Last updated: October 22, 2026
Cowlitz Hub (“we,” “us,” “our”) is an independent, community-run events calendar for Cowlitz County, Washington, operated at cowlitzhub.com. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have.
The short version: we collect only what we need to run a community calendar and newsletter, we never sell your information, we don’t run ads or advertising trackers, and you can ask us to see or delete your data at any time by emailing hello@cowlitzhub.com.
Information you give us
- Weekly Roundup newsletter — your first name and email address, so we can send you the weekly events email. Every email includes a one-click unsubscribe link.
- Free accounts — a username, email address, and password (stored securely hashed, never readable by us) if you create an account to post events. You can also choose whether to join the newsletter when you sign up.
- Event submissions — the event details you post (title, date, venue, description, images). These are meant to be public and are published on the site.
- Event RSVPs — if an event offers free RSVPs, we collect your name and email to hold your spot. We never collect or store payment card information — the Hub has no paid checkout.
- Sponsor and contact forms — business name, your name, email, and whatever you write to us, so we can reply.
- Photo contest — your name, contact details, and the photos you submit. Winning photos are published on the site with credit to you. Please avoid submitting photos of people who wouldn’t want to appear, and know that photos can contain embedded location data (EXIF GPS) that others could extract.
- Comments — if you leave a comment, we collect the name and email you enter plus your IP address and browser information, which helps with spam detection. An anonymized hash of your email may be checked against the Gravatar service (run by Automattic — their privacy policy) to display a profile picture.
Information collected automatically
- Google Analytics — we use Google Analytics 4 (set up through the MonsterInsights and Google Site Kit plugins) to understand which pages people visit, in aggregate (things like page views, approximate region, and device type). Analytics sets cookies such as
_ga. We exclude logged-in members from analytics tracking. You can opt out with Google’s browser add-on, and Google explains its handling of this data at policies.google.com/privacy. - Short-link clicks — some links we share use short addresses on our own domain, like
cowlitzhub.com/go/…(powered by the Pretty Links plugin, which runs on our site — not a third-party shortener). When you click one, we log the click — IP address, browser, operating system, and the referring page — so we can see which links are useful and report honest click counts to sponsors. This data stays on our server and is not sent to anyone else. - Server logs — our hosting provider (Hostinger) keeps standard server logs (IP address, pages requested, timestamps) for security and troubleshooting, retained short-term.
- Security monitoring — our site firewall logs IP addresses and login attempts to block attacks and spam.
- Performance cookies — our caching system may set technical cookies that make pages load faster. They identify nothing about you.
Cookies
We use: login cookies (only if you have an account and sign in), optional comment-convenience cookies (so you don’t retype your name), analytics cookies (Google Analytics, above), and technical performance cookies. We do not run advertising cookies or sell data to ad networks — there are no ads on Cowlitz Hub.
Emails we send
If you join the Weekly Roundup you’ll get the weekly events email and a short welcome series. If you tell us something about yourself (for example, that you’re a resident, an event organizer, or a local business), we may note that so we can send more relevant emails. Our email list lives in software running on our own website — it is not uploaded to third-party marketing platforms — and emails are delivered through our hosting provider’s mail servers. Every email has an unsubscribe link that works immediately.
Who we share information with
We never sell personal information. The only third parties that touch visitor data are the services that run the site:
- Hostinger — website hosting and email delivery.
- Google — analytics (above), and some pages load fonts from Google Fonts servers, which receive your IP address as part of delivering the font file.
- Automattic/Gravatar — only if you leave a comment (above).
- Facebook — only if you choose to click a share, follow, or event link to Facebook. We do not embed Facebook tracking pixels on the site.
Event listings from public sources
Some listings are gathered from organizers’ public posts and pages (sometimes with automated, AI-assisted help) and may include organizer names or publicly posted contact details. If you’re an organizer and want a listing corrected or removed, email us and we’ll take care of it.
What’s public
Events you post, comments you leave, and contest photos we feature are public, along with the display name attached to them. Please don’t put anything in a public listing you wouldn’t want the whole county to see.
How long we keep things
Newsletter details are kept until you unsubscribe (and deleted entirely on request). Accounts are kept until you ask us to delete them. Analytics data follows Google’s standard retention settings. Security and server logs are kept short-term.
Your choices and rights
You can unsubscribe from emails at any time using the link in any email. You can also email hello@cowlitzhub.com to ask what information we have about you, to correct it, or to have it deleted — we’ll respond within a few days, no forms or hoops.
Security
The site uses HTTPS everywhere, a security firewall, and hashed passwords. No website can promise perfect security, but we keep the amount of personal data we hold deliberately small.
Children
Cowlitz Hub is family-friendly, but it isn’t directed at children under 13 and we don’t knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has submitted information, contact us and we’ll delete it.
Changes to this policy
If our practices change (for example, if we ever add new services), we’ll update this page and the date at the top.
Contact
Questions about privacy or your data: hello@cowlitzhub.com
Cowlitz Hub · Longview, WA