Privacy Policy
I'm not a company, just a random student sitting at home hammering away at a keyboard, so I'll try to keep this short and sweet. (If I had a lawyer, they'd probably kick my butt if they saw this document, but that's a problem for future me!)
What data is collected about me?
All traffic to the website generates some sort of footprint, whether we like it or not - and that's beyond my control, unfortunately. Visiting the website would generate access logs (or error logs, if something goes wrong) on the web server, as well as (probably) your internet service provider. However, this information is anonymous, and I do not use it for any purpose other than the occasional bit of network troubleshooting!
Besides that that, what data is intentionally collected about you depends on whether you create an account or not:
Without an account
If you don't create an account on the website, then there is almost nothing collected about you. I collect anonymous, privacy-respecting analytics data via Simple Analytics, which features no tracking whatsoever - it simply records that there has been a visit for a certain time duration to a certain page, plus some information that your browser already provides to every website you visit such as:
- What device you're using (Desktop/Tablet/Mobile)
- What country you're from
- What browser you're using (e.g. Google Chrome)
You can view this analytics data for yourself, at https://dashboard.simpleanalytics.com/st-andrews.space - I promise I have nothing to hide!
With an account
When you create an account, the website makes a record of the name and email address that you enter into the form upon signing up, as well as where you create your account from. If you have an avatar (profile picture) set on Gravatar then that'll appear on your account as well (which slightly surprised me when I saw it for my own account!).
If you are subscribed to the newsletter and receive emails for it, then some additional data is collected about your interactions with the email. The mass email sending platform I use, Mailgun, collects information about the email delivery - for instance, if it ends up in your inbox, gets lost in spam, or is rejected altogether by your email provider. However, I have turned off all email tracking features in Mailgun.
Lastly, the open-source publishing platform that powers the website - Ghost - collects some analytics information about the engagement of logged in users. This means that the system makes a record of when you read a page or email, as well as sometimes when you click on a link.
Of course, if you have an account, the anonymous and non-tracking analytics data that's collected without an account is still recorded.
How can I get rid of my data?
You can edit your account details or manage your newsletter subscriptions by clicking the Account button in the header section of the website, or by clicking here:
Unfortunately, there's no automated solution for deleting your account, but if you click the Contact Support button in your account settings and ask for an account deletion then I'll get back to you as fast as possible. Sorry about that!
What's the deal with cookies?
You might have noticed the lack of a cookie banner on this website - that's not an oversight! I'm proud to say that since the website has no advertisements and non-tracking third-party analytics, there are no cookies used other than those which are strictly necessary for the website to work, and thus no cookie consent required!
You could kill off these cookies using hyper-mega-strict browser settings if you wanted to, however that will probably break the website - do so at your own risk!
What if this document changes?
To be perfectly honest, I cannot be bothered to stay on top of notifying you all when the Privacy Policy changes, and I think most of you would find me to be quite a pest if I tried - so I'm gonna take the lazy option:
This page was last updated 19/07/2024.
I have a question!
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