A short, honest privacy policy. Written in the same voice as the rest of this place, because the people who read essays here deserve to know what happens with their information without first having to translate from legalese.
01What this is
HanhDBrown is a personal publication. The site collects very little, shares almost nothing, and treats your information the way I would want mine treated. This document explains the specifics, in plain language, so you can decide whether to subscribe, comment, or simply read.
If something here is unclear, please write to me. I will revise the language, not just answer your question.
02What I collect
Three things, only when you give them to me:
- Email address. When you subscribe to the newsletter or use the contact form. That is it. No name unless you choose to add one.
- Whatever you write to me. Messages sent through the contact form or in reply to the newsletter, kept until I have responded and then archived for my own reference.
- Anonymous reading patterns. Pageviews, which links get clicked, how long people stay on long essays. Used only to understand which essays resonate, never tied to your identity.
03How I use it
Your email address is used to send you essays, when there are essays to send. That is the entire purpose. I do not use it to advertise to you, profile you, or build a marketing funnel around you.
Messages you send me are used to write back. Sometimes a particularly thoughtful note becomes the seed for an essay, in which case I will write to you first to ask if I can quote you, with or without attribution as you prefer.
Anonymous reading data is used to make better decisions about what to write next, what to revise, and which essays might be worth turning into longer pieces.
04What I share
Almost nothing. There are exactly two services that touch your information, and they are both necessary infrastructure rather than partners.
- The newsletter platform stores your email so the newsletter can be sent. It does not sell, share, or otherwise use your information for anything beyond delivery.
- The website host sees standard server request logs (IP address, browser type, date and time) for the few minutes required to serve the page. These logs are deleted regularly.
I will never sell your information, trade it, give it to anyone, or use it for any purpose other than running the publication. If that ever changes, this document will change first, and existing subscribers will be told before the change takes effect.
05Cookies and analytics
This site uses a single privacy-respecting analytics tool that does not require cookies and does not track you across other sites. It tells me which essays are being read, on which kind of device, in roughly which country. It cannot identify you personally.
The site does not use advertising cookies, retargeting cookies, social media trackers, or any of the other surveillance tools that make the modern web exhausting to read on. If you have ad blockers running, nothing here will break.
06Your rights
You can do all of the following at any time:
- Unsubscribe from the newsletter. Every email contains a one-click link at the bottom. No questions asked, no follow-up email.
- Request a copy of any information I have associated with your email address. Send me a note and I will reply within seven days.
- Ask me to delete your information. Same process. I will confirm when it is done.
- Correct anything that is wrong. Just write to me.
07Changes to this policy
If anything material here changes, the change will be announced in the next newsletter, and the revised date at the top of this document will be updated. Minor edits like clearer wording will not be announced, but the revision history is kept on file and available on request.
08Get in touch
Questions about this policy, requests, complaints, or curiosities are all welcome. Use the contact form with subject Privacy question, or write directly. I read every message and respond within a week, usually.
This document is governed by the laws applicable where I live and write, but the spirit of it applies everywhere. The spirit is: your information is yours. I am borrowing it briefly to send you essays.