Privacy policy & terms of service

This page provides information about De Facto Journalism Co-op’s Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. References to “De Facto”, “we”, “our”, and “us” should be understood as referring to De Facto Journalism Co-op.

Our site, defactomedia.ca, is owned and operated by De Facto Journalism Co-op, a non-profit co-operative journalism organization incorporated in British Columbia, Canada. Our members, listed on this page, can be contacted at info (at) defactomedia.ca.

This page was last updated on Sept. 8, 2026.

Table of contents

• Intellectual property rights
• Prohibited actions on our website
• Personal data we collect
• How we use your data
• Security
• Children
• Manage your account/Opt out
• Modifications to this policy
• Limitations of liability
• Questions

Intellectual property rights

We are the owner or licensee of all intellectual property rights in our Services, including all text, photographs, audio, video, graphics, source code, databases, functionality, software, and website designs, as well as the trademarks and logos contained therein. All rights to content on our site, defactomedia.ca, are reserved.

As a user, you may browse our site and newsletter, share links to our content, and forward our emails, as long as doing so does not imply ownership of our materials and as long as our content is not being used for commercial purposes by you. You may also download or print copies of our articles for your personal use.

You may not republish or use any of our content for commercial or public use without the written consent of De Facto Journalism Co-op. This consent may be obtained by making a written request to us at info (at) defactomedia.ca

If we grant permission to post, republish, or publicly display any of our content, you are required to identify De Facto Journalism Co-op as the original creators of the content, and ensure that any copyright or proprietary notice appears visibly in your reproduction of the material. 

Prohibited actions on our website

As a user of our website, you agree not to:

• Circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security-related features of our site. 
• Trick, defraud, or mislead us and/or other users, especially in any attempt to acquire sensitive account information. 
• Retrieve data or other content from our website or newsletter to create or compile a collection, compilation, database, or directory, without written permission from us. 
• Use any artificial intelligence software, robot, device, scraping or data mining tool, or other mechanism to monitor, search, or copy this website or the content within. 
• Make improper use of our support services or submit false reports of abuse or misconduct. 
• Harass, intimidate, or threaten any co-op members engaged in providing support to you.

Personal data we collect

De Facto Journalism Co-op uses the third party platform “Ghost” for our website hosting and newsletter CMS needs. The site also uses the third party platform “Stripe” for payment processing from subscribers.  

When you visit our site, we may automatically collect and store your IP address, location, and which links you’ve clicked. This information is stored by our web hosting platform, Ghost, and is only available to De Facto co-op members through anonymized web analytics.

When you become a non-paying subscriber to our website and newsletter, we may collect personal information disclosed by you, including your first and last name and email address, for the purpose of sending you our free newsletter. This information is stored by our web hosting platform, Ghost, and is available to De Facto co-op members in its entirety. 

When you become a paid subscriber to our website and newsletter, on any of the available tiers of subscription or donation, we collect financial information disclosed by you, including your name, credit card number and/or bank account information. This information is securely stored by our third party account, Stripe, and is not available to De Facto co-op members with the exception of payer names, contact information, and transaction records through Stripe’s secure interface.

Refunds

De Facto, as a non-profit co-operative, cannot issue charitable tax receipts for donations.

You may cancel or amend a recurring donation to De Facto at any time without notice and without incurring any additional fees, following instructions provided on your donation receipt email or by signing in to your subscriber account on our website. 

De Facto will make reasonable effort to assist you in cancelling or amending a recurring donation if you request additional help to do so. 

Contributions to De Facto are non-refundable. In case an error is made in the amount of a contribution, the payor has 72 hours (three days) to notify De Facto. All requests for refunds must be made in writing by email to info (at) defactomedia.ca.

In case an error is made by De Facto, full refunds will be issued immediately upon notification of the error. 

How we use your personal data

Data collected on our site will only be used for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy or indicated on the relevant pages of our site. 

The data we collect automatically, i.e. IP address, location, and links clicked, is only used by co-op members for site analytics, like web traffic and general use patterns, to determine where our audience is coming from and what resonates the most with our readers. 

The data you share with us, i.e. your name, email address, and payment information, is only used to send you our newsletter and associated communications — like occasional surveys and ‘thank you’ notes for donations/subscriptions — and to process your payments to support our operations. 

Security

De Facto Journalism Co-op will not use your data beyond what we disclose in this Policy. We will not release your personal information to anyone outside De Facto Journalism Co-op unless legally bound to do so. 

We send you an email to authenticate your account each time you sign into our website, to prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure correct use of information. 

All personal information you provide is stored in a secure database. Your credit card information is only used to process your order and is not stored beyond the point at which your payment is approved. All online payments are processed securely and protected by Secure Socket Layer (SSL).

Storage and security of your personal data is also ensured under the policies of our third party vendors, Ghost and Stripe. 

While we take all reasonable precautions to ensure that user data is secure and that users are protected, there is no guarantee that data transmitted over the Internet will be 100% secure. Though we try to protect your personal information through the avenues laid out in this policy, we are unable to guarantee the security of user data beyond what is reasonably practical. 

If you follow hyperlinks from our site to another, please note that we are not responsible for and have no control over their privacy policies and practices. 

We are not liable for the illegal acts of any third party. 

Children

The content available at defactomedia.ca and through our emailed newsletters is not directed to children (persons under the age of 13). We do not knowingly collect or use personal data from children under 13. 

If we learn that we have collected personal data from a child under 13 years of age, we will take appropriate action, including deleting said data. 

If you believe that we have received the personal information of a person under 13, please contact us by email at info (at) defactomedia.ca.

Manage your account/Opt out

You can opt out of your newsletter subscription or make changes to your account on our website at any time by following the detailed instructions at the bottom of each email we’ve sent to you. 

If you would like to know if we have collected your personal data, how we have used your personal data, if we have disclosed your personal data and to whom, or if you would like your data to be deleted or modified in any way, please contact us at info (at) defactomedia.ca.

Modifications to this policy

De Facto Journalism Co-op reserves the right to amend our privacy policy and terms and conditions from time to time in order to maintain compliance with the law and to reflect any changes to our data collection process. 

When we amend this page, we will update the date of change at the top and notify users if any changes are relevant to the disclosure of your personal data to third parties. 

Limitations of liability

De Facto Journalism Co-op is not liable for any claim, loss or injury based on errors, omissions, interruptions or other inaccuracies in our site, nor for any claim, loss or injury that results from your use of this site or your breach of any provisions of this agreement.

We take precautions to ensure our site remains free from viruses and other destructive materials. However we do not guarantee that our site or materials within that you may download from our site are free from such features, and we are not liable for damages or harms attributed to such downloaded materials. 

Questions

The legal terms set out in this page will be governed and defined following Canadian laws. 

If you have any questions about our privacy policy, terms and conditions, or use of your data, please email info (at) defactomedia.ca.