Privacy Policy

I. Scope & Purpose of this Website

The Welsh of Harpers Ferry is a personal, research-driven historical and genealogical website documenting the Irish, laboring-class, and related communities of Harpers Ferry, Bakerton, and eastern Jefferson County, West Virginia. This website is intended for educational, research, and personal historical inquiry.

This Privacy Policy explains how personal information is collected, used, and protected when you visit or interact with the website. By using this website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

REVISED: December 30, 2025

II. International Visitors & Governing Law

This website is operated from the United States. If you are visiting from outside the United States, including the European Union, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, processed, and stored in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country of residence.

This Privacy Policy and any disputes arising from it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of West Virginia and the United States, without regard to conflict of law principles. Venue for any disputes relating to this Privacy Policy shall lie exclusively in the courts of Jefferson County, West Virginia.

III. Information We Collect (Voluntarily Provided)

We collect personal information only when you choose to provide it.

This may include:

  • Name

  • Email address

  • Website URL

You may choose to submit this information through:

  • Contact forms

  • Comments

  • Research inquiries

  • Voluntary contributions (documents, family histories, corrections)

You are never required to submit personal information to browse the site.

This website does not intentionally collect or process special categories of personal data as defined under applicable data protection laws, including data revealing racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, health information, or political opinions.

--

Public Information Warning

If you voluntarily share personal or identifiable information in public-facing areas (such as comments), that information may be visible to other users and indexed by search engines. Information shared publicly may be collected or used by others beyond our control. Please consider the public nature of these features before sharing personal information.

 

IV. Contributions & Submitted Materials

We welcome voluntary contributions from visitors. Contributors submit only what they are comfortable sharing.

Submitted materials may include:

  • Family histories

  • Documents or images

  • Corrections or contextual information

By submitting materials, you acknowledge:

  • You have the right to share the information

  • The information may be reviewed, edited, contextualized, or declined

  • Responsibility for accuracy remains with the contributor

We do not knowingly publish private or sensitive information about living individuals without express consent.

Submission of materials is also governed by the website’s Terms of Use, which describe permitted use, attribution expectations, and limitations on redistribution.

V. Automatically Collected Information

When you visit The Welsh of Harpers Ferry website, limited technical information may be collected automatically, including:

  • IP address

  • Browser type

  • Pages visited and visit duration

  • Referring website addresses

This information is used solely to understand site usage, improve content, and maintain site performance and security.

VI. Analytics, Tracking, & Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party tools to understand how visitors use and interact with the site and to improve functionality and user experience:

  • Google Analytics

  • Google Search Console

  • Microsoft Clarity

  • Google Maps (embedded map content)

These services may collect anonymized usage data and use cookies or similar technologies. Microsoft Clarity may also collect anonymized interaction data such as mouse movements, scrolling behavior, and page interactions to help us understand how visitors use the site. Data collection is governed by the privacy policies of those providers.

We do not use analytics data to personally identify visitors. Analytics tools are configured to collect aggregated, non-identifying information and are not used to track individual visitors across websites. Where available, IP anonymization features are enabled to reduce or eliminate the collection of personally identifiable information.

At this time, The Welsh of Harpers Ferry does not respond to “Do Not Track” signals due to the limited ability to control third-party analytics behavior.

VII. Comments, Spam Protection, and Gravatar

When visitors leave comments:

  • We collect the data shown in the comment form

  • The commenter’s IP address and browser user agent may be collected for spam detection

We use the following services:

  • WPDiscuz for comment functionality

  • Akismet for spam filtering and detection

  • Gravatar, which may display a profile image associated with your email address

An anonymized hash of your email address may be provided to Gravatar to determine whether you have a profile image associated with that service. Gravatar’s privacy policy can be found at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

VIII. Cookies

This website uses cookies to:

  • Improve site functionality

  • Enable analytics and performance tracking

Third-party services (e.g., Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity) may also set cookies.

You may control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect site functionality. By continuing to use the site and configuring your browser settings accordingly, you consent to the use of cookies as described in this policy.

IX. How & Why We Use Your Information

Personal information is processed only when:

  • You voluntarily provide it

  • It is necessary to respond to an inquiry or submission

  • It is required for website security, spam prevention, or analytics

In compliance with GDPR, processing is based on:

  • User consent

  • Legitimate interest in maintaining, securing, and improving a non-commercial historical research website and responding to user inquiries

  • Legal obligations, when and where applicable

This website does not engage in automated decision-making or profiling as defined under applicable data protection laws. We also do not use analytics data for advertising, remarketing, behavioral targeting, or cross-platform tracking.

X. Data Retention

Your identifiable personal information is retained only as long as necessary to:

  • Respond to inquiries or correspondence

  • Maintain website security and integrity

  • Preserve historical context for submitted materials

  • Meet legal or administrative requirements

When your personal data is no longer needed, it is deleted or anonymized where reasonably feasible.

XI. Sharing of Information

This website is a personal research project and does not operate as a commercial data broker or advertising platform. We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information.

We may share limited data with trusted third parties only to:

  • Operate analytics

  • Detect spam

  • Maintain site functionality

These providers are contractually obligated to protect your data.

We may disclose information if required by law or to:

  • Comply with legal processes

  • Protect the rights, property, or safety of the site, its users, or the public

XII. Living Persons & Ethical Research

We do not knowingly publish private or sensitive information about living individuals without express consent.

As a general guideline:

  • Individuals born over 90 years ago may be presumed deceased

  • Errors are possible

If you find information about yourself or a known living person, please contact us for review or removal.

Historical interpretations presented on this website are based on available records, which may be incomplete, inaccurate, or subject to interpretation. Content is provided for research and educational purposes and should not be construed as definitive proof of identity, lineage, or personal history.

Historical information about deceased individuals is presented for research and educational purposes and is not intended to represent living persons. References to ethnicity, religion, occupation, or social status reflect historical records and contexts and are not intended to describe or categorize living individuals. No historical descriptions on this website are intended to infer, assign, or imply personal characteristics of modern individuals or descendants.

Interpretive and contextual statements should be read in conjunction with the website’s Terms of Use, which further explain the nature and limitations of historical and genealogical research.

XIII. Data Security

We use SSL encryption and reasonable security measures to protect data. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. By using the site, you acknowledge inherent internet security risks.

Public submissions (such as comments and contributions) are visible to others. Please avoid posting any information you wish to keep private.

In the extremely unlikely event of a data breach involving personal information, reasonable steps will be taken to assess the impact and comply with any applicable notification requirements.

XIV. Your Data Protection Rights

If you have submitted a form, emailed us, left a comment, or provided a contribution you may request:

  • A copy of the personal data we hold about you

  • Correction of inaccurate information

  • Deletion of your personal data, except when retention is legally required

You may withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. Requests can be made by emailing us or by using the contact form.

This website does not meet the thresholds requiring compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), but we honor reasonable data access and deletion requests consistent with applicable law.

If you are located in the European Union, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe your data has been processed unlawfully.

Data protection rights apply to personally identifiable information relating to the requesting individual and do not extend to the alteration or removal of historical records, interpretations, or contextual material lawfully published about deceased persons.

XV. Children's Privacy

This website is not directed to children under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, you must have the permission of a parent or guardian to access and use this website. We do not knowingly collect any personal information from children under 13. If such information is discovered, it will be removed immediately.

XVI. Email Communications

We will only email you:

  • To respond to an inquiry

  • If you have explicitly opted in to receive updates

You may unsubscribe from optional communications at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" button in any email or emailing us a written request for removal.

XVII. External Links

This website contains links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external sites. We encourage our visitors to read and understand the privacy policies of all external websites they choose to visit. 

XVIII. Changes to This Policy

The Welsh of Harpers Ferry reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Updates will be reflected on this page with a revised date. Your continued use of the Site and/or Services available through this Site after such modifications will constitute your acknowledgement of the modified policy and your agreement to abide by and be bound by the current privacy policy.

XIX. Contact Information

The Welsh of Harpers Ferry
Published and maintained by Kaila A. Welsh-Lamp
kaila@welshofharpersferry.com

For purposes of applicable data protection laws, including the GDPR, the data controller is Kaila A. Welsh-Lamp, operator of The Welsh of Harpers Ferry.