Privacy Policy
How we handle your data
We collect your email address and your in-app activity. We don’t sell it, share it with advertisers, or use it to train AI models. We don’t run third-party trackers. We don’t serve ads. Your data exists to make Signal/noise work for you — nothing else.
Effective March 23, 2026 · Last updated March 23, 2026
1. Who we are
Signal/noise (“we,” “us,” “our”) operates the website at s2n.news and the related email digest service. We are a news intelligence platform that analyzes how media sources across the political spectrum cover the same stories.
For questions about this policy or your data, contact us at privacy@s2n.news.
2. What we collect and why
We follow the principle of data minimization: we collect only what is necessary to operate the Service, and nothing more.
2.1 Information you provide directly
| Data | Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Email address | Account creation, digest delivery, account communications | Contractual necessity; consent for marketing |
| Password (hashed) | Account authentication — stored only as a cryptographic hash, never in plain text | Contractual necessity |
| TOTP secret (encrypted) | Two-factor authentication, if you enable it | Consent |
| Topic preferences | Personalizing your story feed and digest content | Contractual necessity |
| Prediction votes | Computing your Forecaster Score and community statistics | Contractual necessity |
| Bookmarks and reading interactions | Saving stories, computing blindspot reports, personalizing recommendations | Contractual necessity |
| Reality Check submissions | Processing your fact-check request — claim text is sent to our AI provider without your identity attached | Contractual necessity |
| Referral activity | Crediting referrals to the referring user’s account | Legitimate interest |
2.2 Information collected automatically
| Data | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Session cookie (sn-session) | Keeping you logged in — contains only a session identifier, no tracking or advertising data | Duration of session |
| Email delivery metadata | Delivery confirmations, bounce detection, open tracking for deliverability monitoring via our email provider (Resend) | 90 days |
| Server access logs | Security monitoring and debugging — includes IP addresses, request timestamps, and user agents | 30 days, then automatically rotated and deleted |
2.3 Information we do NOT collect
We do not collect: your real name (unless you voluntarily provide it), physical address, phone number, payment or financial information (the Service is currently free), social media identifiers, browsing activity outside of s2n.news, device fingerprints, or biometric data.
We do not deploy: third-party advertising trackers, retargeting pixels, cross-site tracking scripts, device fingerprinting, or any behavioral advertising technology. We do not use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, Mixpanel, Hotjar, or any equivalent service.
3. How we use your information
We use your information for the following purposes only:
Service operation. Delivering your daily digest email, generating personalized analyses, displaying your prediction history and scores, computing blindspot reports, and maintaining your account.
Service improvement. Analyzing aggregate, anonymized engagement data (such as overall open rates and feature adoption) to improve content quality and product features. We do not build individual behavioral profiles for commercial purposes.
Communications. Sending your daily digest, weekly blindspot reports, product updates, and essential account notices (password resets, security alerts, material Terms changes). Every non-essential email includes an unsubscribe mechanism.
Security. Monitoring for unauthorized access, abuse, and fraudulent activity.
We do not use your personal information for any purpose not listed above.
4. AI processing
Signal/noise uses artificial intelligence (currently Anthropic’s Claude) to analyze news coverage, generate framing analyses, produce digest content, and power features including Reality Check, Deep Dive, and micro-predictions.
Your personal data is not sent to AI providers.Our AI pipeline processes publicly available news headlines and article metadata — not your personal information. Your reading preferences may influence which analysis you see, but your identity, email address, and personal data are never included in API calls to AI providers or used in AI training datasets.
Reality Check.When you submit a claim for fact-checking, the text you provide is sent to our AI provider for analysis. We strip all user-identifying information before sending the request. The claim text itself is processed under Anthropic’s API data usage policy, which does not use API inputs for model training.
5. Data sharing and third parties
We do not sell, rent, lease, or trade your personal information. We do not share your data with third parties for their marketing or advertising purposes.
We use a limited number of third-party services to operate Signal/noise:
| Service | Purpose | Data shared |
|---|---|---|
| Resend | Email delivery | Email address, delivery metadata |
| Anthropic | AI-powered analysis | News headlines and article metadata only — no personal data |
| DigitalOcean | Server hosting | Standard server logs (IP addresses) |
| ElevenLabs | Podcast audio generation | AI-generated script text only — no personal data |
| Polymarket | Prediction market data | No user data sent — we only read publicly available market data |
| Let’s Encrypt | SSL/TLS certificate | Domain name only |
We require all service providers to process data only for the purposes we specify and in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
We may disclose your information if required by law, subpoena, or court order, or if we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.
6. Cookies and tracking
We use exactly one cookie:
| Cookie | Name | Purpose | Type | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Session | sn-session | Authentication — keeps you logged in | Strictly necessary (first-party) | Session |
We do not use advertising cookies, analytics cookies, or any third-party cookies. We do not participate in cross-site tracking. We respect Do Not Track (DNT) and Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals — though because we do not track users across sites, these signals do not change our behavior.
7. Data storage and security
Your data is stored on a secured server hosted by DigitalOcean in the United States.
Security measures include:
- All data in transit encrypted via TLS 1.2+ (HTTPS enforced)
- Passwords hashed using bcrypt before storage
- Database access restricted to the application layer with no public exposure
- SSH access restricted to key-based authentication
- Regular security patches and operating system updates
- Minimal attack surface with no unnecessary services exposed
No method of electronic storage or internet transmission is 100% secure. We implement industry-standard protections appropriate to the sensitivity of the data we hold, but cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach affecting your personal information, we will notify affected users and applicable regulatory authorities in accordance with applicable law.
8. Data retention
| Data type | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Account data (email, preferences, scores) | Until you delete your account |
| Reading interactions and predictions | Until you delete your account |
| Email delivery logs | 90 days |
| Server access logs | 30 days (auto-rotated) |
| Anonymized aggregate data | Indefinitely (cannot identify individuals) |
When you delete your account, we delete your personal data within 30 days. Some data may persist in encrypted backups for up to 90 days, after which backups are cycled out.
9. Your rights
We provide the following rights to all users regardless of location. These rights meet or exceed the requirements of GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and other applicable privacy frameworks.
Right to access. You can request a copy of all personal data we hold about you.
Right to correction. You can update your email address and preferences through your account settings at any time.
Right to deletion. You can delete your account through your account settings or by emailing us. We will delete your personal data within 30 days.
Right to data portability. You can request an export of your data (account information, prediction history, reading history) in a machine-readable format (JSON).
Right to restrict processing. You can request that we limit how we process your data while we address a concern.
Right to object. You can object to any processing based on legitimate interest. We will honor your objection unless we have compelling grounds to continue processing.
Right to opt out of email. You can disable the daily digest and product updates through your account settings. You will still receive essential account communications (password resets, security alerts, material policy changes).
Right to non-discrimination. We will never provide a lesser service to users who exercise their privacy rights.
For California residents (CCPA/CPRA):We do not sell or share your personal information as defined by the CCPA. We do not use your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Because we do not sell or share personal information, a “Do Not Sell or Share” opt-out is not applicable, but we will honor any such request as a matter of policy.
For EU/EEA residents (GDPR): Our lawful bases for processing are contractual necessity (operating the Service you signed up for), consent (where explicitly obtained, such as marketing emails), and legitimate interest (security monitoring, service improvement). You have the right to withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing performed prior to withdrawal.
To exercise any of these rights, contact privacy@s2n.news. We will respond within 30 days (or within the timeframe required by applicable law). We will not charge a fee for reasonable requests. We may request identity verification before processing your request.
10. International data transfers
Our servers are located in the United States. If you are accessing Signal/noise from outside the United States, your data will be transferred to and processed in the United States. We rely on the following safeguards:
- Data minimization — we collect and transfer only what is necessary
- Encryption in transit and at rest
- Contractual protections with our service providers
- The EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, where applicable
11. Children’s privacy
Signal/noise is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child under 16, we will delete it promptly. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a minor, contact us at privacy@s2n.news.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. If we make material changes, we will notify you via email or a prominent notice on the website at least 14 days before the changes take effect. The effective date at the top of this policy indicates when it was most recently revised.
Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of a revised policy constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.
13. Contact and complaints
For questions, data requests, or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy:
Email: privacy@s2n.news
Website: https://s2n.news
If you believe your data protection rights have been violated, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.