Privacy Policy
Uncover is an iPhone app of true stories from history, operated by Peeka, Incorporated ("we", "us"). This policy explains what we collect when you use Uncover, why, how long we keep it, and how you can delete it. If you have a question about it, write to uncover-support@googlegroups.com.
In short: you sign in with Apple or Google so your personalization, reading history and bookmarks are saved to your account. We keep your email, but never ask for your name. We use what you read to pick your next stories. We don't show ads, don't track you across other apps or websites, and don't sell your data. You can delete your account and everything we keep about it from inside the app at any time.
What we collect
| Information | What it is | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-in identifier | The account ID Apple or Google gives Uncover for you when you sign in. It identifies you only to Uncover. | To find your account each time you sign in. |
| Email address | The email your Apple or Google account shares with us. With Sign in with Apple you can choose Hide My Email, in which case we receive a private relay address that forwards to you. We also store whether the provider verified it. | To reach you about your account and the service. We don't send marketing email unless you choose to receive it. |
| Your interests | The areas you pick when you start, and a personalization profile learned from what you read. | To pick stories you'll enjoy. |
| Reading history | Which stories you were shown, how far you read and for how long, whether you finished, which cards you bookmarked, and when. | To personalize your feed, never show you the same story twice, and keep your bookmarks on any phone you sign in on. |
| Activity records | A log of those reading events, of the stories recommended to you, and of the daily notification being sent and opened. | To improve recommendations and measure how well they work. Kept for 180 days. |
| Notification details | If you allow notifications: your device's push token, your time zone, your notification setting, and the time of your next notification. | To send at most one notification a day, during your waking hours. |
| Server logs | When the app contacts our server: your IP address, the request, the time, and the app and iOS version. | To keep the service secure and fix problems. Kept for up to 30 days. |
We also keep anonymous totals for each story, such as how many readers it had and how many finished it. These aren't linked to you.
On your phone, Uncover stores the stories it has downloaded, your bookmarks and interests, and a sign-in key (in the iPhone Keychain).
What we don't collect
- Your name, photo, contacts, or location.
- Advertising identifiers. Uncover has no ads and no third-party advertising or analytics code.
- Anything about your activity in other apps or on other websites. We don't track you.
How we use and share it
We use your information only to run Uncover: to provide your account, personalize and improve your feed, keep your bookmarks in sync, send the daily notification, and keep the service secure. We don't sell your personal information or share it for advertising.
We rely on a few service providers, who handle data only to provide their service to us:
- Amazon Web Services hosts our servers, database and story library, in the United States.
- Apple provides Sign in with Apple and delivers notifications.
- Google provides Sign in with Google, if you use it.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our users or the service. Stories link to their sources, such as Wikipedia; when you open one, that website's own privacy policy applies.
How long we keep it
- Your account, email, interests, reading history and bookmarks: until you delete your account.
- Activity records: 180 days, then deleted automatically.
- Server logs: up to 30 days.
Your choices
- Notifications: turn them off in the app (Account › Daily stories) or in iPhone Settings.
- Start fresh: Account › Start fresh clears your personalization and reading history. Your bookmarks are kept unless you choose to delete them too.
- Delete your account: Account › Delete account removes your account, email, sign-in link, interests, reading history, bookmarks, activity records and notification details from our live systems right away. If you signed in with Apple, we also revoke Uncover's access to your Apple ID. Copies in our backups expire within 35 days. Anonymous story totals remain.
- Access or correct your data: write to uncover-support@googlegroups.com. Depending on where you live (for example, in the European Union, the United Kingdom or California), you may have rights to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your personal information, and to object to some uses of it. We'll respond within the time the law requires, and we won't treat you differently for using these rights.
Security
Information travels between the app and our servers over encrypted connections (HTTPS), and our database and file storage encrypt it at rest. Access is limited to what's needed to run Uncover. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information.
Children
Uncover isn't directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, contact us and we'll delete it.
Where your data is stored
We store and process information in the United States. If you use Uncover from elsewhere, your information is transferred to the United States.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the date above. If a change is significant, we'll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.
Contact
Peeka, Incorporated
uncover-support@googlegroups.com