Privacy
What we collect, what we store, and what we do with it. Short version: as little as possible.
In one paragraph
We do not ask for your name, email address, phone number, or any other personal identifier. The only thing we have on you is the username you chose, the password hash, the things you post, and a small set of technical signals (IP address and user agent) used to fight abuse.
What we collect
- Username and password. Username is public; the password is stored only as a hash, never in plain text.
- Things you post. News submissions, comments, polls, predictions, bounties, messages, friend requests. Public posts are public; direct messages are visible only to you and the recipient.
- Game state. Your cred balance, lifetime earned, win-loss record, trust score, streaks, watchlist, votes.
- Technical signals. Your IP address and browser user agent on each request that mutates content. Used to detect vote rings, sockpuppets, and automated abuse. Stored alongside the action.
- Session cookies. WordPress cookies that keep you logged in. Detail in the Cookies section below.
What we do not collect
- Email addresses. We do not have any way to contact you outside the site.
- Real names, phone numbers, addresses, or government IDs.
- Tracking cookies, analytics pixels, advertising identifiers, or social-media share buttons that phone home to a third party.
- Anything from outside this site. We do not buy, lease, or otherwise import data about you.
Who we share with
- Nobody, by default. We do not sell, rent, or share your data with advertisers or data brokers.
- Hosting infrastructure. The server that runs this site is at a hosting provider; the data sits on disk there. The provider can technically read it the same way any host can read what runs on its hardware.
- Law enforcement. If we receive a valid legal order, we will respond to it. We have very little to hand over.
How long we keep things
- Posts, votes, prediction stakes, and game state are part of the public record of the site and are kept indefinitely so that other players' threads, votes, and prediction outcomes stay intact.
- Login attempt logs are kept for one hour and then automatically purged.
- Moderation audit log is kept indefinitely so we can show our working when challenged.
Children
This site is not intended for anyone too young to enter into a contract in their country. If we discover an underage account, we will close it.
Changes
If this policy changes, the "last updated" date at the top of the page changes too. Material changes will also be flagged on the site.
Contact
For privacy questions, send an in-site message to the admin account at /messages/compose?to=inews_admin while logged in.