Privacy & terms
Two sections: what the site knows about you, and the terms it and its data come under. Last updated 4 October 2026.
Privacy notice
1. Who is responsible
This notice explains how personal data is handled on www.loudest.news and on loudestnews.com, which leads to the same site (together, "Loudest").
Loudest is run by its operator ("we", "us"), who is the controller of the personal data described here. You can reach us about anything in this notice at contact@loudest.news.
2. The short version
- Loudest has no accounts, no advertising and no tracking cookies.
- You can read everything on the site without telling us who you are.
- We do not sell personal data, share it for advertising, or build profiles of visitors.
- Apart from the technical logs every web host keeps (section 4.1), the only personal data we hold about a visitor is what arrives in an email, if you write to us.
3. What this notice covers
It covers visitors to the site, people who write to us, and people who are named in the news headlines the site displays. It does not cover the websites of the news outlets we link to, or any other site we link to. Those sites have their own notices.
4. Personal data we handle
4.1 Technical logs. Like every website, our hosting provider records each request made to the site: the IP address, the date and time, the page or file requested, and the browser and device type. We use these records only to keep the site running, to find faults and to protect it from abuse. They are kept by the hosting provider for a limited period and then deleted.
4.2 Visit counts. We use Vercel Web Analytics to count page views and the actions listed below. According to Vercel, it sets no cookie and does not store your IP address. A visit is counted through a temporary, anonymous identifier that is discarded within a day. We see totals, not people. Browsers that identify themselves as crawlers or automated tools, and browsers that have opted out (section 4.3), are not counted.
What is counted, and what each count carries:
- A page view: the address of the page.
- Opening a story on the map: where it was opened from (a tile, the ranking, the list on a phone, search, or elsewhere) and the story's region. Not which story.
- Following a link to read an article: where the link was (the story panel, the story sheet on a phone, a story page, the bar at the foot of a story page on a phone, or an outlet's row) and whether that outlet is one you pinned. Not which article or outlet.
- Sharing a story: where it was shared from, and whether through your device's share menu or by copying the link. Not which story.
- Opening a shared link: counted by our server when the link is opened, with nothing added to the count.
- Switching what the map shows: the view chosen (Loudest, Recent, Rising or One-sided), or the switch between map and ranking.
- Pinning or unpinning an outlet: whether it was pinned or unpinned, and where (the story panel, the story sheet on a phone, a story page, the outlets window or search). Not which outlet.
- Switching theme: whether the new theme is light or dark.
- Moving to the next card on a story page, on a narrow screen: which card it is, for example the regions card, the first time it comes into view.
4.3 Your settings. Your browser stores the choices you make on the site: theme, view, tile texture, region colours and pinned outlets.
- Tile texture and region colours stay only on your device. They are not counted and do not appear in any address.
- Pinned outlets stay on your device, and which outlets you pin never leaves it. Pinning or unpinning is counted, without the outlet (section 4.2).
- Theme stays on your device. A change of theme is counted as light or dark (section 4.2).
- Map or ranking is kept until you close the browser tab, and is shown in the page's address when you choose the ranking. A switch is counted (section 4.2).
- The views Recent, Rising and One-sided are not stored. The view you choose is shown in the page's address, is part of the address your browser requests the stories from, and is counted when you switch to it (section 4.2).
Everything kept on your device is removed when you clear the site's data in your browser.
Your browser also keeps two technical flags: whether a hint has already been shown, and an opt-out from visit counting. To opt out, open the site once at www.loudest.news/?noanalytics=1.
4.4 Correspondence. If you write to us, we receive your email address, your name if you give it, and whatever you put in the message. We use it to read and answer your message and to keep a record of what was agreed or requested.
4.5 Support payments. If you choose to support the site through Buy Me a Coffee, that service handles the payment under its own privacy notice. We may see the name and message you choose to show, and the amount. We never see card details.
4.6 The review cookie. One cookie exists on the site: the sign-in for a private page that only the operator uses. It lasts 90 days and holds no personal data. Visitors are never given it.
5. What we do not do
- No advertising cookies, tracking pixels, fingerprinting or cross-site tracking.
- No sale or rental of personal data.
- No profiling of visitors, and no decision about any person made by automated means.
- No visitor data written to our own database.
- No newsletter and no marketing messages.
6. Why we handle it, and on what legal ground
| What | Why | Legal ground |
|---|---|---|
| Technical logs | Running, securing and fixing the site | Legitimate interests in operating a secure website |
| Visit counts | Understanding which parts of the site are used | Legitimate interests in improving the site, using a method that identifies no one |
| Settings on your device | Showing the site the way you chose | Necessary to provide the function you asked for |
| Correspondence | Answering you and keeping a record | Legitimate interests in handling enquiries; legal obligation where a request is made under data protection or other law |
| Headlines that name people (section 11) | Measuring and recording what the press covers | Legitimate interests and the freedom of expression and information, including processing for journalistic and archival purposes |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, you have the right to object (section 10).
7. Cookies and similar storage
Loudest sets no cookies on visitors' devices. The settings described in 4.3 are stored in your browser because you asked the site to remember them, which the law treats as strictly necessary and which needs no consent banner. If that ever changes, we will ask first.
8. Who else handles data for us
We use a small number of service providers. They act on our instructions and under contract:
- Vercel (hosting, technical logs, visit counts).
- Supabase (the database of stories and coverage; it holds no visitor data).
- Google (the contact@loudest.news mailbox).
Two further services process the text of news headlines and short excerpts from publishers' public feeds in order to group and summarise stories. They receive no data about visitors.
Buy Me a Coffee is a separate service with its own responsibilities; see 4.5.
We disclose personal data to others only where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
9. Where data goes, how long it is kept, how it is protected
Transfers. Some providers are based in, or use servers in, countries outside the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, including the United States. Where personal data is transferred, it is protected by a recognised safeguard, such as an adequacy decision or the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.
How long.
- Technical logs: a limited period set by the hosting provider.
- Visit counts: totals only, which identify no one.
- Settings: on your device until you clear them.
- Correspondence: for as long as needed to deal with it, and then for up to 24 months, unless the law requires longer or a dispute is open.
- Headlines and coverage records, whether published or not: see section 11.
Security. The site is served over an encrypted connection. Access to the systems behind it is restricted to the operator and protected by strong authentication. No system is perfectly secure, and we will tell those affected and the authorities, where the law requires, if a breach puts personal data at risk.
10. Your rights
If you are in the European Union, the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the right to:
- ask whether we hold personal data about you and receive a copy;
- have inaccurate data corrected;
- have data deleted where the law allows;
- have its use restricted;
- object to its use where we rely on legitimate interests;
- receive data you gave us in a portable form, where that right applies;
- withdraw consent, where anything is based on consent.
To use any of these, write to contact@loudest.news. We answer within one month. We may ask for information to confirm who you are, and we charge nothing unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.
You also have the right to complain to a data protection authority: the Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection in Cyprus, the authority in your own country, or the Information Commissioner's Office in the United Kingdom. We would appreciate the chance to put things right first.
People elsewhere may have similar rights under their own laws, and we will respect them in the same way.
11. People named in the news
Loudest displays headlines published by news outlets and writes a short headline of its own for each story. Headlines often name people, usually public figures. We do not collect this information from the people concerned; it comes from the outlets' public feeds, which are listed on the sources page.
We keep headlines and coverage records as part of a permanent, dated archive of what the press covered. We also keep a short permanent record of every story that appeared on the live map, including stories that never enter the archive: its headline, the address of its lead article and its coverage figures. That record is not published. We do not copy or store the articles themselves.
If you are named in a headline on Loudest and believe it is inaccurate, unlawful or no longer justified, write to contact@loudest.news with the address of the page. We will consider every request, weighing your rights against the public interest in an accurate record of press coverage. Where removal is required by law, the entry is removed and the fact of the removal is logged, without the removed content. The original article remains the responsibility of the outlet that published it, and you may also wish to contact that outlet.
12. Children
Loudest is a news measurement site for a general audience. It is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them.
13. Links to other sites
Loudest links to the websites of news outlets and to other services. We do not control them and are not responsible for how they handle personal data.
14. Changes to this notice
We will update this notice when what we do changes. The date at the top shows the latest version. A change that materially affects your rights will be flagged on this page.
Terms of use
Loudest lives at www.loudest.news. The address loudestnews.com belongs to the same operator and leads here. Loudest, Loudest News and loudestnews are the same site; any other site using the name is not Loudest.
Loudest is run by its operator, who can be reached at contact@loudest.news.
Loudest is a measurement of what the press is covering, made by software. It is provided as is and can contain errors: stories can be grouped wrongly, headlines are written by a model, and the counts depend on which feeds answered. Read the methodology before you rely on a number. As far as the law allows, the operator is not liable for any loss from relying on the site or its data.
The headlines and articles belong to the outlets that published them. Loudest writes a short headline of its own for each story and shows the outlets' headlines with links to their pages; it does not host their articles. The outlets' sites have their own terms, and Loudest is not responsible for what is on them, or on any other site it links to.
What is free. The daily data files in the archive, the JSON and CSV file for each day, and the JSON record of each story are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, as the data page describes. Use them for anything, including commercially, as long as you credit them: "Data from loudest.news, CC BY 4.0", with a link where the medium allows.
What you may quote. You may quote figures, rankings and Loudest's own headlines from any page, and show screenshots of the map, as long as you credit Loudest and link to it.
What is reserved. Everything else: the name Loudest and its logo, the design of the site, its code, the wording of its pages, and the list of sources as a collection. Do not copy these, and do not use the name or logo in a way that suggests you are Loudest or that Loudest endorses you.
The live map and its feed. Read it, link to it, and quote it with the time. Search engines and AI assistants are welcome to read, index and cite the site. What needs permission first: copying the live board in bulk or on a schedule to republish it, to mirror the site, or to build a service that competes with it. Ask at contact@loudest.news.
Earlier terms. Until 3 October 2026, the archive pages and story pages were also offered under CC BY 4.0. Copies made under those terms keep them.
Law. These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of Cyprus, and the courts of Cyprus decide any dispute about them.