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Privacy Policy

Effective date: 6 September 2026 · Last updated: 6 September 2026

Virel ("we", "our", or "us") operates the website and installable web app at getvirel.co (collectively, the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information. By using the Service you agree to this policy.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information you provide directly

  • Email address — when you sign up, subscribe to newsletters, or request early access.
  • Name and profile information — if you create a creator account.
  • Content you create — newsletter posts, channel descriptions, and campaign settings.
  • Birth details — birth date, time, and place, only if you use the Horoscope tab's Kundli reading or AI chat and choose to provide them. Entirely optional; the rest of Horoscope works without them. Stored only in your browser (see Section 5), encrypted at rest there, and never sent to our servers except as part of the specific AI request you initiate — never persisted server-side.
  • Age bracket — a broad self-reported range (e.g. "13-18"), collected once during onboarding. Used to suggest starting topics and, for the 13-18 bracket, to filter graphic-violence content out of your news feed. Changeable anytime in Settings.
  • Invite code — entered during beta access (not stored on our servers after verification).
  • Promo codes — if you redeem one to unlock Pro or Premium, we record which code and when, tied to your account.

1.2 Information collected automatically

  • Usage data — pages visited, features used, session duration.
  • Content interaction data — which articles you open, videos you watch, and recipes you view, used to personalize your experience and to help us understand which features are actually used.
  • Device information — browser type, operating system, screen size.
  • IP address — for security, fraud prevention, and approximate geolocation.
  • Local storage values — see Section 5 below. Stored only in your browser; never transmitted to our servers.

1.3 Signing in with Google (optional)

If you choose "Continue with Google" instead of an email code, we request only the minimum OAuth scope needed to identify you: your email address. We do not request your name, profile picture, Gmail inbox, YouTube data, or any other permission from your Google account, and Google's consent screen will not ask you to grant any of those. Your email address doubles as your account identity across every sign-in method this Service offers (email code or Google), so a Google sign-in resolves to the same account as signing in with that same address any other way.

Our use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. You can revoke Virel's access to your Google account at any time from myaccount.google.com/permissions.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • To provide, operate, and improve the Service.
  • To personalise your news feed and digest based on your stated preferences and reading/interaction history.
  • To send morning briefings, breaking news alerts, dividend alerts (Pro/Premium), and product updates you have opted into.
  • To enable Creator Studio features including publishing, monetisation, and growth campaigns.
  • To process subscription payments and manage billing (via Stripe), and to apply promo codes you redeem.
  • For internal product analytics — your account's usage and content-interaction data (Section 1.2) may be viewed, in per-account or aggregate form, by authorised Virel administrators to understand how features are used.
  • To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents.
  • To comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your data to train AI/ML models without your explicit consent.

3. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored in a PostgreSQL database hosted on Neon (AWS us-east-2) and served via Vercel infrastructure. All data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest.

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.

4. Sharing of Information

We share your data only with:

  • Neon — database hosting (PostgreSQL, AWS us-east-2).
  • Vercel — application hosting and edge network.
  • Stripe — payment processing (if you subscribe to a paid plan).
  • Google — OAuth provider for the optional "Continue with Google" sign-in (email address only, see Section 1.3).
  • Google AdSense — serves the ads shown to Free and Pro readers (Premium is ad-free). AdSense may set its own cookies and use device/browser information to serve and measure ads; see Section 5 below for consent and opt-out.
  • Skimlinks— rewrites outbound links you click (a news article's source link, a recipe's source link, etc.) into affiliate links where Skimlinks has a relationship with that merchant, so Virel may earn a commission. Only the fact that you clicked a link is involved — no account information is shared with Skimlinks.
  • AI providers — when you use an AI feature (How This Affects Me, Horoscope AI chat/Kundli/Tarot, AI Deep Dive, the Daily News Quiz, or recipe extraction), the specific question or content you submit is sent to one of Google (Gemini), OpenAI, xAI (Grok), or AWS Bedrock (Claude) to generate a response. Only the prompt/content itself is sent — not your name, email, or account identity.

We do not share data with financial data sources (NASDAQ, Yahoo Finance, Finnhub) that power Markets, Earnings, and Dividends content — those are one-way public data lookups; no information about you is sent to them.

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Virel, our users, or the public.

5. Cookies and Local Storage

Virel itself uses browser local storage, not cookies, to store your preferences and some content saved directly on your device — including your theme, region and language, home-screen tab layout, saved articles, and stock/fund watchlist. These are currently local to your browser for every plan (Free, Pro, and Premium) and will not appear if you switch devices or clear your browser's storage. These values never leave your browser and are not transmitted to our servers; you can clear them at any time by clearing your browser's local storage.

Advertising cookies: Free and Pro readers are shown ads served by Google AdSense (Premium is ad-free — see Pricingfor what each plan includes). AdSense sets its own cookies to serve and measure ads and, depending on your settings, to personalise them. If you are in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, a consent banner lets you choose whether to allow personalised advertising before any advertising cookie is set; you can change that choice at any time via the banner's settings link. Wherever you are, you can review or opt out of personalised advertising directly at adssettings.google.com.

6. Push Notifications

If you enable push notifications (morning briefing, breaking news alerts), we store a notification token associated with your account. You can disable notifications at any time in your device or browser settings.

7. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 in the European Economic Area). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@getvirel.co.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

  • Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Correction — request correction of inaccurate data.
  • Deletion — request deletion of your account and associated data.
  • Portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format.
  • Objection / Restriction — object to or restrict certain processing.
  • Withdraw consent — revoke Google sign-in access or notification permissions at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@getvirel.co. We will respond within 30 days.

9. International Transfers

Virel is operated from India. Your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States (AWS / Vercel infrastructure). By using the Service, you consent to this transfer. We apply appropriate safeguards to protect your data in accordance with applicable law.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the new policy at this URL and, where appropriate, by email. The effective date at the top of this page will reflect the latest revision.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact:

Virel Support

Email: support@getvirel.co

Website: getvirel.co