How we handle your data.
Plain language. No dark patterns. We collect the minimum we need to run the newsletter, the live show, and Reader Pulse, and we say what we do with it.
What we collect
Only what you give us, and only when you give it:
- Email address: newsletter subscriptions are handled by Beehiiv. Resend delivers requested printables and manages the Unwitnessed announcement list. A sample-chapter request does not add you to the newsletter unless you select that option.
- Delivery requests: our database temporarily holds your address and requested resource while email delivery or subscription enrollment is pending. That address is removed when processing finishes, or within about 24 hours plus the next maintenance run. Non-identifying job records are retained for seven days to prevent duplicate requests.
- Story submissions: text, optional name, optional email. Held in our database to read, optionally feature on the wiki, or quote on the live show. You control the consent toggle per submission.
- Reader Pulse poll votes and feedback: votes are de-duplicated per IP using a one-way SHA-256 hash with a server-side salt. We never store raw IP addresses.
What we don't collect
- No ad-network tracking, no behavioral profiles, no cross-site cookies, no fingerprinting.
- No selling, no sharing with third parties for marketing.
- No location, no device IDs, no biometrics.
Analytics
We count page views, form views and outcomes, downloads, and shares in our own aggregate analytics. Counts include the page and campaign source, not your email address, quiz answers, story text, full referring URL, or a persistent visitor ID. Campaign labels may be retained in your browser tab for up to thirty minutes so a signup can be attributed to the page that brought you here. Browser Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track preferences disable these browser events. Aggregate counts are retained for ninety days. Cloudflare also processes requests to serve and protect the site.
Salted IP hashes help limit automated requests. Rate-limit records expire and are removed by scheduled maintenance. For a story that is not featured, the name, email address, salted IP hash and browser details are removed 180 days after submission, on the next maintenance run; the story text itself may be kept, unattributed, so our counts stay honest. Featured submissions keep their attribution for as long as they are featured; ask and we remove them.
Cookies
The site uses no first-party tracking cookies. Cloudflare may set short-lived security cookies (for example, bot-mitigation) on its own initiative; we have no control over and no access to those.
Live show data
If you join the live broadcast at live.thehumanfrequency.net, the show platform records audio for the public podcast feed. If you call in on air, your voice will be on the recording. If you raise your hand but don't go live, your audio is not retained. The screening room is private to the broadcaster.
Your rights
You can ask us at any time to:
- See what we have on you.
- Correct it.
- Delete it.
- Unsubscribe from the newsletter (every email has a one-click unsubscribe).
Email the contact address on the About page and we'll act within seven days. You can also reach us by post: The Human Frequency Inc., 314-222 Baseline Road, Unit 83, Sherwood Park, AB T8H 1S8.
Children
The site is not directed at children under 13 and we don't knowingly collect data from them.
Changes
If we change this policy materially, we'll say so on the newsletter and update the date below.