Privacy Policy

This privacy policy describes how Real News Today (“RNT,” “we,” “us”) collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you visit realnewstoday.net or use our services. By using our platform, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

Information We Collect

We collect information you provide when creating an account (email address, username), making payments (processed securely by Stripe — we never store card numbers), and subscribing to our newsletter. We also collect anonymous analytics data to improve our service.

Information You Provide

When you create an account, subscribe to our newsletter, purchase article access, or contact us, we collect the information you voluntarily provide. This includes your email address, display name, and any preferences you set in your account settings.

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our platform, we automatically collect certain technical information including your browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, time spent on pages, and scroll depth. This data is collected through Vercel Analytics and Microsoft Clarity and is used exclusively to improve the user experience and content quality.

How We Use Your Information

Your information is used to provide account access, process payments, deliver newsletters, and improve the platform. Specifically, we use your data to authenticate your identity, manage your subscription status, personalize content recommendations, send transactional emails related to your account, and analyze aggregate usage patterns. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

Payment Processing

All payments on Real News Today are processed by Stripe, a PCI-DSS Level 1 certified payment processor. We do not store, process, or have access to your full credit card number. Stripe handles all payment data in compliance with industry security standards. We retain only a reference to your Stripe customer ID to manage your subscription status.

Cookies and Tracking

We use essential cookies for authentication and session management. We use analytics cookies through Vercel Analytics to understand how our platform is used and Microsoft Clarity for behavioral analytics such as heatmaps and session recordings. These tools help us identify usability issues and improve page layouts. You can disable non-essential cookies through your browser settings, though this may affect some platform functionality.

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may process your data: Supabase for authentication and data storage, Stripe for payment processing, Vercel for hosting and analytics, Microsoft Clarity for behavioral analytics, and Cloudflare Turnstile for bot protection. Each service operates under its own privacy policy and data processing agreements.

Data Retention

We retain your account information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required by law to retain certain records. Anonymous analytics data is retained indefinitely as it cannot be linked to individual users. Newsletter subscriber data is retained until you unsubscribe.

Data Security

We use industry-standard security measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS on all pages), secure authentication through Supabase with row-level security policies, PCI-compliant payment processing through Stripe, and regular security audits of our infrastructure. Access to user data is restricted to authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis.

Your Rights

You have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal data at any time. You can update your profile information in your account settings, unsubscribe from newsletters using the link in any email, and request complete account deletion by contacting us. If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the CCPA, including the right to know what personal information we collect and the right to opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information. If you are in the European Economic Area, you have rights under the GDPR including the right to data portability and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Children's Privacy

Real News Today is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of material changes via email. The “last updated” date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was most recently revised.

Contact

For privacy-related inquiries, data access requests, or to exercise any of your rights described above, contact us through our website. We respond to all privacy requests within 30 days.