Privacy
Last updated 28 October 2026. This policy will be reviewed before launch.
Reading AEO Footnotes needs no account and we do not ask readers for anything. This page covers what we store when you sign in, take part or subscribe.
What we collect
- From GitHub or Google when you sign in: your name, email address, avatar and the account identifier the provider gives us. We never see or store a password.
- What you add: profile details (display name, bio, links), likes, comments, bookmarks and, for writers, drafts and posts.
- Reading activity while signed in: which posts you opened and finished, by day, so the publishing ladder can count active days.
- Server logs: IP address, browser and requested page, kept for a short time to keep the site running and to stop abuse.
What is public
Your handle, display name, avatar, bio, links, comments and published posts are public. Your email address, likes, bookmarks and reading activity are not shown to other members.
Cookies and local storage
Signing in sets a session cookie and short-lived security cookies that sign-in needs to work. Your browser also keeps your theme choice, your analytics choice and where you stopped reading an article; those stay on your device and are not sent to us. We do not use advertising cookies.
Analytics
With your consent we use two analytics tools to learn which pages get read and where the site gets in the way. Neither loads until you choose Accept in the cookie banner. If you choose Decline, or make no choice, no analytics script runs and no analytics cookie is set.
- Google Analytics 4 (Google): counts page views and records the page address, the page you came from, your device, browser and screen size, an approximate location derived from your IP address, and how long you stay. It sets the
_gacookies to tell visits apart. Advertising storage stays denied, so nothing is used for ads. - Microsoft Clarity (Microsoft): records how pages are used (clicks, scrolling and mouse movement) to build heatmaps and session recordings, along with your device, browser and approximate location. It masks what you type into form fields and sets the
_clckand_clskcookies.
We do not send your account, name or email address to either tool. To withdraw consent, open Cookie settings in the footer of any page and choose Decline: we delete the analytics cookies for this site and reload the page so neither tool runs again. Clearing this site's data in your browser also removes your choice and shows the banner again.
Who processes data for us
- GitHub and Google, for sign-in.
- Hetzner, which hosts the servers and database.
- Cloudflare, which carries traffic to the site and stores uploaded images.
- Amazon Web Services (Amazon SES), which delivers account email and the newsletter.
- Google (Google Analytics) and Microsoft (Clarity), for analytics, only after you accept it.
We do not sell personal data or share it for advertising.
How long we keep it
Account data is kept while your account exists. When you ask us to delete your account we remove your profile, likes, bookmarks and reading activity, and either delete your comments and posts or, if you prefer, keep them under a removed-author label.
Your choices
You can ask for a copy of your data, a correction or deletion at any time. Newsletter emails carry a one-click unsubscribe link. You can accept or decline analytics at any time from Cookie settings in the footer.
Contact
Questions or requests: hello@aeofootnotes.com