Stacker News takes user privacy seriously. This document highlights the privacy-enhancing features we offer, the data we store, and the limited and anonymous data we share for analytics.
Privacy-Enhancing Features
To help you maintain your privacy on Stacker News, we offer the following features:
Log In with Lightning
This is the most private way to use Stacker News. This feature allows anyone to create a Stacker News account and log in by signing a message with any LNURL-auth enabled Lightning wallet.
If you choose to log in with Lightning, Stacker News cannot see any information about your Lightning node pubkey.
Accessibility via Tor
To access the site over Tor, visit the following address:
snsnsnya6h3ot563f3p566wuhfoklkg5f62hokdlaqzcaub3gf4xlxyd.onion
Lightning Network Deposits and Withdrawals
Lightning deposits and withdrawals allow you to move money to and from Stacker News without making an on-chain Bitcoin transaction.
When you deposit sats on Stacker News, the only data Stacker News stores is the money you’ve received. When you withdraw sats from Stacker News, the corresponding bolt11 invoice is stored. Importantly, bolt11 invoices reveal the receiving node’s pubkey.
Lightning offers a more private method of making Bitcoin payments than on-chain Bitcoin payments, which are visible to anyone with a Bitcoin node.
Pseudonyms
On Stacker News you can set any username you want, and you can change your username at any time. Stacker News does not maintain a list of your past usernames.
Data We Store
If you opt-in to our weekly newsletter or choose to login via email, we store your email address on our self-hosted email server. Your email address is not shared with anyone else or used for promotional purposes.
If you choose to login with Github or Twitter, we store your username from those apps.
In either case, your Stacker News username will be set to your Github or Twitter username by default, but you can change your Stacker News username at any time.
The only other data stored from your Github or Twitter account is a corresponding unique ID (different from your username) so you can log back in to Stacker News after logging out.
Stacker News stores Lightning Network invoices when you choose to withdraw funds, and all transactions made within the Stacker News platform.
Data We Don’t Store
Stacker News does not store the account pseudonyms you’ve used in the past.
Stacker News does not store your email address if:
- You are not signed up for our newsletter, and
- You created your account by logging in with Twitter, Github, or Lightning
If you log in with Twitter, Twitter’s API gives Stacker News access to the email address linked to your Twitter account, but Stacker News does not store it.
Stacker News does not store any user IP addresses.
Data We Share
Stacker News uses Plausible to share anonymized public-facing analytics data. To learn more about Plausible’s privacy policy, click here.