Privacy Policy

Information You Submit

We may collect information you voluntarily provide through forms, account registration, the community forum, comments, business-listing requests, newsletters, surveys, or other website features.

• Name, username, organization name, email address, phone number, or other contact details
• Event, business, news-tip, correction, historical, or community information
• Messages, comments, forum posts, photographs, documents, and uploaded files
• Communication preferences and newsletter choices

Forum and Account Information

If you create an account or use the forum, we may collect registration details, profile information, posts, replies, private messages, moderation history, login activity, and technical information related to the account.

Public posts, profiles, comments, listings, and submissions may be visible to others. Do not post confidential or sensitive information publicly.

Information Collected Automatically

WordPress, hosting, security tools, analytics services, advertising partners, and enabled plugins may collect IP address, browser and device details, pages viewed, referring pages, links clicked, approximate location, login attempts, security events, diagnostic information, cookies, and similar identifiers.

Operating and Improving the Website

Information may be used to provide website features, display approved local listings, publish submissions, maintain accounts, moderate the forum, respond to messages, improve content, diagnose technical issues, and understand website use.

Communications

Contact information may be used to answer questions, verify details, address corrections, provide account notices, deliver requested newsletters, communicate about submissions, or respond to privacy requests.

Safety and Legal Compliance

Information may be used to detect spam, fraud, abuse, unauthorized access, malicious activity, policy violations, or threats, and to comply with applicable law or lawful process.

Cookies

The website and service providers may use cookies for essential functions, logins, preferences, security, analytics, advertising, embedded content, and performance measurement. Browser settings can usually control cookies, although disabling them may limit features.

Analytics and Performance

Analytics services may collect usage, browser, device, cookie, referral, and approximate-location information to measure traffic and improve the website.

Advertising and Affiliate Links

The website may display advertisements, sponsored content, or affiliate links. Partners may use cookies or similar technology to measure impressions, clicks, conversions, or relevance. Purchases made through affiliate links may generate a commission without increasing the visitor's price.

Embedded and External Content

Videos, maps, calendars, forms, social posts, and other embedded content may collect information as though you visited the provider directly. External websites follow their own privacy policies.

Service Providers

Information may be processed by companies providing hosting, security, email, forms, analytics, advertising, backups, spam prevention, forum functions, content delivery, or other operational services.

Public Submissions

Information intentionally submitted for public display, including forum posts, comments, listings, event details, photographs, reviews, and announcements, may be published.

Legal, Safety, or Business Reasons

Information may be disclosed when reasonably necessary to comply with law, respond to lawful requests, enforce policies, investigate abuse, protect rights or safety, or complete a transfer or reorganization of the website.

No General Sale of Contact-Form Information

The Wilkesboros does not intend to sell ordinary contact information submitted through contact, correction, event, or business-listing forms. Some state laws may separately define certain advertising or analytics activities as a sale or sharing.

Retention

Information may be retained as long as reasonably necessary to operate the site, preserve community content, provide services, prevent abuse, resolve disputes, comply with law, or enforce policies. Forum posts, comments, published submissions, and moderation records may remain after an account closes where appropriate.

Security

Reasonable safeguards may be used, but no website, server, transmission method, or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure. Do not submit Social Security numbers, financial-account details, passwords, medical records, or other highly sensitive information through general forms or public forum features.

General-Audience Website

The Wilkesboros is not directed to children under 13. Children under 13 should not create accounts, use interactive features, or submit personal information without appropriate parental involvement.

If you believe a child under 13 submitted personal information, email policy@thewilkesboros.com.

Browser Privacy Signals

Because standards and laws continue to develop, the website may not respond uniformly to every “Do Not Track” or privacy signal. Applicable opt-out signals may be honored where legally required and technically supported.

International Visitors

The website is operated in the United States. Information may be processed or stored in the United States or other locations used by service providers.

Policy Changes

This policy may be updated when website practices, technology, services, or legal requirements change. The effective date will be revised when material changes are published.