Privacy Policy

Last Updated: September 3, 2026

Wayward Things (“we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information may be collected when you visit Wayward Things, how that information may be used, and the choices you have regarding your information.

By using this website, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Information You Provide to Us

You may voluntarily provide personal information when you:

Contact us through a contact form
Submit a story, experience, tip, or suggestion
Subscribe to our newsletter
Communicate with us by email
Participate in comments, surveys, or other interactive features if they are available

Depending on how you interact with the website, this information may include your name, email address, the contents of your message, and any other information you choose to provide.

Please do not submit sensitive personal information that you do not want us to receive.

Story and Tip Submissions

Wayward Things invites readers to submit personal experiences, paranormal encounters, UFO sightings, cryptid reports, local legends, mysteries, historical information, true crime tips, photographs, documents, and other materials.

Submitting information to Wayward Things does not automatically mean that your name, email address, or private contact information will be published.

If we are interested in publishing or discussing your submission, we may contact you for additional information or permission. If you request anonymity, we will make reasonable efforts to honor that request.

Please only submit photographs, artwork, documents, recordings, or other materials that you created, own, or have permission to share.

Information Collected Automatically

Certain information may be collected automatically when you visit Wayward Things.

This may include information such as:

IP address
Browser and device information
Operating system
Referring website
Pages visited
Approximate geographic location
Date and time of visits
General website usage and interaction information

This information may be collected through cookies, server logs, analytics services, advertising services, security tools, and similar technologies.

We may use this information to operate and improve Wayward Things, understand how visitors use the website, measure website traffic, provide advertising, prevent abuse, and maintain website security.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

Wayward Things and certain third-party services used on the website may use cookies, web beacons, IP addresses, and similar technologies.

Cookies are small files stored on your browser or device. They may be used to remember preferences, measure website traffic, understand visitor activity, provide advertising, measure advertising performance, and support other website functions.

You can generally control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Where required by applicable law, additional choices regarding non-essential cookies may be provided through a cookie or consent notice.

Disabling certain cookies may affect some website features.

Google Analytics

Wayward Things uses Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors find and use the website.

Google Analytics may collect information such as the number of visitors, pages viewed, session information, approximate geographic location, browser information, device information, and interactions with the website.

Google Analytics uses technologies such as cookies and identifiers to distinguish visitors and sessions and provide website measurement information.

The information we receive through Google Analytics helps us understand which stories and sections of Wayward Things are being visited and how we can improve the website.

Visitors may learn more about Google’s privacy practices and available privacy controls through Google’s Privacy & Terms and Google Analytics resources.

Google AdSense and Advertising

Wayward Things uses Google AdSense to display advertisements.

Third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve advertisements based on a visitor’s prior visits to Wayward Things or other websites.

Google’s use of advertising cookies enables Google and its advertising partners to serve advertisements to visitors based on their visits to this website and other websites on the Internet.

Google and other advertising partners may use cookies, web beacons, IP addresses, and other identifiers to collect information as a result of advertisements being displayed on Wayward Things.

This information may be used to provide, personalize, measure, and improve advertising.

Visitors can manage or opt out of personalized advertising through Google’s advertising settings. Depending on location and applicable law, visitors may also receive additional choices regarding personalized advertising and cookies.

Wayward Things does not control the cookies or technologies used directly by third-party advertising providers.

Affiliate Links

Wayward Things participates in affiliate marketing and may include affiliate links in articles, reviews, recommendations, resource pages, and other content.

If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase or complete another qualifying action, Wayward Things may receive a commission or other compensation. This does not normally increase the price you pay.

Affiliate links may use cookies or similar tracking technologies so that the retailer or affiliate network can determine whether a purchase or other qualifying action originated from Wayward Things.

Third-party retailers and affiliate networks operate under their own privacy policies and terms.

We will disclose affiliate relationships where appropriate.

Newsletter and Email Communications

Visitors may voluntarily subscribe to the Wayward Things newsletter.

When you subscribe, we may collect information such as your email address and, if requested, your name.

We may use this information to send you newsletters, new story notifications, website updates, announcements, or other content related to Wayward Things.

Our newsletter may be delivered using a third-party email service provider. That provider may process subscriber information on our behalf in order to deliver and manage email communications.

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link included in our emails.

We do not sell our newsletter subscriber list to third parties for their independent marketing purposes.

Embedded Content and External Links

Wayward Things may contain embedded videos, photographs, maps, social media posts, audio, or other content provided by third-party websites.

Embedded content may behave in the same way as if you visited the third-party website directly. Those websites may collect information about you, use cookies, or monitor your interaction with their content according to their own privacy practices.

Wayward Things also links to external websites for sources, research materials, historical records, news reports, products, references, and additional information.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security, accuracy, or content of external websites.

How We Use Information

Information collected through Wayward Things may be used to:

Operate and maintain the website
Respond to messages and inquiries
Review story submissions and research tips
Communicate with contributors
Provide and manage our newsletter
Understand website traffic and visitor activity
Improve our articles and website experience
Display and measure advertising
Manage affiliate relationships
Detect spam, fraud, abuse, and security threats
Comply with applicable legal requirements

We do not sell personal information simply because someone contacts Wayward Things, subscribes to our newsletter, or submits a story.

Third-Party Services

Wayward Things uses or may interact with third-party companies that process information according to their own privacy policies.

These may include:

Google Analytics
Google AdSense
Our email newsletter provider
Affiliate networks and retailers
Website hosting and security providers
Embedded video, social media, or other content providers

We encourage visitors to review the privacy policies of third-party services they interact with.

Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including responding to inquiries, managing newsletter subscriptions, reviewing submissions, maintaining records, protecting the website, and complying with applicable legal obligations.

Different third-party services used by Wayward Things may maintain their own data retention policies.

Protecting Your Information

We take reasonable measures to protect personal information submitted through Wayward Things.

However, no website, email system, database, or internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Visitors should use care when submitting personal or sensitive information online.

Children’s Privacy

Wayward Things is intended for a general audience and is not directed toward children under the age of 13.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

If we learn that personal information from a child under 13 has been collected without appropriate authorization, we will take reasonable steps to remove it.

A parent or guardian who believes a child has provided personal information to Wayward Things may contact us to request its removal.

Your Privacy Choices and Rights

Depending on where you live, applicable privacy laws may provide certain rights regarding your personal information. These may include the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of certain personal information.

You may also have choices regarding cookies and personalized advertising.

You may contact us regarding a privacy request using the contact information below. We may need to verify a request before taking action, and certain information may be retained where permitted or required by law.

Newsletter subscribers may unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link contained in our emails.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to Wayward Things, our advertising or analytics services, our newsletter, affiliate programs, or applicable requirements.

When changes are made, the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page will be revised.

We encourage visitors to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how information is handled by Wayward Things, please contact us through our Contact page or at:

Wayward Things
Email: CONTACT@WAYWARDTHINGS.COM
Website: HTTPS://WAYWARDTHINGS.COM