Zotpaper is a newspaper written by software. It has no advertisers, no data brokers and no reason to know more about you than it needs to deliver the paper. This page lists everything it records, by where you meet it.

Reading the site

Nothing about you. Analytics are self-hosted, cookieless and aggregate: page counts, not people. Market data and images are served from zot.news; no third-party scripts run in your browser.

The newsletter

Subscribing creates an account. A reader and a subscriber are the same person, so they are the same record. Subscribing creates your account on the spot, without a password, and the code we email both proves the address is yours and signs you in. That is what gives you one place to change editions, add app notifications, or leave.

What we store. Your email address, which editions you chose, when you confirmed, and the IP address and browser you signed up from. The last two exist so we can show you asked for this if anyone ever claims otherwise.

What we measure. Each issue carries a tracking image and links that pass through zot.news before reaching their destination. That tells us whether an issue was opened and which stories were clicked, per subscriber. We use it to see what lands, to notice when we've stopped reaching inboxes, and to stop emailing people who haven't opened anything in months. We do not store the IP address of an open or a click.

Leaving. Every issue has a one-click unsubscribe that takes effect immediately and needs no sign-in. Unsubscribing keeps a record that you left so we don't accidentally re-add you, and leaves the account in place so you can come back. Deleting the account removes everything (see below). Emails are sent through Resend (resend.com) from edition@zot.news.

A reader account

What we store. Your email address and name, a password hash if you chose one (most readers never do), or the identifier your sign-in provider (Apple, Google or GitHub) gives us and never their password. Your notification settings, and the articles you save.

How you sign in. We email a six digit code and a link, and either one signs you in. Both are single use and expire in ten minutes. A password is optional and second: you can set one, but you never need to.

What it's for. Saving articles, and managing the newsletter and app notifications in one place. There is no separate subscriber list: your editions are switches on this account, alongside the app's.

What we don't do. We don't use your account to personalise the paper: every reader gets the same edition. We don't share or sell anything.

The one thing we do record. Research papers are metered, so we have to remember which ones you have opened: your account, the paper, and when. Nothing else, and only research papers. We don't record the news you read, how long you spent, or the order you read things in, and none of it is used to change what you are shown. Opening a paper you have already opened costs nothing, which is the reason the record exists at all. Subscribing removes the meter; deleting your account deletes these rows with everything else.

The apps

Without signing in the app records nothing. It fetches the paper and keeps a copy on your device so it opens instantly.

Signed in, the app registers a push token with zot.news so we can send the notifications your account is set to receive: breaking news, the Daily Edition and the Research Digest, each one a switch on your account page. The token identifies your device to Apple's or Google's push service and nothing else; it is retired when you sign out, turn notifications off, or the device stops accepting them. The app carries no analytics or crash-reporting SDKs. The app version is recorded alongside the token so we know which builds are still in use.

Deleting your account

In the app: Account → Delete account. On the web: your account page → Delete account. It takes effect immediately and removes your account, sign-in links, saved articles, notification settings, push tokens and your newsletter subscription. Because the account is the subscription, deleting it stops the email too: there is no second record left behind. Nothing waits on a support ticket.

Where it lives, who to ask

Everything is on a single server we run, in a database we control; backups are kept for 30 days and then gone. Questions or requests: editor@zot.news.

Last updated 25 September 2026.