Privacy Policy
Draft — pre-launchNewSanity (“NewSanity,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is operated by Jesse Stafford. This policy explains what information NewSanity collects through its website and mobile apps (together, the “Service”), how we use it, and the choices you have.
No accounts
NewSanity does not have user accounts. You don’t give us a name, an email address, or a password. Instead, the app generates a random device identifier the first time you open it and uses that to remember your preferences, votes, and reading activity.
What we collect
Device identifier. A randomly generated ID created on your device, plus an access token used to authenticate requests for that device. Neither is tied to your real-world identity.
Usage analytics. As you use the app, we log events (for example, which screen you viewed) along with your device ID, a session ID, your app version, and platform (iOS, Android, or web). We also log coarse location — your country, region, and city, derived from your network connection — but never your precise location as part of analytics.
Location, for finding your ballot. If you use the “Midterms” feature to look up your local elections, we ask for your location so we can match you to the correct races. This works differently on mobile and web, and we want to be specific about the difference:
- On the mobile app, your phone converts your GPS position into a street address on the device itself. Only that resolved address — never your raw coordinates — is sent to our servers.
- On the website, your browser sends your precise coordinates directly to our servers. Our servers then send those coordinates to OpenStreetMap’s geocoding service to resolve them into an address. Before we cache the result, we round the coordinates to roughly a tenth of a mile; we do not store your exact coordinates.
If you’d rather not share your location on either platform, you can type in your ZIP code instead.
Content you interact with. Votes, guesses, article reads, reactions, and follows are all tied to your device ID, not to a person, and are used to compute your in-app stats (streaks, badges, reading balance).
What we don’t collect
We don’t collect your name, email address, phone number, or precise location history. We don’t currently show ads or use any advertising identifiers. If that changes, we’ll update this policy before it does, and add the disclosures described in “Future features” below.
Who we share it with
We use a small number of outside services to run NewSanity. Each only receives the minimum information needed to do its job:
| Service | What it’s for | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Network delivery and security | Your connection’s coarse network location |
| Google Civic Information API | Election and ballot data | A resolved address (never raw coordinates) |
| U.S. Census Bureau geocoder | Matching you to a congressional district | An address or coordinates |
| OpenStreetMap (Nominatim) | Converting coordinates to an address | Raw coordinates, from the website flow described above |
| Public discussion content we display alongside headlines | Nothing from you — we only read Reddit’s public content |
We do not sell your information, and we do not share it with anyone for their own advertising purposes.
How long we keep it
Your votes, guesses, and analytics events are kept for as long as your device record exists. We don’t currently have an automatic deletion schedule — we’re working on one — but you can request deletion at any time (see below), and that removes your device record and everything tied to it immediately.
Your choices
Delete your data. Email us at [email protected] with your device ID (found in the app’s You tab) and we’ll delete your device record and everything linked to it — votes, guesses, reads, reactions, follows, and analytics events.
Location. You can decline the location permission and enter your ZIP code instead, on both platforms.
Uninstalling the app or clearing your browser’s site data removes your locally stored device ID; a new, unlinked one is generated if you come back.
Children’s privacy
NewSanity is not directed to children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If we learn we’ve collected information from a child under 13, we’ll delete it.
Future features
We’re planning to add optional push notifications and, eventually, advertising. Before either ships, we’ll update this policy to describe what’s collected and, for advertising, add the consent controls and opt-outs that apply in your region.
Changes to this policy
If we make material changes to this policy, we’ll update the “last updated” date above and, for significant changes, post a notice in the app.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data: [email protected]