Privacy Policy

Introduction

Welcome to BSmeter ("we," "our," or "us"). This Privacy Policy explains how BSmeter, operated at bsmeter.ai, collects, uses, discloses, and safeguards your information when you use our AI-powered video credibility analysis platform (the "Service").

By accessing or using our Service, you agree to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not access the Service.

Effective Date: September 7, 2026

Information We Collect

1. Information You Provide Directly

• Account Information: When you create an account using Google sign-in (on the website or in the Android app) or an emailed sign-in link, we collect your email address, name, and profile image URL.
• YouTube Account Connection: If you connect your YouTube account, we access your public profile information and read-only access to your YouTube data (liked videos, playlists, subscriptions) to provide personalized analysis features.
• Contact Information: When you contact us through our contact form, we collect your email address, phone number (optional), and message content.
• Payment Information: For premium subscriptions, payment processing is handled by Stripe. We do not store your full credit card details; Stripe manages this securely.

2. Information Collected Automatically

• Usage Data: We collect information about how you interact with our Service, including video URLs analyzed, analysis preferences, and feature usage.
• Device Information: Browser type, operating system, device identifiers, and IP address.
• Analytics Data: With your consent (via cookie banner), we use Pendo for analytics to understand how users interact with our Service.

3. Video Content Data

• Video Transcripts: We retrieve and process transcripts from publicly available YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels videos you submit for analysis.
• Video Comments: We may retrieve public comments from analyzed videos to provide context for our analysis. Comments are cached for up to 48 hours.
• Video Metadata: Title, channel information, duration, and thumbnail URLs of analyzed videos.

Important: We retrieve text transcripts (captions/subtitles) from publicly available videos via third-party transcript providers (see Third-Party Services). We do not stream, download, or store video or audio media files themselves. Our analysis is performed on text transcript data only.

BSmeter Android App

Our Android app (ai.bsmeter.app) is a floating overlay that fact-checks the video you are watching in another app. It handles data as follows:

• What it collects: the same core data described above — your email address and name (only if you sign in with Google), the video links and titles you choose to check or that play while the overlay is open, your Claim Chat questions, and any claims you bookmark. These are sent to bsmeter.ai over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection to provide the fact-check service. When you sign in, the app also sends your device model and Android version, which we store with your sign-in session. Tapping Evidence runs a web search for that claim through our search provider (see Third-Party Services); the search is built from the claim text, never from your account data.
• Notification access: the app uses Android's Notification Access permission for a single, narrow purpose — to read the active media session(the title of the video currently playing) so it can follow along and check the right video. While the overlay is open, the title (and length) of the YouTube video currently playing is sent to bsmeter.ai to look up an existing fact-check; it is not stored with your account, though it may appear in short-lived server logs. If you tap Analyzeon a video that has not been checked yet, the title is also sent to Google's YouTube Data API to find the video's URL. It does not read, collect, store, or transmit the content of your notifications, and it works fully without this permission (you simply share a video to it manually instead).
• Display over other apps: used only to draw the floating fact-check overlay on top of the video app. No data is collected through it.
• On-device storage and the install identifier: your sign-in token is stored in the app's private storage. A randomly generated per-install identifier is also stored on the device and is sent to bsmeter.ai with each Claim Chat question so we can enforce the free-question limit; it is not linked to your identity unless you sign in, and it is not shared with third parties.
• No advertising & no third-party analytics: the Android app contains no advertising ID, no ads, and no third-party analytics SDKs.
• Deleting your data: signing out clears the app's local data. To delete your account and its associated data, open bsmeter.ai/settings → Delete Account (also linked from the app's home screen), or email support@bsmeter.ai.

How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for the following purposes:

• Provide the Service: Analyze video content for credibility, generate BS Reports, and power the Claim Chat feature.
• AI Processing: We use Google Gemini and xAI's Grok, and may use Anthropic Claude (via Amazon Bedrock) as a fallback, to analyze video transcripts, generate credibility assessments, and answer your Claim Chat questions (your question and the claim being discussed are sent to the AI model). These providers process content as our service providers, according to their respective privacy policies; we do not sell your data to them or let them use it for their own purposes.
• Account Management: Create and manage your account, authenticate your identity, and process subscription payments.
• Personalization: Remember your analysis history and preferences.
• Communication: Respond to inquiries, provide customer support, and send service-related notifications.
• Improvement: Analyze usage patterns to improve our Service (with anonymized, aggregated data).
• Security: Detect, prevent, and address technical issues, fraud, or abuse.
• Legal Compliance: Comply with applicable laws and regulations.

Third-Party Services

We integrate with the following third-party services:

Data Retention

• Account Data: Retained for as long as your account is active. You may request deletion at any time.
• Analysis Results: Video analysis results and segments are retained to provide your analysis history feature.
• Cached Transcripts: Video transcripts are cached indefinitely to reduce re-processing and improve performance.
• Cached Comments: Video comments are cached for 48 hours, then automatically deleted.
• Payment Records: Retained as required for accounting and legal compliance purposes.
• Analytics Data: Aggregated analytics are retained for up to 2 years.
• Server Logs: Request logs kept by our hosting provider (which may include the video links or titles you look up) are retained for a limited period and then discarded.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your data:

• Encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using TLS/HTTPS.
• Secure Storage: Data is stored in secure, managed PostgreSQL databases with encryption at rest.
• Access Controls: Access to user data is restricted to authorized personnel only.
• Authentication: We use industry-standard OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication.
• Payment Security: Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe, a PCI-DSS compliant provider.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Your Rights

For All Users

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate personal data.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your account and associated data.
• Cookie Preferences: Manage your cookie preferences at any time via our cookie consent banner or by visiting our About page.
• YouTube Data: Revoke YouTube access at any time through your Google Account settings.

GDPR Rights (EU/EEA Users)

If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, you have additional rights under GDPR:

• Right to data portability
• Right to restrict processing
• Right to object to processing
• Right to withdraw consent at any time
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

CCPA/CPRA Rights (California Users)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to:

• Know what personal information is collected about you
• Know whether your personal information is sold or disclosed and to whom
• Opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal information
• Access your personal information
• Request deletion of your personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate personal information
• Limit use and disclosure of sensitive personal information
• Not be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights

Do Not Sell or Share: BSmeter does not sell your personal information. We do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes. We honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signals.

Other U.S. State Privacy Laws

We recognize the privacy rights of residents in states with comprehensive privacy laws, including Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Utah (UCPA), and others. If you are a resident of a state with applicable privacy legislation, you may exercise rights similar to those described above by contacting us.

Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT)

BSmeter uses Automated Decision-Making Technology to analyze video content and generate credibility assessments. In accordance with emerging state privacy regulations, we provide the following disclosures:

• Purpose: Our AI systems analyze video transcripts to identify claims and assess their credibility based on logical consistency, factual plausibility, and rhetorical patterns.
• Logic: Credibility scores are generated by large language models (Google Gemini, xAI Grok, and in some cases Anthropic Claude) that evaluate claims against general knowledge and detect potential logical fallacies or exaggerated rhetoric.
• Outputs: The system produces credibility scores (0-100%), verdict labels (Verified, Solid, OK, Dubious, Sketchy, BS), and explanatory text for each analyzed claim.
• Human Oversight: All AI-generated assessments are presented as informational tools only. No automated decisions are made that have legal or similarly significant effects on users. Users maintain full discretion over how to interpret and act upon the analysis.
• Opt-Out: You may choose not to use our AI analysis features at any time by simply not submitting videos for analysis.

Note: Our AI analysis is designed to assist critical thinking, not replace it. Credibility scores reflect AI interpretation and should not be considered authoritative fact-checks.

Cookies and Tracking

We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential Cookies: Required for the Service to function (authentication, session management). These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics Cookies: Used by Pendo and Contentsquare to understand how you use our Service. These are only activated with your explicit consent.

You can manage your cookie preferences at any time. A cookie consent banner is displayed on your first visit, and you can reset your preferences from our About page.

International Data Transfers

Our Service is hosted on Vercel (application) and Railway (database), which may involve data processing in the United States and other countries. By using our Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to countries outside your country of residence, which may have different data protection rules.

We ensure that any international transfers comply with applicable data protection laws and that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data.

Account Deletion

You may request deletion of your account and associated personal data at any time by contacting us at the email address below. Upon receiving your request, we will:

• Delete your account information within 30 days
• Remove your analysis history and associated data
• Cancel any active subscriptions
• Retain only data required for legal or accounting purposes

Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for children under the age of 13 (or 16 in the EU/EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. For significant changes, we may also notify you via email or through a prominent notice on our Service.

Your continued use of the Service after any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

Limitation of Liability

BSmeter provides AI-powered analysis of video content for informational and educational purposes only. The credibility assessments, scores, and explanations generated by our Service are produced by artificial intelligence and should not be considered definitive judgments of truth or accuracy.

We make no warranties, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of our AI-generated analysis. Users should exercise their own judgment and conduct independent verification of any claims or information. We are not liable for any decisions made based on our Service's output.