Privacy Policy

Effective date: March 11, 2026

CrunchyNews ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website crunchynews.com and the CrunchyNews daily digest email service. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information.

1. Information We Collect

When you subscribe to CrunchyNews, we collect:

• Email address — to deliver your selected daily digest editions.
• Borough/edition preferences — to send you only the editions you selected (e.g., Manhattan, Brooklyn, All NYC).
• IP address — collected at the time of signup for abuse prevention and rate limiting. We do not use IP addresses for tracking, profiling, or geolocation.

We do not collect names, payment information, phone numbers, or any other personal data beyond what is listed above.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information solely to:

• Send you the daily digest email(s) for your selected borough edition(s).
• Prevent abuse of the signup form (rate limiting by IP address).
• Track email delivery metrics (opens, clicks) to improve the quality of the digest. This tracking is handled by our email delivery provider, Mailgun.

We do not use your information for advertising, profiling, or any purpose other than delivering and improving the CrunchyNews digest.

3. Information Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with any third parties, except:

• Mailgun (email delivery) — We use Mailgun Technologies, Inc. to deliver digest emails. Mailgun processes your email address solely to deliver emails on our behalf. See Mailgun's Privacy Policy.
• Supabase (data storage) — We use Supabase to store subscriber data. See Supabase's Privacy Policy.
• Partner newsletters (opt-in only) — After subscribing to CrunchyNews, you may be presented with the option to subscribe to third-party partner newsletters. If you choose to click "Subscribe" for a partner newsletter, your email address will be shared with that partner's email service provider (e.g., Mailchimp) to fulfill your subscription request. Your email is only shared with a partner if you explicitly opt in by clicking their Subscribe button. We never share your email with partners automatically or without your action. Each partner newsletter is responsible for its own privacy practices and unsubscribe handling.

We may disclose your information if required by law or to protect our rights.

4. Email Tracking

Our emails may contain tracking pixels and tracked links provided by Mailgun. These allow us to measure aggregate open rates and click rates to understand which content is most useful to subscribers. We use this data in aggregate only and do not build individual user profiles.

5. Partner Newsletter Opt-ins

After subscribing to CrunchyNews, you may see a popup offering free subscriptions to partner newsletters. This is entirely optional. If you click "Subscribe" for any partner:

• Your email address is submitted to the partner's email platform (currently Mailchimp) to create a subscription on your behalf.
• We log your consent action (timestamp, IP address, and which partner you opted into) for compliance and record-keeping purposes.
• Each partner newsletter has its own unsubscribe process. To stop receiving a partner's emails, use the unsubscribe link in their emails directly.
• If you do not click "Subscribe" for a partner, your email is never shared with that partner.

6. Referral Program

CrunchyNews offers a referral program that allows subscribers to earn rewards by referring new subscribers. When you participate in the referral program, we collect and process the following additional information:

• Referral code — Each subscriber is assigned a unique referral code and link. This code is used to track which new subscribers were referred by you.
• Referral relationships — When someone subscribes using your referral link, we record the relationship between you (the referrer) and the new subscriber (the referee).
• Email normalization — We store a canonicalized version of email addresses to detect duplicate accounts and prevent abuse of the referral program. For example, variations such as plus-addressing (user+tag@gmail.com) and dot variations (u.s.e.r@gmail.com) are normalized to identify the same underlying account.
• IP addresses — IP addresses associated with referral signups are logged to detect fraudulent patterns such as mass signups from a single source.
• Referral progress — Your referral count, progress toward rewards, and reward fulfillment status are stored and visible on your personal referral dashboard.

Referral data is used solely to operate the referral program, detect fraud, and fulfill rewards. We do not share referral data with third parties. Your referral dashboard displays an anonymized list of the subscribers you referred (e.g., "j***n@gmail.com") — full email addresses of referred subscribers are never shown to referrers.

7. Referral Program Terms

By participating in the CrunchyNews referral program, you agree to the following terms:

• Eligibility — All active CrunchyNews subscribers are eligible to participate. Each subscriber receives one referral link.
• Valid referrals — A valid referral requires a unique, real individual subscribing to CrunchyNews with a genuine, active email address. Each person may only be counted once.
• What does not qualify — The following do not count as valid referrals: self-referrals, email aliases of existing subscribers (e.g., using + addressing or dot variations), disposable or temporary email addresses, duplicate accounts, and signups created through automated means.
• Fraud review — All referrals are subject to verification. We use email normalization, IP address analysis, signup velocity monitoring, and pattern detection to identify fraudulent or artificial referrals.
• Reward fulfillment — Rewards are fulfilled via digital gift card sent to the referring subscriber's email address after successful verification. Gift card delivery may take up to 7 business days and is subject to availability.
• Right to withhold — CrunchyNews reserves the right to withhold, revoke, or cancel rewards if referrals are determined to be fraudulent, artificial, or in violation of these terms. We may also deduct credits for referrals later found to be invalid.
• Partner newsletter credits — Subscribing to partner newsletters presented during signup may count as referral credits at CrunchyNews's discretion, subject to a cap.
• Limits — One reward per milestone per subscriber. Reward values and milestones are set by CrunchyNews and may change.
• Program changes — CrunchyNews may modify, suspend, or discontinue the referral program or any reward tier at any time, with or without notice. Accrued rewards for milestones already reached will be honored.

8. Data Retention

We retain your email address and preferences for as long as your subscription is active. If you unsubscribe, we retain your email address in an inactive state so that we can honor your unsubscribe preference and prevent accidental re-subscription. You may request full deletion of your data at any time (see Section 8).

9. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Unsubscribe at any time using the one-click unsubscribe link in every email.
• Manage your preferences (change which borough editions you receive) via the link in every email.
• Request deletion of all your data by contacting us at the email address below.
• Access your data by contacting us to receive a copy of the information we hold about you.

10. Contact Us

For privacy-related requests, questions, or concerns, contact us at:

privacy@crunchynews.com

11. Service Availability

CrunchyNews is a local news service designed for residents of New York City and the United States. By subscribing, you confirm that you reside in the United States.

12. Children's Privacy

CrunchyNews is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child under 13 has subscribed, please contact us and we will promptly delete their information.

13. 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. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.