Privacy policy

Who we are

The Scoop is a local news service for Chitradurga district, Karnataka, India. You can reach us at the email address at the end of this page.

What we collect

We collect only what each feature needs:

• A random visitor ID made by the app, so that your reading profile stays the same on your device. It is not your phone's hardware ID.
• If you sign up with email: your email address and a password (we store only a scrambled version of the password).
• If you sign in with Google: your name, your email address and your profile picture, as Google shares them with us. We do not get your contacts, files or any other Google data.
• If you say yes to location: the nearest village, pincode, taluk, district and state. We never store your coordinates. See the location section below.
• If you say yes to analytics: the days you open the app and the time you last opened it. We do not record what you read.
• Basic technical data that our hosts keep to run the site safely, such as your IP address and browser type, for a short time.

Cookies and similar storage

We keep this small list in your browser:

• A session cookie that keeps your visit and your sign-in working. The site needs it. It holds a sign-in token, not your name.
• A small note in your browser tab so that we do not record the same visit twice. We only use it after you say yes to analytics.
• For staff only: a separate secure cookie that keeps a staff member signed in, and a cookie that remembers a light or dark theme.

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

Staff and reporters

People who work for The Scoop (reporters, zone heads and administrators) have staff accounts. For them we keep an email address, a name, a role, when they were last active, and a security log of important staff actions, so that we can run the newsroom and keep it safe. A staff agreement will say more.

Why we use it

To show you the news, to keep your profile and sign-in working, to show nearby news if you allow location, to understand which stories are read so that we can improve, and to keep the site safe from abuse. We do not sell your data.

Your choices, one by one

We ask for each of these separately. None of them is ticked for you, and you can turn each one off at any time in your Profile:

• Location, to suggest nearby news and ads.
• Analytics.
• Ads personalisation.
• Push notifications.

We do not load analytics, ad software or trackers before you say yes. We record each time you give or withdraw a choice, with the time and the version of this policy.

Location

If you allow location, your phone sends your coordinates once. We turn them into the nearest village and then throw the coordinates away. We keep only the village, pincode, taluk, district and state, and only the last 5 different pincodes. If you turn location off, we delete these at once. You cannot type a pincode by hand.

The people who run The Scoop see only totals, never one person's trail.

Ads

Ads on local district pages come from local advertisers booked directly with us, or are our own house ads. Ads on general pages may also come from Google ads. Google ads load only after you agree. Until we have finished our rules for under-18 visitors, we do not show personalised ads.

Google sign-in and Google user data

If you choose Google sign-in, we use your name, email address and profile picture only to create and show your account. We do not share this data with others and we do not use it for ads. The Scoop's use of information received from Google follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use rules.

Who else handles your data

We use these services to run The Scoop. They handle data for us and do not use it for their own purposes:

• Supabase (database and sign-in), servers in Mumbai, India.
• Cloudflare (hosting, security and speed).
• Resend (sending sign-in and confirmation emails).

How long we keep data

We keep your data only as long as we need it:

• Your visitor ID and profile: until you delete them. We plan to also delete devices that have been inactive for 12 months.
• The days you opened the app (only if you said yes to analytics): 90 days, then they are deleted.
• Your privacy choices: as long as your account exists.
• Our staff security log: 180 days.
• Safety counters that slow down password guessing (a scrambled code, never your email or IP address): 1 day.
• A deleted account: gone 7 days after your request. Our backups may keep a copy for up to 7 more days.
• Raw ad impression and click records, when ads start: 30 days for billing disputes, then deleted.

Deleting your data

Open "Your data" (the link at the bottom of the home page). There you can download a copy of the data we hold about you, and ask us to delete it. When you ask, we stop counting your visits and remove your visit history and your name straight away. Your account is deleted for good after 7 days, and until then you can change your mind and cancel. Our backups may keep a copy for up to 7 more days, and then it is gone. You can also write to us at the email address below.

Children

We do not track children or show them targeted ads. If you are under 18, please use The Scoop with a parent or guardian.

Changes to this page

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we update the date at the top and tell you in the app.