Privacy & data

Privacy Policy

Effective date: 1 January 2026
Last updated: 1 January 2026

For privacy questions: privacy@thebias.co.uk

This Privacy Policy explains how The Bias (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects and uses personal data when you use the The Bias mobile application (the “App”) and any related services (together, the “Service”).

Email privacy@thebias.co.uk

1) Who we are

For UK data protection purposes, we are responsible for the personal data we process to provide the Service.

Service / Controller: The Bias
Operated by: Sam Ehlen & Charlie Ehlen
Registered address: Treetops, Standon, ST21 6TG
Company number: Not yet registered
Privacy contact: privacy@thebias.co.uk

2) What personal data we collect

We aim to collect the minimum personal data needed to provide the Service.

A) Information you provide

When you sign up, we collect and store:

First name
Last name
Region (e.g., your country) that you select manually

B) Sign in with Apple (authentication)

We use Sign in with Apple for authentication. We receive and store:

a unique user identifier from Apple that allows us to recognise your account

We do not store your email address (including any Apple relay email).

C) Reading and interaction data

We store:

stories you click/read (and related in-app interaction events)

D) Support communications

If you contact us by email, we process:

your email address
the content of your message and any attachments
any information you choose to include

3) What we do not collect

No precise location (GPS) and we do not track your device location.
No third-party analytics or advertising tracking at this stage.
No marketing email list and we do not send marketing emails.

4) Where your data is stored

Your profile data (first name, last name, region) and reading/interactions data are stored in Apple CloudKit in a private database associated with your account. We do not operate separate The Bias application servers for storing this in-app data at this time.

Apple provides the infrastructure that enables Sign in with Apple, CloudKit, and Apple Push Notification service (APNs). Apple’s own handling of data in those services is governed by Apple’s policies.

5) How we use your data

We use personal data to:

Create and manage your account (using the Sign in with Apple identifier and your profile fields)
Provide the Service (including syncing your profile and reading history via CloudKit)
Personalise or regionalise content using your region and your in-app interactions
Respond to support requests you send us
Maintain security and reliability (e.g., preventing misuse and keeping the Service functioning)

We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis:

Contract: to provide the Service you request (account creation, subscription access, saving your settings/reading history)
Legitimate interests: to operate, secure, and improve the Service (for example, preventing misuse and maintaining reliability)
Legal obligation: where we must keep information to comply with law (if/when applicable)

7) AI use

We use AI within our product. No user personal data is provided to any AI provider or third party for AI processing.

AI is used on non-user personal content (for example, processing article text to produce summaries or classifications).
Your personal data (name, region, Sign in with Apple identifier, reading/click history) is not sent to third parties for AI purposes.

8) Subscriptions and payments

Subscriptions are currently purchased only through Apple’s in-app purchase system. We do not receive your payment card details.

We may access or store limited information required to provide access (for example, subscription entitlement status available through Apple mechanisms).

We do not sell your personal data.

We share personal data only as necessary to provide the Service, including with:

Apple (to enable Sign in with Apple, CloudKit private database storage, and push notifications via APNs)
Email services (only if you contact us by email, to receive and respond to your message)

We may also share information if required by law or a valid legal request.

10) International transfers

Apple operates global infrastructure, so your data may be processed in countries outside the UK. Where international transfers occur, appropriate safeguards are used by Apple and/or required under applicable law.

11) How long we keep your data

We use a criteria-based retention approach:

Account/profile data (first name, last name, region) and reading/interactions data: retained while your account is active and deleted when you delete your account (subject to any limited retention required for legal or security reasons).
Support emails: retained for as long as needed to respond and keep a reasonable record of support history.

12) Whether you must provide data

The Sign in with Apple identifier is required to create an account and use the Service.
Your first name, last name, and region are required fields at sign-up for the Service as currently designed.
If you contact support, you must provide enough information for us to respond (typically your email address and message content).

13) Your rights (UK users)

You have rights under UK GDPR, including the right to:

access your data
correct inaccurate data
request deletion in certain circumstances
restrict processing in certain circumstances
object to certain processing
receive a portable copy of your data in certain circumstances

To exercise your rights, email privacy@thebias.co.uk.

You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

14) Account deletion

You can delete your account in the App:

Profile icon (top right) → Delete account

Deleting your account will delete your profile data and reading/interactions data stored for your account, subject to any limited retention required for legal or security reasons.

15) Children

The Service is intended for users aged 13+. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal data, contact privacy@thebias.co.uk.

16) Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to notify you in-app. The “Last updated” date indicates when this policy was last revised.

17) Our website

Draft section, pending legal review.

This section covers this website, thebias.co.uk, including its stories, articles and these policy pages. Reading the website needs no account, and it does not ask for your name or email address. Its pages set no cookies themselves, and they show no adverts and use no advertising services.

What is stored on your device

The website keeps a few small notes in your browser’s local storage. They stay on your device and are never sent to us. You can remove them at any time by clearing this site’s data in your browser.

Key	What it is for
`tb-read`	The addresses of stories you have opened on this device (up to 300), so story lists can mark them “Read”.
`tb-stories-last-visit`	When you last opened the stories page on this device, so newer stories can be marked “New”.
`tb-app-bar-dismissed`	When you closed the “Get the app” bar, so it stays hidden for seven days.
`tb-claims-tried`	That you have tried Claims Mode, so the first-visit tip is not shown again.
`tb-stats-off`	Your choice to turn off anonymous statistics on this device.
`tb-variant`	Used by earlier versions of these pages. It is no longer used, and it is deleted the next time you open one of our pages.

What we count

Unless you turn statistics off, each page sends small anonymous counts to /t/ on this website when:

view: a page was opened
app-click: an App Store link was selected
qr_open: the “scan to get the app” code was opened on a computer
bar_dismiss: the “Get the app” bar was closed
claims_on: Claims Mode was turned on
cwv: how quickly the page loaded, responded and settled (three Core Web Vitals timings)

Each count records only the event, the type of page and which page it was, the button or link used, which version of the page’s wording was shown (we test two wordings), your device class (iPhone or iPad, Android, another phone or tablet, or a computer) and, if you are reading inside another app, which one (for example Instagram’s built-in browser).

Counts carry no cookies and no identifiers. We do not store your IP address, user agent or referrer with them, and nothing in them identifies you. Nothing is counted when JavaScript is off, when your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, or when you turn statistics off below.

Who else is involved

Cloudflare hosts this website and stores the counts. Like any web host, it handles your IP address to deliver each page. It can also set strictly necessary security cookies if it needs to check for automated traffic. Some story images may load from Cloudflare R2 storage.
Fonts. The website’s fonts (Inter and Source Serif 4) are stored on and served from this website, so reading it sends no requests to Google Fonts or any other font service.
Apple. App Store links carry a campaign token (for example ct=header) that tells Apple which link was used, so installs can be counted by placement. Apple’s own privacy policy applies on the App Store.

Your choices

Turn off anonymous statistics

The choice is saved on this device only, in the tb-stats-off key above, so it needs setting again on each browser you use.

Questions

Email privacy@thebias.co.uk.

Questions about privacy?

If anything here is unclear, email us. We’ll reply in plain language.