Privacy
What this site collects, what it does not, and which third parties get involved when you visit. Plain-English version, no legal contortion.
The short version
Burghr Bytes is a static blog. The site itself does not run accounts, mailing lists, comment systems, or anything else that requires you to identify yourself. The only places your data shows up at all are: Cloudflare Web Analytics (privacy-friendly, no cookies), Google AdSense (which serves ads and may use cookies for that), the contact form (Netlify Forms, only if you submit it), and affiliate links (which tag purchases when you click through). That is it.
What I do not collect
I do not run my own analytics that track you across pages. I do not have a newsletter, so I am not collecting email addresses on the side. I do not have user accounts. I do not sell or rent any data, because I do not have data to sell or rent.
Cloudflare Web Analytics
Every page loads a small Cloudflare Web Analytics script. Cloudflare's pitch, which they have stuck to, is that this version of analytics uses no cookies and does no cross-site tracking or device fingerprinting. It tells me aggregate page views and referrers and that is the extent of it. Cloudflare's privacy policy covers how they handle the request data.
Google AdSense
Some pages display ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its ad partners may set cookies in your browser to serve relevant ads, measure ad performance, and prevent fraud. The categories of data Google may collect for ads include browsing history on this site, IP address, approximate location, and device information. None of that goes through me, and I do not see any of it personally. It is between you and Google.
You can review and adjust what Google does with your data at My Ad Center, opt out of personalized advertising entirely at Google's Ads Settings, or opt out of third-party vendor cookies via the Digital Advertising Alliance (US) or Your Online Choices (EU). If you are in the EEA or UK, the AdSense consent message that appears on first visit is your direct lever for personalized vs non-personalized ads.
The contact form
The form on the contact page posts to Netlify Forms. If you submit it, Netlify stores your name, email, subject, and message and forwards them to me by email. I read every submission. I use your email only to reply, and only if a reply is warranted. Submissions sit in Netlify's dashboard until I delete them, which I do periodically. Their handling is covered by Netlify's privacy policy.
Affiliate links
Some posts link to products through affiliate programs, mostly Amazon Associates.
When you click an affiliate link and buy something, the merchant pays me a small
commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate links are tagged with a tracking ID
(burghrbytes-20 for Amazon) so the program can attribute the purchase.
The merchant sees the click, not me; I see aggregate commission reports without
personal data. Reviews and recommendations are not influenced by whether a product
has an affiliate link.
Cookies, summarized
The site itself sets no cookies. Cloudflare Web Analytics sets none either. Google AdSense and any ad partners may set cookies for advertising purposes, governed by the consent flow described above. Affiliate clicks may set short-lived cookies on the merchant's domain (not mine) to attribute purchases.
Your rights (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)
If you are in the EEA, UK, California, or another jurisdiction with data rights legislation, those rights apply to whatever the third parties above hold about you. Since I do not maintain my own database of identifiable user data, the right place to exercise access, deletion, or opt-out rights is directly with the relevant party (Cloudflare, Google, Netlify, the affiliate program). Their links are above.
If you submitted the contact form and want me to delete the message, email me at the address you used to submit it and I will delete the entry from Netlify.
Children
The site is not aimed at children under 13 and I do not knowingly collect anything from them. If a parent or guardian believes a child has somehow submitted information here, contact me and I will remove it.
Changes to this policy
I will update the date at the top whenever this changes meaningfully. If I add a new tracker or third party (a newsletter platform, a commenting service, anything that collects more than what is listed here), this page is where it gets disclosed first.
Contact
Questions about this policy or about anything you read above: use the contact page.