plainews is built on a simple principle: your reading habits are none of our business. This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, and the rights you have. plainews is operated by Basement Yeti LLC, a Georgia (USA) limited liability company (“plainews,” “we,” “us”), which is the controller of the personal data described below.
plainews (plainews.com) is operated by Basement Yeti LLC, Georgia, USA. For any privacy question, or to exercise your rights, email support@plainews.com or use our contact page.
When you read plainews, we do not collect, store, or transmit:
Reading plainews needs no account and no registration. We do not track who reads what.
Anonymous usage counters — page views, device type (mobile / desktop / installed app, from your browser’s User-Agent), and how often features are used. These are simple aggregate counts stored in Cloudflare KV, contain no personal information, and are deleted after 90 days.
Approximate location — your approximate city, region, and country (and, for the optional weather display, approximate coordinates) are inferred by Cloudflare from your IP address. We use this to show relevant local and national headlines and local weather. For analytics it is aggregated to region/country level (for example, a count of visitors per U.S. state or per country) and is not tied to your identity.
IP address — Cloudflare processes your IP address to route requests and protect the site (DDoS/abuse). We store it only in a one-way hashed (irreversible) form for rate-limiting and short-lived “who’s reading now” counts. Separately, when account, sponsor, or administrator actions occur, we log the IP address and country to a security and audit log, retained for a limited period to prevent fraud and abuse and to meet legal obligations.
Search terms (aggregate) — when you search, the term you searched (not who searched it, and nothing that identifies you) is counted server-side to build the trending-topics list and, if a sponsor campaign is running, an aggregate “top searches” report. Your recent searches are also stored in your browser’s localStorage, on your device only; you can clear them any time.
Accounts are free and optional. If you create one, we store, associated with your email address:
We keep one strictly-necessary session cookie to keep you signed in (see Cookies). Account records are backed up for reliability. Unverified accounts are deleted after two reminder emails, and you can delete your account at any time (see Your rights).
We set a single cookie, pn_sess (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Lax), and only for signed-in users, to keep your session active. It is strictly necessary for the account feature and is not used for tracking, analytics, or advertising. We set no advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
We use your browser’s localStorage, on your device only, to remember preferences (edition, section order, text size), your sign-in token, and your recent searches. You can clear this at any time in your browser.
plainews does not use Google AdSense or any third-party advertising network, ad exchange, or behavioral advertising cookie. When advertising is shown, it is a single first-party image (a house promotion or a directly-arranged sponsor) that links out to the advertiser’s own site. It sets no cookies, runs no third-party scripts on your device, and does not track you across websites.
We do not build advertising profiles, and we do not sell or share personal data with advertisers. If a sponsored campaign is running, we may record aggregate, anonymous impression data (a total count, the general country inferred from your network, and device type) for the sponsor’s reporting. This data cannot identify you.
plainews accepts voluntary donations via Ko-fi. Donations are processed by Ko-fi and PayPal; plainews does not receive or store any payment card information. See Ko-fi’s Privacy Policy.
We share data only with the service providers needed to run the site, each acting on our behalf:
plainews does not use Google Analytics, Meta/Facebook Pixel, or any behavioral tracking service.
Where the EU/UK GDPR applies, we rely on these lawful bases:
plainews is operated from the United States and uses global service providers. Your information may be processed in the United States and other countries whose data-protection laws may differ from yours. Where required, such transfers rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses and equivalent mechanisms offered by our providers.
Depending on where you live, you have the right to:
To exercise any right, email support@plainews.com. We respond within 30 days (or sooner where your law requires). If you are in the EU, UK, or EEA, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection supervisory authority. If you do not have an account, we hold no personal data about you to access, correct, or delete.
We do not sell or share your personal information, and we do not use it for cross-context behavioral advertising. California residents have the right to know and access, correct, and delete their personal information, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. To make a request, email support@plainews.com.
plainews does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Account registration requires users to be 13 or older. If you believe a child has provided us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
If this policy changes materially, we will update the “Last updated” date above, and registered account holders will be notified of material changes by email. Continued use of plainews after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Questions about this privacy policy? Email support@plainews.com or use our contact page. This policy is provided by Basement Yeti LLC (Georgia, USA).