Privacy policy
Last updated November 2, 2026
SWFL Now (swflnow.com) publishes Southwest Florida news, events and local buzz. This page explains what information we collect when you use the site, how we use it, and the choices you have. You can read the site without an account and without giving us any personal information.
What we collect
- Newsletter sign-up. If you sign up for email updates, we collect your email address. Sign-ups are handled by our email provider, MailerLite, and you confirm by email before you're added. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
- Accounts. If you create an account, we store your name, username, email address and a securely hashed password (we never see or store your actual password). While you're signed in, we keep a sign-in record with your IP address and browser type to keep your account secure.
- Tips. If you use our tip form, we keep what you write and any name, email or phone number you choose to give, so we can check the tip and follow up. We never publish a tipster's name or contact details. To stop spam, the form uses Cloudflare Turnstile, and we keep a scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address to limit how many tips one connection can send.
- Emails you send us. If you email us (for example, a correction or a tip), we keep the message and your address so we can reply. We never publish a tipster's name or contact details.
- Basic visit data. Like most websites, our hosting provider (Cloudflare) processes technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you request, to deliver the site and protect it from abuse. We may use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which counts visits without cookies.
- Error reports. When a page breaks, we send a report of the error to Sentry so we can fix it. It includes the error, the page address (without anything after a "?") and the time, but not your IP address, cookies or anything you typed.
Cookies
We use a cookie only to keep you signed in if you have an account. We don't use cookies to track you across other sites. Advertising partners may set their own cookies, as described below.
Advertising
SWFL Now may show ads from Google AdSense to help pay for the site. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising at aboutads.info. Learn more about how Google uses information from sites that use its services.
How we use information
To send the newsletter you asked for, run your account, answer your messages, keep the site secure, and understand how the site is used. We don't sell your personal information.
Who we share it with
Only the service providers that run the site for us: Cloudflare (hosting and security), Neon (database), MailerLite (newsletter), Sentry (error reports) and Google (email and, if ads are shown, advertising as described above). We may also disclose information if the law requires it.
How long we keep it
Newsletter addresses are kept until you unsubscribe. Account information is kept while your account is open; if you ask us to delete your account, we remove your personal details. Sign-in records expire automatically.
Your choices
You can unsubscribe from emails at any time, and you can ask us to see, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you by emailing privacy@swflnow.com.
Children
SWFL Now accounts are for adults 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update it here and change the date at the top.
Contact
Questions about privacy: privacy@swflnow.com.