Information you submit
Your name, email address, telephone number if requested or supplied, organization, subject, message, article link, tip details, press release, correction request, attachments, and any other information you choose to provide.
Standards & Policies
Privacy Policy
This policy explains what Ocean State Chronicle collects through this website, why we use it, when outside services process it, and the choices available to readers and correspondents.
Scope
Privacy in a working newsroom.
This policy applies to oceanstatechronicle.com and the forms, pages, and services linked or embedded on the site. It covers information submitted by readers, sources, public officials, organizations, and other visitors, along with limited technical information generated when the site is used. Ocean State Chronicle is the site operator and the point of contact for the collection and use described here.
Information gathered independently for reporting may also be handled under OSC’s editorial standards, source-protection practices, public-records obligations, and applicable law. This policy does not promise that every record held for journalistic purposes can be disclosed, altered, or deleted on request.
Information Collected
What may reach the newsroom.
OSC collects only the information supplied through its forms and correspondence, plus limited technical data produced by the website and its service providers.
Technical information
Internet Protocol address, browser and device type, referring page, pages viewed, date and time, cookies, and security or diagnostic information that may be processed by the hosting platform, embedded forms, and similar service providers.
Reporting material
Public records, publicly available information, interview notes, recordings, documents, photographs, source communications, and other material received or lawfully gathered for newsgathering, verification, publication, and follow-up reporting.
How It Is Used
Limited to legitimate newsroom and site operations.
- Respond to inquiries, interview requests, corrections, and other correspondence.
- Review, verify, investigate, and follow up on news tips and submitted material.
- Evaluate press releases, public-interest information, and possible stories.
- Publish reporting, corrections, clarifications, updates, and editor’s notes when appropriate.
- Operate, secure, diagnose, maintain, and improve the website and its forms.
- Maintain newsroom records, document editorial decisions, and defend legal claims.
- Comply with lawful process and protect the rights, safety, and security of OSC and others.
Service Providers & Disclosure
Who may process information.
Outside services receive information only as needed to provide their functions, comply with law, or protect the site and its users. OSC does not currently sell personal data or use it for targeted advertising or automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects.
Website platform
Weebly and its affiliated service providers host and deliver the website and may process device, log, cookie, security, and usage information under their own privacy terms.
Forms and submissions
Jotform processes information entered into OSC contact, tip, correction, and submission forms. Form data may pass through Jotform’s systems before reaching the newsroom.
Cloud and workspace tools
Google and other operational providers may process or store newsroom correspondence, records, documents, and limited public-feed data used to operate site features.
Required or protective disclosure
Information may be disclosed when required by valid legal process, or when reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, address a security threat, protect legal rights, or prevent serious harm.
Sources & Sensitive Material
A form submission is not automatically confidential.
OSC takes source concerns seriously and may limit public use of identifying details when justified by safety, fairness, and public interest. However, submitting a form, email, direct message, or file does not by itself create a confidential-source agreement, attorney-client relationship, or guarantee of anonymity.
Retention & Safeguards
How information is handled over time.
Retention depends on editorial value, operational need, legal duties, security concerns, and whether a record supports published reporting.
Retention
OSC may retain submissions, correspondence, reporting material, and related records for as long as reasonably needed for journalism, follow-up reporting, corrections, documentation, security, or legal purposes.
Security
Reasonable administrative and technical safeguards are used, but no website, email system, cloud service, or transmission method can be guaranteed completely secure.
Children
The site is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. OSC does not knowingly use the site to solicit personal information from children under 13.
Privacy Requests
Ask about your personal information.
Subject to applicable law and legitimate journalistic, legal, security, and recordkeeping needs, you may ask whether OSC holds personal information you submitted and request access, correction, or deletion. OSC may need to verify your identity and may decline or limit a request when disclosure or deletion would compromise a source, another person’s rights, reporting records, legal duties, or the integrity of published work.
Use the General Inquiry Form. Select General Inquiry and enter Privacy Request in the subject line.
Contact the Newsroom
Policy Updates
Changes will be posted here.
OSC may update this policy as the website, newsroom tools, or legal requirements change. The effective date at the top of the page will identify the current version. Continued use of the site after an update means the revised policy applies to future site use.
Links to outside websites, social platforms, and embedded services are governed by those services’ own terms and privacy practices. OSC is not responsible for the privacy practices of unaffiliated websites.