Privacy

Effective August 25, 2026

Better HN is designed to collect very little personal information.

Google sign-in

If you sign in, Google provides your account’s stable identifier and basic profile information such as your name and email address. Better HN uses these only to identify your session and keep your saved stories available across devices. It does not request access to Google Drive, contacts, mail, or other Google services.

Stored data

The application database stores a pseudonymous account identifier, the Hacker News story IDs you save, when you saved them, and your Better HN reading preferences. Your basic profile information is carried in an encrypted, HTTP-only session cookie rather than copied into the application database.

Analytics

Better HN uses GoatCounter for aggregate, privacy-friendly traffic measurement. Search text is not sent to analytics. The secret operations dashboard is not tracked.

Cookies and deletion

An essential session cookie keeps you signed in. Signing out removes the browser session. You can remove saved stories at any time with the same bookmark control used to save them.