Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

9talks is an independent publishing platform that allows writers to share content with readers. 9talks is not a legally registered or incorporated business entity — it is operated as an independent, unincorporated project by its creator(s). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use our platform. We are committed to minimal data practices and full transparency about what we store and why.

2. Data We Collect

We collect only the data necessary to operate the platform. Here is exactly what we collect:

2.1 Account Data (Registered Users)

If you create an account using our passwordless email authentication (OTP), we collect and store:

• Email address — used for authentication (sending OTP codes) and account identification.
• Profile information — display name, username, bio, avatar URL, cover image URL, location, website, social media links (Twitter, YouTube), and any custom fields you choose to add.
• Account metadata — account creation date, last update date, admin/verification flags.

2.2 Content Data (Writers & Commenters)

• Article content — title, body text, excerpt, tags, featured images, and SEO metadata you publish.
• Comments — text content you post on articles, tied to your user account.
• Comment likes — records of which comments you have liked.
• Uploaded images — article images and profile images uploaded to our storage (max 10MB; JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP).

2.3 Subscriber Data

If you subscribe to our email newsletter, we collect:

• Email address — stored in our database for delivering content notifications.
• IP address — collected at the time of subscription for security and abuse prevention.
• User-agent string — collected at the time of subscription for security and abuse prevention.

2.4 Usage & Analytics Data

• Article view data — anonymous/pseudonymous visitor IDs, article IDs viewed, and view duration. No personal identity is attached.
• Vercel Analytics — aggregated, privacy-respecting traffic metrics (page visits, country-level geography, device type). No personal identifiers are collected by Vercel Analytics.
• Trending data — aggregated article views by category to determine trending topics.

2.5 Technical Data

• IP addresses — processed by our hosting and database providers for security, uptime monitoring, and abuse prevention.
• Server logs — managed by our hosting provider (Vercel) per their retention policies.
• Theme preference — stored in your browser's localStorage (dark/light mode). This is a first-party preference, not a tracking cookie.

3. How We Use Your Data

• To authenticate your account via email OTP and manage your user session.
• To display your public writer profile, articles, and comments on the platform.
• To deliver email newsletter content you have subscribed to.
• To measure article popularity, trending topics, and platform engagement via anonymous view data and Vercel Analytics.
• To prevent abuse, spam, and fraudulent activity using IP addresses and user-agent strings.
• To maintain platform security and uptime.

4. What We Do NOT Do With Your Data

• We do not sell, rent, trade, or share your personal data with third parties.
• We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or third-party advertising or profiling trackers.
• We do not track your activity on other websites.
• We do not create advertising profiles based on your behavior.
• We do not share your email address with third parties for marketing.
• We do not store passwords — authentication is passwordless via email OTP.

5. Data Storage

Your data is stored in the following ways:

• Database — user profiles, articles, comments, subscribers, article views, and notifications are stored in a PostgreSQL database hosted by Supabase (a managed database provider).
• File storage — article images and profile images are stored in Supabase Storage buckets.
• Authentication data — email addresses and OTP session tokens are managed by Supabase Auth.
• Local browser storage — your theme preference (dark/light) is stored in your browser's localStorage. Admin sessions use sessionStorage (cleared when browser closes).

6. Third-Party Services

9talks uses the following third-party services to operate:

• Supabase — database hosting, authentication, and file storage. Processes email addresses, profile data, article content, and subscriber data.
• Vercel — website hosting and analytics. Processes minimal technical data (IP addresses, server logs) for security and aggregated traffic metrics.

We do not use advertising networks, social media trackers, or analytics platforms that share data with third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of Supabase and Vercel directly.

7. Data Retention

• User accounts — retained while your account is active. You can request deletion at any time.
• Article content — retained while published or in draft status. Removed when you or an admin deletes it.
• Comments — retained while your account is active or until you or an admin delete them.
• Email subscriber data — retained while you remain subscribed. Removed upon unsubscribe request.
• Article view data — anonymous, expires within 30 days. No long-term profiles are maintained.
• Vercel Analytics data — aggregated and retained per Vercel's retention policies.
• Server/hosting logs — managed by our hosting provider per their own retention policies.

8. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right to Access — you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification — you can request correction of inaccurate data. You can also edit your profile directly at /profile.
• Right to Erasure — you can request deletion of your account and associated data.
• Right to Restrict Processing — you can ask us to stop processing your data.
• Right to Object — you can object to our use of the internal tracker at any time.
• Right to Data Portability — where applicable, you can request your data in a portable format.
• Right to Unsubscribe — you can unsubscribe from emails at any time using the link in any email or by contacting us.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at team@9talks.com. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Security

We use Supabase Auth for authentication, which provides secure, passwordless email OTP login. Article content is sanitized using HTML sanitization to prevent XSS attacks. Comments are validated and length-checked. Image uploads are restricted by type and size. While we take reasonable security measures, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

10. Children's Privacy

9talks is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

12. Contact

For privacy-related questions, data requests, or to unsubscribe, reach out to us at team@9talks.com

Founder / Data Contact: M71 (Mritunjay)