Privacy
You can use StarHOT without signing up or logging in. We only handle what the site needs to run and to answer your feedback, plus anonymous analytics that never identify you, and we never sell personal information.
- Version
- 1.1
- Effective date
- October 23, 2026
1. Data kept in your browser
Your saved stories, read history, light or dark theme, recent searches (up to 10), changelog read state and feedback drafts stay in your current browser. Your place in a list, scroll position and expanded sections live only in the current tab’s session storage and are cleared when you close the tab. None of this is sent to our servers. Clearing your browser data removes it, and it does not sync across devices. You can export and import saved stories, read history and theme on the Bookmarks page.
Your interface language is kept in a starhot-language preference cookie for one year; you can change it from the sidebar or My space. The cookie holds only a language code. It is sent with requests to this site so pages render in your language, and it is never used for ad tracking. Clearing your cookies resets it.
2. Feedback
What you send through the feedback page — your message, an optional email address, the address of the page you were on, and any screenshot you choose to attach — is stored and used only to handle your feedback. To prevent abuse we keep an irreversible identifier derived from your network address and browser type, used for rate limiting and blocking abusive sources.
3. Access logs and anonymous analytics
We do no ad tracking, and we never sell or hand visit data to advertisers. To keep the site secure and stable, our servers and network providers briefly keep the access logs they need (such as IP address, time, page address and browser details).
To learn what people read, improve the site and fix problems, we use PostHog (United States) for anonymous analytics. It collects which pages are viewed (the path only, without search terms or other URL parameters), which links and buttons are clicked, how fast pages load, and error reports when a page breaks, along with routine details such as browser and device type, screen size and language. It sets no cookies and stores no identifier in your browser; it does not record your screen, read what you type, identify you, or link to feedback you send. PostHog does not keep your IP address. If your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, analytics does not load.
4. Third-party content
StarHOT shows summaries of and links to third-party articles. When you open an original article you are on that site, and its privacy policy applies.
5. Contact
To look up, correct or delete feedback you have sent, tell us through the feedback page and we will handle it promptly.