IONTB News App Privacy Policy
Effective October 3, 2026. This policy describes the IONTB News apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android operated by IONTB LLC. It supplements the IONTB website Privacy & Cookies policy.
Reading, searches, and saved stories
No reader account is required. The app requests headlines, article pages, images, sponsor information, and archive search results from IONTB. Requests include technical information such as an IP address and device/browser information. Search terms are sent to IONTB to return matching articles and may appear in service or security logs. These records support delivery, security, troubleshooting, and service operation. Saved stories and cached headlines remain on your device; the app does not upload your saved-story list to the notification service.
Optional notifications and app updates on iPhone and iPad
If you enable notifications, our news service stores your Apple push notification token, a random installation identifier, an installation authentication credential in protected form, alert and sound preferences, installed app version, and registration timestamps. Your installation credential is also stored in your iPhone Keychain. These data let us deliver requested alerts and protect your settings. Notification delivery records may contain delivery status and error information.
Article alerts and app-version notices have separate controls in Alerts. App-version notices are off by default. If you opt in, we use your installed app version to notify you about a newer public IONTB News release. Update checks contact Apple’s public US App Store listing. TestFlight manages beta updates separately. You can disable either notification option in the app or disable all notifications in iPhone Settings.
The notification service removes inactive installation records after 180 days and completed article delivery records after 30 days. It retains version-notice records while the installation remains active to avoid sending repeated notices for the same release. Article identifiers are retained to prevent duplicate publication alerts. Backups and server logs may have separate retention periods.
Advertising and third-party services on iPhone and iPad
The app displays paid sponsor placements and Google inline advertisements within article pages. The article viewer uses Google’s Mobile Ads SDK and Google web advertising services. The app requests nonpersonalized ads, disables Google’s publisher first-party identifier and ad personalization setting, and applies publisher privacy treatments before article advertising loads. IONTB has enabled Google’s RTB creative consent check. The app does not request Apple’s advertising identifier or permission for cross-app tracking.
Nonpersonalized advertising still involves data collection. Google may process IP-derived approximate location, device or app identifiers, advertising impressions and interactions, product interactions, crash information, performance information, and other diagnostics for advertising, measurement, analytics, fraud prevention, and service reliability. Some of these data can be linked to a device even though no reader account is required. See Google’s Privacy Policy and how Google uses information from partner sites and apps.
The article viewer restricts unreviewed third-party resources, including the website’s analytics/tag-manager and web-push scripts. Google advertising, consent, and required display resources are permitted. Website consent controls remain available and advertising availability can depend on consent and location. We do not use data from the iPhone and iPad app for cross-company targeted advertising or share it with a data broker.
Android notifications and app updates
On Android, optional notifications use Google Firebase Cloud Messaging and Firebase Installations. These services process an installation identifier, push token, and technical device and service information to deliver notifications reliably. If you enable alerts, IONTB stores your push token, random installation identifier, protected authentication credential, preferences, installed app version, registration timestamps, and delivery status or errors. Android stores its installation credential in private app storage. The notification-service retention periods described above also apply to Android.
You can select All news alerts, Breaking news only, or Off. App-version notices have a separate optional control and are off by default. Android checks IONTB’s public release-information service for available app updates and links to Google Play. You can change these choices in Alerts or disable notifications in Android Settings.
Android article browsing and advertising
The native Android app displays sponsor placements. It does not include the Google Mobile Ads SDK or Firebase Analytics SDK and does not request the Android advertising identifier. Full articles and website services open in your browser using Chrome Custom Tabs or another supported browser. Those pages use the normal IONTB website advertising, analytics, cookies, and consent controls, governed by the website Privacy & Cookies policy and the third-party policies linked above. The iPhone article-viewer restrictions and nonpersonalized-ad settings described above do not apply to Android browser pages. Browser advertising may be personalized depending on your consent, location, browser settings, and the advertising provider’s settings.
App and notification-service connections use HTTPS. Saved stories remain on the Android device. You can remove local app data through Android Settings or uninstall the app. For a request to delete notification-service records held by IONTB, use the contact details below; uninstalling does not immediately remove existing server records.
Website links and user submissions
Website services, contact or media-submission forms, advertiser destinations, and supported social/video links open in your browser. The app does not receive the information you enter there. Those destinations use their own privacy policies and cookie controls. Information you choose to send to IONTB through its website, email, or other services is handled under the relevant service’s policy.
Request deletion of IONTB News app data
To request deletion, email [email protected] with the subject “IONTB News app data deletion” and tell us whether you use Android or iPhone/iPad. We will help identify your installation before removing its notification token, installation identifier, authentication record, notification preferences, and associated delivery records from the active notification service. Do not send passwords or publish an installation credential. Turn off article alerts and app-version notices first so the app does not register again. Local saved stories can be removed in the app or by clearing its data or uninstalling.
Article identifiers used to prevent duplicate publication alerts do not identify readers and may be kept. Security logs and backups may be retained separately for security or recovery; inactive installation records otherwise expire after 180 days and completed article delivery diagnostics after 30 days. Data held by your browser or third-party services is subject to those services’ controls and policies.
Your choices and contact
You can use the app without enabling notifications, remove saved stories within the app, and use website consent controls for advertising choices. Deleting the app removes its local app data, although an installation credential may remain in the iPhone Keychain. For questions or a request about data held by IONTB, contact [email protected] or use Contact IONTB. Because notifications use an installation identifier rather than a reader account, we may need information from you to locate a particular installation. We will not ask you to publish your installation credential.
We may update this policy when features or data practices change. The current version will remain available at this URL and from Privacy & Data in the app.
