Last Updated: August 9, 2026
Wisconsin Frights (“Wisconsin Frights,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to being transparent about how information is collected, used, and shared when you visit or use the Wisconsin Frights website, including its directory, articles, listings, events, tours, membership content, forms, and other services (collectively, the “Site”).
This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, when we may share it, how we use cookies and similar technologies, and the choices available to you.
By accessing, browsing, creating an account on, submitting content to, reviewing a listing, submitting a review, or otherwise using the Site, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and agree to its terms. Your use of the Site is also governed by our Terms of Use.
1. Information We Collect
Depending on how you use the Site, we may collect the following categories of information.
Information You Provide Directly
We may collect information you voluntarily provide when you:
- Create a Wisconsin Frights user account
- Submit a place, event, tour, business, or other listing
- Submit a paranormal sighting, story, photograph, review, comment, or other user-generated content
- Contact us
- Submit an advertising inquiry
- Purchase advertising, featured listings, or other paid services
- Subscribe to our newsletter through a Substack form or subscription link
- Participate in other features or activities that request information
Account registration may require your first name, last name, username, email address, and password.
Information submitted with listings, events, tours, or other directory content may include business or organization names, addresses, locations, descriptions, operating information, event dates and times, website addresses, photographs, and other information relevant to the submission.
Contact and advertising forms may collect your name, email address, business or organization information, and the details of your inquiry.
User-generated content may include your name, username, email address, photographs, reviews, comments, paranormal reports, stories, and other information you choose to submit.
Information Collected Automatically
When you visit the Site, certain information may be collected automatically, including information such as:
- IP address
- Browser and device type
- Operating system
- Referring website or page
- Pages viewed
- Date and time of visits
- General geographic information
- Approximate location information where enabled for location-based features
- Interactions with the Site
- Information about how you navigate and use the Site
- Information collected through cookies and similar technologies
We use this information to operate, secure, maintain, analyze, and improve the Site and its features.
Information Related to Purchases
If you purchase display advertising, featured listings, or other paid services through Wisconsin Frights, payment information is processed through the payment-processing functionality associated with the GeoDirectory Get Paid system and its applicable payment providers.
Wisconsin Frights does not need to receive or store your complete payment card number in order to provide these services. Payment providers may collect and process payment information according to their own privacy policies.
Information From Third-Party Services
Some Site features rely on third-party services. Depending on how you interact with those services, we may receive or have access to limited information from them.
These services may include:
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Google AdSense
- Substack
- Patreon
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Spotify
- Google Maps
- WordPress and its associated services and plugins
- GeoDirectory and its associated services and plugins
For example, when you use Patreon to authenticate access to Wisconsin Frights membership content, the Site may receive information from Patreon necessary to verify your membership or authenticate your account. Patreon independently processes information according to its own privacy policy.
2. How We Use Information
We may use information we collect to:
- Provide, operate, and maintain the Site
- Create and manage user accounts
- Authenticate users and provide access to restricted or member-only content
- Process advertising and featured-listing purchases
- Publish and manage directory listings, events, tours, reviews, and other submissions
- Respond to questions, requests, and inquiries
- Communicate with users about their accounts or submissions
- Deliver newsletters and other communications you request
- Analyze Site traffic, usage, and performance
- Understand how visitors use the Site
- Improve the Site, content, directory, and user experience
- Display and measure advertising
- Prevent fraud, abuse, spam, and other harmful or unauthorized activity
- Protect the security and integrity of the Site
- Comply with applicable laws, legal obligations, and valid legal requests
- Enforce our Terms of Use and other policies
- Protect our rights, property, users, and the public
We may also use information for other purposes disclosed at the time information is collected or otherwise permitted by applicable law.
3. User Accounts
Wisconsin Frights allows visitors to create accounts through GeoDirectory’s user-account functionality.
Account information may include your first name, last name, username, email address, and password.
You are responsible for keeping your account credentials secure and for the activity that occurs through your account, as described in our Terms of Use.
We may use account information to authenticate you, provide account functionality, manage submissions, allow participation in reviews and other community features, and provide access to content or features associated with your account.
4. User-Generated Content and Public Information
Wisconsin Frights allows users to submit and publish content, including listings, events, tours, reviews, comments, photographs, paranormal reports, stories, and other material.
Information you submit for publication may become publicly accessible.
For example, a published review, listing, username, photograph, paranormal report, or other submission may be visible to other Site visitors and may potentially be indexed by search engines or shared through third-party services.
You should not submit personal information that you do not want to become public.
Our Terms of Use explain additional rules governing user-generated content, including your representations concerning submitted content, prohibited content, moderation, intellectual property, and the license you grant Wisconsin Frights to use submitted content.
5. Reviews and Directory Listings
Wisconsin Frights may collect and display information associated with reviews and directory listings.
Businesses, attractions, event organizers, tour operators, and other entities may submit or manage information associated with their listings.
Information displayed publicly may include names, business information, locations, descriptions, photographs, websites, hours, event information, reviews, and other submitted or independently published information.
Where applicable, paid, sponsored, or featured listings will be identified or presented in accordance with our advertising and editorial practices.
Wisconsin Frights may provide advertisers or listing owners with performance information such as impressions and clicks associated with their paid listings or advertising placements. This information is intended to provide advertising-performance reporting and does not ordinarily provide advertisers with a visitor’s name, email address, account password, or other directly identifying account information.
6. Advertising
Wisconsin Frights displays advertising through Google AdSense and may also sell advertising directly, including display advertising, featured listings, sponsored listings, sponsored posts, and related promotional services.
Google and its advertising partners may use cookies and similar technologies to serve, measure, and personalize advertisements. Depending on applicable settings, laws, and consent, advertisements may be based on information such as a user’s previous visits to this or other websites.
Google’s advertising systems may collect information such as IP address, browser information, cookies, device information, and information associated with advertising interactions.
Google requires publishers using AdSense to disclose that third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve advertising based on a user’s prior visits to this or other websites. Google also provides users with tools to manage personalized advertising.
You can learn more about Google’s advertising practices and manage personalized advertising through Google’s Ads Settings and Google’s privacy and advertising resources.
Wisconsin Frights may also provide advertisers with aggregated or performance-related information about their advertising or featured listings, such as impressions and clicks.
Advertisers do not receive Wisconsin Frights user account information or other personal information merely because someone views or interacts with an advertisement or featured listing.
7. Google Analytics and Google Services
Wisconsin Frights uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the Site, including information about traffic sources, pages viewed, interactions, devices, approximate geographic information, and other usage information.
Google may collect information through cookies and similar technologies in connection with these services.
We also use Google Search Console to monitor the Site’s performance in Google Search. Search Console provides information about search visibility, search queries, impressions, clicks, and related Site-performance information.
Google processes information according to its own privacy policies and applicable terms.
8. Newsletters and Substack
Wisconsin Frights uses Substack to provide newsletters and related email communications.
You may subscribe through links to Substack or through embedded Substack subscription forms on the Site.
When you subscribe, Substack processes information necessary to provide the newsletter, which may include your email address and other information you provide.
Substack may also collect information about newsletter engagement, including email opens and link clicks.
Your relationship with Substack is also governed by Substack’s applicable privacy policy and terms.
You may unsubscribe from Wisconsin Frights newsletters using the unsubscribe mechanism included in newsletter emails or through the applicable Substack account or subscription controls.
9. Patreon and Fright Club
Wisconsin Frights uses Patreon to operate Fright Club.
Membership registration, membership payments, and other Patreon membership functions are handled through Patreon rather than through Wisconsin Frights.
Wisconsin Frights provides links to the Wisconsin Frights Patreon page and may use a Patreon integration or plugin to authenticate Patreon members and provide access to exclusive content on the Site.
When you use Patreon to access Wisconsin Frights content, Patreon may provide Wisconsin Frights with information necessary to authenticate your membership, such as your Patreon username, email address, membership information, or other information you authorize the integration to access.
Patreon independently processes personal information according to its own privacy policy and terms.
If you become a Fright Club member, payment information is processed by Patreon and its payment providers rather than by Wisconsin Frights.
10. Cookies and Similar Technologies
Wisconsin Frights uses cookies and similar technologies to operate the Site, remember preferences, provide functionality, analyze traffic, support advertising, and improve the user experience.
Cookies may be placed by Wisconsin Frights or by third-party services used on the Site.
Examples include:
Essential and Functional Cookies
These cookies may be necessary for functions such as:
- User authentication and account functionality
- Maintaining Site functionality
- Remembering certain user preferences
- Providing GeoDirectory features
- Remembering that a newsletter subscription popup has been closed
For example, the Master Popups plugin may place a cookie so that the newsletter subscription popup does not appear again for approximately 24 hours after you close it.
Analytics Cookies
Google Analytics may use cookies and similar technologies to measure Site usage and traffic.
Advertising Cookies
Google AdSense and related Google advertising services may use cookies and similar technologies to deliver, measure, limit, and personalize advertising.
Third-Party Content Cookies
Embedded or integrated third-party content, including content from services such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Spotify, Google Maps, Patreon, or Substack, may use cookies or similar technologies when loaded or interacted with.
The exact cookies used may change as third-party services and Site functionality change.
11. Managing Cookies
You can manage or restrict cookies through your web browser’s settings.
Depending on your browser and location, you may also be able to manage certain categories of cookies through the cookie-consent tools provided on the Site.
Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of portions of the Site, particularly account, authentication, embedded-content, or other interactive features.
You may also be able to control Google’s use of cookies and personalized advertising through Google’s Ads Settings and other controls provided by Google.
12. Third-Party Websites, Services, and Embedded Content
The Site may contain links to or integrations with third-party websites and services.
These may include Patreon, Substack, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Spotify, Google Maps, Google, advertisers, businesses, attractions, tourism organizations, and other third parties.
The Site may also embed content hosted by third parties.
Third-party websites and services have their own privacy policies and terms. Wisconsin Frights is not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of third-party websites or services.
When you interact with third-party content or follow a link away from Wisconsin Frights, information may be collected directly by that third party according to its policies.
13. Download Monitor
Wisconsin Frights uses Download Monitor to track downloads of certain files made available through the Site.
Download Monitor may record information such as the number of times a file has been downloaded and when downloads occurred.
We use this information to understand file usage and manage downloadable content.
14. How We Share Information
We may share information with service providers and third parties when reasonably necessary to operate the Site and provide its services.
These may include providers involved in:
- Website hosting
- Analytics
- Advertising
- Payment processing
- Email and newsletter delivery
- User authentication
- Directory and listing functionality
- Security and spam prevention
- File downloads
- Embedded content
- Membership authentication
- Website maintenance and technology services
We may also disclose information:
- When required by law
- In response to a valid legal request, subpoena, court order, or governmental request
- To protect the rights, property, safety, or security of Wisconsin Frights, our users, or others
- To investigate fraud, abuse, security incidents, or violations of our Terms of Use
- In connection with a merger, acquisition, sale, reorganization, bankruptcy, or other transfer of some or all of our assets
- With your consent or at your direction
- As otherwise permitted by applicable law
We do not sell your personal information to advertisers simply because you visit Wisconsin Frights.
15. Sale or Sharing of Personal Information
Wisconsin Frights does not sell personal information in the traditional sense of providing a database of personal information to advertisers for money.
However, certain advertising, analytics, and third-party technologies may involve the disclosure or sharing of information that could be considered a “sale” or “sharing” under certain state privacy laws, depending on how those laws define those terms and how the applicable services are configured.
Where applicable law gives you the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, we will provide the required mechanisms for exercising that right.
Our cookie-consent tools and applicable advertising privacy controls may also provide choices concerning certain tracking and advertising technologies.
16. Data Retention
We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Site and its services, maintain accounts and submissions, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, prevent abuse, and maintain legitimate business records.
Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and why it was collected.
Publicly published content, such as directory listings, reviews, comments, and other user submissions, may remain available even after an account is closed or a user requests deletion, where retention or continued publication is reasonably necessary for legitimate purposes, legal obligations, editorial records, dispute resolution, or other purposes permitted by applicable law.
17. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.
However, no website, online service, or method of transmitting or storing information can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and should use a strong, unique password.
18. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live and applicable law, you may have rights concerning your personal information.
These rights may include the ability to:
- Request access to personal information we maintain about you
- Request correction of inaccurate personal information
- Request deletion of personal information
- Request information about how personal information is collected and used
- Request information about categories of personal information disclosed to third parties
- Opt out of certain targeted advertising or sharing of personal information
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
- Object to or restrict certain processing
- Request a copy of certain personal information in a portable format
- Appeal a decision concerning a privacy-rights request where applicable
These rights are not absolute and may be subject to exceptions under applicable law.
For example, we may need to retain certain information to comply with legal obligations, prevent fraud, maintain security, protect other users, resolve disputes, or preserve legitimate editorial or business records.
19. California Privacy Rights
If you are a California resident and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended, applies to Wisconsin Frights, you may have additional rights regarding your personal information.
These may include rights to know, access, correct, delete, and obtain information concerning certain categories of personal information, as well as rights concerning certain sales or sharing of personal information and certain forms of targeted advertising.
California residents may submit a privacy request using the contact information provided below.
We will verify requests as required by applicable law before providing or deleting certain information.
We will not discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights provided by applicable law.
20. Rights of Individuals in Other States
Residents of states with comprehensive privacy laws may have additional rights depending on whether and how those laws apply to Wisconsin Frights.
Where applicable, we will honor rights required by applicable state privacy laws, which may include rights to access, correct, delete, obtain, or restrict the use of personal information and rights concerning targeted advertising, profiling, or the sale or sharing of personal information.
21. International Visitors
Wisconsin Frights is based in the United States but may be accessed by visitors around the world.
If you access the Site from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States and other countries where Wisconsin Frights or its service providers operate.
Those countries may have privacy laws that differ from the laws of your country.
Where applicable law requires additional protections for international transfers or processing, we will take reasonable steps to comply with those requirements.
22. Children’s Privacy
Wisconsin Frights is intended for people age 13 and older.
The Site is not directed toward children under 13, and children under 13 may not use the Site or create an account.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe that a child under 13 has provided personal information to Wisconsin Frights, please contact us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action.
Additional age and parental-consent requirements may apply to third-party services linked to or integrated with Wisconsin Frights, including Patreon.
23. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the Site, our services, third-party providers, applicable laws, or our privacy practices.
When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the beginning of this Privacy Policy.
Your continued use of the Site after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy to the extent permitted by applicable law.
24. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise a privacy right, or have a concern about how your information is handled, please contact Wisconsin Frights through the contact information provided on the Site.
When submitting a privacy request, please identify the nature of your request and provide enough information for us to reasonably verify your identity and locate the relevant information.
We may request additional information when reasonably necessary to verify a privacy request and protect against unauthorized access to personal information.
