Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 24, 2026

Portland Breaking ("we", "us") is an independent civic-data website at portlandbreaking.com. This page explains what information is collected when you visit, who collects it, and the choices you have. The short version: we don't have accounts, we don't sell data, and the only tracking we add ourselves is Google Analytics and Google AdSense advertising.

What we collect

Nothing you type in. There are no accounts, logins, or comment forms. The "daily recap" box doesn't store your address. It opens an email in your own email app, addressed to us.

Emails you send us. If you email hello@portlandbreaking.com, we receive your email address and whatever you write. We use it only to reply or to follow up on what you asked for, such as telling you when the daily recap launches.

Analytics (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how many people visit and which parts of the site are useful. When you load a page, Google's tag sets first-party cookies (such as _ga) and sends Google information such as:

• pages viewed, time on page, and how you arrived (for example, a search engine or a link);
• your browser, device type, screen size, and language;
• an approximate location (city or region), derived from your IP address. Google Analytics 4 does not store or log IP addresses.

We see this only as aggregate reports and don't use it to identify individuals. Google processes this data under its own privacy policy. You can see how Google uses data from sites that use its services.

Advertising (Google AdSense)

We use Google AdSense to show ads, which helps pay for running the site. Google and its advertising partners use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads, limit how often you see the same ad, measure performance, and prevent fraud. Google's advertising cookies let it and its partners show you ads based on your visits to this and other websites (personalized ads).

• You can turn off personalized ads from Google in My Ad Center.
• You can opt out of some other companies' personalized advertising at aboutads.info.
• Learn more about how Google uses cookies in advertising.

We don't control which ads Google shows, and an ad appearing here isn't an endorsement.

Embedded content from other services

Parts of the site are loaded directly from other services. When your browser loads them, those services may receive your IP address and set their own cookies, under their own privacy policies:

• PulsePoint: the live Portland Fire & Rescue incident map and list (privacy policy).
• X (Twitter): the @PPBAlerts timeline (privacy policy).
• Tableau Public: the Portland Police dispatched-calls dashboard (privacy policy).
• Google Fonts: the site's typefaces (privacy policy).

Hosting

The site is hosted by Vercel. Like any web host, Vercel processes basic request data such as IP addresses and browser details to deliver pages and protect against abuse (Vercel privacy policy).

Your choices

• Block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The site still works without them.
• Opt out of Google Analytics on every site with Google's opt-out browser add-on.
• Use a content or tracker blocker. The live feed and police embeds may not load if their services are blocked.
• Email us to ask about, or ask us to delete, any email correspondence we hold from you.

What we don't do

We don't sell or rent personal information, and we don't have accounts or collect names. Google's advertising cookies may be used for personalized ads as described above, and you can opt out using the links in that section. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13.

About the data we publish

The incident information on this site comes from public sources (PulsePoint and City of Portland open data). We show locations and call types, not names, and we don't add personal details about the people involved.

Changes to this policy

If we change how the site handles data, we'll update this page and the "Last updated" date above.

Contact

Questions about privacy: hello@portlandbreaking.com. This site is not an emergency service. In an emergency, call 911.