Privacy

Last updated 2026-10-07.

A River of News is a plain list of news headlines. It has no accounts and asks you for no personal information to read it. A few optional features ask for something, and this page says what, why, who handles it and how to take it back. Questions, or a request to see or delete what we hold: Write to ariverofnews@simbasystems.com.

The short version

• Reading the site needs nothing from you. We do not sell your data or use it to profile you.
• If you sign up for the email, we keep your email address and what you chose to receive.
• If you turn on browser notifications, we keep a notification address from your browser and your follow list.
• Following, your place in the list and your theme choice stay in your browser.
• Chat alerts and API keys are optional, and keep only what they need to work.
• Analytics and ads are off unless the operator turns them on, and then only after you accept a cookie notice.

In your browser

The site can keep small notes in your browser's local storage:

• the time of the newest item you saw in each list, to draw the "Since your last visit" line
• your answer to the cookie question, if one is shown
• your follow list, your mute list (publications and words you hid), your saved headlines, and whether live mode is on

These notes stay on your device. They are never sent to us. You can clear them in your browser settings.

Search

What you type in the search box is sent to our server so it can find matching headlines. We do not store search terms or link them to you. Our hosting provider handles requests like any web host, and the address of a search page includes the words searched, so those words can appear in its short-lived server logs.

Analytics and ads

Analytics and advertising are off unless the operator turns them on. When they are on, the site shows a cookie notice first and sets no analytics or advertising cookies until you accept. If you decline, no such cookies are set and the site works the same, but Google's tools may still receive a basic anonymous signal, such as that a page was opened, without cookies or any identifier stored on your device. When on, Google Analytics measures visits and Google AdSense shows ads, and each has its own privacy policy.

Weekly email

If you sign up for the weekly email, we store your email address, a random code used in the links in your emails, and the dates you signed up, confirmed and unsubscribed. We use it only to send that email, and we do not share or sell it. The email is sent through Resend, which handles the message on our behalf under its own privacy policy. We send a confirmation first, and nothing else is sent until you follow its link. Every email has a link to unsubscribe in one click. After you unsubscribe we keep the address, marked as unsubscribed, so we never mail it again. Write to ariverofnews@simbasystems.com. to ask us to delete it fully.

Browser notifications

Your follow list stays in your browser unless you turn on notifications on the Following page. If you do, your browser gives us a notification address (a web address at your browser maker's push service) and we store it with your follow list so we can tell when a story you follow is spreading. The notice itself carries no text about the story. We do not store your name, email or any other identifier with it. Turning notifications off on the Following page deletes both. An address that stops working is deleted automatically.

Slack and Discord alerts

If you connect a Slack or Discord channel for alerts, we store its webhook address (a secret web address that lets us post to that channel), the words you chose, and a random code for the remove link. We use them only to post those alerts. We send one test message when you connect. Every alert has a link that removes the channel and deletes the address. An address that stops working is deleted automatically.

API keys

If you ask for an API key, we keep a one-way hash of the key, a name for it and the date it was made. We do not keep the key itself, and we do not store what you ask for with it.

Paid API keys

If you buy a key, the payment is taken by Stripe, which handles your card under its own privacy policy. We never see or store your card. Stripe tells us your email address and the number of your subscription, and we keep them with your key so we can email the key to you and stop it when you cancel. We keep one-way hashes of keys, as above.

Saved searches by email

If you save searches in your email choices, we store the words you saved and the number of the newest headline we checked for you. We use them only to send you the new headlines that match. You can remove them in your choices at any time.

Clicks on headlines

When you open a headline from the river, your browser tells us which headline it was. We add one to that headline's count for the day, and keep nothing else about the click: no address, no cookie, no identifier, nothing that links it to you. The counts make the most read page.

Reports about a headline

If you report a headline, we keep what you wrote, the headline you named, and your email address if you gave one. We use them only to look into the report and, if you gave an address, to answer. We delete a report 30 days after we have dealt with it, and in any case after a year.

Authors

Author names on this site come from publishers' own public feeds, the same names printed on their articles. We show them with a link to the article and gather an author's articles on one page. If a name should not appear, ask the publisher to change the byline in its feed. We will remove a name from this site on request. Write to ariverofnews@simbasystems.com.

Servers

Like any web server, ours and our host's handle your IP address and the page you asked for in order to answer you. Hosting logs are kept for a short time to run and protect the service. To stop one visitor overloading the search, we count requests per address for a minute. The count is not stored.

Who handles your data

• Cloudflare hosts the site, stores our files and the database, and runs the code. Requests pass through it. It also runs a small measurement script that counts visits without cookies.
• Resend sends the email, only if you sign up for it.
• Google provides Analytics and AdSense, only if they are on and you accept the notice.
• Your browser maker's push service (Google, Mozilla, Apple or Microsoft) carries a notification to you, only if you turn notifications on. It sees an empty message, not the story.
• Share buttons on story and leaderboard pages are plain links. They go to Bluesky, X, Facebook, LinkedIn or your email program only if you click one.

How long we keep things

• Email address and choices: until you unsubscribe. After that we keep the address, marked as unsubscribed, so we never mail it again. Ask us and we delete it fully.
• Notification address and follow list: until you turn notifications off, or until the browser stops accepting them.
• Click counts: one number per headline per day, with no link to any person. Reports: until dealt with, or a year at most. Copies of things removed by the operator, kept so a mistake can be undone: 90 days.
• A nightly copy of the email and notification tables is kept for 30 days as a backup.
• Hosting logs: a short time.

Your choices

You can unsubscribe from the email with one click from any message. You can change what you get, or turn off notifications, at any time. You can clear what the site keeps in your browser from your browser settings. To see what we hold about you, or to have it deleted, contact us. We will answer within a reasonable time.

Children

The site is not aimed at children, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Changes

If this page changes in a way that matters, the date at the top changes too.

Links out

Each headline links to a publisher. Their sites have their own privacy practices.