Privacy Policy for Simple HackerNews

Effective Date: July 3, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how "Simple HackerNews" ("we," "us," or "our") handles information in connection with your use of the Simple HackerNews mobile application (the "Service"). Your privacy is important to us, and we have designed our app to be as privacy-respecting as possible.

By using our Service, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

1. Introduction & Our Philosophy

Simple HackerNews is a mobile application that provides a simple interface to browse the best, top and latest stories from HackerNews. Our core philosophy is to provide this service without collecting any of your personal information. We do not require you to log in, create an account, or provide us with any personal data to use our app.

2. Information We Do Not Collect

We do not collect, request, or store any personal information from you. Since we do not have user accounts, your activity within the app is anonymous and not linked to you.

3. Information You Choose to Create (Locally Stored Data)

The app includes a feature that allows you to bookmark articles for later reading.

• Bookmark Data: All bookmark data is stored locally on your device's internal storage. This data is under your control and is not transmitted to us or any third party.
• Data Deletion: If you uninstall the application, all locally stored bookmark data will be permanently deleted from your device.
• Import/Export: The app allows you to manually export your bookmarks as a .txt file to your device's storage and import them back into the app. This process is entirely initiated and managed by you. We do not have access to these files or their contents.

4. Third-Party Services

HackerNews API: The app retrieves content (stories, articles, comments) directly from the official HackerNews API. Your use of our Service is also subject to the privacy policy and terms of service of HackerNews. We encourage you to review their policies to understand how they handle data.

Other Third Parties: We do not integrate any third-party services for the purposes of:

• Analytics: We do not track your behavior or usage patterns within the app.
• Advertising: The app is free of advertisements. We do not use any ad networks like Google AdMob or Meta Audience Network.
• Crash Reporting: We rely on the standard crash reporting provided by the Google Play Store, which is managed by Google. We do not use additional third-party crash reporting tools like Firebase Crashlytics or Sentry.

5. App Permissions

The Simple HackerNews app requests only the following permission to function:

• Internet Access: This permission is essential to connect to the HackerNews API and retrieve articles and stories for you to view.

We do not request any other permissions, such as access to your location, storage (except for user-initiated import/export), camera, or contacts.

6. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are under the age of 18, you must have your parent or legal guardian's permission to use this Service.

7. In-App Purchases

The Simple HackerNews app is completely free to use. There are no in-app purchases or subscription fees.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy within the app or on our app store listing. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please feel free to contact us at:

Email: sbnaick@proton.me