Reporter Privacy Policy

Welcome to the Reporter Privacy Policy for My Town News. If you are a certified journalist, freelance stringer, or community contributor who logs in with credentials to submit, draft, or publish news articles, this policy applies to you.

Because reporters act as the primary content authors on our platform, we collect and store additional verified details to maintain journalistic accountability, transparency, and quality assurance.

1. Credentials & Account Information

Unlike Readers who login via temporary OTPs, Reporters require persistent passwords and IDs:

• ID & Email: We store your registered Email Address and unique Reporter ID (Mobile number) to uniquely identify you.
• Passwords: Passwords are encrypted using industry-standard salted hashing algorithms (`bcryptjs`) before storage. We cannot view your plain-text password.
• Tokens: When you log in, we issue JSON Web Tokens (JWT) to authorize your api and editing sessions. These tokens are stored securely in browser state or cookies.

2. Verification & Professional Profiles

During the application process and while updating your profile, we collect:

• Verification Details: Your full name, email, operating state, city, and a statement/reason describing your local reporting interest.
• Profile Pictures (Avatars): Avatars you upload are stored in our secure Cloud S3 buckets (Contabo S3 storage) and displayed alongside your published stories.
• Location Assignment: Your assigned reporting cities and states are saved to route appropriate local notification alerts and organize editorial desks.

3. Article Ownership & Archiving

As a reporter, the articles you submit contribute to the public record of community events:

• News Content: News posts, draft posts, headings, text copy, and uploaded media attachments (photographs, videos) are saved in our database.
• Public Record Exception: In the interest of maintaining historical continuity and keeping the community informed, news articles that have been verified and published to the public feed are treated as part of the public archive.

4. Data Deletion & Profile Removal

If you wish to terminate your role as a reporter for My Town News:

Archival Handling of Published Stories: When your deletion request is processed:

• Your personal account record, password, email, and mobile number will be completely erased.
• Your active login token will be revoked instantly.
• Any public articles you have written may remain visible to readers to maintain news record integrity. However, the author name and attribution will be replaced with "Anonymized Reporter" or a general community tag to dissociate the posts from your identity.

5. Questions or Support

If you have questions about our editorial standards, your reporter profile data, or S3 media storage security, you can contact the central editorial desk at:

• 📧 Editorial Desk: editor@mytownnews.com
• 📞 Support Phone: (555) 123-4567
• 📍 Corporate Office: 123 Main Street, My Town, USA 12345