Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated September 25, 2026

Orthodox Magazine (“we,” “us”) publishes articles about the Orthodox Christian faith and a directory of Orthodox parishes. This page covers the information we collect on orthodoxmagazine.com, how we use it, and the choices you have.

Information we collect

• Analytics. With your consent, we use Google Analytics 4 (loaded through Google Tag Manager) to understand how the site is used — pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser type, and referring links. These tools set cookies and process an IP-derived approximate location. Nothing non-essential loads until you choose “Accept” (see Cookies & your choices below).
• Submissions. When you use our submission form (news tips, new parishes, corrections), we collect what you send: a summary and details, any files you attach, and — only if you provide them — your name, email and phone number so we can follow up.
• Server logs. Like most sites, our hosting records standard request data, and we store the sender’s IP address with each submission to help prevent abuse.
• Saved parishes. Parishes you save are kept only in your own browser (localStorage). That list is never sent to us.

How we use it

• To operate and improve the site and measure what readers find useful.
• To follow up on submissions, keep parish listings accurate, and report stories.
• To protect the site against spam, fraud and abuse.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We use a small number of service providers who process data on our behalf:

• Vercel — hosting.
• Cloudflare — image and media storage, and DNS.
• Google — Tag Manager and Analytics (GA4).
• GoHighLevel — email, and routing submissions to our editors.

We may also disclose information if required by law or to protect our rights and readers.

Cookies & your choices

Non-essential cookies (analytics) are off by default. We use Google Consent Mode: analytics stays disabled until you accept. You can change or withdraw your choice anytime with the Your Privacy Choices link in the footer. We also honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal — if your browser sends it, we treat it as an opt-out and keep non-essential tracking off automatically.

Your California privacy rights

If you are a California resident, you may have the right to know what personal information we hold about you, to request access to or deletion of it, to correct it, and to opt out of any sale or sharing (we do neither). To make a request, email privacy@orthodoxmagazine.com. We will respond within the time required by law (up to 45 days under the CCPA, where it applies). We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

Data retention

We keep submissions and related correspondence as long as needed for editorial and record-keeping purposes, then delete or anonymize them. Analytics data is retained per Google Analytics settings.

Children

The site is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13.

Changes

We may update this policy; we will change the “last updated” date above when we do.

Contact

Questions or requests: privacy@orthodoxmagazine.com.

See also our Terms of Service and Accessibility Statement.