Privacy Policy

Email subscriptions. The signup form asks for your first name and email address. The form sends this information directly to Kit (formerly ConvertKit), which manages the subscriber list and email delivery for Homegrown Helena. You can unsubscribe using the link in any subscription email.

Nominations and messages. The nomination form asks for information about a nominated business and may include your name and email address. It does not submit to a Homegrown Helena web server. Instead, it opens your email application with a draft message; information reaches us only if you choose to send that email. The same is true of other email links on the site.

Please do not send sensitive personal information through the nomination form or ordinary email.

When you visit, Vercel hosts and delivers the site. Like other hosting and security providers, Vercel may process technical request information such as your IP address, date and time, requested page, browser or device information, referring page, and information used to operate, secure, diagnose, and deliver the site.

Vercel Web Analytics also records page views and aggregated information such as page path, referrer, filtered query parameters, approximate location, browser, operating system, and device type. Vercel states that this analytics service does not use cookies, does not store IP addresses with analytics events, and uses a daily-changing hash that is not designed to recognize a visitor across different days or websites. Homegrown Helena does not use Vercel custom events.

Google Analytics 4 also collects information about visits and interactions with the site, including pages viewed, approximate location, referrer, browser, device, operating system, and engagement information. Google Analytics assigns browser identifiers and may receive your IP address as part of the request, although the reports available to Homegrown Helena do not expose your full IP address. We use this information to understand readership and improve the site. The Google Analytics measurement ID is G-ZPF9E91ZVK.

The Meta Pixel records a PageView event when a page loads. Meta may receive information such as the page URL, referrer, browser and device information, IP address, and identifiers stored in or available through Meta cookies. We use the pixel to measure the effectiveness of promotion on Meta platforms and to understand or create audiences for advertising. Meta may associate this information with a Meta account in accordance with its own policies. The Meta Pixel ID is 1286063463505234.

On the home page, Kit's form script records that the signup form was viewed after it loads. That request can include the page URL, referrer, URL query string, browser information, and a randomly generated identifier stored in your browser's local storage. Kit also uses local storage after a subscription to recognize a returning subscriber and control what the form shows. Local storage is browser storage similar in purpose to a cookie.

Homegrown Helena does not currently use one fixed retention period for every type of information. Subscriber information generally remains in Kit while you are subscribed. After you unsubscribe, Kit or Homegrown Helena may retain a limited suppression record so the unsubscribe request can be honored and may keep related records for account, security, dispute, or legal purposes.

Emails, nominations, and privacy requests are retained based on whether the conversation or editorial lead remains active, whether the information is useful to document a published story or business relationship, and any operational, security, dispute, or legal need. Google Analytics, Meta, Vercel, and Kit retain service data under their own account settings, contracts, and retention practices. We periodically review records and may delete or de-identify information that no longer serves those purposes.

You may unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time. You may also ask to access, correct, or delete information you provided, or raise a privacy concern, by emailing allen@homegrownhelena.com. We may need to verify your request and may retain information where permitted or required, including to honor an unsubscribe or meet security and legal obligations.

Depending on where you live and whether an applicable privacy law covers Homegrown Helena, you may have additional rights concerning your personal information. We will review requests under the law that applies to the request. You can also manage how Meta uses information for advertising through your Meta account's advertising preferences and browser privacy controls.