Privacy and cookies

Who is responsible

The controller of personal data on this site is Ray, the self-employed publisher of Alfie's Guide. Contact: hello@alfiesguide.com.

What this site collects

• Apart from the optional analytics described below, this site does not set cookies of its own and has no accounts.
• If you sign up to the newsletter, we collect your email address (see below).
• Our servers and hosting provider keep standard technical logs (such as IP address and requested page) for security and reliability.

Newsletter

If you enter your email address in a sign-up box, it is sent to our newsletter provider, beehiiv, which stores it and sends the emails. You will get an email asking you to confirm; nothing more is sent unless you do. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing stops all emails. We use your address only to send the newsletter, never sell it, and keep it until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it.

Analytics (Google Analytics 4)

We use Google Analytics 4 to count visits, and only if you accept it. Nothing is requested from Google and no analytics cookies are set until you click Accept in the cookie banner. If you click Reject, or do not answer, analytics stays off. We do not use Google Analytics for advertising or profiling.

When enabled, it collects aggregate visit statistics, such as the pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser type, and how visitors arrived. You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie settings link in the site footer. Rejecting deletes the Google Analytics cookies from this site. Your choice is remembered in your browser's local storage.

Cookieless page counts (Vercel Web Analytics)

So we know which pages are read even when nobody answers the cookie banner, our host Vercel counts page views without cookies or any other stored identifier. It records the page, the referring site, the country, and the browser and device type, and it cannot follow you from day to day or across sites. Vercel describes how it works in its Web Analytics privacy documentation.

Affiliate links and cookies

When you click an affiliate link, the company you are sent to (or its affiliate network) may set its own cookies on its own site to credit us with the referral. We do not control those cookies, and their privacy policies apply.

Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example under the UK GDPR, EU GDPR or California law) you may have the right to access, correct or delete personal data we hold, and to object to or restrict processing. Contact us at the address above.

Retention and processors

• Hosting: Vercel, which serves the site, keeps short-lived technical logs and counts page views without cookies (Web Analytics).
• Analytics (only if you accept): Google Analytics 4, which keeps visit statistics for no more than 14 months (its longest setting).
• Newsletter (only if you sign up): beehiiv, which keeps your email address until you unsubscribe.

We do not keep any other copies of personal data.

Pre-launch draft. Must be reviewed by legal counsel before the site goes live.