Privacy Policy

Who we are

Media TruthLab ("MTL", "we", "us") is an AI-assisted fact-checking platform available at mediatruthlab.com. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, and your rights over it.

What we collect and why

• Email address — when you sign in via OTP or choose to be notified when a report is published. We use it solely to send you a one-time sign-in code and, if you opted in, a notification when your submitted report is published.
• Fact-check queries — the claim or URL you submit for checking. This is stored as part of the generated report and may be published if an editor approves it.
• Session token — a short-lived token stored in your browser's local storage to keep you signed in. It expires automatically.
• Usage data — pages visited and actions taken (e.g. claims checked, sign-ins), collected anonymously via Google Analytics 4. No personally identifiable information is sent to Google.
• Error data — if our software crashes, an error report (including the request that caused it, but not your email) is sent to Sentry for debugging.

We do not collect passwords (sign-in is OTP-based for public users), payment information, or any sensitive personal data.

How we use your data

• To authenticate you and maintain your session.
• To send OTP sign-in codes and optional report-published notifications via Resend.
• To operate and improve the fact-checking pipeline.
• To monitor application health and fix errors (Sentry).
• To understand aggregate usage patterns (Google Analytics).

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

Third-party services

• Resend (resend.com) — transactional email delivery for OTP codes and notifications.
• Google Analytics 4 — anonymous usage analytics. Data is processed by Google under their own privacy policy.
• Sentry (sentry.io) — error monitoring. Error payloads may include request metadata but not your email.
• Render (render.com) — cloud hosting. Your data is stored on Render's infrastructure in the US.

Data retention

Your email and account remain active until you delete your account from the Profile page. Published fact-check reports are retained indefinitely as part of our public record. Session tokens expire after 24 hours of inactivity.

Your rights

You can:

• Access your account details from your Profile page.
• Delete your account at any time from your Profile page — this removes your email and session from our database.
• Opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
• Request data export or erasure by emailing us at privacy@mediatruthlab.com.

If you are in the European Economic Area, you have additional rights under GDPR including the right to restrict processing and lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. If you are in India, you have rights under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023.

Cookies and local storage

We do not use tracking cookies. We use browser local storage to remember your theme preference and session token. Google Analytics uses its own cookies, governed by Google's privacy policy.

Children

MTL is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has provided us their email, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy occasionally. The "Last updated" date at the top will reflect any changes. Continued use of MTL after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email us at privacy@mediatruthlab.com.