Privacy Policy | Gift Card News

Last updated: 17 September 2026

Responsibility and contact

Gift Card News is responsible for the website processing described in this policy. Contact compliance@giftcard.news for privacy questions or requests. This policy covers readers of giftcard.news, optional browser and email news alerts, and communications with the publication.

Information used to operate the website

Serving a page involves technical information such as your IP address, requested URL, browser information and request timing. We use Cloudflare for hosting, content delivery, storage and security. Our subscription endpoints use the request IP address for rate limiting. A search term is sent in the search URL; the application does not create a separate search-history profile.

If you use our contact form, we receive your name, email address, subject and message. Brevo delivers the message to our private editorial mailbox so we can reply. If you email a publication address directly, we also receive any attachments you choose to provide. Public reporting may include names, professional roles and statements from identified sources. Editorial administration has separate account, session and audit records; reader accounts are independent of editorial administrator accounts.

You can sign in with Google, Facebook or LinkedIn. We receive the provider account identifier, name, profile photo URL and email address when supplied, and the provider's email verification status. We do not receive your social password or ask for permission to publish on your social profile. We store your name, email, verification status, professional account type, optional company and website, and the dates and versions of your Terms acceptance and newsletter choices. Shops and retailers must provide a website. These details operate your reader account and free access. Your social profile photo is displayed in your account, the site header and the private Members area of our editorial administration. The image is loaded from the social provider, which receives the image request and connection information.

If the provider does not supply a verified email address, you must enter an address and confirm it through a Brevo email before completing your profile. Verification links expire after 24 hours. Accounts are not automatically combined because they share an email address; connecting another social identity requires signing in to the existing account. My account lets you edit your profile, connect sign-in methods, change newsletter preferences and sign out.

The essential __Host-gcn-reader-session cookie keeps you signed in for up to 30 days and is invalidated when you sign out. The temporary __Host-gcn-reader-oauth cookie binds a social sign-in attempt to your browser and expires after ten minutes. Reader session information is held in Cloudflare KV, while account and consent records are stored in Cloudflare D1. Social providers also process information under their own privacy policies when you choose their sign-in option.

Daily free reading allowance

An anonymous browser can read ten distinct articles in full per UTC day. Rereading an unlocked article does not consume another allowance. After that, further articles show the first 50%, with whole tables and charts kept intact at the cutoff, and invite you to create a free account. A signed-in account with a completed profile has unlimited full access, whether or not you subscribe to the newsletter.

The essential __Host-gcn-visitor cookie stores a random browser identifier for up to 30 days. A Cloudflare Durable Object records the current UTC date and up to ten unlocked article identifiers for that browser. This list resets at midnight UTC and is not a permanent reading-history profile. Clearing cookies or using another browser or device creates a new anonymous identity. These essential cookies support the access service separately from optional analytics consent.

Reader account records remain while the account exists; consent records are retained to document your choices. You can request account deletion or access to your information through our contact form or privacy contact. Session expiry and signing out do not by themselves delete your profile. Newsletter consent is separate, optional and can be withdrawn without losing article access.

Browser storage and your choices

We store a local browser preference named giftcard-news-visitor-preferences-v2 to remember your cookie choice. It has no automatic expiry; you can remove it by clearing site data. Essential only declines optional analytics. OK permits Google Analytics, Google signals, and Microsoft Clarity as described below. You can change or withdraw your choice through Cookie preferences in the footer. Essential authentication cookies are used on the separate editorial administration service.

Analytics and Microsoft Clarity

With your permission, Google Analytics and Google signals help us understand site usage and advertising performance. Microsoft Clarity provides heatmaps and session recordings of interactions such as clicks, scrolling and navigation, together with device and browser information. We use these insights to improve page layout, navigation and usability. Cloudflare Zaraz manages loading these services after your choice.

Clarity uses cookies to connect page visits after analytics consent. We keep Clarity advertising storage disabled. Form content is masked, and Clarity is excluded from editorial administration, preview pages and URLs containing access tokens. Choosing Essential only prevents Clarity from loading; withdrawing consent stops recording and revokes its cookie consent. This does not automatically delete information collected before withdrawal.

Microsoft processes the interaction data collected through Clarity. For details about its data handling, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement. For Google services, see Google Privacy & Terms.

When the preferences panel is visible, the browser may prepare the notification service worker and retrieve its public configuration. This preparation does not subscribe you or display a permission prompt. Subscription occurs only after you choose to enable alerts and grant the browser's permission. Clearing the preference alone does not necessarily revoke that separate permission.

Optional news alerts

If you subscribe, we store the browser push endpoint, encryption keys, any supplied expiry, subscription status and creation/update times. We also keep delivery records identifying the article and subscription, attempts, outcomes and timestamps. These records do not require your name or email address.

Your browser's push provider carries encrypted notification messages. Supported services include those used by Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and Huawei. Alerts contain an article title, short description and link. We do not add notification-open tracking. Turning alerts off revokes delivery and cancels pending notifications; it does not automatically erase the subscription record or delivery history. You may request deletion.

Email news subscriptions

To receive the optional weekly Gift Card News digest, provide your full name and email, choose to subscribe and confirm through the email we send. The same choice is available in your reader profile and is not required for free article access. We store your name, email, subscription status, consent and confirmation dates, confirmation and unsubscribe tokens, and delivery records. Confirmation links expire after 24 hours. A contact-form message or social sign-in does not automatically subscribe you. Existing preferences remain unchanged unless you change them.

Brevo processes subscriber names, addresses and email content to deliver confirmation messages and weekly digests. Delivery records can include message identifiers, outcomes and timestamps. Brevo may also record email opens and link clicks through its email tracking features; this is separate from website cookies. We use delivery information to operate the mailing service and handle failures.

Each weekly digest includes an unsubscribe link. Unsubscribing stops future digests and cancels pending deliveries without removing reader-account access. It does not automatically erase consent or delivery history; contact compliance@giftcard.news to request deletion where applicable. Browser alerts, email subscriptions and reader sign-in are separate choices.

Read Brevo's Privacy Policy for information about its services.

Why information is processed

We rely on your consent for optional browser and email news alerts. We rely on legitimate interests in operating and securing the publication, preventing abuse, handling correspondence and maintaining necessary operational records, subject to your rights. Where applicable, processing may also be necessary to meet legal obligations. Withdrawing browser or email alert consent does not affect processing lawfully carried out before withdrawal.

External content and service providers

Article images and fonts are served from our own site infrastructure. Supported YouTube, Facebook, X and TikTok embeds connect to their providers only when activated. Those providers can receive connection and browser information and may apply their own cookies and policies. Ordinary external links also lead to independently operated websites.

Cloudflare supports our website and email routing; messages to publication addresses are forwarded to our designated mailbox. Browser push services and communications providers also process information needed for their services. Processing may occur outside your country; we do not promise that all information stays in the EU. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy for its practices.

Retention and security

The application currently has no fixed automatic deletion schedule for subscription records or delivery history. Revoked and expired subscriptions remain recorded. Infrastructure log retention depends on provider settings and is not a fixed period specified here. We handle retention and deletion requests individually, considering operational need and applicable obligations. We use access controls and encrypted connections, but no system offers absolute security.

Your rights

Where the General Data Protection Regulation applies, you may request access, correction, erasure, restriction or portability where the relevant conditions are met, object to processing based on legitimate interests, withdraw consent, and complain to a supervisory authority. Contact us using the details above. We may request information necessary to verify a request. Policy changes will be identified by the updated date.