Privacy Policy
Last Updated: Oct 2007

The Los Angeles Sentinel strives to offer a personalized and interactive experience to its visitors who use Internet technology to access our products. To do so, we may use Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with the terms of this privacy policy.  This policy is only applicable to information collected by LAsentinel.net Online, and does not impact information collected or used by LAsentinel.net or its affiliates through other means.

How we gather information from users.

How we collect and store information depends on the page you are visiting, the activities in which you elect to participate and the services provided. You can visit many pages on our site without providing any information. Other pages may prompt you to provide information, such as when you register for access to portions of our site, sign up for membership, request certain features (e.g., newsletters, news updates and other products), or sign up for a newspaper subscription. You may also provide information when you participate in any sweepstakes and contests, vote using polls, or participate on message boards or other interactive areas of our site.

Like most Web sites, LAsentinel.net also collects information automatically and through the use of electronic tools that may be transparent to our visitors. For example, we may log the name of your Internet Service Provider or use "cookie" technology.   Among other things, the cookie may store your user name and password, sparing you from having to re-enter that information each time you visit, or may control the number of times you encounter a particular advertisement while visiting our site. As we adopt additional technology, we may also gather information through other means. In certain cases, you can choose not to provide us with information, for example by setting your browser to refuse to accept cookies (doing so might impact your browsing experience, limit your ability to access certain portions of the site, or ultimately impact functionality during browsing.

What we do with the information we collect.

We will use your information only as permitted by law. Aggregated Information (information that does not personally identify you) may be used in many ways. As one example, we may combine information about your usage patterns with similar information obtained from other users to learn which pages are visited most or what features are most attractive. Aggregated Information may occasionally be shared with our advertisers and business partners, but cannot be used to contact you individually.

We also collect information to enhance your visit and deliver more individualized content and advertising. For example, we may use Personally Identifiable Information collected on LAsentinel.net to communicate with you regarding our Terms of Service and privacy policy, products and services offered by LAsentinel.net and other Tribune Company affiliates and partners, administration of sweepstakes and contests, processing e-commerce transactions and other topics we think you might find of interest. We reserve the right to share this information with other Tribune Company business units and affiliates, including for example our affiliated newspapers and entities in which Tribune Company has an ownership interest (collectively, "Affiliates"). This policy does not apply to any Affiliate's use of such information.

Personally Identifiable Information collected by LAsentinel.net may also be used for other purposes including but not limited to site administration and troubleshooting. Certain third parties who provide technical support for the operation of our site (our Web hosting service and our newsletter provider, for example) may access such information.

As we continue to develop our business, we may sell, buy, merge or partner with other companies or businesses. In such transactions, user information may be among the transferred assets. We may also disclose your information in response to a court order, at other times when we believe we are reasonably required to do so by law, in connection with the collection of amounts you may owe to us, and/or whenever we deem it appropriate or necessary to give such information to law enforcement authorities. Please note we may not provide you with notice prior to disclosure in such cases.

Your choice to opt out.

The quality news and information on LAsentinel.net is supported by advertising revenue and a controlled program of e-mail marketing is an important element of our online publishing business. Like other Web publishers, we sometimes permit our advertising and promotional partners to e-mail you about services, features, products, special offers and unique content we believe might interest you. If you prefer not to receive e-mail communications sent directly from our advertisers or promotional partners, you will be given an opportunity to decline before you provide us information we might use for this purpose. If you decline at the time you provide us such information, we will not share the Personally Identifiable Information you provide with non-Affiliated advertisers for such purposes, though we may on occasion send you information on their behalf.

Affiliated sites, linked sites and advertisements.

LAsentinel.net expects its partners, advertisers and third-party affiliates to respect the privacy of our users. However, third parties, including our partners, advertisers, affiliates and other content providers accessible through our site, may have their own privacy and data collection policies and practices. For example, during your visit to our site you may link to, or view as part of a frame on a LAsentinel.net page, certain content that is actually created or hosted by a third party. Also, through LAsentinel.net you may be introduced to, or be able to access, information, Web sites, advertisements, features, contests or sweepstakes offered by other parties. LAsentinel.net is not responsible for the actions or policies of such third parties. You should check the applicable privacy policies of those third parties when providing information on a feature or page operated by a third party.

While on our site, our advertisers, promotional partners or other third parties may use cookies or other technology to attempt to identify some of your preferences or retrieve information about you. For example, some of our advertising is served by third parties and may include cookies that enable the advertiser to determine whether you have seen a particular advertisement before. Through features available on our site, third parties may use cookies or other technology to gather information. LAsentinel.net does not control the use of this technology or the resulting information and is not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties.

A cookie gets entered by your Web browser into the "Cookies" folder on your hard drive after you close your browser, and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Site. We use persistent and session cookies to analyze and enhance your experience on the Site, and use third party ad technology to serve ads. The data that is collected is the property of LAsentinel.net, not the third party. We also allow third parties called ad networks or ad servers to serve ads to you on LAsentinel.net. Cookies enable them to compile information about where you, or others who have used your computer, saw their advertisements and determine which ads are clicked on. This information makes it possible for the ad technology, ad servers and ad networks to deliver targeted advertisements to you on LAsentinel.net. LAsentinel.net does not have access to the cookies that may be placed on your computer by third-party ad technology, ad servers or ad networks. LAsentinel.net maintains relationships with a number of third-party networks, including Doubleclick, Unicast, and Pointroll. Those parties that use cookies may offer you a way to opt out of ad targeting. You may find more information at the Web site of the individual ad network or the Network Advertising Initiative.

Please be careful and responsible whenever you are online. Should you choose to voluntarily disclose Personally Identifiable Information on our site, such as in message boards, chat areas or in advertising or notices you post, that information can be viewed publicly and can be collected and used by third parties without our knowledge and may result in unsolicited messages from other individuals or third parties. Such activities are beyond the control of LAsentinel.net and this policy.

Children.

LAsentinel.net does not knowingly collect or solicit Personally Identifiable Information from or about children under 13 except as permitted by law. If we discover we have received any information from a child under 13 in violation of this policy, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe LAsentinel.net has any information from or about anyone under 13, please contact us at the address listed below.

Contacting us.

We can be reached by contacting:

The Los Angeles Sentinel
3800 Crenshaw Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90008
Email: LASfeedback @LAsentinel.net   (remove spaces)

Changes to this policy.

LAsentinel.net reserves the right to change this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of our site following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes. Information collected prior to the time any change is posted will be used according to the rules and laws that applied at the time the information was collected.

Governing law.

This policy and the use of this Site are governed by California law. Any claim related to the Site or this policy shall be brought in a federal or state court in Los Angeles, California, within one year after the claim arises. You agree no such claim may be brought as a class action. Users of LAsentinel.net consent to the jurisdiction and venue of such court as the most convenient and appropriate for the resolution of disputes concerning this policy. LAsentinel.net is controlled, operated and administered entirely within the United States. If you are located outside the United States, please note the information you provide to us will be transferred to the United States. You hereby consent to this transfer.