Privacy Policy

• Newsletter signups are stored securely in our own database.
• We collect your email address and, if you give it, your first name.
• We never sell, rent or trade personal information.
• Saved events, deals and businesses stay in your own browser.
• We only keep contact details you deliberately send us through a form.

When you sign up for The Middie Beat newsletter we collect your email address and, optionally, your first name. We also record the date you signed up, the exact consent wording shown to you, and which part of the site the signup came from.

We use that information only to send occasional emails about local events, businesses, deals and community updates. We do not sell, rent or share the newsletter list with anyone, and we don't use it for unrelated marketing.

You can unsubscribe at any time. Email admin@themiddiebeat.com with the address you signed up with and we'll mark it as unsubscribed. When you unsubscribe we keep a minimal record marked "unsubscribed" so you aren't accidentally added back later — we don't email you again unless you sign up once more.

Signups take effect immediately; we do not currently send a confirmation email, so this is a single opt-in list rather than double opt-in.

• Event submissions. If you submit an event, we store the event details plus the contact name and email you provide, so we can follow up about the listing.
• Business submissions. If you add a business, we store the business information and your contact details for verification and follow-up.
• Uploaded images. Flyers and photos you upload are kept in private storage and only published if the listing is approved.
• Messages. If you email or use the contact form, we keep that message so we can reply.
• Admin accounts. Only our own editors have accounts; there is no public login.

Contact details attached to submissions are used for editorial follow-up only. They are not added to the newsletter list unless you sign up for it yourself.

• Payment or card details — voluntary support is handled entirely by Buy Me a Coffee on their site.
• Public user accounts, passwords or profiles.
• Sold, rented or shared marketing lists of any kind.

When you bookmark an event, deal or business, that list is written to your browser's local storage on your own device. It never reaches our servers, isn't tied to an identity, and clearing your browser data removes it.

We use lightweight, aggregate analytics to understand which pages and listings are useful — things like page views and anonymous click events. We do not use advertising trackers or sell analytics data. The site does not set cookies for advertising or cross-site profiling.

Some parts of the experience are hosted elsewhere and are governed by those providers' privacy policies: Buy Me a Coffee (voluntary support) and our hosting and database provider, which stores the site's content, submissions and newsletter list. Links to other local businesses, venues and ticket sellers lead to sites we don't control.

• Unsubscribe at any time by emailing admin@themiddiebeat.com.
• Ask us to correct or remove a listing, submission or the contact details attached to it.
• Clear saved items yourself by clearing your browser storage.

The Middie Beat is a general-audience local guide and isn't directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect information from them.

If how we handle information changes, we'll update this page and the "last updated" date above.

Questions about privacy, or want something removed? Email admin@themiddiebeat.com or use the contact page.