Privacy Policy

Elk2.com is a personal site where I publish stories from my dating life. I write anonymously. This page explains what information the site collects, why, who else handles it, and what you can do about it. Questions go to stories@elk2.com.

What I don't do

I don't sell or rent personal information myself. There are no ads on this site, no user accounts and no comments. I don't try to identify individual readers. The one exception to keep in mind is the email list, described below: Grow, the service that runs it, says it may use subscriber data for interest-based advertising.

When you read the site

Google Analytics. I use Google Analytics to see which stories get read and how people find the site. It sets cookies and records things like the pages you view, how long you stay, the site that sent you, your browser and device type, and your approximate location (city level, from your IP address). I only see totals and trends, not who you are. Google's own use of this data is described in How Google uses information from sites that use its services.

Cloudflare. The site is hosted on Cloudflare, which processes your IP address and request details to deliver pages and block attacks, and keeps security logs. See Cloudflare's privacy policy.

Google Fonts. The site's typefaces load from Google Fonts, so your browser sends your IP address to Google when a page loads. See the Google Fonts privacy FAQ.

Your reading position. If you leave a story partway through, the site remembers how far you got so it can offer to take you back. That is saved only in your own browser's local storage. It is never sent to me or anyone else, it is forgotten after 60 days, and clearing this site's data in your browser removes it.

If you join the email list

The email signup is run by Grow, a service from Mediavine. When you subscribe, Grow collects your first name and email address and uses its own cookies and identifiers to manage your subscription. As the signup form says, Grow and Mediavine may use that personal data for interest-based advertising, which can count as "sharing" under California law. Grow handles that information under Mediavine's Legal & Privacy Center, which is also where you can opt out of that use, or ask Mediavine to see or delete what it holds. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

If you contact me

The contact form asks for your message, and optionally your name and an email address if you want a reply. A Cloudflare Turnstile check runs on the form to stop spam bots; it looks at signals from your browser and device and is covered by Cloudflare's Turnstile privacy addendum. Your message is emailed to my personal inbox through Cloudflare. Emails you send to stories@elk2.com are forwarded to the same inbox through Cloudflare Email Routing.

I keep messages only in that inbox, I don't add your address to any list, and I won't publish anything you send me without asking you first. Ask me to delete your messages and I will.

Cookies

Google Analytics sets cookies whose names start with _ga, which last up to two years. Grow sets its own cookies (such as growme_readerid) to recognize subscribers. Cloudflare may set a short-lived security cookie. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the stories still work without them.

Your choices

You can block analytics with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on or a content blocker. You can unsubscribe from the email list at any time. You can ask me what information I hold about you from the contact form or email, and ask me to correct or delete it, by writing to stories@elk2.com.

If you live in California, the European Union or the United Kingdom, you have rights to access, correct and delete your personal information, and the steps above are how to use them here. Where European law applies, I rely on legitimate interests for analytics and security, and on your consent when you subscribe or contact me.

Do Not Track

The site does not change its behavior in response to browser "Do Not Track" signals. Use the opt-out tools above instead.

Adults only

This site is for adults. It is not meant for anyone under 18, and I don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has sent me information, write to me and I will delete it.

Where data is processed

I'm based in the United States, and the services above may process information in the United States and other countries.

Changes

If the site starts collecting something new or uses a new service, I'll update this page and the date at the top.