Reading privacy and settings

You can read CATO without enabling optional audience analytics. These settings apply to this browser; set them separately on your other devices.

Automatic anonymous page totals

CATO automatically counts page loads by site section and city. Only daily totals are stored—no visitor ID, account ID, IP address, search text, full URL, or individual reading history. These totals use no analytics cookies and are retained for up to 400 days. They do not identify unique visitors or affect creator payments. Essential server and security logs remain separate.

Global Privacy Control and the “Keep analytics off” choice above also stop these automatic counts in this browser. Optional detailed reading analytics still require your choice.

What optional analytics measure

With your permission, CATO records public pages visited, article topics, approximate active reading time, reading progress, general device type, referring website, and selected interactions. A random browser identifier helps distinguish return visits. Scrolling and time are estimates of engagement, not proof that you read an article.

Audience analytics do not link activity to your account. If you separately allow account-linked analytics, future activity can be associated with your account while signed in. Turning this off stops future linking; it does not automatically erase earlier activity.

Your choices

Optional analytics start off. CATO treats Global Privacy Control as a request to keep them off. You can change your choice or erase analytics associated with this browser above. Clearing cookies can prevent us from recognizing previous browser activity.

Access and retention

Detailed optional analytics collected under these settings are retained for up to 90 days and are accessible to authorized CATO administrators. Advertiser reports should contain aggregate audience information, not named reading histories. CATO does not collect raw search text, URL query strings, or IP addresses through this optional analytics system.

Accounts, payments, creator-payment accounting, security logs, newsletter preferences, and advertising delivery have separate operational records; turning off optional reading analytics does not delete those records. Embedded services may process information under their own policies. See Guide privacy for Google Maps and saved places.

When a signed-in member accesses premium content, a separate accounting record contains the member ID, content ID, and date so CATO can calculate creator earnings. It does not include reading progress or active time and remains separate from optional analytics.

Voice search

Voice search starts only when you tap a search field’s microphone and allow microphone access in your browser. Your browser or its speech service processes the audio; CATO does not record or store the audio. The recognized words fill the search field and are handled like typed searches. After two seconds without detected speech, voice search stops listening and searches for the recognized words. Tap Stop to cancel, or switch tabs to stop listening. If voice search is unavailable, you can type or use your device’s keyboard dictation.

Connected Instagram accounts

Business owners and creators can choose to connect an Instagram Business or Creator account. CATO requests read access to the account’s profile and media to display its recent photos, videos, captions, dates, and links. This connection does not request permission to publish posts or read direct messages.

CATO stores the Instagram account ID, username, connection dates, and an encrypted access token while connected. Media responses are temporarily cached in server memory for up to an hour; CATO does not save copies of the media files. Loading photos or videos sends a request to Meta’s media servers, which process it under Meta’s privacy policy.

Disconnect Instagram in your creator account settings or business editing page to delete the saved connection and token. A business ownership change also removes its connection. Private creator profiles and the Hide social links setting hide the feed. You can also remove CATO from Instagram’s Apps and Websites settings; Meta’s deauthorization and data-deletion callbacks remove the corresponding CATO connection. Instagram data-removal instructions.

Request help with your data

To request access, correction, or deletion of account-linked data, including earlier records or activity on other devices, contact newsroom@salembusinessjournal.org. We may need to verify your identity before handling the request.