ChordNews

Privacy Policy

Version of 17 October 2026

This policy explains what personal data ChordNews uses when you read the news on chord.news or in the ChordNews app, or when you have an account: what we keep, why, for how long, who helps us, and your rights.

1. Who we are

ChordNews (“we”) runs the website chord.news and the ChordNews app, and is responsible for the personal data described here. ChordNews is run from the United Kingdom, so UK data protection law applies (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018). For any question or request about your data, email [email protected].

2. When you read without an account

You can read the news without giving us anything. Even so, some data is involved:

  • Server logs. Our servers record each request: your IP address, the time, the address requested and your browser or app version. We use them to keep the service secure and to fix problems, and they are deleted after 30 days.
  • Visit counts. On the website we count visits with Umami, which we run ourselves. It records the page you open, the site that sent you, your browser, operating system, type of device and country, and actions such as opening an article or liking it. It sets no cookies, does not store your IP address and does not identify you. The app does not count visits.
  • On your device. Your browser or the app remembers that you agreed to the terms and which theme you chose. This stays on your device and is not sent to us.
  • Pictures and links. The pictures in posts are loaded straight from the news websites that published them, so those websites receive your IP address and browser details; we ask your browser not to tell them which page you were on. When you follow a link to an article you leave ChordNews, and that website’s own privacy policy applies.

3. When you have an account

To register, like, share or comment you need an account. We then keep:

  • your email address, your username, and your password, only in a scrambled form (a hash) that cannot be turned back into it;
  • when you registered, verified your email and last logged in, and failed log in attempts (to lock out password guessing for a few minutes);
  • your settings, such as the layout of the news;
  • which version of the terms you agreed to and when, and when you confirmed you are 18 or older;
  • your likes, shares and comments, and your likes of other comments, with their times;
  • your log in sessions and the links we email you, stored in a form that cannot be used to log in.

4. What other people can see

  • Your username and your comments are public: anyone can see them next to the article.
  • Your email address is never shown to other readers.
  • Administrators of ChordNews can see accounts and what each one has liked, shared and commented, to run the site and remove content that breaks the terms.

5. Why we use it

  • To provide your account and what you ask for: logging in, likes, shares, comments, settings and account emails. This is needed for our agreement with you (the terms).
  • To keep ChordNews safe and working: server logs, locking out password guessing, moderating comments and counting visits without identifying anyone. These are our legitimate interests, and we keep them as light as we can.
  • To meet legal obligations, such as answering a lawful request from the authorities.
  • We do not sell your data, show you ads, build profiles of you or use your data to train AI. The AI that writes the summaries only reads the news articles, never readers’ data.

6. Cookies

ChordNews sets one cookie, and only when you log in. It keeps you logged in for up to 30 days, cannot be read by scripts on the page, and is strictly necessary for your account to work, so it needs no consent. There are no advertising or tracking cookies.

7. Emails

We email you only about your account: the link to verify your address and, if you ask, the link to choose a new password. There are no newsletters or marketing emails.

8. Who helps us run ChordNews

ChordNews runs on our own servers. A few providers handle data for us, only to provide their service:

  • Cloudflare carries all traffic to chord.news and protects it from attacks; it sees your IP address and the requests you make.
  • MXroute delivers our emails, so it receives your email address and the message.
  • Some of these providers may process data outside the UK, for example in the United States. Where they do, the transfer is covered by the safeguards UK law requires, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or the UK extension of the EU–US Data Privacy Framework.
  • We only share data with others when the law requires it.

9. How long we keep it

  • Your account and everything that belongs to it, until you delete the account. Deleting it removes your email address, username, likes, shares and comments at once and for good.
  • An account whose email is never verified is deleted after 7 days.
  • Log in sessions end when you log out, or after 30 days. Emailed links stop working after 24 hours (verifying) or 60 minutes (new password).
  • Server logs, 30 days. Occasional backups of the database, at most 30 days.
  • Visit counts are kept without a time limit, as they do not identify anyone.

10. Your rights

You can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, to delete it, to receive it in a form you can take elsewhere, to restrict how we use it, or object to how we use it. You can change your username and password and delete your account yourself in Settings; for anything else, email [email protected]. We answer within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first. You can also complain to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, telephone 0303 123 1113.

11. Under 18s

Accounts are only for people who are 18 or older. If we learn that someone younger has registered, we delete the account.

12. Keeping it safe

All connections to ChordNews are encrypted, and so is the traffic between our services. Passwords are stored only as hashes, repeated wrong passwords lock the account for a few minutes, and only administrators can see account details.

13. Changes

If this policy changes, the date at the top changes too, and we point out important changes on the site.