Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information TradWatch collects, why, and what we do with it. We collect as little as we can.

Reading the site

You can read TradWatch without an account and without giving us any personal information.

• No advertising. We do not use advertising networks, advertising cookies, tracking pixels or cross-site tracking.
• Analytics (Plausible). If enabled, we use Plausible Analytics, a privacy-friendly service that does not use cookies and does not collect personal data; it gives us only aggregate counts such as page views. [Delete this item if you do not use Plausible.]
• Analytics (Google Analytics) — only if you accept. If enabled, we ask before using Google Analytics. Until you choose Accept on our cookie banner — and if you choose Decline — no Google Analytics script runs on our pages and nothing is sent to Google. Details are under “Google Analytics” below. [Delete this item if you do not use Google Analytics.]
• Theme preference. If you choose light or dark mode, that choice is stored in your own browser (local storage). It is never sent to our servers (if you have accepted Google Analytics, the switch is counted there; see below).
• Server logs. Our hosting provider, [Cloudflare, Inc.], processes technical information such as IP addresses to deliver the site and protect it from abuse, under its own privacy policy.

Google Analytics

[Delete this section if you do not use Google Analytics.]

If you accept analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics 4, provided by Google LLC (and, for readers in the European Economic Area and the UK, Google Ireland Limited), to understand how the site is used: which pages are read, how readers arrive (for example from a search engine), approximate region, device and browser type, and a few actions on the page — opening a cited source, playing an embedded clip, sharing a page, subscribing to the RSS feed, sending a message (never its content), switching between light and dark mode, and searching the site. Search terms are sent with anything that looks like an email address or a phone number removed, and Google Analytics is set to remove email addresses and search text from page addresses. [Confirm the “Redact data” setting in Google Analytics before publishing this sentence.]

• Cookies. Google Analytics sets first-party cookies named _ga and _ga_… that tell visits from the same browser apart. We set them to expire after 13 months.
• IP addresses. Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses. Google uses your IP address only to estimate an approximate location and then discards it; for readers in the EU this happens on servers in the EU.
• No advertising use. We have switched off Google signals and advertising features, so this data is not used for advertising or to build advertising profiles.
• Retention. Google keeps this data for [14 months] and then deletes it. We see only aggregate reports, not individual readers.
• Your choice. We remember your answer for six months in a cookie (tw_consent) and in your browser's local storage, then ask again. You can change your mind at any time with Cookie settings at the foot of every page; withdrawing consent stops Google Analytics on our site and deletes its cookies. You can also install Google's opt-out browser add-on.

Google processes this information under its own terms; see how Google uses information from sites that use its services. [Have counsel confirm the legal basis and the international-transfer wording for your readers, and accept Google's data processing terms in Google Analytics → Admin → Account settings.]

Embedded players

Some analyses include audio or video from platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Nothing from these platforms loads until you press play. When you do, your browser connects to that platform, which may collect information under its own privacy policy. For YouTube we use its privacy-enhanced (youtube-nocookie.com) player.

When you contact us

When you use our contact, correction or right-of-reply forms, we collect what you choose to send: your name, email address, optional organisation and subject, your message, and which analysis it concerns.

We use this only to read and respond to your message and, for right-of-reply submissions, to publish your response as you agreed. Your email address is never published. If email notifications are enabled, a copy of your message is sent to our editors through our email provider, [Resend].

To prevent spam, we keep a scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address for a short time to limit how many messages can be sent from one connection. We cannot recover your IP address from it.

Accounts for editors

People who write for TradWatch have accounts. We store their name, email address, role and a securely hashed password, and use a session cookie to keep them signed in. Readers never need an account.

Where your information is kept

Our database is hosted by [Neon / Supabase] in [region]. Our site is hosted by [Cloudflare] in [region]. These providers process data on our behalf. [Have counsel list international transfer safeguards if you serve readers in the EU/UK.]

How long we keep it

We keep messages for [12 months] after they are resolved, unless they relate to a published correction or reply, which form part of the public record. [Confirm your retention periods.]

Your rights

You can ask us to see, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you by writing to [privacy contact email] or through our contact page. [Depending on where you and your readers live, laws such as the GDPR or state privacy laws may give additional rights — have counsel complete this section.]

Changes

If we change this policy, we will update this page and the date below.

Last updated: [date]. Contact: [privacy contact email].