Privacy policy

The short version

You can read everything without an account. We don’t sell your data and we don’t run ads.

What we collect

• A guest cookie: a random, signed id kept for a year so the site works. Votes and flags store only a one-way hash of it.
• Your IP address: only in rate-limit counters that are deleted within 24 hours.
• Searches: the text is sent to an AI provider to be matched against stories we have already written. It isn’t linked to who asked.
• Your trail (topics you open): private to you. Counted in aggregate for “often explored next” suggestions only once 5 or more people share a path; accounts can opt out in Settings.
• Account details, if you sign up: your email and a password (held by our sign-in provider, never in plain text), or your email and basic profile from Google.
• Newsletter, if you subscribe: your email, stored with our email provider, Kit, after you confirm. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
• Anything you submit, tied to your account.

Analytics and cookies

We use Google Analytics, which sets its own cookies, and Cloudflare’s basic traffic statistics. We look only at aggregate totals. Google Analytics is switched off on the sign-in and sign-up pages. We use no advertising cookies. Your browser also stores a small flag so the newsletter prompt doesn’t keep returning. Public pages may be cached for a few minutes for visitors without cookies; cached copies never contain personal information.

Who else sees data

Our AI provider (your search text only), Google (if you sign in with it), our authentication and database provider, email providers (Kit, and a service for account emails), and our hosting and network providers (which see your IP address, as on any website). Video posts embed YouTube, which may set its own cookies when you play a video. The Ko-fi link leads to a separate site with its own policy. Some pages list books with links to Bookshop.org or Amazon. These are affiliate links: if you buy after clicking one, the store pays us a commission at no cost to you. The store sets its own cookies and has its own policy once you arrive; book covers on our pages are served by us, so the store does not see you until you click. We share information beyond this only when the law requires it or to protect users and the service.

Keeping and protecting it

Rate-limit counters last 24 hours, the guest cookie a year, and account data while your account is active. Data is encrypted in transit and access is restricted. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we’ll tell you as the law requires. We operate mainly in the United States.

Your rights and children

You can ask to access, correct or delete your data, including your account, by emailing [email protected]. You can clear the guest cookie in your browser at any time. The service isn’t for children under 13; contact us if one has given us information and we’ll delete it.