Privacy Policy

The Pamphleteer

Last updated: November 3, 2026

Overview

This policy covers all of pamphleteer.co: The Daily (our newsletter), your account on the site, the Bard membership, and Metro Council Watch, which is part of The Pamphleteer. It explains what information we collect and how we use it.

The short version: If you give us your email, we email you a 6-digit code to confirm it. A confirmed address gets The Daily (if that is what you signed up for) and an account on the site, so you can manage your newsletter and use Council Watch. You can stop The Daily at any time from the link in every issue or on your account page. We measure what people read on the site and in the newsletter, and we may email readers who come often to invite them to The Daily or the Bard. We also use Retention.com, a service that may identify visitors to the site by email address, so we can invite them to The Daily; you can opt out at app.retention.com/optout. We do not sell your information.

Information We Collect

Server Logs: Like most websites, our hosting provider may collect standard server logs including IP addresses, browser type, and pages visited. These logs are used for security and performance purposes and are not used to identify individual users.

Our own analytics: The site sends a record of each page you view to our analytics service at analytics.pamphleteer.co: the page, its title, the page that sent you here, any campaign tags in the link, whether you stayed 30 seconds, how far you scrolled, links you follow off the site, and clicks on sign-up buttons. Each record carries a random id kept in your browser, your country, and your browser type. If you are signed in, or you followed a link in one of our newsletters, it also carries your newsletter member id (a random code from Ghost), so we can see which members read what. It never carries your email address.

Google Analytics and Meta: We also use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the site (page views, time on site, and general location at country or city level), and the Meta pixel to measure our ads on Facebook and Instagram. Both use cookies. When you sign up for a newsletter, we tell them a sign-up happened, not who you are.

Visitor identification: We use Retention.com (formerly GetEmails), a third-party identity resolution service, to identify some visitors to the site. Its script notes the pages you visit, and Retention.com may match your browser to an email address it already holds and give us that address. If you are identified this way, your address may be added to our newsletter list and you may receive emails from us. Every email we send has an unsubscribe link. You can opt out of Retention.com's identification at app.retention.com/optout.

Email: Our newsletters record whether each issue was delivered and opened and which links were clicked. Our analytics keep this under a scrambled form of your address, not the address itself.

Newsletter: When you sign up for The Daily or Local Noise and confirm your address with the code we email you, we add that address to our newsletter list on Ghost, which sends the newsletter. You can stop it from the link at the bottom of every issue or on your account page.

Account: When you confirm an email anywhere on the site (signing up for a newsletter, signing in, a gated Council Watch tab, or Council Watch's setup), we store that email, a session, and the time you confirmed it. One account covers the whole site. If you choose to, we also store an optional name, your Metro district (1-35), the address used to find that district, ZIP, which council officials you follow, and whether you want Council Watch's weekly email. All of these are optional. Signing in does not, by itself, sign you up for The Daily.

Bard membership: If you become a Bard, Ghost's checkout takes the payment through Stripe. We see that you are a member and your plan, never your card number.

How We Use It

We use these records to see what people read, where they come from, and which pages lead to sign-ups. Our staff can see which members read, open or click most often, and may email a frequent reader to invite them to The Daily or to become a Bard. We send those invitations ourselves; we do not give or sell the list to anyone.

If you visit the site on four different days in a month without signing up, the site may show you the newsletter sign-up once, then not again for at least 30 days. It never asks subscribers.

Cookies

We use the following types of cookies:

  • Account session: After you confirm an email, we set a cookie so you stay signed in. It lasts about 90 days. You can sign out on your account page.
  • Analytics cookies: Google Analytics sets cookies (such as _ga and _gid) to distinguish users and track site usage. These cookies expire after 2 years and 24 hours respectively. The Meta pixel sets cookies (such as _fbp) to measure our ads. Retention.com's script may set its own cookies to recognize your browser.
  • Browser storage: Our own analytics keep a random visitor id and, if you followed a newsletter link, your newsletter member id in your browser's storage. The site also keeps the days you visited and whether you have seen the sign-up, so it does not ask too often. Clearing your browser's site data removes them.
  • Security cookies: Cloudflare, our CDN provider, may set essential security cookies to protect against malicious traffic.

You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

  • Google Analytics: Web analytics service that tracks site usage. Subject to Google's privacy policy.
  • Cloudflare: Provides CDN and security services, and runs our analytics service (analytics.pamphleteer.co). Subject to Cloudflare's privacy policy.
  • Cloudflare Web Analytics: Privacy-focused analytics that tracks page views without cookies or personal data. Subject to Cloudflare's privacy policy.
  • Meta pixel: Measures our ads on Facebook and Instagram. Subject to Meta's privacy policy.
  • Retention.com: Identifies some visitors to the site by email address (see Visitor identification above). Subject to Retention.com's privacy policy; opt out at app.retention.com/optout.
  • Tinybird: Stores our analytics records (page views, and newsletter deliveries, opens and clicks). Subject to Tinybird's privacy policy.
  • Mailgun: Sends the 6-digit code to your email and delivers our newsletters for Ghost, recording deliveries, opens and clicks.
  • Ghost: Holds our newsletter list and sends The Daily. We add your address when you sign up for a newsletter and confirm it, turn The Daily on in your account, or are identified by Retention.com (see Visitor identification above). Ghost's checkout handles Bard payments through Stripe.
  • Mapbox: Address suggestions in every street-address field on the site (what you type is sent to Mapbox to suggest addresses), and the district map. Subject to Mapbox's privacy policy.

Campaign Finance Data

The campaign finance data displayed on this site is public information obtained from the Davidson County Election Commission. Donor names (individuals and organizations) are shown as filed. Tennessee campaign finance is public record.

Data Retention

Account email, name, address, district, ZIP, and follows stay on file until you delete the account on your account page (or email us to). Deleting it also takes your address off our newsletter list on Ghost. Stopping a newsletter (from its footer, or on your account page) only stops that email. Server logs maintained by our hosting providers are subject to their respective retention policies.

Your Rights

On your account page you can change your name, email, street address and ZIP (a new address sets your district), turn The Daily on or off, join, cancel or resume the Bard, sign out, and delete your account; its Council Watch settings change your follows and the weekly email. A new email moves your newsletter, and a Bard's billing email, with it. If you have questions about your data, contact us at the address below.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.

Contact

For privacy-related questions, contact us at: info@pamphleteer.co