Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 30, 2025

Overview

Secrets Observatory is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal information.

Information We Collect

Email Subscription

If you choose to subscribe to our email newsletter, we collect:

• Email address: Used solely to send you information about news and updates and to count subscribers
• Subscription date: To track when you joined our mailing list

We do not collect:

• Your name (unless you voluntarily provide it)
• Any other personal information beyond what's necessary for the subscription (unless you voluntarily provide us with an information relevant for improvment of your experience)

Analytics

We use PostHog, a privacy-focused analytics platform configured for cookieless tracking to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations. Our configuration ensures:

• No cookies or local storage: PostHog operates in cookieless mode and does not store any data in your browser
• No personal data collection: We cannot call identify() or track individual users across sessions
• Privacy-preserving user counting: Unique visitors are measured using a server-side hash that cannot be reversed to obtain personal information
• Anonymous aggregated data only: All analytics data is anonymized and aggregated
• EU data residency: All data is processed and stored on PostHog's EU servers (eu.i.posthog.com)
• No third-party data sharing: Analytics data is never sold or shared with third parties other than PostHog

What We Track

We collect anonymous analytics to improve our content and user experience. These analytics may include, among others, for instance the following tracking data:

• Page views: Which pages and posts are visited (without identifying individual visitors)
• Scroll depth: How far users scroll through posts
• Time on page: How long users spend reading content
• Referrer information: Which websites or search engines led you here
• Browser and device type: General technical information (e.g., "Chrome on Windows", "Safari on iOS")

Data Retention

• IP addresses are not stored permanently and only for the improvments for our products.

Your Privacy Rights

Because we use cookieless tracking that does not identify individuals:

• No opt-out required: The data collected is already anonymized and cannot be linked to you
• No cookie banner needed: We comply with GDPR without requiring consent for analytics
• Cannot access individual data: We have no way to retrieve or delete data about specific individuals since we don't collect it

How We Use Your Information

Email Addresses

Your email address is used exclusively to:

• Send notifications about news and updates
• Maintain our subscriber list
• Respond to your inquiries and feedback

We will never:

• Sell your email address to third parties
• Share your email with advertisers or marketers
• Send promotional or commercial emails unrelated to our updates
• Use your email for any purpose other than our notifications, newsletters and similar

Third-Party Services

We may use third-party services for email delivery (such as Mailchimp, Buttondown, or similar). These services are bound by their own privacy policies and are required to protect your data. We choose only reputable, privacy-conscious providers.

Data Storage and Security

• Email addresses are stored securely using industry standards
• We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data
• We retain your email only as long as you remain subscribed

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Unsubscribe: You can opt out at any time
• Access your data: Request a copy of the information we hold about you
• Delete your data: Request deletion of your email from our records at any time
• Update your information: Correct or update your email address

To exercise any of these rights, contact us via the Feedback page.

RSS/Atom Feed

Our RSS/Atom feed (feed.xml) does not collect any personal information. Feed readers access the feed directly, and we have no visibility into who subscribes via RSS.

Cookies

This website uses minimal browser storage:

• Theme preference: A single item stored in browser localStorage to remember your dark/light mode preference
• No tracking cookies: We do not use cookies for analytics or tracking thanks to PostHog's cookieless mode
• No advertising cookies: We do not use any advertising or marketing cookies

No cookie banner required: Since our analytics operates in cookieless mode and we only store your theme preference (which is essential functionality), we do not need to display a cookie consent banner under GDPR.

Children's Privacy

This website is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Continued use of the email subscription after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us through the Feedback page.

Legal Basis (GDPR)

For users in the European Union:

• Email subscription: Based on your explicit consent when you subscribe
• Analytics: Based on legitimate interest in understanding site usage. We use privacy-preserving, cookieless analytics that does not collect Personal Data as defined by GDPR. The server-side hash used to count visitors is irreversible and cannot be used to identify individuals.
• Theme preference storage: Based on legitimate interest in providing essential website functionality

Under GDPR Article 6(1)(f), we have a legitimate interest in understanding how our content is used to improve it, provided this is done in a privacy-preserving manner that does not adversely affect your rights. Our cookieless analytics implementation ensures compliance with this principle.

You may withdraw any consent at any time by contacting us via the Feedback page.