Privacy Policy
Version 1.1 · Effective August 7, 2026
The short version. We collect what we need to review, verify, and produce your story, nothing more. Sensitive documents are stored separately from the public site, encrypted, and only a small number of people can open them. Every one of those openings is logged. We delete what we no longer need on a schedule. We do not sell your information.
That summary is for orientation only, the full policy below governs.
1. Our commitment
People share deeply personal experiences with us, trauma, family, crime, addiction, recovery, loss, survival. Trust is not a feature of this company; it is the product. This policy explains what we collect, why, how long we keep it, when we share it, and the choices you have.
“PAPER TRAILS™,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to PAPER TRAILS MEDIA LLC.
2. Information we collect
A. Contact information
Name, preferred name, email address, phone number, general location, and social media usernames you choose to give us.
B. Story submission information
Your story summary, timeline, locations, people involved, reasons for telling it, off-limits topics, travel availability, and any supporting materials you send.
C. Verification information
To confirm identity and core facts we may request government-issued identification, court records, news coverage, business or medical records, and other materials reasonably necessary. Providing these does not guarantee publication.
D. Website information
Browser and device type, operating system, IP address, approximate location, pages visited, and referring sites.
E. Membership information (PT+)
Membership status, subscription history, and billing status. Payments are processed by our third-party payment provider. We never see or store full card numbers.
3. How we use information
To review submissions, contact storytellers, schedule and produce interviews, conduct verification, operate the website, process memberships, respond to inquiries, protect storytellers and the company, prevent fraud, and comply with law.
We do not sell your personal information, and we never have. We do not use your story materials to train machine-learning models.
4. How sensitive material is handled
This is the part most policies leave vague. Concretely:
- Documents you send for verification are stored in a private location, separate from the public website, and are never served publicly or placed on a content delivery network.
- Access requires both a specific job role and a separately granted permission held by very few people. Being on staff is not enough.
- Every time someone opens one of your documents, it is logged, who, what, and when. Those logs are reviewed.
- Photographs are stripped of embedded metadata, including GPS coordinates and device identifiers, before they are stored, so the archived copy is already clean.
- For anonymous storytellers, real identity is kept in a separate restricted record that the public website is structurally unable to read.
5. How long we keep things
We keep what we need for as long as we need it, and no longer.
| Material | Retention |
|---|---|
| Government-issued ID | Up to 1 year after identity is confirmed |
| Declined submissions and their materials | Up to 1 year, then securely deleted |
| Verification materials for published stories | Up to 7 years |
| Anything under legal hold | Retained until the matter concludes |
| Membership and billing records | As required by tax and accounting law |
Deletion is carried out by an automated daily process, not by memory. Deleted files are removed from live storage immediately; backup copies expire on their own cycle, which we state plainly rather than gloss over.
6. Cookies and analytics
We use only what is necessary to operate the site and understand general traffic patterns. We do not run advertising trackers and do not build advertising profiles. You can disable cookies in your browser, though some functionality may be affected.
7. Third-party services
We use trusted providers for hosting, database and authentication, payment processing, email delivery, video hosting and delivery, and security. They receive only what is necessary to perform their function.
8. When we share information
We do not sell personal information. We share only when reasonably necessary:
- with the service providers described above
- with our legal counsel
- when required by law or valid legal process
- to investigate fraud or protect someone’s safety
- to establish or defend legal claims
If we receive a legal demand for storyteller information, we preserve records, notify counsel, and, where lawfully permitted, tell the affected storyteller.
9. Anonymity
Anonymity is approved before production and, once promised, is honored. Approved measures may include pseudonyms, silhouette filming, voice modification, and withheld locations. Internally, an anonymous storyteller’s identity is still verified to the same standard, concealment is about what the public sees, not about skipping our work.
We treat an anonymity breach as the most serious incident that can occur here.
10. Security
We use encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access controls, multi-factor authentication for staff, access logging, private storage separated from public media, and routine backups.
No system is perfectly secure and we will not pretend otherwise. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and any required regulators without undue delay. Where an anonymity promise is at risk, we will attempt to contact you directly and urgently.
11. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, object to, or port your personal information, and to withdraw consent.
California residents (CCPA/CPRA): you may request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information collected, request deletion, request correction, and are entitled not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
EEA/UK residents: our legal bases are consent (submissions and marketing), contract (memberships), legitimate interests (operating and securing the service, editorial activity), and legal obligation.
To make a request, contact legal@watchpapertrails.com. We may need to verify your identity first. We balance deletion requests against journalistic, archival, and legal obligations, and will explain plainly if we cannot fully comply.
12. Published stories
Once a story is published it exists in a permanent archive, and its Story Number is never reused. If you are the storyteller and want your story unpublished, redacted, or removed, contact us, we review every request considering safety, legal developments, contract terms, public interest, and ethics. That door does not close.
13. Children
Our services are intended for adults. We do not accept story submissions from anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.
14. Changes
We may update this policy. Material changes will be posted here with a revised effective date. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.
15. Contact
Privacy requests, data questions, and legal matters: legal@watchpapertrails.com
General inquiries: info@watchpapertrails.com
Story submissions: tell@watchpapertrails.com
See also our Terms of Use and our Verification process.
PAPER TRAILS™ exists to preserve human stories with honesty, respect, and care. We recognize the responsibility that comes with asking someone to trust us with their story.