Privacy Policy

A. Automated Technical Log Data: Like most modern internet publishers, our web servers automatically record non-personally identifiable technical information whenever you navigate our pages. This includes your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser user-agent, operating system, referring/exit URLs, requested pages, and access timestamps. This telemetry is utilized solely to analyze national traffic patterns, prevent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and maintain server reliability during major severe storm events.

B. Voluntary Civic Submissions: When you voluntarily submit a localized outage report, a comment on an active incident bulletin, or a utility grievance ticket, we collect the information you provide. This may include your general neighborhood name, street intersection, utility provider, affected ZIP code, and optional contact details. We strongly advise users not to include sensitive personal details (such as account numbers or passwords) in public comment fields.

C. Editorial Inquiries: If you reach out to our editorial desk via our Contact Page, we collect your name, email address, message subject, and content to respond to your inquiry.

OutageUSA uses third-party advertising partners, including Google AdSense and affiliated programmatic ad networks, to display contextual and interest-based advertisements across our portal.

• Third-Party Vendor Cookies: Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies and web beacons to serve advertisements based on a user's prior visits to OutageUSA or other websites across the Internet.
• DoubleClick DART Cookie: Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its authorized advertising partners to serve personalized ads to our users based on their visits to our site and other destinations across the World Wide Web.
• Opting Out of Personalized Advertising: Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's official Ads Settings portal at https://adssettings.google.com.
• Alternatively, you can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) opt-out tool at www.aboutads.info or the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) consumer choice portal at www.networkadvertising.org/choices.

A cookie is a small text file placed on your device to remember user preferences, ensure page delivery speed, and facilitate platform functionality. We utilize the following classes of cookies:

You can configure your browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge) to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. Note that disabling essential cookies may impact specific user interface elements.

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), California residents have specific privacy rights regarding their personal information:

• Right to Know: You have the right to request disclosure of the specific categories and pieces of personal information we have collected.
• Right to Delete: You have the right to request deletion of your personal information collected by OutageUSA, subject to statutory exceptions.
• Right to Correct: You have the right to request the correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Non-Discrimination: We will never discriminate against you, deny services, or provide a different level of service for exercising your statutory privacy rights.
• Do Not Sell or Share Notice: OutageUSA does not sell your personal information for monetary consideration. We do not sell or share the personal data of consumers, including minors under 16 years of age.

To submit a verified CCPA consumer request, please contact our privacy compliance officer at [email protected] with "CCPA Request" in the subject line.

Residents of Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), and other US jurisdictions with comprehensive consumer data privacy statutes enjoy comparable rights to access, correct, delete, and obtain a copy of their personal data.

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA): OutageUSA is a general audience news and civic monitoring portal intended for individuals aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under the age of 13. If we discover that personal data from a child under 13 has been submitted without verifiable parental consent, we will immediately purge that information from our records.

If you access OutageUSA from the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you are entitled to statutory rights under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), including the right of access, rectification, erasure ("right to be forgotten"), restriction of processing, data portability, and the right to lodge a complaint with your national supervisory authority. Our legal basis for processing standard server log telemetry is legitimate interest in maintaining cybersecurity and system availability.