Privacy Policy

The Maine Companion is a small, independent site. We collect as little information as possible, and we don’t sell what we do collect. This policy explains what we gather, why, and how you can opt out.

What we collect

Email addresses

If you subscribe to The Maine Letter, we collect your email address. That address is stored with Mailchimp, our email platform, and used only to send you the newsletter. We don’t sell it, share it with advertisers, or use it for anything else. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of any email we send.

Mailchimp’s own privacy policy governs how they handle your data. You can read it at mailchimp.com/legal/privacy.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors find and use this site — which pages are read, where traffic comes from, and how people move through the guides. This helps us figure out what to write next.

Google Analytics collects information such as your approximate location, browser type, device, and pages visited. It does this through cookies (small files stored in your browser). The main cookies it sets are:

• _ga — distinguishes unique visitors. Expires after 2 years.
• _ga_* — maintains session state. Expires after 2 years.

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, or by enabling “Do Not Track” in your browser settings. Google’s privacy policy is at policies.google.com/privacy.

Cookies and local storage

Beyond Google Analytics, this site stores one item in your browser’s local storage: a flag that records whether you’ve dismissed the newsletter popup. This is not a cookie — it stays in your browser but is never sent to our servers. It exists solely to avoid showing you a popup you’ve already closed.

You can clear it at any time by clearing your browser’s local storage for this site.

Advertising

We plan to carry advertising in the future. When we do, we will update this policy to describe what data advertising networks collect and how to opt out. No advertising is currently active on this site.

Third-party links

Our guides link to external sites — parks, restaurants, boat tours, and other businesses. We have no control over those sites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. Check their own policies before sharing personal information with them.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the site changes — particularly when advertising is introduced. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy or how your data is handled? Email us at themainecompanion@gmail.com.