Information We Collect
Information You Provide
- Account information: email address, username, display name, profile photo
- Voting data: your votes on congressional bills (Yea, Nay, Pass)
- Question responses: your answers to AI-generated questions on articles
- Comments: text you post in comment sections
- Profile preferences: theme settings, notification preferences, ZIP code (optional)
Information Collected Automatically
- Usage data: pages viewed, articles read, features used, time spent
- Device information: browser type, operating system, device type, screen resolution
- Log data: IP address, access times, referring URLs
- Cookies and similar technologies: as described in our Cookie Policy
Information Derived from Your Activity
- Political compass position: calculated from your voting patterns and question responses
- Reading patterns: which perspectives you engage with most
- Aggregate political leaning indicators: used only for your personal compass visualization
How We Collect Information
We collect information through:
- Direct input: when you create an account, vote, comment, or update your profile
- Automated collection: cookies, web analytics, server logs
- Third-party services: authentication providers (if you sign in via Google, Apple, etc.)
How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- Provide, operate, and maintain the Service
- Calculate and display your compass position
- Generate aggregate community statistics (anonymized)
- Improve content quality and user experience
- Send notifications (bill updates, comment replies, @mentions)
- Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents
- Comply with legal obligations
Sensitive Personal Information & Political Data
We recognize that your political opinions and voting patterns constitute sensitive personal information. We commit to the following:
- Your political data is never sold to any third party
- Your political data is never used for targeted advertising
- Your political data is never shared with political campaigns, parties, PACs, or advocacy organizations
- Your political data is never used to manipulate the content you see (no filter bubbles)
- Your compass position is private by default — only visible to you unless you explicitly make your profile public
- Your individual votes are never disclosed — only aggregate, anonymized statistics are used
- Your political data is never used to discriminate against you in any way
- You can delete all political data at any time from your account settings
Our pledge: Aebly Media exists to inform, not influence. We will never weaponize your political data.
How We Share Your Information
We may share your information only in these limited circumstances:
- Service providers: hosting (Vercel), database (Supabase), analytics (privacy-respecting)
- Legal requirements: to comply with law, regulation, legal process, or government request
- Safety: to protect the rights, property, or safety of Aebly Media, our users, or the public
- Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (with prior notice)
- With your consent: when you explicitly choose to share (e.g., making your profile public)
We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. After account deletion:
- Personal data is deleted within 30 days
- Anonymized, aggregate data may be retained indefinitely for statistical purposes
- Backup copies are purged within 90 days
- Legal hold data is retained as required by law
Your Rights & Choices
Depending on your location, you may have the right to:
- Access: request a copy of your personal data
- Correct: update inaccurate information
- Delete: request deletion of your personal data
- Port: receive your data in a machine-readable format
- Opt out: of the sale or sharing of personal information (we don't sell, but you have the right)
- Restrict: limit certain processing of your data
- Withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at juliusaebly@aeblymedia.com.
Account Deletion
You can delete your account at any time through Settings → Delete Account. This will:
- Permanently remove your profile, compass data, and voting history
- Remove your comments (or anonymize them, at your choice)
- Revoke all active sessions
- Process within 30 days
Data Security
We implement industry-standard security measures including:
- TLS/SSL encryption for all data in transit
- Encrypted database storage for sensitive data
- Row-level security (RLS) policies in our database
- CSRF protection on all API endpoints
- Content Security Policy (CSP) headers
- Regular security audits and dependency updates
No system is 100% secure. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it to juliusaebly@aeblymedia.com.
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) Notice
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act).
Categories of Personal Information Collected
| Category | Collected | Sold | Shared | Disclosed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers (email, username, IP) | YES | NO | NO | YES |
| Internet activity (browsing, usage) | YES | NO | NO | YES |
| Geolocation (ZIP code, approximate) | YES | NO | NO | NO |
| Inferences (compass position) | YES | NO | NO | NO |
| Sensitive PI (political opinions/votes) | YES | NO | NO | NO |
Your California Rights
- Right to Know: request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information collected
- Right to Delete: request deletion of personal information
- Right to Correct: request correction of inaccurate personal information
- Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing: we do not sell or share PI, but you have this right
- Right to Limit Use of Sensitive PI: request that we limit use of sensitive personal information
- Right to Non-Discrimination: we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights
To exercise these rights, contact us at juliusaebly@aeblymedia.com. We will verify your identity and respond within 45 days.
Shine the Light
California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents to request information about disclosure of personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes. We do not disclose personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes.
Consumers in Other U.S. States
If you reside in Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, or Virginia, you may have similar privacy rights under your state's consumer privacy law. To exercise these rights, contact us at juliusaebly@aeblymedia.com.
If we deny your request, you have the right to appeal. We will respond to appeals within 45 days.
Do Not Track & Global Privacy Control
We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. If your browser sends a GPC signal, we will treat it as a valid opt-out request for the sale or sharing of personal information (though we do not sell or share PI).
We also respond to browser-level "Do Not Track" signals by limiting analytics tracking.
Automated Decision-Making & Profiling
Aebly Media uses automated processing to:
- Calculate your compass position — this is an informational tool, not a high-stakes decision. It does not affect your access to the Service, content shown, or opportunities available to you.
- Generate AI summaries and analyses — these are algorithmic approximations of political perspectives, not editorial decisions made about you.
- Moderate content — automated systems may flag potentially harmful content for human review.
No automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects are made about you.
Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services:
- Vercel: hosting and deployment
- Supabase: database, authentication, and real-time subscriptions
- Anthropic (Claude): AI content generation
- Google Analytics: anonymized usage analytics
- Stripe: payment processing (if applicable)
Each provider has its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review them.
Children's Privacy
The Service is intended for users aged 13 and older. Users between the ages of 13 and 17 should review this policy with a parent or guardian before creating an account.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected data from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, contact us immediately at juliusaebly@aeblymedia.com.
Users under 18 are subject to the same data practices described in this policy. We do not use the data of any minor for targeted advertising, political profiling, or any purpose beyond operating the Service.
International Users
Aebly Media is based in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the U.S., you consent to the transfer of your information to the U.S., where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email or in-app notification at least 30 days before they take effect. The "Last Updated" date at the bottom of this page indicates when the policy was most recently revised.
Accessibility
We are committed to making our privacy practices accessible to all users. If you need this policy in an alternative format, please contact us.
Governing Law
This Privacy Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-law provisions.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Aebly Media LLC
Julius Aebly — juliusaebly@aeblymedia.com
John Neri — johnneri@aeblymedia.com
Website: aeblymedia.com
Last updated: March 24, 2026