Privacy Policy

Pingmer is a news tracking service that helps you follow evolving stories over time. We notify you when major developments occur in the stories you care about.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. We believe in being clear and straightforward about our practices.

By using Pingmer, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this policy. If you don't agree with any part of it, please don't use our service.

Account information: When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and password (which we store securely hashed). If you sign up with Google, we receive your name and email from Google. You can also set your timezone and language preferences.

Automatically collected information: When you visit Pingmer, we may collect your IP address, browser type, operating system, and device type. This helps us understand how our service is used and troubleshoot issues.

Usage data: If you accept analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics to understand how people use Pingmer. This includes pages visited, features used, and how you found us. This data is aggregated and helps us improve the service.

We use your information to:

• Provide and improve the service: Your account info lets you log in, track stories, and receive notifications. We use usage data to fix bugs and make Pingmer better.
• Send notifications: When stories you track have major updates, we notify you via email or Telegram based on your preferences. You control which notifications you receive in Settings.
• Understand usage patterns: Analytics help us see which features are popular, what's confusing, and where we should focus our efforts.

We don't sell your data or share it with advertisers. We don't use your data for targeted advertising.

We use cookies and similar technologies based on your location:

• Users in the EU/EEA and UK: You will see a cookie consent banner. Analytics cookies are only enabled after you explicitly accept.
• Users outside the EU/EEA: Analytics cookies may be enabled automatically as explicit consent is not legally required in your region. You can still opt out by clearing your cookies or using browser privacy settings.

Google Analytics (GA4): We use Google Analytics to understand how people use Pingmer. This helps us improve the service. When analytics are enabled, GA4 collects anonymized usage data like pages visited and features used.

Reddit Pixel: On select marketing pages (e.g. our For Journalists page), we load the Reddit conversion pixel to measure advertising effectiveness. This pixel is only loaded when analytics cookies are accepted and may set cookies to track conversions from Reddit ads.

Meta Pixel: We use the Meta (Facebook) Pixel and Conversions API to measure the effectiveness of our advertising on Facebook and Instagram. When analytics cookies are accepted, the pixel may collect anonymized interaction data such as page views and conversion events (e.g. sign-ups, searches, purchases). Server-side events are also sent for improved measurement accuracy.

Local storage: We store your authentication token in your browser's local storage to keep you logged in. This data stays on your device and isn't shared with third parties.

Stripe cookies: When you use the Stripe payment flow, Stripe may set cookies for payment processing and fraud prevention. These are necessary for secure payment handling.

Your current cookie preference: You haven't made a choice yet.

We use the following third-party services:

• Supabase: Hosts our database and handles authentication. Your account data is stored securely on Supabase infrastructure.
• Google: Provides OAuth login (optional) and Google Analytics (with consent).
• Telegram: If you choose to receive Telegram notifications, we connect to Telegram's API to send you updates.
• OpenAI & Google Gemini: We use AI services to analyze news content and generate summaries. We don't send your personal information to these services—only the public news content we're tracking.
• Stripe: We use Stripe to process payments for our Pro subscription. When you upgrade to Pro, Stripe collects and processes your payment information (credit card details, billing address). We do not store your full credit card number on our servers. See Stripe's privacy policy for details on how they handle your payment data.
• Reddit: We use the Reddit conversion pixel on select marketing pages to measure advertising effectiveness. This pixel loads only when analytics cookies are accepted. See Reddit's privacy policy for details.
• Meta (Facebook): We use the Meta Pixel and Conversions API to measure advertising effectiveness. The pixel loads only when analytics cookies are accepted. See Meta's privacy policy for details.

You have the following rights regarding your data:

• Access: View your account information and tracked stories in Settings.
• Deletion: Delete your account at any time from Settings. Your data is retained for 90 days (in case you change your mind), then permanently purged.
• Opt out of analytics: Decline cookies when prompted, or reset your preference above.
• Control notifications: Manage your notification preferences in Settings. Unsubscribe from email notifications anytime.

Pingmer is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately, and we will delete the information.

We take reasonable measures to protect your information:

• HTTPS everywhere: All connections to Pingmer are encrypted using TLS.
• Password hashing: Passwords are hashed using industry-standard algorithms. We never store plain-text passwords.
• Session management: Sessions expire after inactivity and are invalidated on logout.

No system is perfectly secure, but we do our best to protect your data and respond quickly to any security concerns.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we'll notify you by email (if you have an account) or display a notice on our website.

Minor changes (typo fixes, clarifications) may be made without notice. The "Last updated" date at the top tells you when this policy was last changed.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your data rights, please contact us. We aim to respond to all inquiries within 48 hours.