This Privacy Policy governs the collection and use of information provided by you to the Times Publishing Company (“the Times”) through your use of the websites we own and operate, including www.tampabay.com , www.tbo.com , www.centrotampa.com , www.politifact.com and www.tbt.com . This Privacy Policy does not apply to any information you provide to us in other ways, such as by mail, telephone, or at a live event or physical business location. This policy also does not apply to any information provided to or obtained by our newsroom personnel, including writers of news articles and editorial columns.
By using our websites, you agree that your uses are governed by this Policy and all other Terms and Conditions of Use concerning these sites. If you do not agree to be bound, please refrain from using our sites. If you have questions regarding our Privacy Policy and data collected, you should direct them to:
In general, we collect two categories of information: (1) information that personally identifies you (for example, your name and address) that you voluntarily supply when you register for an on-line discussion or other site use, or when you subscribe, order, complete a survey, or initiate some other transaction, and (2) non-personally identifying information, which includes information about usage patterns and preferences as users navigate around our sites or use our information services. In some cases, an agent, affiliate, or business partner of the Times collects the information. Third party providers featured on our sites, such as vendors of products and services offered through our sites, may be gathering the same kinds of information.
To use some of the features and services on our sites, you will need to register for them and provide certain information as part of the registration process. Third party advertisers on our site may offer you opportunities to receive information, participate in a survey, or receive other goods or communications from them. We may also ask for information from those who buy products or services or conduct other transactions on our sites. (For example, you may be asked for your name, email address, age, zip code or credit card number for certain kinds of transactions, and you may be asked about your interests in various topics, such as sports or leisure activities, or topics of interest to people in certain professions.) Information you provide will help us offer you more personalized features, make our sites more useful to you, and process e-commerce transactions. Supplying such information is entirely voluntary on your part. If you do not wish to supply the information requested either by us or an advertiser, you are free to decline to do so, but please understand we or the advertiser may then be unable to provide you with the services or opportunities you want. When you register, you are agreeing that we (or the advertiser with which you register) may use your information to contact you for customer service, to inform you of changes or additions to our sites or services offered, and to send you any administrative notices or other information relevant to your use of our sites.
We may offer you opportunities to subscribe to email alerts and newsletters concerning topics we believe might interest you. If you have opted to receive a particular alert or newsletter, you can always unsubscribe later. See "Opting Out" below.
We will use information collected from your interaction with our Mobile Messaging Services for the purposes of delivering, developing and improving those services. We will not sell, rent, or provide that information to third parties, except to the extent required by law, without your consent. The practices of your wireless carrier and other service providers concerning information derived from SMS messaging are governed by their own privacy policies, which we do not control.
From time to time, we or our advertisers may offer contests, sweepstakes, giveaways, or other promotions on our sites. If you enter one of these, you will be asked to provide information about yourself such as your name, address, telephone number and email address so that we or our advertisers can contact you if you win. We may share this information with our corporate affiliates and any co-sponsors of the contest, sweepstakes, give-away, or other promotion. (Co-sponsors will be identified in the official rules applicable to the promotion.) If you do not want us to collect the information requested, to use it to contact you, or to share it, please do not enter any contest, sweepstakes, give-away or promotion.
If you participate in chat, post a comment on a news story, a blog, or in one of our other forums or guest books, your comments will be public because those comments will be published to the Web. If you sign your comments or include any personal information in them, that information will become public. Protect your own privacy by not posting personal information, such as your phone number, in a chat or comment. Of course, any photo, video or other visual or audio-recorded matter you upload, post, or otherwise submit to any of our sites that accept such submissions will also become public when posted to the Web. We do not edit user-generated content, nor do we remove user-posted material unless we, in our sole discretion, deem it unsuitable for continued publication.
We make various kinds of shopping opportunities available through our web sites. When you make a purchase through one of our sites, either we or a third-party order fulfillment service will ask you for contact details and billing information. You may also be asked for unique identifiers such as your date of birth for identity confirmation purposes. We will use this information to process your transaction and to contact you regarding your purchase. Our third party fulfillment services will have access to this information as well to facilitate the transaction. We will not sell or rent your personal billing information to anyone, but if you consent (by checking a box or similar method) we may make your basic contact information available to third parties so that they, or we, can contact you directly concerning other products or services that may be of interest.
We cannot control the privacy policies of sites we may link to in our editorial coverage or advertising sections. Therefore, if you provide personal information, including credit card information, to linked third-party sites, the information is stored on their servers and is governed by their privacy policies. We ask sites with which we have a business relationship to prominently show a link to their privacy policies. This allows you to determine how your personal information might be used by them. Please review these privacy policies and contact the web site operator if you have questions or concerns about them.
Children need to obtain permission from their parents before providing any information about themselves to anyone via the Internet. This includes us. If you are under 16, please do not provide us with any personally identifying information about yourself (names, email addresses, physical addresses, or telephone numbers). We will not knowingly collect personally identifying information about anyone under the age of 16 unless we have verified consent of the child's parent or guardian prior to collection. If we learn we have collected such information without proper consent of an actual parent or guardian, we will delete that information as quickly as possible.
If you register with us, or subscribe to alerts or newsletters, you will have the opportunity to review, update or delete the information you provided us at any time (except information we did not store in the first place), and to unsubscribe to any alerts or newsletters you have asked for (for example, by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link in an email). If you remove registration information you have provided, you probably will not be able to continue to use the service requiring that registration. If you wish to opt out of receiving notices, information or other contacts, or any other communication or service, please contact us using the information at the location where you previously registered or subscribed.
If you have submitted your information on a page connected to one of our third party business affiliates or advertisers, the information you submit may be maintained jointly by us and that entity. If you "opt out" on our site, you may need to contact the third party business affiliate or advertiser separately to request that it remove your information from its database.
Our sites use "cookies," an element of data sent and stored on your computer, a unique random number that acts as a "user ID." The cookie does not personally identify the actual user of our sites, just the computer that a visitor uses to access our sites. Unless you voluntarily identify yourself -- as with registration for a product or service -- we will not know who you are, even if a cookie is assigned to your computer. We use cookies in the following ways: in site administration, to complete a user's requested activity, to perform analysis, and for research and development. Our advertisers and third parties providing goods and services through our sites may also assign their own cookies, a process we do not and cannot control. However, a cookie cannot read unrelated information from your hard drive. Cookies merely help tailor websites to better suit your interests. You can set most browsers not to accept cookies if you want to, but you may not be able to access personalized features of our sites if you do, or you may be subjected to the same ad repeatedly during a single visit to one of our sites. Whether to set your browser to accept cookies is completely up to you.
Our servers automatically collect some basic information about your computer configuration, including the type of browser and operating system you use, the resolution of your monitor, the web site that referred you, and your IP address. (Your IP address is the numerical address of the computer connected to the Internet, used to transmit requested data, such as the web page you want to view. It does not tell us who you are. It just identifies the computer being used.) We use IP addresses for systems administration purposes, to deliver our web pages to you, to tailor our ads to the interests of our users, and to measure traffic within our site. To improve our sites' interest and usefulness to users, we may send non-personally identifying information to ad networks displaying ads on our sites.
When you use our website, we share information that we collect from you, such as your email (in hashed form), IP address or information about your browser or operating system, with our identity partners/service providers. Our identity partner returns an online identification code that we may store in our first-party cookie for our use in online and cross-channel advertising and it may be shared with advertising companies to enable interest-based and targeted advertising. To opt out of this use, please click here .
We also use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our websites. The third-party advertising technology we employ uses information derived from your visits to target advertising within our sites. In addition, our advertisers may use other third-party advertising technology to target advertising on our sites and on other sites. In the course of advertisements being served to you, a unique third-party cookie or cookies may be placed on your browser. In addition, we may use Web beacons (also called action tags, pixel tags or clear gifs) provided by third-party advertising companies, to help manage and optimize our advertising. Web beacons enable us to recognize a browser's cookie when a browser visits one of our sites, and to learn which banner ads bring users to our sites. You may "opt out" of this technology: http://www.networkadvertising.org/consumer/opt_out.asp
While we do not share personally identifiable information about you with our advertisers except as described above, we do aggregate information you provide with data from other users and provide pools of information about our users to our advertisers, in order to make them aware of the audiences our sites reach. For example, we may tell advertisers how many of our users are male or female or live in a certain zip code. We may tell advertisers about the habits and preferences of our users using this type of aggregated or statistical information about traffic to, from and within our sites as well.
We may release information about our users to law enforcement or to others when necessary to comply with laws, to enforce our Terms of Service, or to protect our users, customers, or company from threats of harm.
In some areas of our site, including our Classified Ads sections, you might provide additional personal information such as an address, when transacting business. You might enter a credit card number to purchase a product or service. We have safeguards such as encryption, designed to prevent access to the personal information about you that is stored on our computers. However, like all Web site operators, we cannot safeguard completely against illegal activities undertaken by third parties.
We may change and update our Privacy Policy from time to time to address evolving business needs. Any such changes will go into effect when posted. Visit this location regularly for any updates that may concern you.
May 21, 2018
Welcome to Tampa Bay Times. Please read this agreement. We encourage free and open exchange of information and ideas, but ask you to abide by certain terms as a condition of using this site. Your use of this site constitutes your agreement to these terms.
As a user of this site, you agree that:
There may be delays, omissions, inaccuracies or other errors in posted information, or other problems inherent in electronic communication.
This agreement may be changed or modified at any time. A notice of changes or modifications will be posted. You agree to review the agreement periodically to keep current on its terms. Your continued use of the site after any change or modification to this agreement constitutes your agreement to any changes or modifications in the terms.
When we collect personal information about users, that information could be shared with advertisers, but only in the aggregate. We will never provide personal information on an individual basis to any third party.
All of this site's content, including but not limited to text, articles, photographs, images, graphics, trademarks, logos and service marks, is owned by the Tampa Bay Times and is protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws meaning, among other things:
You acknowledge that communication using TampaBay.com often occurs in real time or is posted in or on one of many forums or message boards. As such, TampaBay.com cannot and does not intend to attempt the impossible task of screening communications in advance. You therefore acknowledge that neither TampaBay.com, the Tampa Bay Times, the Times Publishing Company or their affiliates shall assume or have any responsibility by action or inaction with respect to content posted or provided by users. You are solely responsible for anything you post in this site's chat rooms, forums, guest books and other public posting areas.
If you engage in any posting or communication using TampaBay.com, you agree that:
Access to some or all of the content, services and features on TampaBay.com may require users to register and become members of TampaBay.com. If you register with TampaBay.com, you accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account whether or not you expressly authorize such activities. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for restricting access to your computer so others may not access TampaBay.com using your username or account in whole or in part. TampaBay.com may terminate membership and deny access to this site to any person who, in TampaBay.com's sole discretion, violates these Terms and Conditions. Such termination or denial of access shall be in addition to any remedies available to TampaBay.com and the Tampa Bay Times in law and equity.
During your visit to our site you may elect to engage in a transaction involving the purchase of a product such as a newspaper subscription, a print or online advertisement or other tangible goods and services. Credit card transactions and order fulfillment are often handled by a third party processing agent, bank or distribution institution. While in most cases transactions are completed without difficulty, there is no such thing as perfect security on the Internet or offline. If you are concerned about online credit card safety, in most cases a telephone number will be made available so you can call us and place your order by phone. TampaBay.com cannot and does not take responsibility for the success or security of transactions undertaken or processed by third parties.
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless TampaBay.com, Tampa Bay Times, the Times Publishing Company and their affiliates, employees, contractors, officers, directors, and telecommunications providers from all liability, claims, and expenses, including attorneys' fees, that arise from the breach of any of the terms of use of the site or in connection with your use of this site. TampaBay.com reserves the right to assume exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification under this agreement.
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TampaBay.com is controlled, operated and administered from its offices within St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida. This agreement between TampaBay.com and its users shall be governed and interpreted under the laws of the State of Florida. You hereby agree that any cause of action you may have with respect to TampaBay.com must be filed in a federal or state court located in the State of Florida. The sole venue for any legal action that concerns this agreement, content on this site, or use of this site shall be Pinellas County, Florida.
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Our standard at the Tampa Bay Times is simple: to get things right the first time. This being a human endeavor, we sometimes fall short.
When this happens in the news report, our policy is to correct factual errors, promptly and prominently. Readers who spot factual errors are encouraged to contact the news department, by telephone, letter or e-mail, so that we can address the mistake.
Our contact numbers are in the directory. Readers may also call our main City Desk at (727) 893-8215 between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m., or send an e-mail to [email protected] .
Readers who wish to comment upon our coverage, rather than to correct some error of fact, are invited to submit letters to the editor.
Our standard of accuracy applies equally to our business operations.
Subscribers with complaints about their newspaper delivery or subscription invoice may call Customer Relations at the numbers listed in this directory or contact us by clicking here to email customer service.
Readers who have concerns about classified advertising should call 1-877-321-7355.
For display advertising, readers should call (727) 893-8424.
Although we strive to provide outstanding color printing, customers with concerns about the print quality in their copy should contact the Quality Assurance manager at (727) 322-6759.
We mean to be receptive and responsive to readers and customers. If we are unable to resolve problems through these usual channels, readers may contact my office directly.
More information about how to contact us can be found at the Contact Us page.