Harmonic for Hacker News: Privacy Policy

Effective date: November 7, 2026

Harmonic for Hacker News is a free app developed by Simon Halvdansson. This policy covers the Android, iOS, and desktop versions. Available features vary by platform.

Information stored on your device

Harmonic stores settings, bookmarks, reading history, cached content, and downloaded AI models on your device. If you sign in to Hacker News or configure a cloud AI provider, it also stores the account information or API key needed for those features. Harmonic does not send this local storage to me.

Your operating system may include some app data in device backups or transfers, depending on your platform and settings. Exporting bookmarks or settings creates a file in the location you choose.

Hacker News and other services

Harmonic connects to external services to load content and carry out your requests. These services receive your IP address and the information needed for each request. Depending on the features you use, this includes:

Hacker News sessions and websites opened in a browser may use cookies or similar storage for sign-in, preferences, and other website functions. A Hacker News verification challenge may load Google reCAPTCHA.

Optional AI features

On-device AI: when you select an on-device model, AI processing happens on your device. Retrieving articles and comments, downloading models, and loading model listings can still require network connections.

Cloud AI: when you use cloud AI, Harmonic sends the relevant article or comment text, your prompts, and any questions and conversation context needed for the feature directly to your selected provider or custom endpoint. Your configured API key authenticates these requests. If automatic summarization is enabled, requests may happen automatically when you open supported content.

Cloud providers receive your IP address and may associate requests with your provider account. Their policies, API terms, and your account settings govern how they process and retain requests, including any use for model training. A routing service such as OpenRouter may forward requests to the provider running the selected model. Harmonic does not control these providers' retention or training practices.

You can stop future cloud AI requests by turning off AI or switching to an available on-device model in Settings. This does not delete requests already received by a provider.

Third-party policies

Relevant privacy policies include Hacker News / Y Combinator, Algolia, Google, DuckDuckGo, Hugging Face, OpenAI, Anthropic, and OpenRouter. For cloud AI, also check the provider's API terms and account controls. Other websites and custom endpoints have their own policies.

Analytics and diagnostics

Harmonic does not include advertising, an analytics SDK, or a third-party crash-reporting SDK. Your operating system or app store may collect and share diagnostics under its own policies and your device settings.

Retention and deletion

Settings and saved content remain on your device until you change or remove them; caches may also be cleared automatically. Harmonic provides controls to remove bookmarks, clear reading history and cached posts, delete downloaded models, reset settings, and sign out. You can remove your cloud API key in AI settings. Resetting settings does not delete bookmarks or sign you out of Hacker News.

Local deletion and signing out do not delete your Hacker News account, public posts, provider records, exported files, or existing device backups. Use the relevant service, file location, or backup controls to manage those separately.

Contact and children’s privacy

Harmonic is not directed at children under 13. For privacy questions or concerns, contact me at swesnowme@gmail.com. If you email me, I receive your email address and the information you include so I can respond. You can also contact me to request deletion of that correspondence.

Changes to this policy

I will publish updates on this page and change the effective date above.