Privacy

Short version: analytics stay here. We do not use third-party trackers or sell individual browsing data.

Account information

We store the username, email address, and securely hashed password you provide. Email addresses are not verified. We also store decks, votes, reports, and account activity needed to run the service. You can delete your account from the account panel.

First-party usage data

When you use Cards, our server may record pages and decks viewed, searches, study starts and completions, referring website hostname, browser and device category, IP address, and browser user-agent. This helps us understand which Navy study subjects are useful, keep the service reliable, detect abuse, and prepare anonymized or aggregate reports for possible funders.

Raw IP addresses, user-agent strings, direct event-to-account links, and raw search text are retained for up to 30 days. Longer-lived reporting uses semantic usage facts, broad device categories, and pseudonymous or aggregate counts rather than raw network or account identifiers.

The three-visitor threshold applies only to analytics reports: a search, device category, referrer, or sponsor breakdown is omitted unless at least three distinct pseudonymous visitors contributed to it. It does not limit accounts, decks, sharing, or site access.

What we cannot see

Cards can see activity on this service and, when a browser supplies it, the hostname that referred you here. Browsers do not expose a person's general history to an ordinary website. Seeing unrelated browsing would require additional surveillance such as a browser extension, VPN/proxy, DNS service, or tracking code installed across other sites; Cards uses none of those.

Offline copies

The app may save recently opened public or unlisted decks and its basic interface on your device so they work with poor or no connectivity. Clear this site's browser data to remove those local copies. Avoid saving sensitive material on shared devices.

Automated deck cleanup

New and edited decks are checked by a privately operated language model on our own infrastructure. It corrects limited punctuation, capitalization, and spelling issues and screens for content that needs a human decision. Public and unlisted decks remain visible only to their author until that check passes. This is a copy-editing and safety screen, not a guarantee that an answer is correct or current.

If an ambiguous Navy term cannot be resolved from our local Eval-site Navy reference data, the checker may send one short terminology query to Exa search and use only official .mil or .gov results. It does not send the full deck, email address, username, IP address, or browsing activity to search. Decks are never sent to a third-party or cloud language model.

Sharing and disclosure

Public decks are visible to everyone. Unlisted decks are visible to anyone with the link. Private decks are visible only to their author. We may disclose data when legally required or necessary to protect users and the service. Any reporting shared with a sponsor should be aggregated or anonymized.

Questions

For privacy questions or data requests, email sean@theinformed.org. This policy was last updated August 11, 2026.