This policy explains what information 7 News Belize collects when you visit our website, why we collect it, and what choices you have. It covers this website only, and not the separate platforms we publish on, such as our social media pages or video channels, which are governed by those companies' own policies.
Information we collect
We collect very little, and most of it is collected automatically by the act of serving you a web page.
Information you give us. If you subscribe to our newsletter we store the email address you enter and the date you subscribed. We do not ask for your name, and we do not require an account to read anything on this site.
Information collected automatically. Our servers keep standard access logs recording the address of the page requested, the date and time, your browser and operating system, the page that referred you, and your IP address. These logs are used to keep the site running and secure, and to understand which stories are being read.
Article popularity. We count how many times each story is read. The count is anonymous and is not linked to you; we simply record that a browser session has already viewed a given article so that reloading the page does not count twice.
Cookies and similar technologies
We use a small number of cookies and browser storage entries. None of them identify you personally.
- Session cookie. Required for the site to function. It is what allows the article counter to recognise that you have already read a story, and it carries the security token that protects the newsletter form from being submitted by another website on your behalf.
- Security token. A cookie used to verify that form submissions genuinely came from this site.
- Theme preference. If you switch between light and dark mode, that choice is stored in your browser's local storage so the site does not flash the wrong colours next time. It never leaves your device.
You can clear or block these through your browser settings. Blocking the session and security cookies will prevent the newsletter form from working.
Third-party content and services
Some parts of our pages are served by other companies, and those companies may receive your IP address and set their own cookies. We do not control what they collect.
- Embedded video. Stories and newscasts may embed players from services such as YouTube or Facebook. These load only on pages where a video is present.
- Sharing buttons. Our Facebook and WhatsApp share buttons are plain links. Nothing is sent to those services unless you click one.
- Fonts and scripts. We load typefaces, icons and the homepage slideshow from public content delivery networks.
- Advertising. Where advertising is displayed, the advertising provider may set cookies to measure how often an advertisement has been shown.
How we use your information
We use what we collect to deliver and secure the website, to send the newsletter to people who asked for it, to understand which stories readers are finding valuable, and to diagnose faults. We do not build advertising profiles of our readers, and we do not use your information to make automated decisions about you.
Sharing your information
We do not sell your information, and we do not rent or trade our newsletter list.
We share information only with the service providers who host our website and deliver our email, and only so far as they need it to provide that service. We may also disclose information where we are required to by law, or where it is necessary to protect our rights or the safety of others.
How long we keep it
Newsletter addresses are kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove them. Server access logs are kept for a limited period for security and troubleshooting, and are then deleted. Article view counts are aggregate totals and are kept indefinitely, because they are not linked to any individual.
Your choices
You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time using the link in any newsletter we send, or by contacting us.
You may ask us what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it if it is wrong, or ask us to delete it. In practice, for most readers the only information we hold is a newsletter address. Depending on where you live you may have further rights under local data protection law; contact us and we will explain what applies.
Most browsers let you refuse cookies or clear stored data, and offer a private browsing mode.
Security
The site is served over an encrypted connection, and access to the newsletter list is restricted to staff who need it. No website can promise perfect security, but we take reasonable steps to protect what we hold and we keep as little of it as we can.
Children
This site is intended for a general audience and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has given us their information, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the date shown at the top of this page. Where a change materially affects how we handle your information, we will say so prominently on the site.
Contact us
Questions about this policy, or requests about your information, can be sent to our newsroom using the contact address in the footer of this site.