Austin, Texas · Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy
Effective date: August 31, 2026. Last updated: August 31, 2026.
This policy explains what personal information austin-texas.news collects, why, and what rights you have over it. It's written primarily under U.S. and Texas law — specifically the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA) — since this newsletter, its subject matter, and the great majority of its readers are Texas-based. austin-texas.news is a newsletter: the only personal information it deals with is what you give us when you subscribe or send a tip. It does not host address-level property data or resident information — that's a separate site — so this policy is short on purpose.
Who we are
austin-texas.news is operated by EZOSHosting, 2215 Post Road #1112, Austin, TX 78704. Full entity details are on our Legal Notice page. For any privacy request or question, contact howdy@austin-tx.us.
Information we collect
When you subscribe to the newsletter: your email address, and the technical confirmation record required for a double opt-in (the fact that you clicked the confirmation link, and when). We use a self-hosted mailing-list system (Listmonk) to manage subscriptions and send editions; your email is stored there and is not shared with any third-party mailing service. We use your email for exactly one thing — sending you this newsletter — and for the service messages tied to it (the confirmation email, and edition delivery).
When you send a tip: the details you type in, the location you name, and an email address only if you choose to provide one for a possible follow-up. You are asked not to include names of specific people, and a tip is never attributed to you by name anywhere on the site. See Send a Tip.
When you browse the site: basic analytics collected through a self-hosted Matomo instance, configured without cookies and honoring Do Not Track signals. We use this only in aggregate, to understand which pages and editions are read, never to build an individual visitor profile or to track you across other websites.
Server logs: standard technical logs (IP address, requested page, timestamp, user agent) generated automatically by our hosting infrastructure for security and troubleshooting, retained for 30 days and then deleted or anonymized.
What we do not collect: we do not run advertising trackers or third-party analytics, we do not use cookies for tracking, and we do not buy, enrich, or cross-reference your email against any outside data source. The newsletter is free, so we currently collect no payment information at all. If a paid offering is ever added, payments would be handled through a dedicated payment processor (Stripe) under its own privacy policy, and this policy would be updated before any such collection begins.
How we use information
To confirm your subscription and send you the newsletter and its service messages; to read and, where useful, act on tips (after checking them against public record); to respond to requests you send us; and to operate, secure, and improve the site. We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not sell it.
Sharing
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with data brokers, people-search services, or advertisers. We share information only with the service providers who help us operate the newsletter (hosting, and our self-hosted email-delivery infrastructure), each used only to provide that service, and where required by law (for example, in response to a valid legal process).
Unsubscribing and your email
Every edition, and every email we send, carries a one-click unsubscribe link that needs no login. Unsubscribing stops all further editions immediately. If you would like your email removed from our records entirely rather than only unsubscribed, email howdy@austin-tx.us and we will delete it.
Your rights under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act
If the TDPSA applies to our processing of your information, you have the right to: confirm whether we process your personal information and access it; correct inaccuracies; request deletion; obtain a portable copy in a usable format; and opt out of the processing of personal information for targeted advertising, the sale of personal information, or certain profiling — none of which we do. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the address above; we will respond within the timeframe the TDPSA requires, and you may appeal a denied request through the same channel. Until a formal legal review of TDPSA applicability to our specific entity is complete, we apply this policy in full to all Texas residents.
Children's privacy
This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has submitted information to us, contact us and we will delete it.
Security
We apply reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the information described above, including encrypted transmission (HTTPS) and access controls on our subscriber and tip records. No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the newsletter or applicable law changes. Material changes will be reflected by an updated "last updated" date above; continued use of the site after a change constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
An independent newsletter by EZOSHosting, Austin, TX. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the City of Austin or Travis County. Official information: austintexas.gov.