Privacy Policy

Ab Tak is a news reader that stores headlines locally after they are fetched from third-party news APIs (currently GNews) and approved for publication. The live website does not call the news API from your browser.

Operator: Shioft Digital Service Private Limited. Website: https://www.newsplanetx.com.

• Account: name, email address, and a hashed password if you register. We do not store your password in plain text.
• Optional profile choices: topic interests if you use the interests page, plus bookmarks and (where enabled) likes or hidden stories.
• We do not ask for payment details, government IDs, or precise location.

To run the service and, for signed-in users, to improve story ranking, we may record:

• Clicks on headlines, article opens, and approximate time spent reading (dwell).
• Bookmarks and similar actions tied to your account.
• Technical data needed to deliver pages (for example IP address and device/browser information processed by our hosting provider).

If you are not logged in, similar preference scores may be kept only on your device in a cookie, so the feed can still be ordered without an account. Signed-in events are stored in our database against your user ID.

• Session cookie — keeps you logged in (Auth.js / NextAuth).
• abtak_topic_interests — topic scores on this device for guests (up to about one year). If you later create an account, these may be merged into your profile.
• abtak_interests_skipped — remembers if a guest dismissed an interests prompt.
• ab-tak-theme in local storage — light/dark appearance only.

• Provide the news site, search, categories, and article pages.
• Create and secure your account.
• Rank or filter headlines using topics inferred from what you open and read. We do not show a public “for you” label; ranking still happens in the system.
• Remember bookmarks and account settings.
• Keep the service reliable, debug errors, and prevent abuse.

Headlines, images, and article previews come from third-party publishers via our ingestion pipeline. Opening “Read original” or a source link takes you to that publisher’s site, which has its own privacy policy.

We host the app on infrastructure such as Vercel and store data in a PostgreSQL database (currently via a cloud provider). Those processors see technical data needed to operate the service. We do not sell your personal information.

Ab Tak is not directed at children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your country). Do not create an account if you are below that age.

• Browse without an account; ranking then relies on device cookies.
• Clear cookies and site data in your browser to reset guest preferences.
• Log out, or stop using the service, at any time.
• To access, correct, or delete account data, contact us using the details below. We will need enough information to verify the request.

Account, bookmark, and behaviour records are kept while your account exists and as needed to operate the product. Passwords are hashed. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure; we take reasonable steps to protect data but cannot guarantee absolute security.

Questions about this policy: write to privacy@newsplanetx.com or contact Shioft Digital Service Private Limited, referring to Ab Tak / NewsPlanetX.