AmericanThinker
- 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.
They collect email, IP, and cookies, share hashed data with ad partners like LiveRamp, and you must check back for policy changes.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Email and other registration details, plus IP address, cookies, and pages you visit.
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Privacy policy
“American Thinker automatically receives and records certain "traffic data" on our server logs from your browser including your IP address, American Thinker cookie information, and the page you requested.”
Training
Used to run the site, diagnose servers, and power interest-based ads with partners.
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Privacy policy
“American Thinker uses this traffic data to help diagnose problems with its servers, analyze trends and administer the website.”
Sharing
Ad companies and LiveRamp can get hashed email, IP, and browser data; they say they do not sell it.
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Privacy policy
“When you use our website, we share information that we may collect from you, such as your email (in hashed form), IP address or information about your browser or operating system, with our partners/service providers, including but not limited to, LiveRamp Inc”
Kept
The documents do not say how long they keep your information.
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Privacy policy
“We receive and store any information you enter on our website or provide to us in any other way.”
Controls
You can skip some fields, block cookies, or opt out of some ads at networkadvertising.org or LiveRamp.
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Privacy policy
“To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit www.networkadvertising.org.”
Fine print
Visiting means you accept the policy; they can change it anytime and you must check back yourself.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. You agree to obtain changes to this Privacy Policy electronically by visiting this Site.”
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.
Opt out of LiveRamp matching
https://liveramp.com/opt_out/
Opt out of some behavioral ads
www.networkadvertising.org
Disable cookies in your browser help menu
The help portion of the toolbar on most browsers
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 send hashed email, your IP, and device details to ad-tech partners so you can be matched for targeted ads.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“When you use our website, we share information that we may collect from you, such as your email (in hashed form), IP address or information about your browser or operating system, with our partners/service providers, including but not limited to, LiveRamp Inc”
For example, visiting the site can let LiveRamp try to match you to marketing databases for real-time ad bidding.
Third-party ad companies track how you browse this site and others to show ads they think you will like.
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Privacy policy
“These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites”
For example, clicking an ad here can follow you with similar ads on other websites.
They can rewrite the rules whenever they want and do not promise to email you; you are supposed to keep checking the page.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time. You agree to obtain changes to this Privacy Policy electronically by visiting this Site.”
For example, they could start sharing more data and still treat you as having agreed if you keep visiting.
If the site is sold, your information can go to the buyer as part of the deal.
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Privacy policy
“Moreover, if American Thinker, or substantially all of its assets, were acquired, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred.”
For example, a new owner could get the email you used to register.
They can hand over your data if they think the law, their rules, or safety requires it.
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Privacy policy
“We may release personal information when we believe in good faith that release is necessary to comply with that law; enforce or apply our conditions of use and other agreements; or protect the rights, property, or safety of American Thinker, our employees, our users, or others.”
For example, they could share your registration email with another company for fraud checks.
They say they do not rent or sell your personal information, though they still share it in the ways listed.
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Privacy policy
“We neither rent nor sell your personal information to anyone. We share your personal information only as described below.”
For example, they claim a mailing-list buyer would not get your email as a sale, but ad partners still get hashed data.
They say accounts use a password and only some employees can see personal information.
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Privacy policy
“Your American Thinker account information is protected by a password for your privacy and security.”
For example, they expect you to log off on a shared computer so others cannot open your account.
Just opening the site is treated as agreeing to this privacy policy.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“By visiting the American Thinker website, you are accepting the practices outlined in this Privacy Policy.”
For example, you do not have to click I agree; loading a page is enough for them to say you accepted.
Comments require a paid ad-free subscription; the page lists monthly and yearly prices.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“To comment on this or any other American Thinker article or blog, you must be a subscriber to our ad-free service.”
For example, you would pay $6.79 a month or $69.99 a year to leave a comment.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- 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.
- service providers
- Outside companies that handle your data on the app's instructions, such as a cloud host or an email sender. For example, the company that stores the app's files in the cloud sees your data but only does what the app tells it.
- targeted advertising
- Ads chosen for you based on what you have done across other apps and websites, not just this one. For example, you look at shoes in one app and see shoe ads in a totally different app the next day.
- opt out
- Something is on by default and stays on until you find the setting and turn it off. For example, your chats may be used for training unless you go into settings and switch it off.
- 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.
- sell or share
- Under California law, selling means passing your data to others for money or other value; sharing means passing it on for targeted ads. For example, letting an ad network use your browsing history in return for ad space counts as a sale.
How we got here · grade F · score 33/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 9 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect registration details you type plus automatic traffic data: IP address, cookies, and pages requested.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
The documents do not describe collecting voice, face, or body data; this is a news website.
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 companies serve ads and collect browsing data; hashed email and IP are shared with LiveRamp for interest-based ads.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They say they do not rent or sell personal information, but they share hashed identifiers with ad partners and offer some opt-outs.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
Not stated in the documents.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
Not stated in the documents.
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 describe passwords, logging off shared computers, and limiting employee access; no audit or leak history is given.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
Not stated in the documents.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
They can change the policy anytime; you must check the site, and visiting counts as acceptance. The policy is undated.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
Not stated in the documents.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
Not stated in the documents.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Not stated in the documents.
The privacy policy is 1,190 words at a college level (Flesch reading ease 42.5); the terms are 1,070 words at a college level.
