Clearing this site's data in your browser removes it.

Your browser also keeps a copy of our offline page, which shows when you have no connection. We never store stories on your device, so you always read the current version.

When you contact us

If you send a correction, a tip, or records, we use your message and email address only to review it and reply. Mail to our addresses reaches the editor through our email provider, and we keep it private and never share your identity. When we publish records you shared, we remove your name, contact details, and other private information first. See how to send a tip and how we protect you.

Email alerts

If you sign up for email alerts, we keep your email address, what you signed up for, which page you signed up on, and when you confirmed. If you tell us why you unsubscribed, we keep that answer too. We use this only to send the emails you asked for.

Your address goes on the list only after you press the button in the confirm email we send. To stop bots from signing people up, the signup form uses Cloudflare Turnstile. Cloudflare says it does not use that check to target ads.

We send the emails through Resend, which stores the list for us. Our emails load no tracking pixels and no fonts from other companies, and we have turned off open and click tracking. We never sell, rent, or share the list.

Every email has a link to change what you get or unsubscribe. It takes effect right away. After you unsubscribe, we keep your address only as a record not to email you, unless you ask us to delete it.

Our mailing address is Eucalypt Studio LLC, doing business as Lago Vista Watchdog, 5900 Balcones Dr #100, Austin, TX 78731.

Accounts

An account is free and optional. If you create one, we keep your email address, the name you give us if you give one, when you created the account, and whether you confirmed your email. We never keep your password itself. We keep a scrambled form of it (a one-way hash) that cannot be turned back into the password.

When you choose a password, we check it against passwords already exposed in data breaches. Only the first 5 characters of a scrambled form of the password (a SHA-1 hash) go to the Have I Been Pwned service, which cannot tell what your password is from that. The account forms use Cloudflare Turnstile to stop bots, as the email alert signup form does.

The 6-digit codes we email you are kept only in scrambled form. Each one works once and stops working after 10 minutes. We send account emails through Resend. They go only to you, and they never add you to our email alerts.

While you are signed in, we keep a record of each signed-in browser with the date, its IP address, and its browser type, so we can keep the account safe. That record ends when you sign out, or after 30 days. To slow down people who guess passwords, we also keep a count of recent tries from each IP address for one day.

We keep your account until you ask us to delete it. Sign-in records that have ended, codes that were used or expired, and counts of tries more than a day old are deleted on their own.

Signing in sets two cookies. The first keeps you signed in for up to 30 days. Your browser keeps it out of reach of the page's scripts, and it is sent only to our site over a secure connection. The second, named lvw_si, holds only the number 1. It lets the menu show Account instead of Sign in. If you are a member, a third, named lvw_af, also holds only the number 1. We do not show ads today. If we ever do, it tells our pages to skip them for you. It ends when your membership does. All of them are removed when you sign out.

Creating an account sets one more cookie, for up to 7 days. It shows that this browser chose the password. If you confirm your email in a different browser, we remove the password to keep the account safe, and you can choose a new one. This cookie holds no password, and only our sign-in service reads it. None of these cookies track you.

If you add a passkey, your device keeps its private key, and we keep only the public half, the name you see on your security page, and when you added it. Your fingerprint or face never leaves your device. If you set up an authenticator app, we keep its secret and your recovery codes locked with encryption. In most browsers, opening the sign-in page sets a short-lived cookie for up to 5 minutes, even if you never use a passkey. Adding a passkey sets the same cookie. It only lets us check a passkey's answer. A sign-in that is waiting for your app code sets one for up to 10 minutes. If you choose "Trust this browser", a cookie lets that browser skip the app step for up to 30 days. Turning the app off or on, making new recovery codes, or resetting your password ends that trust for every browser.

We also keep a list of the kinds of browser your account has signed in from, such as "Safari on iPhone", with the first and latest dates. We keep no version numbers or IP addresses in that list. When a new kind signs in, we email you. We also email you whenever a passkey or the authenticator app is added or removed, when you make new recovery codes, or when a recovery code is used.

You can download a copy of what your account holds, or delete your account, on the Privacy and data tab of your account page. Both ask you to confirm it is you first. The download has your profile, how you sign in, your signed-in browsers, your passkey names, your membership dates, and your email alert choices. It holds no password or secret key.

Deleting your account removes it with its sign-in records, passkeys, authenticator app, and codes. It also stops your email alerts, takes your account number and any supporter wall name off your Stripe record, and, if you ask, stops your membership plan from renewing. Stripe keeps the records of your payments, as tax law requires. You can also write to members@lagovistawatchdog.com from the address on the account, and we will do it for you.

Memberships and payments

If you become a member, you pay through Stripe. Your card number goes to Stripe and never reaches us. Stripe keeps your name, email address, billing address, the plan and amount you chose, and your payment history, so it can charge you, send receipts, and stop fraud. We can see those details in our Stripe account, except your full card number.

We also keep a few notes on your Stripe record, such as when your membership started and ends, and the name you asked to show on our supporter wall. The wall shows only names that members typed in and the editor approved, and never amounts. A name comes off when the membership ends.

Paying does not add you to our email alerts. If you are already on the list, we mark you as a member there so your alerts carry your member line. The membership form uses Cloudflare Turnstile to stop bots, as the signup form does.

If you have an account, we match your membership to it by the confirmed email on the account, and we note your account number on your Stripe record. We keep a copy of your membership dates and plan with your account, checked against Stripe at most once an hour, so your account page can show them.

If you were a member before accounts began, we may send you one email that invites you to make a free account. We send it only once. Its link works once, for 14 days. While the link works, we keep a note of it under a scrambled form of your address that cannot be turned back into it, and we delete that note after the link expires.

Tax and accounting rules require us to keep payment records for several years. To change your membership, use the link on the membership page.

Payments toward a public records request work the same way. Stripe handles them, and we keep only the amount, the date, and which request it paid for. We never show who paid.

Shop orders

Our shop is run by Fourthwall, a merch company that sells, prints, and ships each order. You pay Fourthwall, and your card number never reaches us. Fourthwall keeps your name, email, shipping address, and order history to fill and support your order.

We can see each order in our Fourthwall account, including the buyer's name, email, shipping address, and what they bought. We use that only to answer questions about an order and to keep our books. Buying from the shop does not add you to our email alerts.

Links to other sites

Our stories link to public records on other sites, such as the city meeting video archive and agenda portal. Those sites have their own privacy policies.

Changes and questions

We will update the date at the top of this page when this policy changes. The rules for using the site are in our terms of service.

Questions about privacy go to corrections@lagovistawatchdog.com.

Image credits

The sources and licenses for every image, video clip, and map are on our image and video credits page.