Last updated June 24, 2025
Noozhawk (“Noozhawk,” “we,” “us,” “our”) is a media company and source of local news and information located in Santa Barbara, California, and serving Santa Barbara County.
This Privacy Policy explains how Noozhawk handles your personal information when you interact with our website, advertise with or communicate with us (collectively “Services”).
This Privacy Policy covers how we handle personal information from our readers, subscribers, advertisers, sponsors and partners. It does not cover our privacy practices relating to job applicants, employees and other personnel.
How We Collect and Use Personal Information
We collect personal information directly from you and use it in the following ways:
- When you sign up for newsletters, we collect your contact details. We use this information to send you newsletters and information about how to engage with us.
- When you choose to contribute financially to Noozhawk, or join our Hawks Club, we collect your contact details, payment information and any content data you choose to submit. We’ll use this information to bill you, invite you to Noozhawk events, email you newsletters, and offer other benefits based on the membership level you choose.
- When you choose to submit content to Noozhawk for publication, we will collect the contact details and content data, including any photos you choose to submit to us. We will review this information for potential publication. We will contact you if we need additional information or if payment is required based on your submission type. We will not publish your contact information.
- When you complete a Sponsorship Application, we collect the contact details and content data you submit to review for publication and contact you for further engagement.
- When you contact us to advertise with us, we will use the contact details and content data you submit to communicate with you about advertising with us and to provide advertising services.
- When you visit our websites or engage with our newsletters, we collect usage information to provide and monitor the security of our Services, display advertisements, and understand how you interact with our Services. This helps us to analyze activity, such as whether you clicked on a link, opened a newsletter or engaged with advertisements.
- We may also collect your personal information in additional ways described to you at the time of collection. You can choose whether or not to engage with the additional services at that time.
We use vendors to assist us with billing, communications, website analytics and advertising services. We disclose personal information to these services as required for this assistance. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information other than to provide the services or for other legally permissible purposes.
Please note that some of our advertising partners may serve interest-based advertising for third parties on our website that we do not control. You can read more about these activities and your opt out choices in the the “Your Privacy Choices” section below under “Analytics and advertising tracking technologies.”
Personal Information We Collect
Contact details: Full name, date of birth, email address, mailing address, phone number, login account information
Usage information: IP address, user settings, MAC address, cookie and pixel identifiers, mobile carrier, mobile advertising and other unique identifiers, approximate location; usage information about your interaction with our Services, such as search history, links you click, whether you opened our newsletter, and frequency and duration of your activities
Content data: Text and images from online messages you submit to us through webforms, email and SMS communications
Commercial information: Transaction records, payment card details
Location data: Physical location
Retention of Your Personal Information
We retain your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it and to comply with our legal obligations.
Your Privacy Choices
You may contact us to request deletion or correction of your personal information.
If you sign up for text alerts, you can opt out at any time by replying “STOP”.
If you sign up for newsletters, you can unsubscribe by clicking the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the newsletter. If you would like to update your profile or change your subscription preferences, you can click the “Your Preferences” and follow the instructions.
If you choose to join our Hawks Club, you can update your information or change a recurring contribution by emailing hawksclub@noozhawk.com.
If you would like to delete content you have submitted to us, please follow the instructions on our help page.
Your browser settings may allow you to automatically transmit a “Do Not Track” signal to digital platforms or other online services you visit. Like many online services, Noozhawk currently does not alter its practices when it receives a “Do Not Track” signal from a visitor’s browser.
Analytics and Advertising Tracking Technologies
We use Google Analytics to review our web traffic. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize its own advertising network. If you would like to opt out of this use, you can go to tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout or install a Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. For more information on Google’s privacy practices, please review the Google Privacy Policy.
Our advertising partners may serve interest-based advertising for third parties on our website. You may have the option to choose whether to receive some online interest-based advertising by submitting opt-outs.
Third parties may participate in the Digital Advertising Alliance’s (“DAA”) Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising. To learn more about how you can exercise certain choices regarding interest-based advertising, including use of cross-device data for serving ads, visit aboutads.info/choices/, and youradchoices.com/control for information on the DAA’s opt-out program specifically for mobile apps (including use of precise location for third party ads).
Some of these companies may also be members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”). To learn more about the NAI and your opt-out options for its members, see optout.networkadvertising.org/.
Please be aware that, even if you are able to opt out, you may continue to receive other types of ads. Opting out only means that those selected members should no longer deliver certain interest-based advertisements to you but does not mean you will no longer receive any targeted content and/or ads (like from other ad networks).
Also, if your browsers are configured to reject cookies when you visit these opt-out webpages, or you subsequently erase your cookies, use a different device or web browser or use a nonbrowser-based method of access (like a mobile app), your NAI/DAA browser-based opt-out may no longer be effective.
You may also be able to limit interest-based advertising through the settings menu on your mobile device by selecting “limit ad tracking” (iOS) or “opt-out of interest-based ads” (Android).
You may also be able to opt out of some — but not all — interest-based advertising served by mobile ad networks by clicking here to download the mobile AppChoices app.
Noozhawk is not responsible for the effectiveness of, or compliance with, any third parties’ opt-out options or programs, or the accuracy of their statements regarding their programs.
In addition, third parties may still use cookies to collect information about your use of our online services, including for analytics and fraud prevention as well as any other purpose permitted under the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Self-Regulatory Principles.
Third Party Links and Applications
Our website and applications may contain links to third-party websites or applications. Other public websites and applications not owned or operated by us may reference us or link to our sites or resources. We do not control third-party services’ privacy practices and encourage you to read their privacy notices prior to use.
How to Reach Us
You can contact us at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com or by reaching out via one of the options on our Contact Us page.
Data Security
We use reasonable measures to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction, evaluating the risks involved in the processing and the nature of the personal information.
Children’s Privacy
We do not direct our services at children under 13. If you believe your child’s information has been collected in error, please Contact Us to request deletion.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We will update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we update this policy, we will change the “last updated” date at the top of the page.
California Shine the Light Disclosure
Under California Civil Code section 1798.83, the California “Shine the Light” law permits users who are California residents to request and obtain from us once a year, free of charge, a list of the third parties to whom we have disclosed their personal information (if any) for their direct marketing purposes in the prior calendar year, as well as the type of personal information we have disclosed to those parties.
If you are a California resident and wish to inquire as to whether we have disclosed any personal information to third parties that qualify under this provision, please email us at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com.