Privacy Policy

CheckTheNews ("CTN," "we," "us," or "our") helps people compare news coverage across perspectives and recognize differences in framing. We collect only the information reasonably needed to provide, protect, and improve the service.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, when it may be shared, how long it is retained, and the choices available to you.

This policy applies to the CheckTheNews iOS and iPadOS applications and the CheckTheNews.org website, collectively referred to as the "Service."

Information We Collect

Information You Provide

Depending on how you use the Service, you may provide:

• An email address when creating or signing in to an account

• An optional first name

• Profile details, such as a display name, biography, or profile photo

• Topic preferences and story-alert selections

• Responses to onboarding questions

• Survey responses and votes, such as which coverage you considered more fair

• Comments and other content you choose to submit

• Feedback, support requests, and account-deletion requests

• Notification and email preferences

An email address is optional for guests but required to create or sign in to a user account.

Guest Use

You may browse and play CheckTheNews content as a guest without providing a name or email address.

When you continue as a guest, we assign a randomly generated guest or device identifier. We may associate the following information with that identifier:

• Onboarding selections

• Start-screen preferences

• Topic preferences

• Clip activity

• App settings

• Usage and interaction events

If you later create or sign in to an account, some preferences or activity stored on the same device may become associated with that account.

Profile Photos

Signed-in users may choose to take a photo, select a photo from their photo library, or choose an image file for use as a profile photo.

CheckTheNews accesses the camera or photo library only after you select the corresponding option. Only the photo you choose is uploaded. We do not access or upload the rest of your photo library.

Profile photos are stored to provide the profile feature. Replaced photos may remain temporarily in active storage or backups until removed through our deletion processes.

Information Collected Automatically

When you use the Service, we may collect:

• Clips viewed, liked, saved, or added to clip history

• Screens visited

• Buttons, filters, and features used

• Video watch time and playback activity

• Randomly generated user, guest, device, and session identifiers

• Device type, operating system, app version, browser type, and similar technical information

• IP address and an approximate region derived from the IP address

• Diagnostic information needed to investigate errors, reliability problems, or abuse

We do not collect your precise geographic location, contacts, or browsing history outside the Service.

Notifications

If you enable push notifications, we may collect and store:

• Notification preferences

• Notification permission status

• Apple Push Notification service device tokens

• The date and time a notification token was registered or updated

• Information needed to route a notification to the appropriate screen

You can disable push notifications at any time through your device settings.

Email Delivery

If you provide an email address, we may process email-delivery information such as:

• Delivered

• Bounced

• Deferred

• Blocked

• Unsubscribed

We use this information to maintain email quality, honor communication preferences, and avoid sending messages to invalid addresses.

How We Use Information

We use collected information to:

• Provide and operate the Service

• Authenticate signed-in users

• Support guest access

• Display news clips and related information

• Remember topic, onboarding, appearance, playback, and start-screen preferences

• Maintain clip history, saved items, comments, and story alerts

• Personalize the content and features shown to you

• Send account messages, story alerts, app updates, and other requested communications

• Process and moderate comments

• Respond to feedback and support requests

• Diagnose technical problems

• Prevent fraud, misuse, unauthorized access, and other abuse

• Understand how people use the Service

• Improve features, usability, reliability, and content organization

• Enforce our Terms of Service

• Comply with legal obligations

We do not sell personal information.

We do not use personal information for third-party advertising, and we do not share information with data brokers.

Comments and AI-Assisted Moderation

Signed-in users may submit comments through the Service.

Comment text and limited related context may be processed by an artificial-intelligence service to identify abusive, irrelevant, unsafe, or inappropriate content before publication. Moderation results may be stored with the comment to help us make publication and enforcement decisions.

Guests may read displayed comments but must create or sign in to an account before submitting comments or replies.

Service Providers

We use service providers to operate and improve CheckTheNews. These providers may process information only as needed to perform services for us.

Current categories and providers may include:

• Hosting: Render

• Analytics: PostHog

• Email delivery: SendGrid

• Push notifications: Apple Push Notification service

• Media and storage: Cloudflare and Cloudflare R2

• AI-assisted comment moderation: OpenAI

• Source media and external content: Internet Archive and YouTube

We require service providers that receive user information to provide the same or equivalent protections described in this policy and required by applicable law.

We may also disclose information:

• When required by law, subpoena, court order, or valid governmental request

• When reasonably necessary to protect the rights, security, or safety of CheckTheNews, our users, or others

• To investigate fraud, abuse, security incidents, or violations of our Terms of Service

• In connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, or transfer of the Service

If ownership of the Service changes, personal information will remain subject to this policy unless users are notified of a change.

Third-Party Content and Links

The Service includes news clips, media, and links supplied or hosted by third parties.

News clips may come from the Internet Archive. Featured Shorts may include content hosted on YouTube. Dig Deeper links and search results may open third-party websites.

When third-party media loads or you open an external link, the provider may receive technical information such as:

• Your IP address

• Browser or device information

• The referring page

• The date and time of the request

Third-party services operate under their own privacy policies and terms. CheckTheNews does not control their independent data practices.

Local Storage

The website and app use browser or device storage to remember information such as:

• Guest and device identifiers

• Authentication status

• Onboarding completion

• Topic preferences

• Start-screen preferences

• Appearance settings

• Playback preferences

• Pending navigation or notification information

We do not use third-party advertising cookies.

Deleting the app, clearing browser data, or clearing application data may remove information stored only on that device. It does not necessarily delete information already transmitted to our servers.

Data Retention

We retain information according to the following general principles:

• Account information is retained while an account remains active.

• Guest and device information is retained while reasonably necessary to operate, secure, personalize, and improve the Service.

• Comments, votes, clip history, preferences, and story alerts are retained while needed to provide those features.

• Profile photos are retained while needed to provide the profile feature.

• Notification tokens are retained while notifications are enabled or until replaced, invalidated, or removed.

• Support and security records may be retained as reasonably necessary to resolve requests, prevent abuse, document compliance, or meet legal obligations.

• Analytics information may be retained in aggregated or pseudonymous form to understand long-term product usage.

When we complete a verified deletion request, we remove the associated personal information from active systems within 30 days, except where limited retention is required for legal, security, fraud-prevention, or accounting purposes.

Residual copies may remain in backups until those backups are overwritten or deleted under our backup-management process. Backups are used for continuity and disaster recovery and are not ordinarily used to restore a deleted user profile.

We may retain aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

Your Choices

Guest Access

You may use CheckTheNews as a guest without providing a name or email address.

Guests can remove locally stored CheckTheNews information by deleting the app or clearing the website's stored data.

To request deletion of server-side information associated with a guest identifier, contact support@checkthenews.org and provide the identifier if it is available.

Email

Signed-in users can turn off story-alert emails in Settings.

You may also use an unsubscribe link when one is included in an email or contact support@checkthenews.org for assistance.

Account, security, or service-related messages may still be sent when necessary to provide or protect an account.

Push Notifications

You can disable push notifications at any time through your iPhone or iPad settings.

You may also change available story-alert notification preferences within CheckTheNews.

Profile and Preferences

Signed-in users may update available profile details and preferences through Settings.

Some guest preferences can also be changed through Settings and are stored using the guest or device identifier.

Access, Correction, and Deletion

Signed-in users can initiate account and associated personal-data deletion through Settings by selecting:

Delete Account / Request Data Deletion

You may also request access, correction, or deletion by contacting support@checkthenews.org.

We may need to verify your identity before providing access to or deleting account information.

Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to:

• Request access to personal information we hold about you

• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information

• Request deletion of personal information

• Receive a copy of certain personal information

• Object to or restrict certain processing

• Withdraw consent where processing depends on consent

• Exercise privacy rights without unlawful discrimination

United States

Residents of California and certain other states may have rights under applicable state privacy laws, including rights to know, access, correct, or delete personal information.

CheckTheNews does not sell personal information or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under California law.

Canada

Canadian users may request access to personal information we hold about them and may challenge its accuracy or completeness. Where appropriate and subject to applicable law, we will correct inaccurate or incomplete information.

Canadian users may also contact us with questions or complaints about our privacy practices.

Other Locations

The Service is operated from the United States, and information may be processed and stored in the United States or other locations where our service providers operate.

Users outside the United States and Canada may have additional rights under local law.

To exercise a privacy right, contact support@checkthenews.org.

Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information to CheckTheNews, contact support@checkthenews.org. We will investigate and delete the information where required.

Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect information, including encryption in transit and access controls.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to the Service, our practices, or applicable requirements.

When we make material changes, we will update the effective date and provide notice through the Service, by email, or through another appropriate method.

Where applicable law requires consent for a material change, we will request that consent.

Contact Us

For privacy questions, requests, or complaints, contact:

CheckTheNews, L3C
201 St. Charles Ave., Ste. 114 #6002
New Orleans, Louisiana 70170
United States 

Email: support@checkthenews.org