ADVFN
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- The documents do not say who can read your content.
Market site that tracks you for ads, shares data with exchanges and ad partners, and can close you without notice.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Account details, IP and browser data, payment info, and tracking from ad and analytics partners.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“ADVFN collects a series of traffic data and information when you use the website. We collect the following types of traffic data:”
Training
They use it to run the site, bill you, market, and let partners show targeted ads.
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Privacy policy
“ADVFN may show you personalised adverts from one or more of our advertising partners.”
Sharing
Payment firms, stock exchanges, group companies, and ad/analytics partners can get your data.
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Privacy policy
“When you visit our site, these third parties may use cookies, pixels, device identifiers, or similar tracking technologies to collect information about your browser, device, and online activities over time and across different websites.”
Kept
They keep it while you are a customer and longer if the law says they must.
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Privacy policy
“We will retain your personal information in accordance with our terms and conditions and this privacy policy for the duration of your business relationship with us and afterwards where it is required by any laws applicable to us.”
Controls
You can email them to access, update, or erase data, and unsubscribe from emails.
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Privacy policy
“You have the right to request personal data . Doing so will automatically withdraw your consent for us to process and store your personal identifiable data.”
Fine print
Subscriptions are mostly non-refundable; they can close you without notice; you them.
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Terms of service
“the fees are payable in advance by way of monthly or annual subscription and are non-refundable except if ADVFN gives you notice to terminate without cause.”
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
or a copy of your data
Email help@advfn.com or write to ADVFN Data Department, 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London W1W 5PF
Unsubscribe from marketing emails
Unsubscribe link in emails, https://www.advfn.com/p.php?pid=unsubscribe, or help@advfn.com
Opt out of LiveRamp / interest-based ads
https://liveramp.com/optout/ and NAI / DAA / youronlinechoices.com links in the privacy policy
Cancel a paid subscription
Telephone 1-888-992-3836 with at least 30 days’ notice before renewal
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
They can shut your account at any time with no warning.
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Terms of service
“you may only use the website and Services at ADVFN's sole discretion and ADVFN may at any time decide to terminate your registered user account, or else withdraw your access to some or all of the website and Services, immediately and without notice to you.”
For example, you could lose access to paid market data overnight with no email first.
If they get sued because of how you used the site, you may have to pay their costs.
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Terms of service
“You ADVFN and its Data Providers and affiliates from and against any and all losses, damages and costs suffered or incurred by ADVFN, any Data Providers or affiliates of whatsoever nature arising out of or in connection with your use”
For example, a post on their bulletin board that causes a complaint could leave you covering legal bills.
They send hashed email and device data to an ad-tech firm so you can be targeted across sites and apps.
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Privacy policy
“we may share with LiveRamp and its group companies information that we collect from you, such as your email (in hashed, form), IP address, or information about your browser or operating system”
For example, signing up with your email can help advertisers recognise you on other websites.
Google Analytics on the site can also be used to personalise Google ads.
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Privacy policy
“Google may use the Data collected to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.”
For example, pages you view on ADVFN can follow you as ads elsewhere on the web.
Anything you post on their boards can be copied and published however they like.
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Terms of service
“By placing on the Services or making available to other users any information you hereby grant ADVFN a worldwide non-exclusive licence to use copy, distribute, publish and transmit such information in any manner ADVFN wishes”
For example, a stock comment you write could stay on the site even after you leave.
You pay up front and usually cannot get money back if you cancel later.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“the fees are payable in advance by way of monthly or annual subscription and are non-refundable except if ADVFN gives you notice to terminate without cause.”
For example, cancelling a yearly plan after a month would typically not refund the rest.
If you buy exchange data, your name and address keep going to those exchanges.
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Privacy policy
“We will continue to store your data and periodically send your data to the relevant exchanges to verify your subscriptions for licensing purposes.”
For example, a US exchange could keep getting your home address while you subscribe.
They claim they do not sell your personal information, though other sections describe sharing with ads and exchanges.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“ADVFN does not sell or share your personal information.”
For example, California users still get a “Do not sell” link because of how partners use data.
You can ask them to delete your personal data by contacting them.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“You have the right to request personal data . Doing so will automatically withdraw your consent for us to process and store your personal identifiable data.”
For example, emailing help@advfn.com can start a deletion request.
You must say you are 18 or older and using the site as a private investor, not a professional.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“You agree that in entering into this agreement you are over the age of 18 and you will at all times be acting as a Private Investor / Non-Professional”
For example, a 17-year-old is not allowed to register under these terms.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- third parties
- Any company or person other than you and the app, such as advertisers, partners or analytics firms. For example, an analytics company that receives a record of every screen you tap is a third party.
- cookies
- Small files a website saves on your device so it can recognise you and remember what you did. For example, a cookie keeps you logged in and can also tell an ad company which sites you visited.
- tracking pixels
- Tiny invisible images or bits of code in a page, app or email that report back when and where you opened it. For example, a pixel in a marketing email tells the sender the moment you read it.
- device identifiers
- Codes that single out your phone or computer, used to recognise you across apps and sites. For example, the advertising ID on your phone lets two unrelated apps know they are seeing the same person.
- retention
- How long a company keeps your data before deleting it. For example, a policy might keep your messages for 30 days after you delete them, or for as long as it likes.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- right to erasure
- Your right to have a company delete the personal data it holds about you, with some exceptions. For example, you can ask a social app to wipe your old posts and profile and it must, unless a law says otherwise.
- consent
- Your clear agreement to something, given by an action like ticking a box or tapping Accept. For example, a pop-up asking if the app may use your location is asking for consent.
- irrevocable
- Cannot be taken back or cancelled once given, even if you change your mind or delete your account. For example, an irrevocable licence to your photos means you cannot withdraw it later.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- affiliates
- Other companies owned by or connected to the same parent company. For example, if you use one app, its sister apps under the same owner may also get your data.
- pseudonymous
- Your name is swapped for a code, but the company keeps the key and can still link the data back to you. For example, your chats are filed under user 48213 instead of your name, but staff can still look up who that is.
How we got here · grade F · score 32/100 · 14 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 3 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect account details plus IP, browser, OS, referrer, geo from IP, cookies, and payment and address data if you subscribe.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
The documents do not describe collecting voice, face, or body data.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
Third-party ad and analytics firms, including Google, Facebook, InvestingChannel and LiveRamp, collect data for targeted ads.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They say they do not sell personal information, but they share with exchanges, group companies, and ad partners, and California users get a do-not-sell link.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
Posts you put on the site get a worldwide licence for ADVFN to copy, publish and use them however they wish.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
They keep data during the relationship and as required by law. Deletion is by contacting them, not a described in-app button.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
Not stated in the documents.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say data sits on limited-access databases on monitored networks and they will report breaches to the ICO.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
You must agree you are over 18; there is no extra age check described.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
The privacy policy has no date and says to check the page for updates. Terms say 14 days’ notice of changes.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They may terminate your account immediately and without notice at their discretion.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
Services are as-is with broad liability exclusions, and you must indemnify them for losses tied to your use.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Subscriptions are billed in advance and are non-refundable except in limited cases; cancel with 30 days’ notice by phone.
The privacy policy is 2,716 words at a college level (Flesch reading ease 45.6); the terms are 5,005 words at a fairly hard level.
