Last updated: August 2026. This policy explains, in plain language, how The Main Story handles personal information. It is written for the Canadian context, including the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Quebec's Law 25, and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).

What we collect

We collect as little as possible:

• Email address — only if you subscribe to The Morning Edition. Subscribing is your consent to receive our emails (CASL), and every email includes a way to unsubscribe. We store the address in our own database and never sell or rent it.
• Consent preferences — your cookie choice is stored locally in your browser, not on our servers.
• Basic technical data — our hosting provider (Cloudflare) processes standard technical information (such as IP address and browser type) to deliver the site and protect it from abuse. This is necessary for the site to function.

Cookies and third parties

A cookie is a small text file stored in your browser. We use a consent banner for any non-essential cookies and third-party resources. When you accept:

• Google Fonts may be loaded to display the site's typography. If you decline, the site uses local fonts and works the same.
• Advertising — when ad placements are active, advertising partners may set cookies for measurement and frequency capping. No ads are served until you have consented via the banner.
• Social media links — buttons linking to X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube only load those services' content when you click them.

We do not currently operate our own analytics tracking.

Comments and social sign-in

Readers can comment on stories by signing in with Google or Facebook. When you sign in, that provider shares only the basics needed to identify you — your name, profile photo and email address — and we use that information solely to display your identity beside your comments and to moderate the discussion.

• What we store: your name, profile photo and email address from the provider, plus the comments you post and any reports you make.
• Why: real identities keep the conversation civil, and Canadian law requires us to know who stands behind content we publish in a discussion forum.
• Sign-in is a choice: Google and Facebook are the only sign-in options; there is no anonymous commenting. You can sign out at any time, and you are not required to comment to read the site.
• Third parties: your sign-in itself is handled by Google or Facebook under their own privacy policies — we never receive or store your password.
• Deletion: ask us at submit@themainstory.ca and we will remove your profile information and comments.

Comments are moderated. We may remove comments that violate our Terms and block repeat offenders.

Your rights

• Access and correction — you may ask us what personal information we hold about you and have it corrected (PIPEDA).
• Withdraw consent — you can change your cookie choice at any time by clearing this site's data in your browser, and unsubscribe from emails at any time.
• Quebec residents — Law 25 gives you additional rights, including the right to know how your information is used and to request its deletion in certain cases.

Contact

Privacy questions: submit@themainstory.ca.

This policy is not legal advice. If you believe your rights have been affected, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.