Last updated: March 2026
Who We Are
Our website address is: https://townecommon.com. Towne Common is a community directory and information platform serving Boxborough and the surrounding Metrowest Massachusetts towns.
What Personal Data We Collect and Why
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Member Accounts
When you register as a member on Towne Common, we collect your name, email address, and any additional profile information you choose to provide. This information is used to create and manage your account, enable community features, and display your activity on the site. Member profiles and activity are powered by PeepSo. You can review PeepSo’s privacy policy at https://peepso.com/privacy.
Event Submissions
When you submit an event through our event submission form, we collect your name, contact information, and the details of the event you are submitting. This information is used solely to review, publish, and follow up on your event submission. We do not share this information with third parties.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Analytics
This site uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information about how visitors use the site, including pages visited, time spent on the site, and general geographic location. This data is collected in aggregate and is not linked to individual user identities. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect this information. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
For more information on how Google uses data collected through this site, visit https://policies.google.com/privacy.
Embedded Content from Other Websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Who We Share Your Data With
We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties. Your data may be shared with the following services in the course of operating this site:
- Google Analytics — for anonymous site usage statistics
- Google Workspace — for internal email communications related to event submissions and member inquiries
- Gravatar (Automattic) — for profile images associated with comments
- PeepSo — for member account and community features
- Akismet or equivalent spam detection service — for comment moderation
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
How Long We Retain Your Data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely so we can recognize and approve follow-up comments automatically rather than holding them in a moderation queue.
For members who register on our website, we store the personal information provided in their user profile for as long as the account remains active. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
Event submission contact information is retained only as long as necessary to process and follow up on the submission.
What Rights You Have Over Your Data
If you have an account on this site or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
To make a data request, please contact us at: ed@townecommon.com
Where Your Data Is Sent
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Event submission data and member inquiries may be handled through Google Workspace. Anonymous usage data is sent to Google Analytics.
Contact
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at: ed@townecommon.com
