In short
- You can use most of MyPakistan without an account.
- We do not sell your data and we do not show advertising based on you.
- The News page does not record which stories you read. Your news interests are kept on your device, or on your account if you sign in, and you can delete them with one button.
- We use Google Analytics to count visits, with Google's advertising features switched off. If your browser sends "Do Not Track" or "Global Privacy Control", we do not load it at all.
This notice covers mypakistan.online (the homepage, News, Trusted links, the Ideas board and these pages) and MyPakistan ID sign-in. Each MyPakistan app has its own privacy notice for what that app does.
What we collect
If you create a MyPakistan ID
Your name, email address, phone number if you give it, and your password (stored only as a secure one-way hash). We also keep which MyPakistan apps you joined and your role in each.
The MyPakistan app: saved items, inbox, alerts and history
The MyPakistan app (mypakistan.online/app) and the "Save" buttons in our apps keep, with your MyPakistan ID:
- Saved items: what you saved (for example a phone, a university or a story), with its title and link. If you are not signed in, they stay on your device only.
- Inbox: messages from MyPakistan apps and the alerts you switch on (daily news, price changes, test messages), and when you read them.
- Push notifications: if you turn them on, the address your browser gives us for sending notifications, its keys and your browser type. Turning them off deletes this.
- Settings: language, low-data mode, which alerts you want, quiet hours, and whether you would like a text message when SMS alerts exist (we have no SMS service yet, so nothing is sent).
- History ("Remember what I view"): off unless you switch it on. When on, the items you open in MyPakistan apps (title, link, time), only for you, for up to 90 days and 500 items. "Clear my history" deletes it at once.
- Last active: the time you last used these features, to count active users (no record of what you did).
We log that a notification was stored or sent, and whether delivery worked, without its text. The app has no analytics.
News interests
The topics, outlets, languages, provinces or cities you choose, and outlets or words you want hidden. If you are not signed in, they stay in your browser (local storage and a cookie called mp_news, so the page can show your choices straight away). If you are signed in, they are saved with your MyPakistan ID so they follow you to other devices.
Ideas, feedback, votes and updates
What you write, your rating, the page you were on and, only if you type it, your email address so we can reply. Emails are never shown publicly. If you ask to hear about new features, we keep your email for that. To stop spam we keep a scrambled code made from your internet address that changes every day; we do not store the address itself. Votes use a signed cookie (mp_voter) so each browser votes once.
Anonymous counts
We count, per day, which homepage cards are tapped and which outlets and topics on the News page are opened. These counts have no name, account, address or cookie attached; they only tell us, for example, "12 sports headlines from one outlet were opened today".
Technical data
Like every website, our hosting provider (Cloudflare) receives your internet address, browser type and the pages you request, in order to deliver the site and protect it from attacks.
If you pay through MyPakistan Pay
For each payment we keep the order: which app it was for, what it was for, the amount, the app's reference, the time, whether it was paid, refunded or not, which provider you chose, the type of method (wallet, card, voucher, bank) and the provider's transaction reference. If the app passes them to us, we also keep your phone number or email address, only to pre-fill the provider's form. We do not receive your card number, CVV, PIN, one-time code or wallet password: you type those on the provider's own page, under its privacy policy.
Analytics (Google Analytics)
- We use Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-MDXLJVFKM2) to understand which pages are used, so we can improve them.
- Google signals and ad personalisation are switched off. Before anything is sent, we remove details from page addresses that could identify you (for example phone numbers, CNIC numbers, emails, tokens and search words on some apps).
- It is never loaded on sign-in, account and admin pages, or on sensitive pages of our apps.
- It is not loaded at all if your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control.
- Google Analytics sets cookies (
_ga,_ga_MDXLJVFKM2) and Google processes the data under its own terms, possibly outside Pakistan.
Cookies and device storage
mpid_access,mpid_refresh: keep you signed in to MyPakistan ID across *.mypakistan.online (only after you sign in).mp_newsand local storagemp.news.prefs: your news interests (only after you choose them).mp_a11yand local storagemp.a11y: your accessibility settings, such as text size (only after you change one).- Local storage
mp.saved.local: items you saved while signed out (on that device only);mp.app.lang,mp.app.lite,mp-city: the app's language, low-data mode and city. The app also stores its own files and the last rates it showed, so it opens offline. mp_voter: one vote per browser on the Ideas board._ga,_ga_MDXLJVFKM2: Google Analytics (see above).- While the site is in development it also asks for a site password; your browser remembers it, not us.
How we use it
To run the site and your account, to show the news you asked for, to read and answer feedback, to count which features are used, to keep the site safe and to meet legal duties. We do not use your data for advertising and we do not sell it.
Who else is involved
- Cloudflare hosts the site and its databases. Neon hosts the MyPakistan ID database. Google provides Google Analytics and web fonts. Their servers may be outside Pakistan.
- Payments: when you pay, the provider you choose (JazzCash, Easypaisa, Safepay or PayFast) receives the order amount and reference, plus your phone number or email if the app passed them, and handles your payment details under its own privacy policy. The MyPakistan app you paid receives the order's status and reference, never your card or wallet details.
- When you tap a headline or a link, you go to another website, which has its own privacy policy. We open news links without telling the outlet which page you came from.
- We share information with authorities only when Pakistani law requires it.
How long we keep it
- Account: until you ask us to delete it. News interests: until you clear them or delete your account.
- Saved items and settings: until you remove them or delete your account. Inbox: the newest 200 messages. History: 90 days at most (and only if switched on). Delivery log: up to 1 year.
- Feedback: as long as it is useful for improving the site, normally no more than 2 years; emails for updates until you unsubscribe.
- Anonymous daily counts: up to about 13 months for news, longer for homepage card totals (they contain no personal data).
- News headlines themselves (not about you): about 1 year.
- Payments: order, refund and accounting records for at least 6 years, as Pakistani tax and accounting law requires. Phone numbers and email addresses given for a payment: removed from our payment records after 180 days. The raw messages providers send us: 90 days.
- Google Analytics: for the retention period set in our Google Analytics account.
Your choices and rights
- App settings: in the app's "Me" tab you can switch each alert, push notifications and history on or off, clear your history, and remove saved items one by one.
- News settings: "Personalise" on the News page, then "Clear my news settings", deletes them from your device and, if you are signed in, from your account at once.
- You can ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, to correct it, or to delete it and your account. Email info@mypakistan.online. We will answer within 30 days.
- You can block or delete cookies in your browser, and turn on Global Privacy Control to switch off our analytics.
Children
MyPakistan is not designed for children under 13, and we do not knowingly create accounts for them. If you think a child has given us personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.
Pakistani law
We follow the laws of Pakistan, including the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016. At the time of writing, Pakistan's Personal Data Protection Bill had not, to our knowledge, come into force; we still try to follow good data-protection practice: collect little, explain it plainly, keep it safe and delete it when it is no longer needed.
Changes
We will update this notice when we change what we collect. The date at the top shows the latest version.
Contact
Questions or requests about your data: email info@mypakistan.online. See also our Terms of use.