Last updated: November 6, 2026
West Lethbridge Weather is a free community website run by Gary Wheeler (VE6CV) in Lethbridge, Alberta, together with its sister sites Lethbridge Weather, VE6DOK and Dok-Tor Harddrive. We respect your privacy. This page explains, in plain words, what this site collects and why. We follow the principles of Canada’s privacy law (PIPEDA) and Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).
The short version
- You don’t need an account, and you never have to give us your name to use this site.
- We count visits so we know which pages people find useful.
- We do not sell, rent or trade any information about you, and we don’t use advertising cookies.
Cookies
Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. This site uses a few:
- Google Analytics (through Google Site Kit) counts visits and shows us which pages are popular, what kind of device was used, and the general area (city or region) visitors come from. It does not tell us who you are. Google’s own privacy policy explains how Google handles this information.
- Our web host (GoDaddy) sets a small cookie to monitor how well the site is running.
- The Whoop-Up Drive camera, maps and forecasts. The live camera is streamed through a video service, and some pages show maps or forecast models from other services. When those load, that service can see your IP address and may set its own cookies under its own privacy policy.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and the site will still work.
Settings saved in your own browser
Some features remember your choices, such as text size (A / A+ / A++), puzzle and crossword progress, and which greeting you last saw. These are saved only in your own browser on your own device. They are never sent to us, and clearing your browser data removes them.
Visitor countries
The “Visitors to our sites from … countries” line at the bottom of each page is counted without cookies and without looking up your IP address. Your browser shares only its time-zone setting (for example “America/Edmonton”), which we turn into a country. To count each visitor only once a day, a short scrambled code is kept for one day and then deleted. Your IP address itself is never stored.
Polls
When you vote in one of our polls, we only add one to the count for the answer you picked. Your vote is not linked to you. To stop the same answer being sent over and over, your network address is turned into a scrambled code that is kept for one day and then deleted; the address itself is never stored.
If you also share a tip or story, we keep what you write plus the name you give and, if you choose to add it, your email address. Your tip is checked before it appears on the site, and it is shown with your initials only, never your full name. Your name and email are never shown or shared; Gary may use your email to reply to you. If you would like a tip removed, get in touch and we will take it down.
If you contact us
If you email us, we use what you send only to reply to you. We don’t add you to any mailing list, and we don’t share your message with anyone else.
Who we share information with
Only the services that run the site: our web host, our email service, Google Analytics, and our spam protection. Each gets only what it needs to do its job.
Questions
If you have a question about this page, or you would like us to delete something you sent us, please get in touch through our contact page and we’ll take care of it.
This policy covers this site only. Our sister sites each have their own privacy page, and they all work the same way.