Privacy Policy

Your right to privacy while using the Internet is very important to us. The Blount County Voice is committed to helping you maintain control over your personal data while fostering the growth of a more interactive, engaging, and personalized experience. We respect your right to control how much information you provide about yourself. The following Privacy Policy (this “Policy”) describes how we collect, protect and use information we receive from visitors to our website (this “Site”). This Policy applies only to information collected through this Site and not to information collected offline.

This Policy is effective as of March 7, 2005.

1. What Information Is Collected
There are two kinds of information we collect through this Site: anonymous information and personally identifiable information.

We may collect anonymous, aggregate information or statistics related to Site usage. These statistics indicate the total number of hits, the total number of page hits, the number of kilobytes transferred from our Site, and the IP address of the visitor. As is the case with many web sites, our Site uses a technology called "cookies", which are small data files that are downloaded onto your computer. The use of cookies is standard on the Internet, and allows us to tailor your visits to our Site to your individual preferences.

We do not collect personally identifiable information on our Site unless you voluntarily provide information about yourself via an electronic mail message, by registering or filling out one of our online forms, or sending content for publication on our Site. By “personal information,” we mean data that is unique to an individual, such as a name, address, telephone number, year of birth, zip code and gender. For example, if you send us an email or send us your phone number, we may use the information you provide to follow up via telephone or email. The information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to support your continued relationship with us. No software or hardware techniques are employed to capture a visitor's email address or other personally identifiable information unless you voluntarily provide such information to us.

2. How the Information Is Used
We use anonymous information gathered through this Site for administration purposes, troubleshooting, to customize your experience, and to help improve the quality of the Site. We also use this information to measure the number of visitors to our Site, general traffic patterns, pages of interest to groups of visitors, and the addresses of the websites from which our visitors come. We may share such aggregated, non-personally identifiable information, such as demographics, to (a) provide us with a better understanding of how users use the Site and the various features, (b) help us to create and provide new services and offerings to users, and (c) market aggregate, anonymous data with existing and prospective business partners and advertisers. We also may share such aggregated, non-personally identifiable information with existing and prospective business partners and advertisers. We reserve the right to use such anonymous information, and to allow others to make use of it, without limitation or restriction. However, we never connect aggregate information with personally identifiable information, and none of the aggregate information we share will contain any information that identifies you individually.


Personally identifiable information collected by us may be used internally and for purposes including administration of the Site, maintaining your account, and communications with you. We may use information submitted by you through the Site to send you important information about the Site (such as Submission information, etc.). We may also share such information internally with our newsroom, and with our circulation and advertising departments. We do not sell, rent or otherwise disclose our mailing lists or other personally identifiable information to any third party you may provide without your consent.

Should you send us your comments or questions via email to any email address provided on our Site, we will only share your communications with our editors, employees or agents most capable of addressing your questions and concerns.

We will disclose personal information to a third party if we are required to do so by law or we in good faith believe that such action is necessary to (a) comply with the law or with legal process; (b) protect and defend our rights and property; (c) protect against misuse or unauthorized use of the Site; or (d) protect the personal safety or property of our users or the public.

3. Right to Opt-Out
Although most users indicate that they welcome emails about us, as well as products and services provided by our business partners and advertisers, we support the right of our visitors to choose. You will be given the right to opt-out of receiving information from our business partners and advertisers whenever you are asked to provide personally identifiable information on this Site. If you do not opt-out at that time, but later decide that you do not wish to receive future communications of this nature, you will be provided an opportunity to opt out of future referrals by updating your preferences on our Site. Although it is not always possible to remove or modify information in these databases, we will make reasonable efforts to do so.

4. Security of Information Sent to Us
Please note that, unless we expressly advise you otherwise, the email functionality on our Site does not provide a means for completely secure and private communications between us. Like all unencrypted Internet email communications, your email may be accessed and viewed by other Internet users, without your knowledge and permission, while in transit to us. For that reason, to protect your privacy, please do not use email to communicate information to us that you consider to be confidential. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to ensure its security on our internal systems. Depending on the nature of the inquiry, your communication may be eventually discarded or archived.

5. Disclosure of Customer Information Through Business Transfers
As we continue to develop our business, we may buy, merge or partner with other companies or businesses, and in so doing, acquire customer information. In such transactions, user information may be among the transferred assets. Similarly, in the unlikely event that a portion or substantially all of our assets are sold or transferred to a third party, the information you have voluntarily provided to us, including your email address, would likely be one of the transferred business assets.

6. Privacy Policies of Web Sites Not Under Our Control
For your convenience, this Site may provide links to various websites that we do not control. When you click on one of these links, you will be transferred out of our Site and connected to the website of the organization or company that you selected. We are not responsible for the nature, quality or accuracy of the content or opinions expressed in such web sites, and such web sites are not investigated, monitored or checked for quality, accuracy or completeness by us. Inclusion of any linked website on this Site does not imply or express an approval or endorsement of the linked website by us, or of any of the content, opinions, products or services provided on these websites. Even if an affiliation exists between our Site and a third-party website, we exercise no control over linked sites. Each of these linked sites maintains its own independent privacy and data collection policies and procedures. If you visit a website that is linked to from our Site, we encourage you to consult that website's privacy policy before providing any personal information and whenever interacting with any website.

7. Access and Correction
You have a right to know about the personal information that we have collected as described above, including the right to correct, amend or delete the information that we have on file if it is incorrect. You also may change the status of whether you wish to receive alerts, newsletters and communications at anytime. If at any time you wish to review such information, feel free to contact us at Administrator@BlountCountyVoice.com.

8. Modifications to This Privacy Policy and Site
By using this Site, you signify your agreement to the terms of this Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Policy, please do not disclose any personal information through this Site or submit any content or materials to us.

Please bear in mind that we may change the content, design or functionality of our Site, and, consequently, this Policy at any time in the future. Notice of any revisions to the Policy will be reflected by indicating the date when the Policy was last revised on this page and on the home page of this Site, so please revisit this page from time to time to ensure that you are aware of any changes to it. You are responsible for reviewing this Policy periodically, and your continued use of our Site following any modifications to this Policy will be conclusively deemed acceptance of any changes.

9. Governing Law
This Policy and the use of this Site are governed by Tennessee law. Any claim related to the Site or this Policy shall be brought in a federal or state court in Maryville, Tennessee, within one (1) year after the claim arises. Users of this Site consent to the jurisdiction and venue of such court as the most convenient and appropriate for the resolution of disputes concerning this Policy.

We welcome comments and questions about this Policy and about our Site. Any comments or questions regarding this Policy or this Site may be directed to our webmasters at Administrator@BlountCountyVoice.com. You may also send a letter to:

Address: BlountCountyVoice.com
P.O. Box 9740
Maryville, TN 37802

Thank you for your interest, and we hope your visit to our Site is pleasant and productive.