Privacy policy

The short version

This is a personal blog run by Bill Hilke. There are no ads, no sponsors, no data brokers, and nothing about you is ever sold or traded. The site collects the minimum it needs to work, and the only optional tracking — analytics — is off until you explicitly turn it on.

Analytics (opt-in)

I use Google Analytics 4 to see which posts people read. It only runs if you click Allow analytics in the cookie banner. Until then, no Google script loads, no cookies are set, and no data leaves your browser. If you decline, that’s the end of it.

If you allow it, Google Analytics collects things like:

• which pages you visit and where you came from
• approximate location (city-level, derived from IP)
• browser, device type, and screen size

That data is processed by Google under Google’s privacy policy. Google may associate it with other Google services. You can also block Google Analytics everywhere with their opt-out browser add-on. Advertising features are disabled — this site tells Google “no” on ad storage, ad personalization, and ad user data even when analytics is allowed.

Comments

Comments run on Remark42, self-hosted on my own server — no third-party comment service ever sees them. If you sign in with GitHub, the widget stores your public username and avatar; you can also comment anonymously. Signing in sets a session cookie that exists purely so you stay signed in — it does no tracking. Comments and comment accounts live on my server until you or I delete them. Want a comment or your account data removed? Ask me and it’s gone.

Server logs

Like nearly every website, my web server keeps standard access logs — IP address, requested URL, browser user-agent, timestamp. I use them for debugging and abuse prevention, and they rotate away automatically after a couple of weeks.

Cookies & local storage

• Theme preference (localStorage) — remembers light/dark mode. Never leaves your browser.
• Consent choice (localStorage) — remembers your answer to the cookie banner so it stops asking. Never leaves your browser.
• _ga / _ga_* (cookies) — Google Analytics, only after you allow it. Declining later expires them.
• Remark42 session (cookie) — only if you sign in to comment.

Your choices

You can change your analytics choice any time, right here:

Beyond that: your browser can block or clear cookies for this site with zero loss of function, and if you’d like anything you have posted or provided here corrected or deleted — GDPR-style or just because — contact me and I’ll take care of it.

What this site doesn’t do

• No advertising or ad networks
• No selling, renting, or sharing of personal data
• No third-party tracking pixels or social widgets
• No newsletters or email collection

Children

This site isn’t directed at children and doesn’t knowingly collect information from them.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version appears on this page with an updated effective date. Given the site’s scope, changes should be rare and boring.

Contact

Questions, deletion requests, or anything else — reach me on GitHub or LinkedIn.