Privacy policy

Who we are

The Actual News is a facts-only newsroom at theactualnews.com. This policy covers the website, the mobile apps, emailed digests, and the JSON API the apps use. Questions: support@theactualnews.com or the support page.

What we collect

• Account. Email, display name, scrypt password hash, timezone, and an unsubscribe token.
• Preferences. Topics, regions, category desks, places, sports teams, weather cities, custom categories, and locality (city / state / billing-or-custom source). Street address is not stored on the desk.
• Subscription status. Whether the digest is active, trialing, past due, or canceled; plan (monthly / yearly); source (Stripe, Apple IAP, or Google IAP); and expiry when the store provides one. Stripe customer and subscription ids when you pay on the web.
• Digest send log. Slot, local day, story ids, and send time so the same item is not mailed twice.
• Sessions. A hashed opaque token (web cookie or mobile Bearer). Not a JWT.
• Device / push tokens. The desk does not currently collect device identifiers, advertising ids, or push tokens. If a later app version sends them, they will be stored only to deliver optional alerts and deleted with the account.
• Analytics. No advertising SDK, no third-party ad tracker, no comments desk. The host (Vercel) and database (Neon) keep ordinary access logs (IP, user-agent, path) needed to operate the service.
• Support mail. Messages you send to support@theactualnews.com or the support form, including your return address.

Payments

Card numbers are handled by the store you used, not by this site.

• Web: Stripe Checkout and the Stripe Customer Portal. Price is $1.19 per month or $12 per year.
• iOS: In-app purchase billed by Apple. Apple's privacy policy and App Store terms apply to that charge.
• Android: In-app purchase billed by Google Play. Google's privacy policy and Play terms apply to that charge.

There are no advertisements in the digest or the apps.

How we use the data

• Sign you in and keep preferences.
• Send the twice-daily facts-only digest you paid for.
• Stop duplicate stories across morning and night sends.
• Confirm entitlement (Stripe or IAP) so paid features stay aligned with the apps.
• Answer support mail and keep the service reliable.

We do not sell personal information. We do not run ads against it.

Retention

• Deleted immediately: account, password hash, prefs, sessions, digest send log.
• Stripe keeps its own payment records under Stripe's retention rules (typically years for tax). The desk does not store card numbers.
• Apple and Google keep their own App Store / Play billing records. Cancel and refund stay in those stores.
• Digests already delivered stay in your mailbox. The desk does not recall them.
• Host access logs (IP, user-agent) and hashed ops-alert fragments may remain up to 30 days.
• Resend keeps outbound send metadata under Resend's retention policy.

How to delete your account

Use the public deletion page at theactualnews.com/account/delete. Signed-in readers can delete immediately. Others receive a 7-day confirmation link. The iOS and Android apps may call DELETE /api/auth/me with the same Bearer token used on the mobile API.

Deleting the desk account removes our copy of your data and cancels a web Stripe subscription we can reach so you are not billed again. Apple and Google subscriptions must be canceled in those stores if you subscribed there.

Processors

Neon (database), Vercel (hosting), Stripe (web payments), Resend (transactional mail), Apple, and Google (store billing). Each processor acts on our instructions or as an independent controller for its own billing records.

Children

The service is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. Apple and Google may impose a higher age for paid subscriptions in your country.

Changes

If this policy changes in a material way, we will update this page and the date above. Continued use after the date is acceptance of the revised policy.