Short version: we don't sell your data, we don't show ads, we don't track you across the internet, and we don't even know who you are. Here's the longer version, in plain English.
If you paste a URL (a YouTube link, article, or social post) and run a check, we store the URL itself, the verdict our AI returned, and the analysis text. We do not store anything about you.
We do this so we can write public articles about misinformation patterns we're seeing. URLs are public content by definition — you found them on the internet, and we may discuss them in published debunks. Records are automatically deleted after 90 days.
If you paste a claim or quote rather than a URL, we do not store it. Free-form text might contain private messages, quotes from friends, or things you don't want shared. We process it, return the verdict, and discard it.
We keep three running totals across all visitors: total checks done, number of false/scam verdicts, and number of scam-flagged checks. These are just numbers — no personal data attached.
Cloudflare (our hosting provider) keeps standard server logs that include things like IP addresses for security purposes, the same way every website on the internet does. We don't access these for analytics. Cloudflare's privacy practices are documented here.
We use Cloudflare's privacy-friendly analytics to see roughly how many people visit and where from. It's cookie-free, doesn't track you across sites, and doesn't fingerprint you. That's the whole reason we picked it over alternatives like Google Analytics.
When you run a fact-check, the URL or claim text is sent to Anthropic to be processed by Claude. Anthropic's privacy policy (link) governs that step.
We do not send Anthropic any user-identifying information — they only see the URL or claim being checked, plus a generic project tag.
Just one. We use a localStorage entry to remember whether you picked dark mode or light mode. That's it. It never leaves your browser.
Because we don't tie checks to user accounts or identifiers, we genuinely can't connect a record back to you. But if you fact-checked a specific URL and want it removed from our stored records, email us at the address below with the URL and we'll delete the record manually within 7 days.
The Fact Desk is intended for people aged 13 and over. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone younger.
If we change anything material about this policy, we'll update the date at the top and post a note on the homepage. Major changes (e.g. introducing accounts) will get a clearer announcement.
Privacy questions or removal requests: privacy@thefactdesk.com (or whatever email you've set up — replace this with your real contact)