Privacy
Privacy
What we keep, for how long, and who processes it for us.
We keep as little as we can. Files you upload, and files we fetch, are deleted 30 days after the check finishes, or 30 days after upload if no check finishes. We keep the proof of each checked file forever (its codes and our signature), so anyone can later check whether a copy is the same file.
The word-for-word text of a recording stays private. A public page quotes at most 30 words for each claim.
We never identify a speaker from their voice. Speakers are "Speaker 1" and "Speaker 2" unless the episode or video names them.
To sign in we need your email address. For security we store a scrambled form of IP addresses: on sign-in codes and on mistake reports it is deleted after 30 days, and the one from your sign-up and your consent records is kept with your account. Payment records are kept for 7 years because the law requires it. We do not sell your data and we do not use advertising trackers.
Private reports on someone else's content are kept for 1 year and are only visible to you.
To ask what we hold about you, or to delete your account, write to hello@factunion.com.
Visit counts and cookies
We count visits with Google Analytics: the pages you see, the buttons you use, sign-ins, sign-ups and payments, with a random visitor number. Google sets its own cookies for this and receives your IP address and browser details. We turned off its ad features, so this data is not used for ads.
In the EU, the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, these cookies are set only if you choose Accept in the cookie bar. Until then, or if you choose No thanks, Google gets only signals without cookies, which it uses to estimate totals. Elsewhere they are on unless you turn them off. Your choice is kept in a small cookie for 12 months.
Who is responsible for your data
FactUnion is a brand of Ostrel Software LLC, which runs this site and the FactUnion service. On this page, "FactUnion", "we" and "us" mean Ostrel Software LLC. Ostrel Software LLC is responsible for the personal data described on this page. Write to hello@factunion.com with any question about it.
FactUnion checks facts. It does not make podcasts for anyone. WovenPod, a service that makes podcasts for businesses, is related to FactUnion: today both are run by Ostrel Software LLC, under the same ownership. When WovenPod sends an episode to be checked, it goes through the same method and software as anyone else's, and paying never buys a better score. A few story podcasts made by WovenPod are still published on this site until they move to WovenPod's own site. Our about page says how they are made.
Who processes data for us
These companies handle data only to do the job listed, for us.
| Company | What it does | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Hosts this site and our database, stores uploaded files, sends our emails, and runs the bot check on our forms. | Worldwide network |
| Hetzner | Runs the servers that do the checking. | Germany and Finland |
| Deepgram | Turns the recording into written words. | United States |
| Exa | Searches the web for sources. It receives the text of each claim. | United States |
| Google (Gemini API) | Reads the source pages and reports what they say. It receives the claims and the pages we fetched. | United States |
| Anthropic | Reads the source pages and reports what they say. It receives the claims and the pages we fetched. Used for test runs today, and for public checks once we switch to it. | United States |
| Stripe | Takes payments when they open. We never see or store card numbers. | United States |
| YouTube | Plays videos on public pages that check a YouTube video, using its privacy-enhanced mode. | United States |
| Google (Google Analytics) | Counts visits to this site. It receives your IP address, browser details and the pages and buttons you use. Its ad features are off. | United States |
Some of these companies are in the United States, so your data may be processed there.
A longer legal version
A longer legal version of this page is being written. Until it is published, this page describes what we do.