Privacy Policy

Idiocracy News Media ("we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy. This policy explains what we collect when you visit idiocracynewsmedia.com and how we use it.

Information we collect

• Account information. If you create an account to like or comment, we store your email, username, display name, and a securely hashed password.
• Engagement data. When you like or comment, we record that action. Anonymous likes are associated with a randomly generated identifier stored in a first-party cookie, and we store a one-way hash of your IP address to help prevent abuse. We do not store your raw IP address with likes.
• Newsletter. If you subscribe to The Daily Brief, we store your email address to send you our newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time.
• Usage data. Like most websites, our servers and analytics may automatically log standard technical information such as browser type, pages visited, and referring pages.

Games

Our games (at idiocracynewsmedia.com/games) are free to play and need no account.

• Leaderboard entries. When you finish a round you may enter a name to put a score on the board. That name and score are public — anyone visiting the game can see them, so please don't use your real name, an email address, or anything you would not post publicly. We also store a one-way hash of your IP address alongside the entry to stop one person flooding the board. We do not store your raw IP address.
• You can skip it. Every game offers a Skip on the name prompt. Skipping still lets you play; the score simply isn't recorded.
• Progress stays on your device. Your streaks, statistics, saved boards and the name you last used are kept in your browser's local storage, not on our servers. Clearing your browser data erases them, and they are not linked to any account.
• Word game guesses are not stored. INM Wordle checks your guesses on our server so the day's answer isn't sitting in the page, but the guesses themselves are marked and discarded — they are not written to any database or tied to you.
• Game analytics. We record that a game was started, finished or shared, along with the score or guess count. These events are not tied to your name or account.

Because the games open in your browser, our website advertising and cookies apply to them; the advertising section below covers that.

Cookies

We use cookies to keep you signed in, to remember anonymous engagement (such as which posts you've liked), and to support advertising. You can disable cookies in your browser, though some features may stop working.

Advertising

We display ads through Google AdSense on the website and Google AdMob in the Android app. (These are kept strictly separate — AdSense never runs inside the app.) Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our site and/or other sites on the Internet.

You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings, or opt out of third-party vendor cookies at aboutads.info. For more information on how Google uses data, see Google's Privacy & Terms.

The Idiocracy News Android app

This policy also covers our Android app, Idiocracy News (com.idiocracynewsmedia.app), available on Google Play.

What the app collects

• A random device identifier. On first launch the app generates a random ID and stores it on your device. It lets your likes stay yours without an account. It is not your advertising ID, not your device serial, and it is not linked to your identity. Uninstalling the app discards it.
• Account information, only if you choose to sign in — the same email, username and display name described above.
• Your likes and comments, the same as on the website.
• Analytics and crash reports. We use Google Firebase Analytics to understand which screens are used, and Firebase Crashlytics to find out when the app crashes or freezes. Between them this includes app version, device model, coarse region, in-app events, and — when something goes wrong — a technical stack trace and device state at the moment of the crash. It does not include your name, email, or the content of anything you read.
• Push notifications. The app can send breaking-news notifications through Firebase Cloud Messaging. To do that, Firebase issues your installation a token that identifies the device to notify; it is not linked to your name or account. Android asks your permission before the first notification is ever shown, and you can turn notifications off at any time — in the app's settings, or in Android Settings → Apps → Idiocracy News → Notifications. Turning them off stops the messages; uninstalling discards the token.
• Games. The app's Games tab opens our games in your browser rather than inside the app, so the Games section above applies to them.
• Advertising. We show ads through Google AdMob. AdMob may use your device's advertising ID to serve and measure ads. On first launch you are asked for consent where the law requires it, and you can reset or delete your advertising ID at any time in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads.

What the app does not collect. No location, no contacts, no photos, no microphone, no files, no call or SMS data.

The permissions it does request, and why — there are only three:

• Internet access, to load the news.
• Advertising ID, used by AdMob to serve and measure ads.
• Notifications, so breaking-news alerts can be shown. Android asks you before the first one, and declining does not affect anything else in the app.

Purchases. Shop checkout opens in your browser and is handled by Stripe. The app never sees or stores your card details.

Deleting your account and data. You can delete your account and everything attached to it at any time, from the app or directly at idiocracynewsmedia.com/account/delete. Deletion removes your account, your likes and your comments. It cannot be undone.

Leaderboard entries are the one exception, because they are never linked to an account — they are just a name you typed. If you want one removed, contact us with the game and the name and we will delete it.

Ad blockers

If you use an ad blocker we may show a one-time notice asking you to whitelist us or support the site directly. Dismissing it is remembered in your browser's local storage — nothing is sent to us, and no account is required.

How we use information

We use the information we collect to operate and improve the site, enable comments and likes, send the newsletter you requested, respond to your messages, display relevant advertising, and protect against fraud and abuse.

Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with service providers that help us run the site (such as our advertising and hosting partners) and where required by law.

Children

This site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.

Your choices

You may unsubscribe from the newsletter, clear cookies in your browser, request deletion of your account, or opt out of personalized ads as described above. To make a request, contact us.

Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by the "Last updated" date above.