Overview
NewsRally (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is operated by Rosscomp, LLC. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you use newsrally.com (the “Service”).
We are committed to protecting your privacy. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.
Information We Collect
Account Information
When you create a NewsRally account, we collect:
- Email address: Used for account login, password recovery, and (if you opt in) email communications.
- Name: If provided during registration or via Google sign-in.
- Google profile information: If you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email address from your Google account. We do not access your contacts, files, or other Google data.
You can use NewsRally without creating an account. Anonymous visitors can read all headlines and analyses for the most recent 7 days with no personal data collected beyond analytics (described below).
User Activity Data
If you have an account, we store the following in our database:
- Bookmarked stories: Which headlines you save for later.
- Account metadata: Account creation date, subscription plan, and the version of our Terms you agreed to at signup.
- Payment identifiers: If you subscribe to Pro, we store a Stripe customer ID that links your NewsRally account to your Stripe payment profile. We do not store credit card numbers, CVVs, or full billing addresses — that data is held by Stripe.
This data is associated with your account ID and is used solely to provide features you've opted into (e.g., your saved stories list).
Analytics Data
We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors use our Service. GA4 collects:
- Pages visited and time spent on pages
- Referring website or source
- Browser type, device type, and operating system
- Approximate geographic location (city/country level)
- Anonymous interaction events (clicks, scrolls)
GA4 uses first-party cookies to distinguish unique users. This data is aggregated and does not personally identify you. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Advertising
We use Google AdSense to display advertisements. AdSense may use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our Service or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies is governed by Google's Privacy Policy. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
Cookies & Local Storage
We use the following cookies and browser storage:
- Authentication cookies: If you sign in, secure session cookies maintain your login state. These are essential for account functionality and cannot be disabled while signed in.
- Theme preference: Your light/dark mode choice is stored in local storage. This data never leaves your device.
- Analytics cookies: GA4 first-party cookies for visitor statistics (see above).
- Advertising cookies: Third-party cookies placed by Google AdSense (see above).
How We Use Information
We use collected information to:
- Authenticate your identity and maintain your session
- Provide account features: bookmarks, saved stories, and personalized settings
- Understand how visitors use the Service and improve the user experience
- Display advertisements to support the Service
- Send transactional emails (welcome, password reset, account verification, subscription confirmations)
- Send the daily email digest to Pro subscribers
- Monitor and maintain the performance and security of the Service
We send transactional emails automatically when triggered by account events: a welcome email when you sign up, verification codes and password resets when requested, and subscription confirmation or cancellation notices when your Pro status changes. Pro subscribers also receive a daily email digest as part of the subscription. We do not send marketing or promotional emails without your explicit consent.
Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services:
- AWS (Amazon Web Services): Hosting, database, and infrastructure. Your account data is stored in AWS DynamoDB in the US East (N. Virginia) region.
- AWS Cognito: Authentication service that manages user registration, login, and password security. Passwords are hashed and never stored in plain text.
- Google OAuth: If you choose “Sign in with Google,” Google transmits your name and email to us. We do not receive your Google password.
- AWS Simple Email Service (SES): Sends transactional emails (welcome, subscription confirmations, daily digest). Your email address is transmitted to SES for delivery.
- Stripe: Payment processing for Pro subscriptions. Stripe collects and processes your payment information (card number, billing address) directly. We receive and store a Stripe customer ID on your profile but never see or store your full card number. See Stripe's Privacy Policy.
- Google Analytics 4: Website analytics.
- Google AdSense: Advertising.
Each of these services has its own privacy policy governing how they handle data.
Data Retention
- Account data: Retained as long as your account exists. If you delete your account, your data is permanently removed (see below).
- Bookmarks: Retained as long as your account exists.
- Payment data: Your Stripe customer ID is retained as long as your account exists. If you delete your account, we remove the Stripe customer ID from our records. Stripe may retain transaction history independently per their own retention policies.
- Analytics data: Retained according to Google Analytics default settings (14 months).
Your Rights
You have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access: You can view your account information on the Account page.
- Deletion: You can request deletion of your account and all associated data by contacting us at the email below. We will process deletion requests within 30 days.
- Portability: You can request an export of your data in a machine-readable format.
- Correction: You can update your account information through your account settings or by contacting us.
These rights apply to all users regardless of location. For California residents, these rights are provided under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). For EU/UK residents, these rights are provided under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Data Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your information:
- All connections to the Service use HTTPS encryption
- Passwords are managed by AWS Cognito and are salted and hashed. We never see or store plain text passwords
- Database access is restricted to authenticated application services via IAM roles
- Authentication tokens are stored in secure, HTTP-only cookies
No method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Children's Privacy
The Service is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, contact us at privacy@newsrally.com.
