Privacy Policy

1. Scope of This Policy

This Policy applies to information we collect:

• On the Site and any AI, But Simple subdomain;
• Through the newsletter and other email communications we send;
• Through the PRO platform, including account registration and member preferences;
• In correspondence you send to us, whether by email or through our contact form.

This Policy does not apply to information collected by any third party, including through any website, application, or content that may link to or be accessible from the Services.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information that identifies you as an individual (“Personal Information”) together with usage information that does not, on its own, identify you.

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you subscribe to the newsletter, create an account, purchase a PRO membership, or otherwise interact with the Services, we may collect:

• Your email address, which is required to deliver the newsletter and to register an account;
• Your name and topics of interest, where you choose to provide them, which we use to personalize the content of your issues;
• Account credentials and member preferences for PRO, including your role, topics, and configured feeds;
• Billing information for paid memberships, which is collected and processed by our third-party payment processor at checkout; your payment card number never reaches our systems;
• Any other information you choose to provide, including messages sent by email or through our contact form.

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically

As you interact with the Services, we may collect:

• Attribution data, consisting of campaign parameters contained in the link you followed, the referring site, and the page on which you arrived, retained for seven (7) days;
• Email engagement data, meaning records of opens and link clicks reported by our email service provider, which we use to measure how each issue performed;
• Deliverability checks, performed once at subscription to confirm that your email address is well formed and that its domain can receive mail; the check queries public DNS records only, and no record of it is kept.

We do not operate third-party analytics services on the Site, and we do not collect precise geolocation data.

3. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use a limited number of first-party cookies that are necessary to operate the Services. We do not set third-party cookies, and we do not use advertising cookies, analytics cookies, tracking pixels on the Site, or other cross-site tracking technologies.

• Strictly necessary cookies. These cookies are essential to provide you with the Services and enable core functionality, such as authenticating signed-in PRO members. They are set only at login, are inaccessible to client-side scripts, and are cleared when you sign out.
• Functional cookies. These cookies enable enhanced functionality, such as persisting your preferences on a device prior to account creation.
• Attribution cookies. These cookies record the campaign or referring site that directed you to the Site and expire after seven (7) days.

Because the Site sets no non-essential cookies, it does not display a cookie consent banner. You may block or delete cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may impair signed-in functionality. Our newsletter emails include standard open and click measurement provided by our email service provider; you can limit this measurement by turning off automatic image loading in your email client or by reading messages in plain text.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including Personal Information, to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the Services, including delivering the newsletter and providing access to PRO;
• Personalize content based on the interests and preferences you provide;
• Process PRO subscriptions, payments, renewals, and refunds;
• Communicate with you about your account, membership, or other transactional matters;
• Measure and analyze the performance of the Services, including engagement with individual issues;
• Detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, and security incidents;
• Comply with our legal obligations, enforce our Terms of Use, and protect our rights, property, and safety and those of our users and others.

5. How We Disclose Your Information

We may disclose Personal Information that we collect or that you provide:

• To service providers that support the operation of the Services, each of which receives only the information necessary to perform its function: our email platform (Beehiiv), which maintains the subscriber list, delivers the newsletter, and reports engagement; our authentication and database provider (Appwrite), which manages accounts and credentials; and our payment processor, which handles membership billing;
• To a successor operator or acquirer if the business is incorporated, merged, reorganized, or sold, in whole or in part;
• Where required by law, court order, or other legal process, or in response to a lawful government or regulatory request;
• To enforce our Terms of Use and other agreements; and
• Where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of AI, But Simple, our users, or others.

We do not sell or rent Personal Information, and we do not disclose Personal Information to third parties for their own marketing purposes or for cross-context behavioral advertising.

6. Sponsors and Advertising

The newsletter may include sponsored placements, each clearly identified as sponsored. Sponsors receive only aggregate statistics about their placements, such as impressions, opens, and click-through rates. They do not receive Personal Information, subscriber lists, or any data that identifies an individual subscriber.

7. Your Choices

• Email communications. You may unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time using the link included in every issue; unsubscribing takes effect immediately. We may continue to send transactional or account-related messages to PRO members.
• Preferences. PRO members may review and update their preferences at any time under Settings.
• Access, correction, and deletion. You may request a copy of the Personal Information we hold about you, request a correction, or request its deletion by contacting us as described in Section 15. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request, and we will respond within thirty (30) days.

8. Data Retention

Personal Information is retained only for as long as it is needed to provide the Services, to meet our legal obligations, and to resolve disputes or enforce our agreements. Subscription information is kept while you remain subscribed; after you unsubscribe, our email platform keeps a suppression record so that you are not emailed again. PRO account data is kept for as long as the account exists and is deleted with the account. Attribution data expires after seven (7) days.

9. Data Security

We maintain technical and organizational safeguards intended to protect Personal Information against accidental loss and unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. Traffic is encrypted in transit, session cookies are inaccessible to client-side scripts, and passwords are handled entirely by our authentication provider and never pass through our application. No method of transmission over the Internet is entirely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted to the Services. If a security incident affects your Personal Information, we will notify you as required by applicable law.

10. International Data Transfers

Our service providers process information primarily in the United States. If you access the Services from outside the United States, your Personal Information may be transferred to and processed in jurisdictions whose data protection laws differ from those of your country. Where required by applicable law, we rely on appropriate safeguards for such transfers.

11. Region-Specific Privacy Rights

11.1 California Residents

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what Personal Information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, the purposes for which we collected it, and the third parties with whom we shared it; to request deletion of Personal Information, subject to certain exceptions; to request correction of inaccurate Personal Information; and to be free from discrimination for exercising any of these rights. We do not “sell” or “share” Personal Information as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act. To exercise these rights, contact us as described in Section 15. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf.

11.2 Residents of the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the following rights under applicable data protection laws: the right of access to your Personal Information; the right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete Personal Information; the right to erasure; the right to restrict processing; the right to data portability; the right to object to processing, including for direct marketing; the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. Our legal bases for processing include: (i) the performance of a contract with you; (ii) your consent; (iii) compliance with a legal obligation; and (iv) our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the Services, where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.

12. Children's Privacy

The Services are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from anyone under 16 years of age. If you are under 16, do not use the Services or submit any information to us. If we learn that we have collected Personal Information from a child under 16, we will delete it promptly; if you believe this has occurred, please contact us as described in Section 15.

13. Third-Party Links

The Services may contain links to third-party websites and services. Clicking on those links may allow third parties to collect information about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will post the updated Policy on the Site, update the Effective Date above, and notify subscribers by email or through the newsletter. Continued use of the Services after a revised Policy takes effect constitutes acceptance of it.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments, or requests regarding this Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us by emailing edwin@aibutsimple.com.

Mail for our newsletter reaches us at 228 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10003, USA, the address shown in our email footers.