Legal
Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy
Effective: October 28, 2026 Last updated: October 28, 2026
314TV ("314TV," "we," "us") is a civic media platform for North County St. Louis, operated by Kothej' Company L.P., doing business as Neighborhood Planet Broadcasting Systems. This policy explains what information we collect at 314tv.org, why we collect it, and the choices you have.
The short version: We collect what we need to run a local, resident-verified network. We don't sell your information. We don't run ads. We don't share your contact details publicly. You can see, correct, export or delete your data at any time.
1. Information we collect
Information you give us
| When | What we collect |
|---|---|
| Creating an account | Full name, email address, password, phone number (optional), home address or ZIP code, and your municipality |
| Verifying residency | Whatever you choose to provide to confirm you live in your municipality (see Section 4) |
| Posting to the feed | The content of your post, its category, and your municipality |
| Submitting a story | Your name, email, phone (optional), community, story title, your account of events, optional location and date/time, and any video, photos or files you upload |
| Requesting a municipal walkthrough | Name, title, municipality, official email, phone (optional), and your message |
| Contacting us | Whatever you include in your message |
Information collected automatically
- Technical data: IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, referring page, and date/time of visits. This is collected by our hosting and security providers and by site analytics.
- Cookies and similar technologies: Used to keep you signed in, remember preferences, protect against abuse, and measure how the site is used. See Section 7.
We do not collect precise GPS location, and we do not buy information about you from data brokers.
2. How we use your information
We use your information to:
- Create and secure your account and keep you signed in
- Confirm you're a resident of the municipality you selected
- Show your posts and published stories to your community and the wider 314TV network
- Review, fact-check and follow up on story submissions
- Send account messages (verification, password resets, submission status)
- Send community alerts and updates you've opted into
- Respond to municipal walkthrough requests and other inquiries
- Moderate content, enforce our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, and prevent fraud and abuse
- Understand how the site is used so we can improve it
- Comply with law and respond to valid legal process
We do not use your information to sell advertising or to build advertising profiles.
3. What is public and what is private
| Public (visible to others) | Private (never shown publicly) |
|---|---|
| Your display name (first name and last initial by default) | Your email address |
| Your municipality | Your phone number |
| Content you post, and stories we publish | Your home address or ZIP code |
| The date of your posts | Your password |
| Verification documents or details | |
| Unpublished story submissions |
If you ask us to protect your identity as a source, we will. See our editorial standards on the About page.
4. Residency verification
"Resident-verified" means 314TV has confirmed that you live in the municipality you selected. Municipal governments do not perform or endorse this verification. We check the address you enter against public U.S. Census Bureau boundary data to confirm which municipality it's in.
We may verify by:
- matching your address to municipal boundaries,
- mailing a code to your address, or
- asking you to show a document with your name and address.
Any document you show is used only to confirm residency. It is deleted within 30 days of your verification decision, and we keep only the result (verified or not) and the date.
5. How we share information
We share information only in these situations:
- Service providers who run the platform on our behalf and may use it only for that purpose. These include:
- website hosting and authentication (GoDaddy)
- security and content delivery
- email delivery
- site analytics
- address-to-municipality matching (U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder, which receives the street address you enter)
- video hosting (YouTube, for video programming)
- Published content. Stories and posts you submit for publication are shared publicly as described in Section 3.
- Legal and safety. We share information when required by law, subpoena or court order, or when we believe in good faith it's necessary to protect someone's safety, investigate fraud, or enforce our Terms.
- Business transfer. If 314TV is merged, acquired or transferred, your information may transfer. This policy continues to apply unless you are notified and given choices.
We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Municipalities. If a municipality operates an official channel on 314TV, it does not receive members' private information (email, phone, address) unless you directly and separately give it to them.
6. Video embeds
Station video programming is delivered through YouTube embeds. When you play an embedded video, YouTube (Google) may collect information under its own privacy policy. We use YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed mode where available.
7. Cookies
| Type | Purpose | Can you turn it off? |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Sign-in, security, remembering your session | No (the site won't work without them) |
| Analytics | Understanding which pages are useful | Yes, through your browser settings or an ad/tracker blocker |
We don't use advertising cookies. Our site does not currently respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals, because no common standard exists. We don't track you across other websites.
8. Text messages and email
- Account emails (verification, password reset, submission status) are part of the service and can't be turned off while you have an account.
- Newsletters and community updates include an unsubscribe link in every message.
- Text message (SMS) alerts are sent only if you check the separate SMS consent box.
- Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.
- Reply STOP to opt out at any time, or HELP for help.
- Consent to texts is never a condition of membership.
9. How long we keep information
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Account information | As long as your account is active, then deleted within 30 days of account deletion |
| Verification documents | Deleted within 30 days of the verification decision |
| Posts | Until you delete them or delete your account |
| Published stories | Kept as part of the public record of our reporting. Your personal contact details are removed on request. |
| Unpublished story submissions | Up to 12 months, then deleted |
| Walkthrough requests | Up to 3 years, for business records |
| Server and security logs | Up to 12 months |
We may keep information longer if required by law or to resolve a dispute.
10. Your choices and rights
Every 314TV user, wherever you live, can:
- Access the personal information we hold about you
- Correct information that's wrong
- Delete your account and personal information
- Export a copy of your posts and account information
- Opt out of non-essential emails and texts at any time
Email privacy@314tv.org from the address on your account. We'll confirm your identity and respond within 30 days.
11. Children
314TV is for people 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have, we delete it.
If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, contact privacy@314tv.org.
Members aged 13–17 should have a parent's or guardian's permission to use 314TV.
12. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections and access controls, to protect your information. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal information, we'll notify you as required by law.
13. Changes to this policy
If we make material changes, we'll post the updated policy here with a new "Last updated" date, and we'll notify members by email or a site notice at least 14 days before the change takes effect.
14. Contact
Privacy questions: privacy@314tv.org Mail: Kothej' Company L.P., doing business as Neighborhood Planet Broadcasting Systems, Attn: Privacy, 1933 North Hanley Rd., St. Louis, MO 63114