Privacy
Built to inform you, not to surveil you.
We measure what readers actually use, so we can make the site better. That's the whole reason — and the whole extent — of it.
In short
- We count which stories and features readers use, so we know what to build next.
- We never sell, rent, or share your data. Our own analytics never track you across other sites.
- The site shows display ads via Adsterra to stay free — they’re labeled, banner-only, never influence coverage, and you can opt out of ad personalization (see Advertising below).
- Reading, search, the feed, TL;DR — all free, and all work whether or not you accept analytics.
How we measure
01 · FIRST-PARTY · ALWAYS ON · ANONYMOUS
The numbers we actually trust run on our own servers, with no third-party scripts. We record which pages and stories get read, how features get used, the site a visit came from, and country-level location. You're counted with a random ID stored in your browser — a UUID, not your name, email, or anything that identifies you. This is the only data we use to decide what to build.
02 · GOOGLE ANALYTICS · OPTIONAL · YOUR CHOICE
If you tap Accept, we additionally load Google Analytics with IP anonymization on, for aggregate trend data. If you Decline, it never loads — not deferred, not throttled, never injected. The first-party layer above behaves identically either way.
What we never do
- We never sell, rent, or share your data with anyone.
- Our analytics never feed advertising — the first-party readership data stays anonymous and is used only to make the site better.
- No ad pixels, retargeting, cross-site tracking, fingerprinting, or behavioral profiles of our own.
- No paywall on reading — see the free-forever promise.
Advertising
To keep reading free, the site shows display ads served by Adsterra, a third-party advertising network. Only standard banner units, always labeled “Advertisement,” sitting apart from editorial — never pop-ups, pop-unders, or anything that interrupts the read, and the inventory is brand-safe (adult, gambling and dating categories blocked). Sponsors and ad networks never influence what we cover — the editorial firewall is absolute. The rest of the free site (newsletter, the feed) carries our own first-party promos with no third-party cookies.
Adsterra sets its own cookies and identifiers to measure and (where permitted) personalize ads based on your visits to this and other sites. That machinery belongs to Adsterra, not us — our first-party analytics stay anonymous and are never shared with it. We pass no personal data to ad tags, and the browser Topics advertising API is disabled site-wide. You can read Adsterra’s practices in its privacy policy.
Opting out is yours any time. Choosing Decline on the cookie banner tells us to keep ads non-personalized — you’ll still see ads, just not ones tailored to you. You can also opt out across vendors industry-wide at aboutads.info and the NAI opt-out.
Cookies we set
visitor_id · A random ID for first-party analytics. Anonymous, first-party, ~12 months.
tc_analytics_consent · Remembers your Accept / Decline choice (for analytics and ad personalization) so we don't ask again.
theme · Remembers light or dark mode.
Google Analytics · Set only if you accept. Removed on next load if you decline.
Ad vendor cookies · Set by our display-ad network (Adsterra) — covered in the Advertising section above. Declining keeps ads non-personalized.
Admins also get a signed, http-only session cookie. That's the full list — no third-party cookies unless you opt into analytics or ads are running.
Accounts & payments
Reading is anonymous and needs no account. If you sign in (for cross-device bookmarks), we store your account identity — your email and a user id from the sign-in provider you choose (Apple, Google, Microsoft, or an emailed sign-in link).
Your choice
Change your mind any time, right here. Turning analytics off keeps Google Analytics from loading; first-party counting stays anonymous either way. To wipe everything, clear cookies for thecircuitry.to in your browser.
This controls the optional Google Analytics layer only. First-party, anonymous counting stays on either way — see below.
Questions
Reach us through the contact page. If we ever change how any of this works, we'll update it here.