Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how the East Grand Rapids Community Site ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and handles information when you visit https://eastgrandrapids.com. We are a community-run, non-commercial website. We have no interest in selling your data, building advertising profiles, or doing anything with your information beyond running this site. This policy lays out exactly what we do collect and why.

What Data We Collect

Server Logs

Like every web server on the internet, ours automatically records basic technical information when you visit a page. This includes your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring page (if any), the pages you requested, and the date and time of each request. We use this data solely for diagnosing technical problems, detecting abuse, and understanding aggregate traffic patterns (e.g., which pages are popular). We do not tie server log data to individual identities, and we do not share it with third parties for marketing purposes.

Server logs are retained for up to 30 days and then automatically deleted.

Session Cookies

We use a single session cookie to maintain basic site functionality — for example, to store a flash message after you submit a form. This cookie contains a random session identifier and no personally identifiable information. It is not a tracking cookie, it is not shared with advertisers, and it expires when you close your browser. We do not use persistent tracking cookies of our own.

You can disable cookies in your browser, but some forms on this site (such as the contact form) rely on the session cookie to function correctly.

No Account Creation

This site does not require you to create an account. You can browse all public content — events, news, businesses, neighborhoods, parks — without logging in or providing any personal information whatsoever.

Information You Voluntarily Submit

Contact Form

If you use the contact form at https://eastgrandrapids.com/contact, we collect your name, email address, subject, and message. This information is stored temporarily in our database and is used only to read your message and respond to it. We do not use contact form submissions for marketing, we do not add your email to any mailing list without your explicit consent, and we do not share this information with anyone outside our volunteer team.

Contact form records are reviewed by our small team and are periodically purged from the database once the conversation is resolved.

Event Submissions

If you submit an event for consideration, we collect your name, email address, and the details of the event you submitted. We store your name and email so we can follow up with questions or notify you if your event is published. Submitter contact information is not published on the site and is not shared with third parties.

Newsletter (If Applicable)

If we offer a newsletter or email digest, signing up requires only your email address. Your email is stored securely and is used only to send the newsletter. We will never sell, rent, or share your email address with anyone. Every newsletter email includes a one-click unsubscribe link that permanently removes you from the list. You can also unsubscribe by contacting us directly.

Third-Party Services

To provide a better experience, this site loads content or resources from third-party services. Each has its own privacy practices:

• Google Fonts — We load typefaces (Playfair Display and Inter) from Google's font delivery network. When your browser requests these fonts, Google receives your IP address and browser information. See Google's Privacy Policy.
• OpenStreetMap / Leaflet — Interactive maps on park and neighborhood pages are powered by Leaflet using OpenStreetMap tiles. When map tiles load, your IP address is sent to OpenStreetMap's tile servers. See the OSMF Privacy Policy.
• Unsplash — Some images on this site are sourced from Unsplash. Images may be served from Unsplash's CDN, which may log your IP address. See Unsplash's Privacy Policy.
• Eventbrite & Ticketmaster APIs — We query these APIs server-side to populate our events calendar. Your browser does not make direct requests to these services when viewing events on our site; only our server communicates with their APIs. No personal data about you is sent to Eventbrite or Ticketmaster as part of normal site browsing.
• RSS News Sources — Community news articles are aggregated via RSS feeds from publishers such as MLive, Fox 17, and WOOD TV8. These feeds are fetched by our server in the background. Clicking a "Read more" or "Source" link will take you to the publisher's website, where that publisher's privacy policy applies.

Analytics

If Google Analytics is enabled on this site, Google collects anonymized usage data including pages visited, time on page, browser/device type, and approximate geographic location (city-level, derived from IP address). We use this data to understand how people use the site and where to focus our improvement efforts. We have enabled IP anonymization so that full IP addresses are not stored by Google. We do not use Google Analytics remarketing features.

If you prefer not to be tracked by Google Analytics, you can install the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on or use a browser extension that blocks tracking scripts.

Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect the information stored on this site. Our database is not publicly accessible, administrator access is password-protected, and connections to this site are encrypted via HTTPS. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. We encourage you to avoid submitting highly sensitive personal information through any web form.

We Do Not Sell Your Data

We do not sell, rent, broker, or otherwise transfer any personal information collected through this site to third parties for commercial purposes. We never have and we never will. This site has no advertising revenue model and no financial incentive to monetize user data.

Children's Privacy

This site is intended for a general community audience. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has submitted personal information through our contact form or event submission form, please contact us and we will remove it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of the site after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

Questions About Privacy

If you have questions about this policy or how we handle your information, please contact us:

• Email: andy@andysweet.com
• Contact form: https://eastgrandrapids.com/contact

We will respond to privacy-related inquiries within 14 days.