Privacy Policy

Ask the Past (“we”, “us”) runs this site at askthepast.us as an AI search engine over public-domain historical newspapers. This policy explains what data we collect and how we handle it.

What we collect

• Searches. When you type a question we store the query text + a hashed version of it so we can cache results and improve relevance. We do not link searches to any personal identifier.
• Cookies. A small session cookie is used for the admin dashboard. We do not currently set marketing cookies, but our affiliate partner (Newspapers.com via Commission Junction) sets its own cookies after you click an outbound link.
• Analytics. We may use privacy-respecting analytics (e.g. server logs, Plausible) to count page views. No personal identifiers are stored.
• Email (optional). If you subscribe to the weekly newsletter we store the email address you provide; you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any issue.

What we don’t do

• We don’t sell or rent your data.
• We don’t serve third-party advertising trackers.
• We don’t share search history with anyone.

Affiliate cookies

When you click an outbound link to Newspapers.com, that click is attributed to Ask the Past via Commission Junction (CJ). CJ may set its own attribution cookies on your browser. We never receive your personal data from CJ — only aggregate, anonymous commission reporting. See our affiliate disclosure for details.

Data we receive from third parties

• Library of Congress / Chronicling America. All clippings, images, and OCR text come from the LoC’s public-domain newspaper archive. We don’t send any user data to the LoC beyond the standard HTTP request to fetch the page.
• OpenAI (via Emergent). Your search query may be processed by OpenAI to extract keywords + write a punchy headline. We don’t send any other identifier with the query.

Your rights

If you are in the EU/UK/CA and want a copy of your data or want it deleted, email [email protected]. We respond within 30 days.

Contact

Questions about this policy? [email protected]