Privacy & Refund Policy

This is the Privacy Policy for the web sites owned or operated by Gulf Media Partners, LLC DBA Gulf Coast Media. We respect your privacy and appreciate the confidence you have placed in us. We are committed to protecting your privacy and preserving your trust. Please carefully review this Privacy Policy to learn about how we collect, use, and protect any personal information you provide us and your choices for managing your personal information. This Privacy Policy is subject to the User Agreement posted on the Site.

Managing Information Preferences

We want to communicate with you only if you want to hear from us. If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or if you wish to exclude your personal information from our direct marketing purposes, please feel free to contact us at webmaster@gulfcoastmedia.com.

If you would like to correct, update, or change your personal information with us please contact us the same way.

What Types Of Information Do We Collect?

We collect information that may personally identify you (such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, billing information, or other data which can be reasonably linked to such information) only if you choose to share such information with us. For example, we may collect personal information from you when you register on the Site, subscribe to one of our services, enter sweepstakes, contests or other promotions, and at other times. We also collect credit card information in connection with any purchase you make on or through the Site. The decision to provide this information is optional; however, if you decide not to register or provide such information, you may not be able to use certain features of the Site or other services.

We may automatically collect non-personal information that does not identify an individual user, such as IP (internet protocol) address, ISP (internet service provider), the Web browser used to visit the Site, the time the Site is visited, which Web pages were visited on the Site, a unique mobile device identifier (in connection with the use of the Sites or related services from mobile devices) and other anonymous Site usage data.

We also use cookies (a small file containing a string of characters that uniquely identifies your Web browser). We use cookies to improve the quality of the Site. Most Web browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your Web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, certain features of the Site may not work if you delete or disable cookies. Certain of our Service Providers (defined below) may use cookies and Web beacons in connection with the services they perform on our behalf, including, without limitation, ad serving.

How Do We Use The Information We Collect?

We will not sell, share, or rent personal information to third parties, and we will not otherwise disclose personal information to third parties, without your permission, except as disclosed in this Privacy Policy.

We use personal information and non-personal information for internal purposes, including:

  • enhancing your experience at the Site;
  • performing administration and technical support for the Site;
  • enabling you to enter sweepstakes, contests and other promotions;
  • enabling you to use certain services and features available on or through the Site;
  • creating aggregate information about demographics and usage patterns;
  • inviting our promotional vendors and advertisers—with your permission—to call to your attention special offers, products and services that may be of interest to you; and
  • enabling purchases of goods and services.

We may use aggregate information to measure general Site usage patterns and characteristics of our user base, and we may include such aggregate information about our audience in reports to our commercial vendors. We may also disclose aggregated user statistics (for example, a certain percentage of our users live in a certain area) without your permission in order to describe our audience to existing and prospective advertisers or other third parties. However, this aggregate information does not reference names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, or other personal information, and it is not traceable to a specific recipient or user e-mail address.

We also may share personal information with entities controlled by Gulf Media Partners DBA Gulf Coast Media.

From time to time, we might establish a business relationship with other persons or entities whom we believe trustworthy and whom we have asked to confirm that their privacy practices are consistent with ours (“Service Providers”). For example, we may contract with Service Providers to provide certain services including credit card processing, advertising, promotions, analytics tools, data management, Web hosting, and Web development. We provide our Service Providers with the information needed for them to perform these services. Each Service Provider must agree to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of your information in order to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure.

We may work with third-party advertising companies which may use information about your visit to the Site in order to provide advertisements about goods and services that may be of interest to you on the Site and on third-party Web sites. From the Site, these companies may place or recognize a unique cookie on your computer or use other technologies such as Web beacons or pixel tags. Our Privacy Policy does not cover any use of information that a third-party advertisement serving company may collect from you. For more information about ad cookies and companies that provide users the ability to “opt-out” of the collection of information from such cookies, please click here.

Although unlikely, in certain instances we may disclose your personal information when we have reason to believe it is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against persons or entities who may be causing injury to you, to Gulf Media Partners or its affiliates, or to others. We may also disclose your personal information when we believe the law or legal process requires such disclosure. Please note that courts of equity, such as U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, may have the authority under certain circumstances to permit your personal information to be shared or transferred to third parties without your permission.

Security

We use encryption and authentication tools to protect the security of personal information that you share with us. However, no data transmission over the Internet (or, with respect to our mobile services, over cellular phone networks) can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect personal information, we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit to or from the Site, and you do so at your own risk.

Links To Third-Party Web Sites

The Site may contain links to Web sites operated and maintained by third parties, over which we have no control. Privacy policies on such linked Web sites may be different from our Privacy Policy. You access such linked Web sites at your own risk. You should always read the privacy policy of a linked Web site before disclosing any personal information on such site.

Refund Policy

Digital subscriptions to this Web site are non-refundable for the length of the subscription. Digital subscriptions may be stopped at anytime by calling our office. Print subscriptions will be refunded at the request of the subscriber for any account balance remaining on the account, as long as the account has at least $5 remaining. It is the responsibility of the subscriber to cancel the account at least 48 hours prior to the next publication in order for the refund to be issued. Notification of cancellation can be made by calling our office during normal business hours. 

Policy Changes

If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, in whole or in part, we will inform you by posting the changed Privacy Policy on the Site. Your continued use of the Site constitutes your agreement to abide by the Privacy Policy as changed. If you object to any such changes, your sole recourse shall be to cease using the Site.