Privacy Policy

Where Pijnhol is available

Available signup countries are shown in the phone selector. News-text delivery depends on supported carrier routes; New Zealand account access is available, but news texts are currently unavailable there.

What we collect

We collect the minimum needed to run the service:

• Your verified mobile number — this is what creates your account and how we send you the messages you signed up for. We verify it with a one-time code, so we never store a password.
• Your email address — optional. We may collect it later (for example if you subscribe to a paid plan) so we can send a receipt or let you sign in without your phone. Not required to use the service.
• Your watch-list — the people, shows, teams, and topics you choose to follow, which steers what your messages cover.
• News sites you add — the web address and name of any news site you ask us to watch. We fetch that site's public feed to look for posts about your topics. Other subscribers who add the same site share one stored copy of it; we never show anyone who else added it.
• Delivery preferences — for example whether you opted in to trending stories on quiet days.
• Referral relationships — if you join using a friend's invite link, we record that connection so we can credit both of you when you subscribe.
• Delivery records — which messages we sent you, when, and whether they were delivered.
• Billing records — your subscription status and payment history. Card details go directly to Stripe; we never see or store them.
• Product usage events — basic events like signup and consent changes, stored in our own database. Alert links go directly to publisher sites; we do not count clicks on those links. Some preview links used for demonstrations do record click counts. We also use Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights, which are cookieless and don't track you across other sites, to see aggregate traffic and page performance. We don't use ad networks or advertising cookies.

How we use it

We use your information to run Pijnhol: generating and sending your messages, verifying your phone number, billing your subscription, responding to support requests, and understanding how the product is used so we can improve it. We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.

Your phone number

Your mobile number is treated as sensitive data. Access to it is restricted within our systems, it is never written to application logs, and it is deleted when your account is deleted. We use it only to send you the messages you asked for and the one-time codes that verify it's yours.

Who processes your data

We rely on a small set of service providers to run the product. Each receives only what it needs for its job:

• Supabase — our database and authentication provider. Your data is stored in Sydney, Australia.
• Stripe — payments and subscription billing.
• Twilio — sends the one-time codes that verify your phone number and delivers text alerts to numbers outside Australia.
• Mobile Message — an Australian SMS provider that delivers text alerts to Australian numbers.
• Anthropic — the AI provider that writes your messages. It receives your watch-list (not your name, email, or phone number) to generate them.
• Google — a backup AI provider (Gemini) that writes your messages only if Anthropic is unavailable, on the same terms: it receives your watch-list, never your name, email, or phone number.
• Search and news providers — we query services like Tavily and Google News for source material using what you follow, never your identity. For news sites you add, we fetch the site's public feed directly. Nothing about you is sent to those sites other than a standard web request from our servers.
• Vercel — hosts this website and provides cookieless traffic and performance analytics (Vercel Analytics, Speed Insights).
• Resend — sends account emails, such as the welcome email after you subscribe.
• Cloudflare — runs a bot check (Turnstile) on sign-up and login to stop automated abuse of phone verification.

Some of these providers operate outside Australia (for example in the United States). Where they do, we take reasonable steps to ensure your information is handled consistently with Australian privacy law. If your own country's privacy law gives you additional rights, nothing here limits them.

How long we keep it

We keep your information while your account is active. You can delete your account yourself at any time from your dashboard, under "Email & phone" — this immediately and permanently removes your account data, including your phone number, watch-list, and message history, and cancels any active subscription. A minimal audit entry recording that deletion occurred may remain. We may also retain limited billing records where required for tax and accounting obligations.

Your rights and choices

• Stop messages any time — use "Stop receiving texts" in your dashboard's account settings, which works immediately regardless of how you signed up or which country you're in. Reply STOP where the sender supports replies. International branded senders cannot receive replies; use the dashboard to stop texts. You can undo it from the same place if you change your mind.
• Access and correction — you can see and edit your details from your dashboard, or contact us for anything you can't reach there.
• Deletion — delete your account yourself at any time from your dashboard (under "Email & phone"); it wipes your personal data straight away. Or email support@pijnhol.com and we'll do it within 30 days. We may keep limited billing records where tax law requires.
• Complaints — contact us first and we'll try to put it right. You can also complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes, we'll update this page and the date above, and let you know if the change meaningfully affects you.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email support@pijnhol.com. See also our Terms of Service.