nuzzly — Privacy Policy

Effective date: 11 August 2026  ·  App: nuzzly (app.nuzzly)  ·  Data fiduciary: Omkar Sahu (individual), India  ·  Contact: info@nuzzly.in

1. Summary (plain language)

• nuzzly works without an account — you're signed in anonymously by default, and we do not ask for your name, email, or phone number to use it.
• Analytics, personalised ads, and location are off by default. Nothing in those categories is collected until you explicitly turn it on.
• You can export or delete all your data from inside the app at any time.
• We do not sell your personal data.

2. What we collect and why

a) Anonymous account (always). On first launch we create an anonymous account with a random identifier (via Google Firebase Authentication). It contains no personal identifiers — no name, email, or phone. It lets your saved articles and settings persist and sync to your device.

b) Preferences you set (optional). Interests (news categories), home and followed cities, notification preferences, and saved articles. These are stored on your device and synced to your account so they survive a reinstall.

c) Consent-gated data (off by default — DPDP Act 2023 §6). Each is collected only after you turn it on in Privacy settings, and you can withdraw consent at any time:

• Analytics — anonymous usage/diagnostics to improve the app.
• Personalised ads — see §4.
• Location — used only to suggest local/city news; we do not track you.

d) If you create a full account (optional). If you upgrade to an email/Google sign-in, we then store your email address (and display name, if provided) so you can sign in on another device. Your data keeps the same identifier — nothing is duplicated.

e) Technical data. Standard request metadata (e.g. IP address at the moment of a request, used transiently for security/rate-limiting and not used to profile you) and, only if you enable analytics/crash reporting, crash diagnostics.

We do not collect contacts, photos, microphone, or precise background location.

3. How your data is used

To provide and secure the service: serve your feed, sync your saved articles and settings, keep the service reliable and abuse-free, and — only with your consent — measure usage and show relevant ads. We do not use your data to build advertising profiles unless you have enabled personalised ads.

4. Advertising

nuzzly may show ads via Google AdMob. By default ads are non-personalised. Personalised ads are shown only if you enable "Personalised ads" in Privacy settings (and, on iOS, grant App Tracking Transparency permission). You can change this at any time. See Google's advertising & privacy terms.

5. Who we share data with (processors)

• Google Firebase — anonymous authentication, and (if enabled) push messaging and crash reporting.
• Google AdMob — advertising (see §4).
• MongoDB Atlas — secure database hosting for your account and saved items.
• Sentry — crash/error diagnostics, if enabled.
• News publishers — when you tap "Read full article," you leave nuzzly for the publisher's own website, which has its own privacy policy.

We do not sell personal data and do not share it except with the processors above to run the service, or where required by law.

6. Your rights (DPDP Act 2023)

• Access & portability — export a full copy of your data in-app (Settings → Account & data → Export my data).
• Erasure — delete your account and data in-app (Settings → Account & data → Delete account). Deletion is scheduled with a 30-day grace period (you can undo it in that window); your sign-in is revoked immediately, and after the window your account and saved items are permanently erased.
• Withdraw consent — toggle off Analytics / Ads / Location at any time in Privacy settings.
• Grievance — contact our Grievance Officer, Omkar Sahu (info@nuzzly.in), per the IT Rules 2021 / DPDP Act.

7. Data retention & security

Account data is retained until you delete it (then erased after the 30-day grace window). Data is transmitted over HTTPS and access is restricted.

8. Children

nuzzly is not directed to children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

9. Changes & contact

We will post changes here and update the effective date. Questions or requests: info@nuzzly.in · Omkar Sahu, India.

This policy describes how nuzzly actually handles data today, grounded in the app's code. It is provided in good faith by a solo developer and is not a substitute for professional legal advice.