PRIVACY POLICY

Last Reviewed: July 4, 2026

SHREDNEWZ (“we”, “us”, or “the Service”) is a news aggregation and intelligence platform operated from the United States. This Privacy Policy describes what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. By using SHREDNEWZ, you consent to the practices described below.

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly: When you create an account, we store your chosen callsign, optional email address, optional phone number, and a hashed password. When you contact us, we receive the information you provide in your message.

Information collected automatically: We collect aggregate page view counts, server logs (IP address, user agent, timestamp), and a session cookie if you use account features. We do not use invasive third-party trackers, browser fingerprinting, or hidden read-history profiling for ordinary browsing.

Payment information: Payment processing is handled by Stripe. We do not store your full credit card number. We store your Stripe customer ID and subscription status.

2. How We Use Information

We use collected information to:

• Operate the Service, including session management and account features
• Rate-limit and prevent abuse, spam, and automated attacks
• Send push notifications for breaking news (opt-in only)
• Process payments and manage subscriptions via Stripe
• Respond to your inquiries and support requests
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service

3. Cookies

We use the following types of cookies and similar technologies:

• Essential / Session cookies: shred_user_session is used only for authenticated users to keep you logged in. This cookie is HTTP-only, SameSite=Strict, and secure in production.
• Consent cookie: shred-cookie-consent (stored in localStorage) remembers that you dismissed the cookie banner. It stores no personal data.
• Theme preference: shred-theme remembers your selected visual theme (light, dark, editorial, or light-editorial). It stores no personal data.
• Advertising cookies: Free readers may see ads served by Google AdSense. Google may place cookies or similar technologies on your device to serve non-personalized or personalized ads, depending on your settings and Google's policies. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to SHREDNEWZ and/or other sites. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings or About Ads.

Anonymous visitors can browse the site without creating an account. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may limit account features.

4. Advertising & Google AdSense

SHREDNEWZ displays advertisements served by Google AdSense to free readers. Premium subscribers generally do not see these ads. AdSense may use cookies and web beacons to show ads, manage ad delivery, and report aggregate ad performance.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with advertisers or data brokers. Ad identifiers and ad delivery are handled by Google under its own privacy policies. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy and Advertising Technologies pages.

Some sponsor placements may be served directly by SHREDNEWZ and are labeled “Sponsored.” These do not use third-party advertising cookies.

5. Third-Party Services

We integrate with the following third-party services that may process limited data:

• Google AdSense — advertising delivery and cookie/identifier management for free readers
• Stripe — payment processing (PCI-DSS compliant)
• Google Gemini / OpenAI-compatible providers — article synthesis (article content is sent for processing; no personal data is shared)
• Vercel — hosting and CDN (server logs, deployment metadata)
• Unsplash / picsum.photos — stock imagery (no user data shared)
• Mapbox — map rendering (map tile requests only)

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with advertisers or data brokers.

6. Data Retention

Anonymous browsing data (server logs) is retained for up to 30 days for security purposes. Account data is retained for the lifetime of your account. You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time by contacting contact-shrednewz@gmail.com.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction or deletion of your personal data
• Opt out of push notifications at any time
• Object to or restrict certain processing of your data
• Withdraw consent for data processing

To exercise any of these rights, contact contact-shrednewz@gmail.com. We respond to verified requests within 30 days.

Geographic note: SHREDNEWZ is a US-based service and is not available in the EU, UK, EEA, or other jurisdictions with strict data protection laws. We do not process data under GDPR, UK GDPR, or similar frameworks. If you believe you are accessing the Service from a restricted region, please discontinue use immediately.

7. Children’s Privacy

SHREDNEWZ is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

8. Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including HTTPS/TLS encryption, HTTP-only secure cookies, CSRF protection, rate limiting, SSRF guards, input sanitization, and parameterized database queries. Passwords are hashed using scrypt with per-user salts. However, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure.

10. Privacy Mode

SHREDNEWZ offers a Privacy Mode toggle that keeps your reading session anonymous. In Privacy Mode, no session cookie is set, no reading history is associated with a profile, and the site functions as a read-only public surface.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will update the “Last Reviewed” date at the top of this page. Material changes will be noted on the site. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

12. Contact

For privacy questions or data requests, contact contact-shrednewz@gmail.com. For all other inquiries, see our contact page.