Privacy

Last updated: May 6, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you use offgridstories.com (“the site,” “we,” “us”), how we use it, and what choices you have. We’ve tried to write this in plain English. If anything’s unclear, email us at privacy@offgridstories.com.

What we collect

When you submit a story

  • Your name β€” published as the byline on your story.
  • Email address β€” used to email you when your story goes live, and to contact you about your submission. Not published.
  • Optional bio β€” published with your story.
  • Optional photo β€” published as the feature image of your story.
  • Optional location (e.g. “Denali, Alaska”) β€” published with your story and may appear on our community map. You can leave this blank.
  • Optional tip jar URL β€” a link to your Buy Me a Coffee, Ko-fi, Venmo, etc. If you provide one, readers can click through to tip you. We don’t process or hold any payments.
  • Your IP address β€” used briefly for anti-spam (rate-limiting submissions) and stored only in temporary cache, not in long-term records.

When you vote or comment

  • An anonymous browser cookie (named ogstories_voter) is set so we can prevent double-voting. It contains a random ID, not personal data.
  • Your IP address is hashed and used to deduplicate votes.
  • If you comment, WordPress collects your name, email, optional URL, and IP address β€” standard for any WordPress comment system.

Automatically collected

  • Google Analytics (gtag.js, ID G-SQJG0JTEE2) tracks anonymized page views, traffic sources, and basic device info. We use this to understand which stories resonate. You can opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
  • Standard server logs β€” IP, timestamp, page requested, browser type. Kept for security review only.

How we use your data

  • To publish and display your stories, comments, and votes.
  • To email you when your story goes live or when there’s a moderation issue.
  • To prevent spam, abuse, and double-voting.
  • To understand site usage in aggregate (Google Analytics).
  • To send occasional updates or newsletters from the parent magazine β€” only if you explicitly opt in.

We do not sell your data. Period.

Cookies we set

  • ogstories_voter β€” anonymous random ID for vote deduplication. Lasts 10 years.
  • WordPress comment cookies (comment_author_*) β€” remember your name/email between comments. Lasts 1 year. Standard WP behavior.
  • WordPress login cookies β€” only set if you have an account. Standard WP behavior.
  • Theme preference cookie (ogstories-theme) β€” remembers your light/dark mode choice. Lasts indefinitely; cleared if you clear browser storage.
  • Google Analytics cookies (_ga, _ga_*) β€” anonymized session/visitor tracking. Lasts up to 2 years.

Third-party services we use

  • Google Analytics β€” site analytics. Google’s privacy policy.
  • OpenStreetMap β€” provides the tiles for our community map. When the map page loads, your browser fetches map tiles from openstreetmap.org. OSM’s privacy info.
  • Web Speech API (browser TTS) β€” the “Listen to this story” audio feature uses your browser’s built-in speech engine. Your story content is read aloud locally, on your device. No audio data is sent to a server.
  • RSS feeds from offgridmag.com β€” we pull headlines from our sister site to display in the “From the Magazine” sidebar. Your data is not sent to them; we fetch their public feed.
  • Picsum.photos β€” only used by admins generating sample stories during site testing. No user data is sent.

Data retention

  • Stories you submit β€” kept indefinitely while your story is published. Deleted on request.
  • Comments β€” kept indefinitely. Deleted on request.
  • IP rate-limit caches β€” auto-purged within 6 hours.
  • Banned-submitter list β€” kept indefinitely (used to block known spammers).
  • Google Analytics data β€” retained per Google’s default (currently 14 months for event-level data; aggregate reports kept longer).

Your rights

Regardless of where you live, you can ask us to:

  • Send you a copy of the data we hold about you
  • Edit your story, bio, photo, or comment
  • Permanently delete your story, comments, and account
  • Stop sending you emails (we honor unsubscribes immediately)

EU/UK/California residents have additional rights under GDPR/UK-GDPR/CCPA, including the right to data portability and the right to object to processing. To exercise any of these, email privacy@offgridstories.com.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has submitted personal information, contact us and we’ll delete it.

Security

We protect your data with industry-standard measures: encrypted database connections, HTTPS everywhere, secure password hashing, regular plugin/WordPress updates. No system is 100% secure, but we take this seriously.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes, we’ll update the “Last updated” date at the top and post a notice on the homepage for at least 30 days.

Contact

Off Grid Stories is part of Off Grid Living & Survivalβ„’ Magazine.

Email: privacy@offgridstories.com

🌲 Off Grid Living & Survival Magazine