BlueSteel LLC · The Morning Dump
Privacy Policy
Last updated October 22, 2026.
What the app does
The Morning Dump is a weekday news reader with optional browser-based puzzles. The native app does not require an account and can be used for reading, saving stories, and local reading history without sending those saved items to us.
Information stored on your device
Saved stories, reading history, reader-size preferences, remembered game permission choices, and your app-terms acceptance record are stored locally on your device and are not synced to BlueSteel. The acceptance record identifies the terms version/content and your acceptance choice, without your email address, account identifiers or sign-in tokens. Game permission choices are saved separately for each game, also without email or account identifiers. You can clear game permissions in You → Reset game permissions. A new game or a changed data-use notice asks for permission again. Clearing app storage removes these local records. Deleting the app normally removes them too, although device backups or restores may preserve or restore them.
Optional newsletter and game features
Supported puzzles offer guest play. Some optional games and cross-device features require an account. If you choose the optional newsletter or account features, we collect the email address you provide. Newsletter signup can be immediate; email confirmation may be enabled for new newsletter subscribers. Our newsletter provider is beehiiv, which processes the subscription on our behalf.
A device with a valid saved sign-in returns to the same game account without another email. A new device, a cleared sign-in or an expired session requires a one-time email link to restore the account. Remembering an email address alone does not grant access. Signed account cookies last up to 180 days and are refreshed while the account remains eligible. Restoring an existing account does not change its newsletter subscription, profile or game history. We use your address to deliver newsletters you subscribe to, recognize your signed game session, maintain referrals you choose to use, sync game progress, and support optional display names, groups, and leaderboards.
If you submit a puzzle through Be The Dude, we store the clues, optional public photo links and captions, and any name, town, likes, or dislikes you enter. If you send game feedback, we store your choices and message using an account-derived identifier. Optional quiz attempts and ranking-game responses are stored with your account. Submitted puzzles are reviewed before publication. The form separately asks whether to publish your name and town; you can leave that permission off. Approved game content and any permitted credit can be seen by other players. Linked images load from the image host, which receives technical information needed to display them.
Other optional website interactions
If you use the website’s sponsorship form, we receive your name, work email, company, optional company website, product category, campaign interest/objective, launch timing, expected investment range and message. Resend delivers the inquiry to our business inbox so we can respond. Sending a sponsorship inquiry does not create a game account or newsletter subscription. Contact us to request removal of that correspondence.
Website polls and rankings store your selected response with the poll identifier and a hash of a random browser voting token, rather than an email address. The voting cookie lasts up to 90 days and helps prevent duplicate votes and show your previous choice. Clearing website cookies removes the token from that browser; previously stored anonymous votes may remain.
Website activity and service providers
Deep Dig offers optional AI answer review on supported website browsers. Before each review, we ask permission to send your answer and the published game category to Anthropic for AI research with web search. We do not include your account email in that review request. Submit game answers only and avoid personal information. You can decline and continue playing. Research results may be cached on our server for up to 24 hours. A signed result and your answer remain in your device's saved game; clear site storage to remove that local copy. Account-derived review quota records expire automatically and are also removed when you delete your account. Anthropic may retain operational data under its own policies.
Our website records page visits, article-link clicks, game starts and finishes, signup events, and bounded attribution such as campaign labels and the page where a visit began. A browser-session identifier groups these events. When you use a signed-in account, new activity may be associated with its email. We use this first-party information to measure readership, maintain game statistics, and operate the service. The native reader does not send your saved-story list or reading history to these reports.
The website also offers optional Google Analytics. It loads after you allow analytics and measures page and game interactions using browser and device information and analytics identifiers. Advertising personalization and Google signals are disabled in our configuration. Your choice does not affect reading, games, or signup. Google processes the information used by this optional service.
Vercel hosts the service, MongoDB stores account and gameplay records, beehiiv processes newsletter subscriptions and email engagement, and Resend delivers account verification and deletion emails when configured. Requests also expose technical information, such as IP addresses and browser headers, to our hosting providers for delivery and security. We share the information needed for these services. Opening a publisher's source link takes you to that publisher's own privacy practices.
Game safety
Use Report content or manage blocked players for game concerns. Reports contain your description, selected game/page, an account-derived or guest-session identifier, and an optional player identifier. Only our moderation team can read reports. Reports and review notes expire after 90 days. Player blocks hide that player from your leaderboards; account blocks persist across signed-in devices, while guest blocks apply to that browser session and expire within 30 days. Deleting an account removes its associated reports, moderation notes and blocks. We can suspend abusive game accounts; support and mailbox-confirmed data deletion remain available.
How long information stays
Verification and deletion links expire after 30 minutes. When confirmation is enabled, pending new signups expire after 24 hours and are removed by background database cleanup. Enrolled account, referral, group, and individual gameplay records are kept while the account exists and removed through the deletion flow. Anonymous activity and aggregate game totals that cannot be linked back to your deleted account may remain. Hosting and email providers may maintain operational records under their own retention policies.
News and web pages
The app fetches published editions from themorningdump.com. Games and newsletter pages open in a web view and may receive the same information that the website receives when you use those pages. Publisher source links open in your browser and follow the publisher’s own privacy practices. The native app does not request access to your device's contacts, location, camera, microphone, photo library, or files.
Deletion
Use Delete My Data from inside the app or on this site. After you confirm from your email, we delete the newsletter/game account, associated individual gameplay and analytics records, referral links, invitations, and group memberships, and delete the newsletter subscription from beehiiv. Groups you created are removed. Published puzzles associated with your approved submissions are removed. Anonymous aggregate totals for other games may remain. Account access stops when deletion begins. If a provider or database operation fails, the confirmation page reports a failure and you can retry rather than receiving a false success. Device-only saved stories remain on your device until you remove them or delete the app.
Your choices
Reading and guest play do not require a newsletter subscription. You can unsubscribe using a newsletter's unsubscribe link, change your public leaderboard choice in your account, or delete your account and data. Unsubscribing stops newsletters; it does not erase a game account. Contact us for access or correction requests and questions about any personal information that remains.
Contact
Questions or privacy requests: contactus@themorningdump.com.