This policy describes how Blackout Briefing handles personal information on the paper. It is written to be plain and to limit what we take on. Contact griddownai@gmail.com.

You can read every brief without an account. An account is optional. If you do not want an account, do not create one.

If you create an account, we collect:

• Name and email address.
• A password, stored only as a hash. We do not keep a readable copy.
• Whether news alerts are on, and how far you have read in the alert list.
• Briefs you heart, saved to that account.

If you sign in with Google or X, we receive the name, email, and identifier those services choose to send. Their own policies govern what they do before that handoff.

We also keep a count of reads on each brief so the weekly paper can place the most-read story first. That count is about the brief, not a dossier on you. Sign-in uses a session cookie. The session record can include IP address and browser type, which we use to keep the account secure and to end stale sessions. Email sign-up and sign-in can use Google reCAPTCHA v3, which sends Google a token about that request so we can reject automated signups. We do not run advertising cookies, and we do not buy data about you.

We use this information to:

• Create and protect your account.
• Show alerts you asked for, inside the paper.
• Keep the briefs you hearted.
• Order the weekly paper by reads.
• Count signups and export the email list for the operator’s own desk.
• Enforce the Terms of Service, prevent abuse, and answer you if you write.

We do not sell personal information. We do not share, rent, or trade email addresses with advertisers, data brokers, or other publications. We do not use your email for third-party marketing. We do not use alerts as a pretext to send unrelated promotions. The signup list exists so the paper can tell its readers when a brief is filed, and so the operator can see how many people signed up.

You can see your own name, email, alerts, and favorites. The operator of Blackout Briefing can see account records as needed to run the paper. A single designated operator account can open the desk, see the signup count, and download a spreadsheet of signup emails. That export is for operating the paper. It is not a product we sell.

The company that hosts the site and the database processes this information only so the paper can run. We do not authorize them to use it for their own marketing. We may disclose information if the law requires it, or if we reasonably believe disclosure is needed to protect the paper, our readers, or someone else from harm, fraud, or abuse. If we do, we will limit it to what the request actually requires.

We keep account information while the account is open. You may email griddownai@gmail.com and ask us to delete the account. We will delete or de-identify the account record, favorites, and alert settings, except where we need a short record to finish a security investigation, comply with law, or defend a claim. Read counts on briefs stay, because they are not tied to your name. Session records expire on their own.

We use ordinary care: hashed passwords, signed-in sessions, and access to the signup list limited to the operator desk. No website is perfectly secure. You use the paper, and you send your email, at your own risk. Do not reuse a password you use for anything that matters more than a free news account.

The paper is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has given us an account, write to griddownai@gmail.com and we will delete it.

The paper is operated from the United States. If you use it from somewhere else, you understand that your information will be processed in the United States, where the protections may differ from those at home. By creating an account, you consent to that processing.

You can turn alerts off in Settings. You can stop using the account. You can ask for deletion at griddownai@gmail.com. Depending on where you live, you may have a right to know, correct, or delete personal information, or to appeal a refusal. Write to that address and we will answer. We will not discriminate against you for asking.

We do not sell or “share” personal information as those words are used in the California Consumer Privacy Act. We do not respond to “do not track” signals because we do not track you across other sites.

If we change this policy, we will post the new one on this page with a new effective date. Continued use after that date means you accept the new policy. The Terms of Service govern disputes about this policy, including the limits on our liability.