Privacy

This page explains what information Shine collects when you use this website, why we collect it, who sees it, how long we keep it, and what you can ask us to do. Last updated: 24 October 2026.

What we collect and why

Reading the site. You can read Shine without giving us any personal information. We do not use advertising trackers, and we set no cookies unless you accept analytics cookies on the cookie banner (see Counting readers below). Our web host, Cloudflare, sees your IP address and basic details about your browser each time your device asks for a page. It uses them to deliver the site and to block attacks, and it keeps short-term technical logs under its own policy.

Settings kept on your device. The site saves a few small settings in your browser's storage so it remembers you: your language choice, whether you closed the banner at the top, your choice about cookies and YouTube, and, for the length of a visit, whether you turned sound on in Shorts. They stay on your device, and clearing your browser data removes them.

Search. The search box runs inside your browser. What you type is not sent to us.

Contact form. If you use the Contact form, we collect your message, the topic you chose, and your name and email address if you choose to give them. We use them only to read and answer your message. We store them in our database and send a copy of the message to our team through a private messaging channel. We keep them for up to 12 months and then delete them. We do not store your IP address, only a one-way code that changes every day, which lets us spot spam without identifying you.

Error reports. If you report an error in a story, we collect the story link and what you write. Please do not put personal details in the message. We use it to check the story and correct it if needed.

Newsletter. If you sign up for the newsletter, we ask only for your email address. It is stored by MailerLite, the email service we use to send the newsletter, and we use it only to send you the newsletter. Every issue has an unsubscribe link, and you can leave at any time.

Videos and YouTube

Some stories and the Shorts page show YouTube videos. Nothing is loaded from YouTube until you choose to play. On the Shorts page we ask you first, and on a video page you press play. We use YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com). Once the player loads, Google, which runs YouTube, can see your IP address and may place cookies or similar technology on your device under its own privacy policy. To withdraw your choice, clear this site's data in your browser. Most video thumbnails are copies stored on our own server. When one is not, it loads from YouTube's image servers, which then see your IP address.

Posts from other sites

Some stories embed a post from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or X. Nothing is loaded from those sites until you press play on that post, and this site does not remember that you did: you are asked again for the next one. Until then, each post shows only a plain placeholder and, where the post's address names its author, a link to their page. Once a post loads, the company that runs the site (Meta for Facebook and Instagram, ByteDance for TikTok, X Corp. for X) can see your IP address and may place cookies or similar technology on your device under its own privacy policy. You can clear those in your browser's settings.

Counting readers

We count how many people read Shine, which pages they read and where they came from, so we can improve the site. We do this ourselves, on our own server, without cookies. Page views are counted by our server when it sends you the page, with no tracking script. For each page view we record the page, your country, whether you use a phone or a computer, and the site that sent you. We also record two short codes made from your internet (IP) address and browser details with a secret key, one that changes every day and one every week, so we can tell how many different people visit without knowing who they are. We do not keep your IP address or browser details, and without the secret key the codes cannot be turned back into them. Automatic visits by search engines and link previews are counted separately. We also count how often a few features are used, such as sharing a story card or adding an event to a calendar: when you tap one, a small script on the page tells our server which feature and which page, and we record it in the same way, with no cookie and nothing else about you.

Google Analytics. This part runs only if you press Accept on the cookie banner. Until then, Google Analytics sends nothing to Google. Once you accept, we use Google Analytics, a service of Google, to see how readers use the site, for example which stories are read and for how long. It sets cookies on your device and sends Google your IP address and details about your browser and the pages you view. We have turned off Google's advertising features and we do not use this information for advertising. If you press Decline, or have not chosen, Google Analytics does not run. To withdraw your choice, clear this site's data in your browser; the banner will then ask again.

Who else handles information for us

We use these services to run the site. Cloudflare provides hosting, security, our forms, our database and the storage for our reader counts. Sanity is where our stories are written and stored, and it holds no information about readers. Cloudflare Turnstile may check that a form is filled in by a person. Google provides Google Analytics, but only if you accept it on the cookie banner. MailerLite sends our newsletter and holds the email addresses of the people who subscribe. These companies operate worldwide, so information may be processed outside Singapore. We do not sell your information and we do not share it for advertising.

The daily brief on Telegram is delivered by Telegram; its subscriber list is Telegram's, not ours.

How long we keep it

Contact messages: up to 12 months. Error reports: for as long as the story stays online, as part of its correction record. Technical logs at Cloudflare: for the short periods in Cloudflare's own policy. Newsletter email addresses: until you unsubscribe. Google Analytics cookies: up to 14 months. Detailed Google Analytics data: no longer than 14 months, and Google may keep summary reports longer. Settings on your device: until you clear them.

Reader counts are kept for about three months, then deleted automatically.

Your rights

Under Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act you can ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct it or delete it, and withdraw a consent you gave us. Send your request to news@shinenews.sg, or through the Contact page and choose "Something else". Because we do not store your IP address, tell us the email address you used, or the date and topic of your message, so that we can find it. We aim to reply within 30 days.

Children

Shine is written for a general audience and is not aimed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect their personal data.

Changes

If we change how we handle information, we will update this page and the date at the top.