Public reading
You do not need an account to read Branch. Branch does not require a saved street address to read stories, browse the calendar, or use the public-body guides.
Subscriber privacy
Your local news choices should stay yours.
This page explains what Branch stores for optional subscriber accounts and what it does not use for advertising.
Account identity
Secure sign-in is handled by the site’s account provider. Branch receives the email address and display name attached to that sign-in so it can identify your saved preferences and private notification inbox.
Alert choices
Branch stores the story topics, event categories, organizations, reminder timing, and delivery channels you select. A new account receives no alerts until you save choices.
Browser notifications
If you enable browser alerts, Branch stores the encrypted push subscription supplied by that browser. It is used only to deliver the alerts you selected. Branch removes subscriptions that the browser reports as expired.
Advertising separation
Branch does not use subscriber identity, alert preferences, street addresses, or browsing history to choose advertisements. Advertising is selected only from the context of the page.
Account control
You can pause alerts without deleting your inbox, or permanently delete your Branch subscriber account from the account page. Deletion removes the Branch account record, saved preferences, inbox, outbox, and browser subscriptions.
Your control
Review, pause, or delete your alerts.
Open your account to change notification choices or remove your Branch subscriber data. Corrections and privacy questions can also be submitted through the public corrections form.