Your privacy.

Your choice to sign in

Hourline is a shared news and context service. You can read it without creating an account. Choosing interests changes the order of shared stories on your device; it does not create a private AI briefing.

We do not sell personal information or use advertising identifiers, third-party advertising SDKs or cross-app tracking. We do not send your profile or reading history to a model API to generate your edition.

What stays on this iPhone

Your reading history, read/unread status, muted stories, followed editorial outlooks, display preferences and local reminders are stored on your device. Your profile, interests and saved items also stay on this device if you do not sign in. Device backups may contain local app data under your Apple settings.

Downloading news and event information still connects to our service when you are signed out. Those requests disclose network information such as your IP address to the hosting provider. Around event images may load from the event provider’s image host; that host receives your IP address and the image request. Story illustrations are bundled or downloaded from our shared artwork service; these requests disclose network information to the hosting provider. App backgrounds are bundled.

What we store when you sign in

Sign in with Apple provides an account identifier and, when you authorise it, your name and email address. You can use Apple’s private relay email. We store your Hourline account ID, sign-in records and the credentials needed to maintain your session. Session credentials on the phone are stored in the iOS Keychain.

To sync across devices, we store your display name, chosen city and region, location coordinates, interests and their weights, briefing reminder time, tracked story IDs and notification preferences, tracked themes and saved event IDs. Reading history is not synced. If notifications are enabled, we store an Apple push token and your device timezone to deliver and time notifications.

These records are used to operate your account, sync your choices and provide requested features. We do not use your interests to infer political beliefs or make eligibility decisions about you.

Location, notifications and Calendar

Location permission is optional. You may enter a city or skip location. If you choose current location, iOS supplies a location fix and Apple geocoding turns it into a city; the app saves the city and coordinates. Coordinates are included in profile sync when signed in. Hourline does not continuously track your location or request background location access.

Notifications are optional and can be changed in iPhone Settings. Local reminders are scheduled on your phone. When you add an event to Calendar, iOS presents an editor for you to review and save it. Hourline does not read your existing calendar events or contacts. Events you save to Calendar are separate from your Hourline account.

Services that help run Hourline

Supabase hosts our authentication and synced account data. The current database is hosted in Japan. Supabase and its infrastructure providers process service requests, technical logs and backups; their support and infrastructure operations may involve other countries, including the United States. Apple provides sign-in, push delivery, location/geocoding, maps and Calendar features and processes data under its own privacy terms.

Our public website is hosted by Vercel, which processes network requests and hosting logs through its international infrastructure. Event providers and image hosts, including Ticketmaster and Eventfinda, supply Around listings and images. Following a source, ticket or website link opens that provider’s service and its privacy terms apply. We do not send your Hourline profile to those destinations.

If you choose to email support, we receive the message and any information or attachments you choose to include, using our email provider. Issue reports are shown as an editable email draft; the app does not silently send them. We use this correspondence to answer your request and resolve the issue.

Retention and deletion

We keep synced account records while you use your account, until you delete it. In Profile → Account → Delete account, you can permanently delete your account and synced profile, tracked stories, themes, saved plans and push registrations. The app clears personal data and reminders on this iPhone after the server confirms deletion. Sign-out alone does not delete your account or the data saved on the phone.

A random deletion receipt is kept for up to seven days, plus the hourly cleanup interval, so an interrupted connection can confirm the result. It is disconnected from the account when deletion completes. It contains no name, email, saved items or reading history.

We also retain a one-way hash of the random account ID and its deletion time for up to 35 days, plus the hourly cleanup interval. This limited record helps prevent an old backup from restoring a deleted account. It contains no name, email, saved items, reading history or sign-in token. Restricted copies used during recovery follow the same retention limit.

For new sign-ins through the updated app, Apple authorisation tokens are encrypted and stored on our server so we can revoke the app’s Apple permission when you delete your account. The encryption key is kept separately from the database. Older accounts without these tokens use Apple’s manual completion process: the app explains how to remove Hourline (which Apple may list as Orbital) under Sign in with Apple in iPhone Settings. Deleting Hourline does not delete your Apple Account.

Clearing data on this iPhone while signed out removes local personal data only. Copies downloaded to other devices, device backups and events you saved to Calendar must be managed separately. Shared news stories, public forecasts and the public ledger are not personal account records and remain available.

Deletion removes active account records. Backup copies and security or infrastructure logs may remain until the relevant provider’s retention cycle replaces them. We do not use backup copies as active accounts. Support correspondence is kept as needed to resolve requests and meet applicable legal obligations. Contact us if you need a specific retention or deletion explanation.

Access, corrections and questions

You can review and change your profile, interests, location and saved items in the app. For access to other personal information we hold, correction, a deletion problem or a privacy complaint, contact the address below. We may ask for enough information to verify that a request relates to your own account. Do not send passwords or sign-in codes.

We will investigate privacy complaints and respond using the contact details you supply. You may also contact your local privacy regulator; in Australia this is the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au. Depending on where you live and the law that applies, you may have additional rights concerning access, correction, deletion, portability, objections or withdrawal of consent.

We update this policy when our practices change. The version date identifies the policy bundled with this app. Material changes will be explained in the app or alongside the updated public policy.