Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used.
This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the Instapaper website and the Instapaper applications and services for iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle, and other devices and platforms, hereafter referred to as simply Instapaper.
Instapaper occasionally needs to collect information for convenience, practicality, or technical requirements. This information includes:
- Your chosen username, which may be your email address or name. A username is technically required so you can log in from multiple computers and devices. We encourage you to use your email address to make "forgot password" functionality possible.
- Your chosen password, which is empty by default. A hash of your password is stored in the Instapaper database, and the plain-text password is only used for hash comparison to the stored value.
- The titles, URLs (addresses), and selected text of the pages you save to Instapaper, folder-specific bookmarklets, Instapaper applications, third-party applications using the Instapaper API, and any other means with which to add pages to Instapaper.
- The HTML contents of the pages you save to Instapaper when recognized as a known login-requiring site. This is technically required to generate the Text view and other indexing features for sites that require logins or accounts, such as some major newspaper publishers. When HTML is saved for a page, it is only used within your account and is not revealed via social or sharing features.
- Your Amazon Kindle email address, if you have enabled automatic delivery to your Kindle. This is technically required to send your content to your Kindle.
Like most Web sites, Instapaper also collects and stores information automatically and through the use of electronic tools that may be transparent to our visitors. For example, we may log the name of your Internet Service Provider, your IP address, and information provided by and about your Internet browser. As we adopt additional technology, we may also gather similar information through other means.
We may also use "cookie" technology. Among other things, we may use cookies or other tracking technology for the purposes of storing your username and password hash to spare you from having to re-enter that information each time you visit.
We use the information you provide to operate Instapaper's features. We do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to accomplish Instapaper's functionality.
We use return email addresses to answer the email we receive. Such addresses are not used for any other purpose and are not shared with outside parties.
We use non-identifying and aggregate information to better design Instapaper, to suggest popular content to users, and to share with advertisers and publishers. For example:
- We may use aggregate information from Instapaper usage to help design new features or services for the product.
- We may tell an advertiser or publisher that X number of people visited a certain area on our website
- We may tell an advertiser or publisher that X number of people bookmarked Z stories from a particular site or topic.
- We may aggregate the most popular stories during limited time periods or from certain websites in order to suggest stories for Instapaper's Editor's Picks or for users who have also saved pages from those websites.
When information is used in this or a similar manner, we do not disclose anything that could be used to identify the individuals on whom the information is based.
We may disclose your information in response to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or to defend against legal claims.
We may disclose your information when we believe it necessary or desirable in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of our policies, and/or to protect our rights and property.
In the future, we may sell, buy, merge, or partner with other companies or businesses. In such transactions, user information may be among the transferred assets.
Some information you share on Instapaper is considered public when you use our social and sharing functionality, including:
- Others can view your most recent Starred articles if they know your username.
- Others can view your Unread, Archive, Starred, or folder contents if you reveal or share their associated RSS-feed URLs.
External services beyond Instapaper's control are integrated with Instapaper where necessary, such as Mailgun for email sending, Crashlytics for crash reporting, ZenDesk for customer support, and Google Analytics for traffic measurement and tracking. Integrations with Google services like Analytics, YouTube, and YouTube API Services are bound to the Google Privacy Policy.
Instapaper makes reasonable efforts to ensure that all integrated external services are trustworthy and reputable, but Instapaper cannot be held responsible for data collection and usage by such services.
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
Please note: To ensure easy account creation, minimal customer errors, and reduced support inquiries, Instapaper accounts initially do not have passwords. If left without a password, anyone can access your account if they know or guess your username. To set or change your password, go to http://www.instapaper.com/user/password.
Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. For that reason, we never collect or maintain information at our website from those we actually know are under 13, and no part of our website is structured to attract anyone under 13.
You can access all your personally identifiable information that we collect online and maintain by logging into your Instapaper account on the Instapaper website at http://www.instapaper.com/.
You can correct factual errors in your personally identifiable information by changing or deleting the erroneous information, by deleting your entire Instapaper account at http://www.instapaper.com/user/delete, or by emailing [email protected].
To protect your privacy and security, we will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.
You can delete your entire Instapaper account at any time at http://www.instapaper.com/user/delete. If you delete your account, all account information and saved page data is deleted from the Instapaper service immediately.
Due to the nature of backups and logs, deleted data may persist in backups and logs until they are deleted.
Instapaper complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union, United Kingdom, and Switzerland to the United States pursuant to the Privacy Shield. Instapaper has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles. If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov.
In compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles, Instapaper commits to resolve complaints about your privacy and our collection or use of your personal information pursuant to the Privacy Shield. EU, UK, and Swiss individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding our Privacy Shield policy should first contact Instapaper at [email protected].
Within the scope of this privacy notice, if a privacy complaint or dispute cannot be resolved through Instapaper's internal processes, the Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction over Instapaper's compliance with the Privacy Shield.
The Privacy Shield Principles describe Instapaper's accountability for personal data that it subsequently transfers to a third-party agent. Under the Privacy Shield Principles, Instapaper shall remain liable if third party agents process the personal information in a manner inconsistent with the Privacy Shield Principles, unless Instapaper proves it is not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage. If we cannot, we have selected JAMS, an independent dispute resolution provider, to handle unresolved Privacy Shield complaints. If we are unable to resolve your concerns after a good faith effort to address them, you may contact JAMS and submit a Privacy Shield claim. JAMS is a US-based private alternate dispute resolution provider, and we have contracted with JAMS to provide an independent recourse mechanism for any of our users for privacy concerns at no cost to you. You may learn more about the JAMS service or file a claim with JAMS by visiting https://www.jamsadr.com/eu-us-privacy-shield. You do not need to appear in court; you may conduct this dispute resolution process via telephone or video conference.
Note that Instapaper may be required to release the personal data of EU, UK, and Swiss individuals whose data is pursuant to the Privacy Shield in response to legal requests from public authorities, including to meet national security and law enforcement requirements. In certain circumstances, the Privacy Shield Framework provides the right to invoke binding arbitration to resolve complaints not resolved by other means, as described in Annex I to the Privacy Shield Principles.
In certain circumstances, the Privacy Shield Framework provides the right to invoke binding arbitration to resolve complaints not resolved by other means, as described in Annex I to the Privacy Shield Principles.
What Rights Do I Have?
Individuals located in the European Economic Area (EEA) have certain rights in respect of your personal information and Instapaper will provide these capabilities to all our worldwide users, including:
- The right of access to your personal data;
- The right to correct or rectify any inaccurate personal data;
- The right to restrict or oppose processing of personal data;
- The right to erase your personal data; and
- The right to personal data portability.
Instapaper uses, processes, and stores personal data, including those listed in the "Information We Collect" section, as necessary to perform our contract with you, and based on our legitimate interests in order to provide the Services. We rely on your consent to process personal data to place cookies on your devices. In some cases, Instapaper may process personal data pursuant to legal obligation or to protect your vital interests or those of another person.
How Can I Exercise my Rights?
If you're a user based in the EEA, you can:
- Request a personal data report by submitting a request to [email protected]. This report will include the personal data we have about you, provided to you in a structured, commonly used, and portable format. Please note that Instapaper may request additional information from you to verify your identity before we disclose any information.
- Have your personal data corrected or deleted. Some personal data can be updated by you through your Instapaper account settings, or by contacting us at [email protected]. You can also remove your personal data from Instapaper by deleting your account at http://www.instapaper.com/user/delete.
- Complain to a regulator. If you're based in the EEA and think that we haven't complied with data protection laws, you have a right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.
If you have other questions or do not have a Instapaper account, please contact us at [email protected].
Should you have other questions or concerns about these privacy policies, please email [email protected]. At this time, we only have the ability to receive and send English-language communications.
Instapaper reserves the right to change this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of Instapaper following the posting of changes to this policy will mean you accept those changes. We will notify you before we make material changes to this policy and give you an opportunity to review the revised policy before deciding if you would like to continue to use the Services. You can review previous versions of the policy at https://github.com/Instapaper/privacy.
Effective Date: January 26th, 2019