Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-02-23

1. Information We Collect

We collect the minimum information needed to operate the service:

• Authenticated users: Email address (from Google OAuth only). We do not collect your name, phone number, date of birth, or payment information.
• Anonymous visitors: A randomly-generated session ID stored in a cookie. This ID resets each year and is not linked to any personal identity.
• Behavior events: Page views, research reads, votes, and searches — stored temporarily to detect invalid traffic and improve service quality. Retained for up to 14 days.

2. Information We Do NOT Collect

• IP addresses (not stored in our database)
• Passwords or OAuth tokens
• Billing or payment information
• Phone numbers or date of birth
• Device fingerprints beyond standard session cookies

3. How We Use Information

• Authenticate your account (email only)
• Prevent duplicate votes (session ID)
• Detect and block invalid/bot traffic (session behavior, via Cloudflare)
• Service quality analysis (aggregated, not individual profiling)

4. Data Retention

Behavioral event logs are deleted after 14 days. Account data is retained while your account is active. Upon account deletion, your account is immediately deactivated and your email is no longer used.

5. Third Parties

• Google OAuth: Used for authentication only. We do not receive or store your Google account beyond your email address.
• Google AdSense: May set cookies for ad personalization per Google's privacy policy. Ads are not shown to high-risk sessions.
• Cloudflare: Used for CDN, WAF, and DDoS protection. IP-level filtering occurs at this layer, not in our database.

6. Cookies

We use one session cookie (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Lax) for authentication and one anonymous ID cookie for session continuity. You may clear cookies at any time.

7. Contact

For privacy-related questions, contact us via the support page.