Last updated: 4 November 2026

This policy explains what personal information theainewsfiles.com ("the site", "I", "me") collects, why, and what your rights are. The site and its accounts on other platforms are run by J E Cowie, who is based in the United Kingdom.

Who is responsible for your data

I am the data controller for information collected through this site and its accounts. You can contact me at [email protected].

What I collect

Email and membership signups. If you sign up, I collect your email address and, if you provide it, your name. I also record when and how you signed up, and I may see which emails you open or click, so I can see which content is useful.

Messages you send me. If you email me, I keep your message and address so I can reply.

Replies and mentions on X. If you reply to, mention or quote @ainewsfiles on X, X sends me an email about it. I read it so I can answer you.

Podcast votes. If you press 👍 or 👎 on a post to help pick the stories for the podcast, I keep which post, your vote and a random code your browser makes, so one browser counts once per post. I don't learn your name, email or IP address from it. To stop anyone flooding the votes, your IP address is mixed with a secret into a code that can't be turned back into the address, used to count the votes from your connection in the current hour, and deleted within minutes of that hour ending.

Technical data. Like any website, the services that host and deliver the site process your IP address and basic browser information when you visit. This is used for security and to keep the site running.

I do not collect payment details, and I do not sell your information.

  • To send you the emails you signed up for (a confirmation email, then the daily AI News Files email and occasional newsletters). Legal basis: your consent, given when you sign up and confirm your address.
  • To reply to your messages, and to your replies and mentions on X. Legal basis: legitimate interests in answering people who contact me.
  • To count podcast votes, so I can see which stories readers want covered. Legal basis: legitimate interests; you choose whether to vote.
  • To keep the site secure and working. Legal basis: legitimate interests.

How signup works

When you sign up, I send a confirmation email. You are only added to the mailing list once you click the link in it. Every email I send contains an unsubscribe link. I do not buy, rent or import email lists.

Who else handles your data

  • Ghost, the publishing software the site runs on. It stores your membership details on the server that hosts this site.
  • Mailgun (Sinch Mailgun), the service that delivers my emails. It receives your email address and the content of each message it sends to you. I use Mailgun's EU service; Mailgun may still process data outside the UK, including in the United States, under appropriate safeguards.
  • Cloudflare, which delivers the site's pages and protects it from attacks. It processes your IP address and browser information when you visit, and it stores the podcast votes.
  • Google Fonts and jsDelivr. The site loads its fonts from Google, and its signup and search tools from jsDelivr, so Google and jsDelivr receive your IP address when a page loads.
  • Google (Gmail), which holds the site's mailbox, including the emails you send me and X's notices of your replies.
  • Anthropic (Claude). I use AI tools from Anthropic to help sort my email and to help me draft answers to replies on X. They are shown the sender, subject and part of the message, or your post on X. I read and send every answer myself.

I do not share your data with anyone else except where the law requires it.

The daily video and other platforms

AI News Files publishes its posts and a daily video on other platforms: Instagram (@the_ainews_files), Facebook (the AI News Files Page), YouTube (@theainewsfiles), TikTok (@ainewsfiles) and X (@ainewsfiles). If you watch, follow, like or comment there, that platform collects and uses your data under its own privacy policy, and I can see what you post there publicly, as anyone can.

I upload my videos and posts to these platforms through their official developer tools: the YouTube API Services, Meta's tools for Instagram and Facebook, and TikTok's Content Posting API. These are connected only to my own accounts and are used only to upload my own videos and posts. I do not use them to read or collect information about you.

For YouTube: by watching on YouTube you are bound by the YouTube Terms of Service, and Google uses your data under the Google Privacy Policy. If you ever connect a Google account to anything of mine, you can remove that access at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

Cookies

The site uses only essential cookies and browser storage needed for the signup and sign-in features to work, and, if you vote on a post, browser storage that remembers your vote and your browser's random code. It does not use advertising or tracking cookies, and it does not use analytics.

How long I keep your data

I keep your email address until you unsubscribe or ask me to delete it. After that I remove it from my mailing list. I may keep a minimal record that you unsubscribed, so I do not email you again by mistake. Messages you send me, and X's notices of your replies, are kept for as long as needed to deal with them. Podcast votes are kept as long as the post is on the site; the hourly counts are deleted within minutes of each hour ending.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask me to:

  • tell you what information I hold about you;
  • correct it or delete it;
  • stop using it, or restrict how I use it;
  • give you a copy of it in a portable format.

You can also withdraw your consent at any time by using the unsubscribe link in any email, or by emailing me. To use any of these rights, contact me at [email protected].

If you are unhappy with how I handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this policy

If I change this policy I will update the date at the top of this page. See also the Terms of Use.