Our Privacy Policy
The Pilot / Best of the Pines is committed to maintaining the online privacy of its users. This privacy policy aims to explain the types of information we collect about our users on the Websites of The Pilot and how we use that information.
Information collected on the Website
Website registration requires that you provide some general demographic information regarding age, gender, income and location. This information is collected to help us understand our audience so we can improve the service we provide. This individual information is private and will not be shared with advertisers or other third parties, except in aggregate form.
ThePilot.com and bestofthepines.com use outside service providers for several of our Website services. We do not control their privacy policies nor do we control those of our advertisers.
While the information is transmitted and stored securely, there is always a risk that a hacker will gain entrance to the servers where your information is kept. ThePilot.com and bestofthepines.com are not responsible for accidental loss or theft of your personal information.
Aggregated, non-personally identifiable information may be shared with advertisers. Contests may include the option to opt in to sharing personal information with sponsors. Consent to share personal information is not required as a condition of contest eligibility. Personal contact information, including mobile phone numbers collected for SMS communications, will not be sold or shared with third parties. ThePilot.com may choose to email anyone who has shared information with us, to tell them about specific promotions that we or our advertisers are offering. People who register on our website may be asked to participate in a survey to help improve the site or the newspapers.
SMS Privacy Policy
Information we collect
When you opt in to receive SMS messages from The Pilot / Best of the Pines, we may collect the following personal information:
• Your mobile phone number
• Your name — if provided
• Any information you provide in your message responses
• Message delivery and interaction data — timestamps, status, etc.
How we collect your information
We collect information directly from you when:
• You opt in through a keyword text
How we use SMS information
We use your SMS data to:
• Send transactional messages for entry or voting verification
• Analyze message delivery and engagement to improve our services
Sharing your information
The Pilot / Best of the Pines does NOT sell or share your SMS opt-in data with third
parties for their marketing purposes. We may share your information with trusted service providers who help us deliver our SMS messaging services, such as:
• SMS gateway providers
• Phone carriers
• Customer support platforms
These vendors are contractually obligated to keep your information secure and only use it to provide services to The Pilot / Best of the Pines.
Your choices and rights
You can opt out of SMS messages at any time by replying “STOP” to any message. After you opt out, you will no longer receive text messages from us unless you opt in again. To request access to or deletion of your SMS-related data, please contact us at bestofthepines@thepilot.com.
Data security and retention
We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data. SMS data is retained only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined above or to comply with legal requirements.
Changes to this policy
We may update this SMS privacy policy periodically. If we make material changes, we will notify you via SMS. Continued use of our SMS service indicates your acceptance of the revised policy.
Contact us
If you have any questions about this policy or your SMS data, please contact us at:
The Pilot / Best of the Pines
bestofthepines@thepilot.com
910.692.7271
Site Statistics
The Pilot uses server logs and third party software programs to measure traffic to our Web site. While these logs and programs do not record user-specific information, they do record IP addresses, pages being requested, the date and time of the requests, referrals from other Websites and information about the browser and operating systems of our users. This information is used by The Pilot and shared advertisers only in aggregate form.
Cookies
A cookie is a small file sent to your browser via a Web server and stored on your hard drive. Cookies are commonly used to remember registration information, to limit the frequency of pop-under ads and to limit participation in surveys. Most browsers allow users to adjust the cookie settings. Some features of our Website will not function correctly if you do not allow cookies.
Some of our advertisers may serve cookies to your browser as well. The Pilot / Best of the Pines does not have control over cookies placed by our advertisers.