Privacy Policy

The CT Beacon
Operated by Stonington Media
Effective Date: April 1, 2026
Website: https://thectbeacon.com

1. Our Commitment to Your Privacy

The CT Beacon is a regional digital publication covering events, entertainment, food, arts, culture, and community life in southeastern Connecticut and southwestern Rhode Island.

The CT Beacon is owned and operated by Stonington Media (“we,” “us,” or “our”).

We respect our readers’ privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, which services help us operate our website and newsletters, and the choices available to you.

This policy applies to The CT Beacon website, its email newsletters, subscription forms, contact forms, and related online services.

We do not sell our newsletter subscriber lists or provide advertisers with individual subscriber email addresses for their independent marketing.

2. Information We Collect

You can browse most of The CT Beacon without providing your name or email address.

We may collect personal information when you voluntarily:

• Subscribe to our newsletter.
• Complete a MailerLite subscription form.
• Sign up through a Facebook or Instagram advertisement.
• Send a message through a contact form.
• Submit an event or other editorial information.
• Leave a comment on an article.
• Contact us by email.
• Make a donation or otherwise support the publication.

Depending on the interaction, this information may include your name, email address, message, submitted content, and other information you choose to provide.

Our website and service providers may also collect technical information, including IP addresses, browser and device information, approximate geographic location, referring websites, pages visited, and interactions with website features.

We use this information to operate our publication, respond to inquiries, deliver requested communications, improve our services, measure audience engagement, and protect our website.

3. Email Newsletters and MailerLite

The CT Beacon uses MailerLite to manage newsletter subscriptions, maintain subscriber records, deliver emails, and measure newsletter performance.

When you subscribe through our website, a MailerLite form, or another authorized signup method, your information is transferred to or stored in our MailerLite account.

Information processed may include:

• Your email address and any name you provide.
• The date and source of your subscription.
• Your subscription status and group membership.
• Your newsletter preferences, where available.
• Email delivery, open, and click activity.
• Unsubscribe and other subscription-management actions.

We use subscriber groups and segments to manage communications and, where appropriate, provide content relevant to different geographic audiences.

Email tracking: Our newsletters may contain tracking pixels and specially formatted links that help us estimate email opens, identify clicked links, and understand which content readers find useful. These measurements can be affected by email privacy settings and may not always reflect actual reader activity.

Unsubscribing: Every marketing newsletter includes an unsubscribe link. You can unsubscribe at any time, without providing a reason.

After unsubscribing, limited information may be retained to honor your request and prevent accidental resubscription.

We do not sell or rent subscriber email addresses.

MailerLite’s privacy practices are described at https://www.mailerlite.com/legal/privacy-policy.

4. MailerLite Forms and Website Subscriptions

The CT Beacon may display MailerLite subscription forms directly on its website, including embedded forms, signup sections, and promotional subscription forms.

When you complete one of these forms, the information you submit is processed through MailerLite.

MailerLite forms may use cookies, technical identifiers, or other technologies to operate properly, help prevent abuse, and support subscription management.

Submitting a newsletter form authorizes us to send the newsletter or communications described at the point of signup.

Simply visiting our website or sending us a general inquiry does not automatically subscribe you to our newsletter.

5. Facebook and Instagram Lead Advertisements

The CT Beacon advertises its free newsletter through Facebook and Instagram.

When you complete one of our Meta Instant Forms, we may receive the information you voluntarily submit, such as your name and email address.

We may use automation services, including Zapier or Make, to transfer these submissions into MailerLite and assign subscribers to the appropriate mailing group.

We use this information to process the subscription you requested, maintain subscriber records, and deliver our newsletter.

Your interactions with Facebook and Instagram are also governed by Meta’s privacy practices.

Meta’s privacy policy is available at https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/.

6. Contact Forms and Ninja Forms

The CT Beacon uses Ninja Forms, a WordPress form-building plugin, to receive messages and inquiries from readers, event organizers, advertisers, and other visitors.

When you submit a contact form, we may collect:

• Your name.
• Your email address.
• The subject of your inquiry.
• The message or information you submit.
• Technical information used for spam prevention and website security.

Ninja Forms may store submissions in our WordPress database, depending on the form’s configuration. Form submissions may also be delivered to authorized publication personnel through email notifications.

We use this information to read and respond to messages, manage inquiries, review submissions, and maintain appropriate business records.

Sending a message through Ninja Forms does not automatically subscribe you to The CT Beacon newsletter. Newsletter enrollment requires a separate subscription request or other valid authorization.

Please avoid submitting sensitive personal information through ordinary contact forms.

7. WordPress Website and Administration

The CT Beacon operates on the WordPress content management system.

WordPress and installed plugins may process information necessary to maintain website functionality, security, content publishing, and administration.

This may include IP addresses, browser information, login-related data, cookies, and information associated with website submissions.

Authorized website administrators may have access to information required to operate and maintain the publication.

Administrator and Login Cookies

WordPress uses cookies for authenticated users, including administrators, to manage login sessions, authentication, and certain display preferences.

These cookies are generally intended to support website operation rather than advertising.

Website Themes and Page Builders

The CT Beacon uses WordPress themes and page-building tools, including Elementor, to display editorial content, navigation, forms, and other website features.

Depending on the features enabled, these tools may use local storage, cookies, or other technical information to maintain functionality and remember preferences.

Website Security

Our website hosting provider and security tools may collect IP addresses, access logs, and technical information to identify suspicious activity, prevent unauthorized access, and maintain website availability.

8. Comments on Articles

When visitors leave comments on The CT Beacon, WordPress may collect the information entered in the comment form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user-agent information.

This information helps us display comments, moderate discussions, and detect spam.

If you choose to save your name, email address, and website in browser cookies, WordPress may remember that information for future comments.

An anonymized string created from your email address may be shared with the Gravatar service to determine whether you have a profile image associated with that email address, if Gravatar is enabled.

After a comment is approved, your comment and any associated public profile information may be visible to other visitors.

We reserve the right to moderate or remove comments that violate our community standards.

9. Google Analytics

The CT Beacon uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors discover and use our website.

Google Analytics may collect information such as:

• Pages visited and navigation activity.
• Approximate geographic location.
• Device type, browser, and operating system.
• Traffic sources and referring websites.
• Session duration and engagement information.
• Interactions with website content.

Google Analytics uses cookies and related technologies to distinguish visits and produce website usage reports.

We use these reports to understand which articles and event listings interest readers, improve website navigation, evaluate content performance, and make editorial and business decisions.

We do not intentionally send names, email addresses, or other directly identifying contact information to Google Analytics.

You can learn more about Google’s data practices at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

You can also learn about Google’s analytics opt-out options at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

The CT Beacon uses cookies and similar technologies to support website operation and understand visitor activity.

These may include:

Essential Cookies: Used for website security, administrative access, form operation, and other necessary functions.

Analytics Cookies: Used by Google Analytics and potentially other analytics services to measure website traffic and engagement.

Preference Cookies: Used to remember selected settings or information entered into certain website features.

Advertising and Measurement Cookies: May be used by advertising platforms or measurement services where those technologies are enabled.

Third-Party Cookies: May be placed by embedded videos, maps, social media content, or other external services.

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

Where applicable law requires consent or an opt-out mechanism for particular technologies, we will provide the appropriate controls.

11. Event Listings and Calendar Submissions

The CT Beacon publishes event listings and community information through its WordPress website and event calendar.

When an event organizer or reader submits event information, we may collect the submitter’s name, email address, event details, photographs, and other voluntarily provided information.

We use this information to review submissions, communicate with organizers, verify event details, and prepare editorial coverage.

Information intended for publication, such as event titles, venue names, public contact details, and event descriptions, may appear publicly on our website.

Personal contact information provided solely for editorial communication will not ordinarily be published without authorization.

12. Embedded Content and External Websites

Articles and event listings may include embedded or linked content from outside services, including videos, maps, social media posts, ticketing websites, and event organizers.

Embedded content may behave as though you visited the external website directly.

These services may collect information about your visit, use cookies, or track interactions according to their own privacy policies.

The CT Beacon does not control the privacy practices of third-party websites.

13. Advertising, Sponsorships, and Audience Measurement

The CT Beacon may publish advertisements, sponsored content, and promotional messages.

We may use website analytics, newsletter engagement statistics, and advertising performance information to understand our audience and evaluate campaigns.

We may provide advertisers with aggregated information, such as newsletter audience size, estimated readership, website traffic, and advertising performance.

We do not give sponsors or advertisers access to our subscriber email lists for their independent marketing.

Where advertising measurement or audience-targeting technologies are used, those activities may involve third-party platforms and are subject to applicable privacy requirements.

14. Donations and Financial Transactions

Readers may have opportunities to financially support The CT Beacon through third-party payment or donation services.

When you make a donation or payment, the payment provider may collect information necessary to process the transaction, including payment and billing details.

The CT Beacon may receive limited transaction information, such as the donor’s name, email address, contribution amount, and transaction status, as permitted by the provider and applicable settings.

We do not ordinarily receive or store complete payment card numbers when transactions are processed through independent payment providers.

Payment providers maintain their own privacy and security policies.

15. How We Share Information

We may share information with trusted service providers as necessary to operate The CT Beacon.

These may include:

• MailerLite for newsletter subscriptions and delivery.
• Zapier or Make for authorized data transfers and automation.
• Google Analytics for website measurement.
• WordPress hosting and website security providers.
• Ninja Forms and configured form-processing services.
• Email delivery and communication providers.
• Payment processors for voluntary transactions.
• Spam detection and website maintenance services.

We may also disclose information when legally required, to protect our rights, or to investigate security incidents.

We do not sell subscriber email lists or provide personal contact information to event organizers merely because a reader views or clicks an event listing.

16. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, subject to legal, operational, and security requirements.

Newsletter subscriber information may be retained while a subscription is active. Limited records may remain after unsubscribing to maintain suppression lists and honor subscription preferences.

Contact form submissions and related email correspondence may be retained while an inquiry is being handled and for a reasonable administrative period afterward.

Comments may remain published until removed through moderation or an appropriate request.

Website analytics information is retained according to the settings of the analytics services we use.

Security logs and technical records may be retained temporarily or as necessary for website protection.

17. Your Privacy Rights and Choices

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have rights concerning personal information we maintain about you.

These may include the ability to:

• Request access to your personal information.
• Request correction of inaccurate information.
• Request deletion of eligible personal information.
• Unsubscribe from newsletters.
• Withdraw consent where applicable.
• Request information about certain data-processing practices.
• Opt out of certain targeted advertising or data-sharing activities where legally applicable.

To submit a privacy request, contact us using the information below.

We may need to verify your identity before processing a request. Certain information may need to be retained to comply with legal obligations or maintain necessary records.

We will not discriminate against individuals for exercising applicable privacy rights.

18. Children’s Privacy

The CT Beacon publishes general-interest community and entertainment information.

Our website and newsletter are not directed specifically toward children under 13.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without appropriate parental authorization.

If we learn that such information has been collected improperly, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

19. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and administrative measures to protect the information we collect.

These measures may include restricted administrative access, account authentication, website security services, and established third-party providers.

Although we work to safeguard information, no website, email service, or internet-based system can guarantee complete security.

20. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our website, newsletter operations, technology, third-party services, or legal obligations.

The effective date at the top of this page will be updated when changes are made.

Material changes may be communicated through our website or other appropriate channels when required.

21. Contact Us

For questions about this Privacy Policy or requests involving your personal information, please contact:

The CT Beacon

292 S Frontage Rd
#1016
New London, CT 06320
860.415.6112

Operated by Stonington Media
Website: https://thectbeacon.com
Email: hello@thectbeacon.com

We welcome questions about how your information is collected, used, and protected.