Privacy Policy

Last updated October 14, 2026. This page describes what knoxaround.com collects, why, who else sees it, and the choices you have. It is written from how the site is actually built, in plain language.

Who we are

KnoxAround (knoxaround.com) is operated by Pretty Cow Media LLC, an Ohio limited liability company. It is a business directory for Knox County, Ohio, built on reviews from neighbors and responses from business owners. Questions about this policy or your information go to tppl78@gmail.com.

What we collect

When you browse

When you open a business listing, the site records the visit for that listing's statistics: the date and time, a shortened form of your IP address, the country it points to, the page that referred you, your browser, operating system, device type and screen size, and a session identifier made by hashing those details. When you search the directory, the search terms and which results you clicked are recorded. Your answer to the cookie banner is stored in a cookie and in a consent log.

When you create an account

We store the name and email address you give us, a hashed version of your password, your profile details, and everything you publish: business listings, reviews and owner responses. Reviews and listings are public and show the name on your account. While a registration is pending, a hashed copy of the IP address it came from is kept until it is confirmed or expires. The site also records failed sign-in attempts and temporarily blocks addresses that fail too often.

When you sign in with Google or Facebook

If you choose the Google or Facebook button, that company sends us your name, email address and profile picture, and we create or sign in to your account with them. Google or Facebook will know you signed in to KnoxAround. You can always use an email address and password instead.

When you contact us or we email you

We keep the messages you send us. The site sends email for account confirmation, password resets, notifications about your listings and reviews, and sign-in codes for administrators. Email is sent from our own web server.

What we do not collect

There is no advertising on KnoxAround, no ad tracking, no advertising or analytics tags from other companies, and no payments, so no card or bank details are collected. We do not sell personal information.

Why we collect it

To run the directory: show listings, reviews and responses, and let you manage your account.
To give business owners statistics about their listing: how many people viewed it, where they came from and what they clicked. Owners see totals, not individual visitors.
To keep the site safe: spam checks on reviews and comments, limits on failed sign-ins, and a challenge on the sign-in page to keep bots out.
To answer you when you write to us.

Who else sees it

A few companies handle data on our behalf or receive it when your browser loads a page:

Our hosting provider runs the server where the site, its database and its backups live.
Google serves the site's fonts on every page, and provides the Google sign-in button and reCAPTCHA on the sign-in and add-listing pages. Each of these means your browser contacts Google, which can see your IP address. Google's handling of that data is described in Google's privacy policy.
Meta (Facebook) provides the Facebook sign-in button on the sign-in and add-listing pages, which loads Facebook's software in your browser there. See Meta's privacy policy.
Automattic (Akismet) checks reviews and comments for spam. The text, the name and email you gave, and your IP address are sent for the check. See Automattic's privacy policy.
Cloudflare provides the bot challenge on the administrator sign-in page.

We may also disclose information when the law requires it, or to protect the site, its users or the public.

How long we keep it

Account information, listings, reviews and responses: for as long as the account exists. When you delete your account, your personal details are removed; reviews you wrote may stay in anonymized form so the business's history remains accurate.
Listing view and search records: the IP address is shortened before it is stored (the last part is replaced with a zero), and the records are deleted after 30 days. Only the daily totals for each listing are kept after that.
Failed sign-in records and temporary blocks: cleared automatically within days.
Cookie consent: 12 months, then the banner asks again.
Backups: kept on our server and replaced on a rolling schedule.

Your choices

You can view and change your account details and delete your listings and reviews from your dashboard at any time.
You can email us to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, to correct it, or to delete your account. We will answer within 30 days.
You can change your cookie choices at any time through the cookie settings link in the site footer. Our Cookie Policy lists every cookie.
You can sign in with an email address and password instead of Google or Facebook.

If you live in a place with a privacy law that gives you additional rights, such as the European Union, the United Kingdom or California, those rights apply to you here, and the email address above is the way to use them. We do not sell or share personal information for advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of on that front.

Children

KnoxAround is for adults running and using local businesses. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has created an account, email us and we will remove it.

Security

The site uses HTTPS everywhere, stores passwords only as hashes, limits sign-in attempts, requires a second factor for administrators, and keeps software updated. No website can promise perfect security, but these are the measures in place.

Changes to this policy

When we change how the site handles information, we will update this page and the date at the top. Significant changes will also be announced on the site.