Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Citizen Publishing Corporation ("we", "us", "our") operates placeanobit.com. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information when you use our service.

By using Place An Obit, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our service.

2. Information We Collect

a) Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address
• Phone number
• Password (encrypted and securely stored)
• Submitter type (funeral home or family member/friend)
• Organization name (for funeral homes only)

b) Obituary Content

When you create obituaries, we collect:

• Deceased person's information (name, birth date, death date, biographical details)
• Photos uploaded for obituaries
• Publication preferences (newspapers, dates, formatting options)
• Draft content and revision history

c) Payment Information

For payment processing:

• Payment is processed securely by Stripe, a third-party payment processor
• We do NOT store credit card numbers
• We retain transaction IDs and payment amounts for accounting and record-keeping purposes

d) Technical Information

We automatically collect:

• Session data for login functionality
• IP addresses (for security and fraud prevention)
• Browser type and version
• Device information

3. Sensitive Personal Data

Obituary content may include sensitive personal data, including but not limited to:

• Date and cause of death
• Family relationships
• Religious or cultural references voluntarily included by the user in obituary content
• Medical information
• Photographs of deceased and living persons

Data Controller and Processor Roles

This sensitive data is processed solely at your direction for the express purpose of obituary publication:

• You (the user) are the data controller: You determine what personal information is included in the obituary and bear responsibility for the accuracy and lawfulness of the data submitted.
• Citizen Publishing Corporation acts as a data processor: We process the obituary content you provide according to your instructions for publication purposes.

Legal Basis for Processing

We process sensitive personal data based on:

• Your explicit consent provided at the time of submission
• Legitimate purpose of obituary publication as requested by you
• Your representation that you have the authority to share this information about the deceased and any living persons mentioned

4. User Responsibility for Submitted Content

Your Representations and Warranties

By submitting an obituary, you represent and warrant that:

1. Legal authority: You have the legal right and authority to submit obituary content about the deceased person
2. Permissions obtained: You have obtained necessary permissions from all living persons mentioned in the obituary
3. Photo rights: You have the right to use any photographs uploaded, including rights from the photographer and all persons depicted in the photos
4. Accuracy: All information submitted is accurate to the best of your knowledge
5. No violations: The content does not violate any third party's privacy rights, intellectual property rights, or other legal rights
6. Estate authority: You have authority to act on behalf of the deceased's estate or family for this purpose

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Citizen Publishing Corporation from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from:

• Unauthorized submission of obituary content
• Disputes among family members regarding obituary content or who has authority to publish
• Privacy claims from persons mentioned in the obituary
• Inaccurate, false, misleading, or defamatory information in submitted content
• Unauthorized use of photographs or violation of intellectual property rights

Our Role

Citizen Publishing Corporation is not responsible for:

• Verifying the authority of users to submit obituary content
• Verifying the accuracy of information provided
• Mediating disputes among family members
• Investigating claims of unauthorized submission

5. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

• To provide our service: Create, format, and publish obituaries in selected newspapers
• To process payments: Handle transactions securely through our payment processor
• To communicate with you: Send order confirmations, obituary proofs for approval, publication confirmations, and service updates
• To improve our services: Analyze usage patterns and improve user experience
• For security: Protect against fraud, unauthorized access, and other security issues
• AI-assisted writing (optional): If you choose to use our AI writing assistance feature, your provided information is sent to Anthropic's Claude API to generate obituary drafts. This feature is completely optional and clearly disclosed at the time of use. You maintain full control over whether to use this feature.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

a) Essential Cookies (Required for Service Functionality)

b) Third-Party Cookies

c) What We Do NOT Use

We value your privacy. We do NOT use:

• Analytics cookies (no Google Analytics or similar tracking)
• Marketing or advertising cookies
• Social media tracking pixels
• Cross-site tracking technologies
• Behavioral advertising tools

7. Third-Party Services

We use the following trusted third-party services to operate our platform:

International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers, including Stripe (payment processing), Postmark (email delivery), and Anthropic (AI services), are located in the United States.

When personal data is transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses and other lawful transfer mechanisms approved by relevant data protection authorities. These mechanisms ensure that your data receives an adequate level of protection consistent with European data protection standards.

8. Data Retention

We retain different types of data for varying periods:

• Published obituaries: Retained indefinitely as they become part of the public historical record
• User accounts: Retained until you request deletion or after 5 years of account inactivity
• Payment records: Retained for 7 years to comply with legal and tax requirements
• Unpublished drafts: Automatically deleted after 2 years of inactivity
• Photos: Retention tied to the associated obituary
• Session data: Automatically expires based on cookie duration settings

Limitations on Deletion

Published Obituaries:

• Cannot be deleted from our system as they become part of the public historical record
• Newspapers maintain their own archives which we do not control and cannot modify or delete
• We cannot compel newspapers to delete or modify published content
• Search engines may retain cached versions of published obituaries indefinitely
• Third-party websites (genealogy sites, news aggregators, archives) may have copied or archived published content beyond our control

For GDPR/CCPA Deletion Requests Regarding Published Obituaries:

If you request deletion of data associated with a published obituary:

• We will delete: Your account information and any unpublished drafts
• We cannot delete: The published obituary content as it constitutes a public historical record
• We cannot delete: Copies held by newspapers, search engines, genealogy websites, or third-party archives
• We will provide: Documentation of what data we have deleted from our systems upon request

Note: The inability to delete published obituaries is due to their nature as public historical records and is consistent with legal obligations and journalistic exemptions under GDPR and CCPA.

9. Public Nature of Published Obituaries

By submitting an obituary for publication, you acknowledge and agree that:

1. Public record status: Published obituaries become part of the public historical record and are accessible to anyone
2. Search engine indexing: Published obituary content may be indexed by search engines (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.) and appear in search results
3. Third-party republication: Published content may be copied, archived, or republished by third parties outside our control, including but not limited to:
   • News aggregation services
   • Genealogy websites (Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, etc.)
   • Social media platforms
   • Internet archives (Archive.org, Wayback Machine, etc.)
   • Data aggregation and research services
   • Legacy.com and similar memorial websites
4. No control after publication: Once published in a newspaper, we cannot control further distribution, copying, or republication by third parties
5. Third-party copies persist: Removal of published obituaries from our system does not remove copies made by third parties, search engines, or archives
6. No enforcement power: We have no ability to force third parties to delete, modify, or de-index republished content

Waiver of Claims

You waive any claims against Citizen Publishing Corporation related to:

• Third-party use, republication, or archiving of published obituary content
• Search engine indexing and caching of published content
• Distribution or sharing of published obituaries beyond our control
• Inability to remove published content from third-party websites or archives

Please carefully consider what information to include in obituaries, as published content becomes permanent public information.

10. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We share your information in the following limited circumstances:

• With newspapers: We share obituary content (name, dates, biography, photos) with the newspapers you select for publication. This is the essential purpose of our service.
• With service providers: We share necessary information with trusted service providers (Stripe for payments, Postmark for emails, Anthropic for optional AI features) to operate our service.
• Legal compliance: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, subpoena, or government regulation.
• Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity.

We do NOT:

• Sell your personal information to third parties
• Share your data for marketing purposes
• Rent or lease your contact information

11. Your Privacy Rights

a) Rights for All Users

All users have the right to:

• Access your personal data and request a copy
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention requirements)
• Withdraw consent for optional processing (such as AI writing assistance)
• Object to processing of your data in certain circumstances

Note: Published obituaries cannot be deleted as they become part of the public historical record.

b) California Residents (CCPA Rights)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• Right to know: Request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect
• Right to delete: Request deletion of your personal information (subject to exceptions)
• Right to opt-out: We do not sell personal information, so there is nothing to opt-out of
• Right to non-discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights

To exercise these rights, contact us using the information in Section 12.

c) European Residents (GDPR Rights)

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right to access: Obtain confirmation of processing and a copy of your data
• Right to rectification: Correct inaccurate personal data
• Right to erasure: Request deletion under certain circumstances
• Right to data portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Right to restrict processing: Limit how we use your data
• Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to lodge a complaint: File a complaint with your local data protection authority

Legal Basis for Processing:

• Contract performance: Processing necessary to provide our obituary publication service
• Consent: For optional features like AI writing assistance
• Legal obligation: For payment record retention and compliance
• Legitimate interests: For fraud prevention and service improvement

12. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

• Password encryption: All passwords are hashed using bcrypt with individual salts
• HTTPS encryption: All data transmission is encrypted using TLS/SSL
• Secure session management: Session cookies are HttpOnly and use SameSite protection
• CSRF protection: All forms are protected against cross-site request forgery attacks
• Regular security reviews: We periodically review and update our security practices
• Payment security: Credit card processing is handled by PCI-compliant Stripe; we never store card numbers

While we use reasonable security measures, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but are committed to protecting your information.

13. Children's Privacy

Our service is not intended for individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately. We will take steps to delete such information from our systems.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors.

When we make changes, we will:

• Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy
• Post the updated policy on this page
• For material changes, notify you via email or prominent notice on our website

Your continued use of the service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Platform Status - Not Publisher of Record

Citizen Publishing Corporation operates placeanobit.com as a technology platform that facilitates the creation, submission, and delivery of obituary content to newspapers for publication.

With Respect to Obituary Content:

• We provide tools for creating and formatting obituaries (text editor, AI assistance, photo upload, PDF generation)
• We transmit approved obituaries to newspapers selected by the user
• The newspapers are the publishers of record for obituary content
• We do not exercise editorial control over the substance of obituary content submitted by users
• We do not independently verify the accuracy of submitted information
• We do not make publication decisions - newspapers make final publication decisions

User-Directed Content

Users submit content directly to newspapers through our platform. The editorial and publication decisions rest with the receiving newspapers. We act as an intermediary technology service, not as a publisher.

Separate Newspaper Operations

Note: Citizen Publishing Corporation separately operates newspapers including the Cottonwood County Citizen. When obituaries are submitted to newspapers owned by Citizen Publishing Corporation, those newspapers exercise their own independent editorial discretion as publishers. This platform service is distinct from our newspaper publishing operations.

This distinction is important for understanding liability: newspapers (as publishers) have editorial responsibility for published content, while the platform facilitates user-directed submissions.

16. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise your privacy rights, or need to contact us regarding your personal information, please reach out:

We will respond to your inquiry within 30 days of receipt.