Privacy policy

This policy explains what information fredcornell.com collects when you read it, why, who else handles it, and what you can do about it.

1. Who we are

fredcornell.com is run by Fredrik Cornell through his company, CFC CRM Consulting Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales (company number 14762661), registered office Flat 13 Knightswood House, 14 Rowe Lane, London E9 6EL. In this policy "we" means that company. We decide how your information is used, which makes us the "controller" under data protection law.

Contact for anything in this policy: info@fredcornell.com.

2. The short version

• You can read every page without giving us your name or email address.
• We use Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics to count visits and see which pages and charts people use.
• If you are in Europe, they run only if you press Accept on the cookie bar.
• If you are in the UK, Google Analytics runs only if you press Accept. Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics, which use no cookies, count your visit unless you press Reject, switch them off or your browser sends Global Privacy Control (section 4).
• Everywhere else they run unless you switch them off, or your browser sends Global Privacy Control.
• You can change your choice at any time with "Cookie settings" at the foot of every page.
• Charts embedded on other websites do not use Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics or Plausible Analytics.
• We do not sell your information.

3. What we collect and why

When you open a page

Our site is delivered by Cloudflare. To send you a page, Cloudflare receives your IP address and basic details of your request, such as your browser type and the page asked for. Cloudflare uses this to deliver the page, to protect the site against attacks and abuse, and to tell our site which country the request comes from, so that we know whether to show you the cookie bar. Cloudflare keeps its own records of requests for the periods set out in its terms. We do not store your IP address ourselves.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics tells us how many people visit, which pages and charts they use, roughly where they are, what device they use and how they found us. It works by placing cookies in your browser (listed in section 5) and sending Google information about your visit, including your IP address, which Google uses to estimate your location. We use the results to decide what to build and to fix what does not work.

We have set up Google Analytics so that:

• Google keeps the detailed data for 14 months and then deletes it;
• Google Signals is off, so your visits are not linked to your Google account;
• it is not used for advertising and is not linked to any advertising account;
• Google may not use the data for its own products, benchmarking or other purposes beyond providing the service to us.

We also keep our own copy of the Google Analytics data, and of the daily Cloudflare Web Analytics figures, in Google BigQuery in the EU, so that we can compare one year with another. We keep this copy for five years and then delete it.

The Share button

Most pages have a Share button. On a phone or tablet it opens your device's share sheet. On a computer it opens a small menu to copy the page's headline and address, or to open X, LinkedIn, WhatsApp or your email program with them filled in. We load nothing from those services; they receive the headline and address only if you choose them, and then handle them under their own policies. The address it shares has labels added to the end of it (for example `?utm_source=share&utm_medium=copy`) so that we can tell when a visit came from a shared link. We do not see who you share with or what you add to your message.

If Google Analytics is running for you, we also record that you pressed the button ("share_click"), which option you chose, and, on devices that tell us, that the share was completed ("share_complete"). These are ordinary Google Analytics events and are handled as described above. If analytics is off for you, nothing is recorded; sharing still works. When someone opens a link with these labels and analytics is running for them, Google Analytics counts the visit as coming from "share".

Cloudflare Web Analytics

Cloudflare Web Analytics also counts page views, and shows us how fast our pages load. When it runs, a small script from Cloudflare sends Cloudflare the address of the page, the page you came from, your browser, operating system and type of device, and how long the page took to load. The request reaches Cloudflare with your IP address, as described above, and Cloudflare works out your country from it. It sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser. Cloudflare says it does not use this data to follow you across other websites. It keeps the full records for 7 days and then a reduced sample, from which we can see reports for six months.

Plausible Analytics

Plausible Analytics also counts page views and shows us where readers come from. It runs under exactly the same rules as Cloudflare Web Analytics. When it runs, a small script from Plausible sends Plausible the address of the page, the page or campaign you came from, your browser, operating system and type of device, how far you scroll and how long you spend on the page. The request reaches Plausible with your IP address and browser details. Plausible uses them to work out your approximate location (country, region and city) and, together with a random value that it deletes every 24 hours, to make a daily identifier that lets it count you once a day on our site. It does not store your IP address or the raw browser details, and the identifier cannot link your visits on different days, on different devices or on other websites. It sets no cookies and writes nothing to your browser. Plausible stores the data in the EU, in Germany, and does not use it for advertising or sell it. It keeps the statistics for as long as we use the service and deletes them when we delete our site from it. Plausible can also record clicks on links to other websites, file downloads and form submissions; we have switched those off, so it records page views, scrolling and time on the page only. This is how Plausible describes its service in its data policy and data processing agreement (both September 2026).

Your cookie choice

We remember your choice in your browser, so we do not ask again on every page. In the UK this includes whether you switched off Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics. If you accept, we keep that for up to six months and then ask again. If you reject or switch analytics off, we keep that until you change it. Some browsers, including Safari, clear stored choices sooner. In the UK and Europe we then ask again; elsewhere analytics runs again until you switch it off.

We also keep a record that a choice was made: a random identifier stored in your browser, the date and time, your country, the choice and how you made it, and the versions of the cookie bar and of this policy you saw. The record holds no name, email address or IP address. Because it is linked to an identifier in your browser, we treat it as personal data. We keep it for two years to show that we asked properly, then delete it.

When you email us

If you email us, we keep your message and address to reply to you, and for up to two years afterwards unless the law requires longer.

Advertising (not yet in use)

We do not show advertising at the moment. If we start, this section will say which advertising companies we work with and what they collect, the date at the top of this policy will change, and readers in the UK and Europe will be asked again before any advertising cookies are set.

Email updates (not yet in use)

We do not run a mailing list at the moment. If we start one, we will ask for your email address only with your clear agreement at the point you sign up, send only what you signed up for, put an unsubscribe link in every email and name here the company that sends the emails for us.

Charts embedded on other websites

Our charts can be embedded on other websites. An embedded chart does not use Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics or Plausible Analytics, and we set no cookies through it. Cloudflare delivers it in the same way as described above. The website showing the chart has its own privacy policy.

4. Where you are changes what we ask

The European Economic Area (the EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), Switzerland, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar. Nothing other than what is strictly needed to run the site loads until you choose. The cookie bar has Accept and Reject buttons of equal size. If you do not choose, nothing optional runs.

The UK. The same cookie bar asks about Google Analytics, and Google Analytics does not run until you press Accept. Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics, which use no cookies, run unless you object, as explained below.

Everywhere else. Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics run when you open a page. You can switch them off at any time with "Cookie settings".

Global Privacy Control, wherever you are. If your browser sends this signal, we treat it as a choice to switch off Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics, Plausible Analytics and any advertising, and we do not load them. You can still switch analytics on yourself in "Cookie settings" if you want to.

We work out your country from your request, through Cloudflare. If we cannot tell where you are, we treat you as being in Europe: we show the cookie bar and nothing optional runs, including Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics, until you choose.

Counting visits without cookies (UK readers)

If you are in the UK, two tools that use no cookies, Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics, run when you open a page, once the cookie bar is on your screen and before you choose anything on it. Google Analytics does not: it still waits until you press Accept.

What they collect: both record the address of the page, the page or campaign you came from, your country and the type of device and browser you use. Cloudflare Web Analytics also records how long the page took to load. Plausible Analytics also records your region and city, how far you scroll and how long you stay on the page. They set no cookies and store nothing in your browser. Each works out your location from your IP address; we do not store your IP address, and neither does Plausible. We use the results only as overall figures, such as how many people read a page and how fast our pages load, never to look at one reader, and never for advertising. We use them for one purpose: to see how the site is used so that we can improve it. Section 3 says more about each tool.

Why we may do this without asking first: UK law allows it. Paragraph 5 of Schedule A1 to the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, inserted by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (section 112 and Schedule 12) and in force since 5 February 2026 (SI 2026/82), allows information to be collected without consent when it is used only for statistics about how a website is used, in order to improve it, provided the information is shared only with those who help us improve the site, we tell you clearly, and you can object easily and free of charge.

How to object, at any time:

• press Reject on the cookie bar, which switches off Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics;
• switch off "Audience measurement without cookies (Cloudflare and Plausible)" in "Cookie settings" at the foot of every page;
• use a browser that sends Global Privacy Control.

After you object, no page you open loads Cloudflare Web Analytics or Plausible Analytics.

This applies only in the UK. Readers in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar are still asked first, and nothing optional runs until they choose.

5. Cookies and similar storage

Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics are similar technologies: they use no cookies and write nothing to your browser's storage, but they do send details of your visit (section 3), so they need your agreement in Europe in the same way. In the UK they run until you object (section 4). Plausible's script checks whether a setting called plausible_ignore is in your browser's storage, which a site owner can use to leave out their own visits; it never writes it.

If you choose Reject or switch analytics off later, we stop Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics and delete Google's cookies from your browser. In the UK, Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics also have their own switch in "Cookie settings".

6. Our commitment

We do not use the pages you read on this site to build a profile of your political views, and we will not use them to target advertising at you if we carry advertising later.

7. The legal basis (UK and European readers)

Under the UK GDPR, the EU GDPR and the equivalent laws of Switzerland and the Crown Dependencies:

• Google Analytics and any future advertising: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time. In the EU, the national laws based on the ePrivacy Directive require consent.
• Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics in Europe, Switzerland, the Crown Dependencies and Gibraltar: your consent, as for Google Analytics.
• Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics in the UK: our legitimate interest in knowing how many people read the site and how well it works, using overall figures only. Paragraph 5 of Schedule A1 to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations allows it without consent (section 4), and you can object at any time.
• Delivering and protecting the site through Cloudflare, and keeping the record of your cookie choice: our legitimate interest in running a working, secure site and showing we asked properly.
• Replying to your emails: our legitimate interest in answering you.
• A future mailing list: your consent.

8. Who handles your information for us

Each handles your information for us under a data processing agreement. Cloudflare and Google may also use some of it for their own purposes set out in their terms, such as security and meeting legal duties. For what Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics collect, their data processing agreements say they process it only to provide the service to us.

9. Information sent outside the UK and Europe

Cloudflare and Google may handle information in the United States; Plausible keeps it in the EU. Where they do, the transfer relies on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension, or on the standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission and the UK addendum to them.

10. Your rights

Everyone. You can ask us what information we hold about you, and ask us to correct or delete it. Email us at info@fredcornell.com. We reply within one month. If a request is complex we may need up to two months more, and if so we tell you within the first month.

We do not collect names for ordinary reading, so we usually cannot link analytics data to you by name. "Cookie settings" shows your analytics reference (the identifier Google Analytics gives your browser). If you send it to us, we can ask Google to delete the data linked to it, and we delete it from our own copy too.

UK and European readers also have the right to object to our use of your information, to restrict it, to receive a copy in a portable form, and to withdraw consent at any time without affecting what happened before. You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) in the UK, or to the data protection authority where you live, such as Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten (IMY) in Sweden. We would like the chance to put things right first, so please contact us.

US readers. Depending on your state, you may have the right to know what we collect, to delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of its sale, its sharing for cross-context behavioural advertising, and targeted advertising. We do not sell your information or share it for advertising. "Cookie settings" and Global Privacy Control both switch off Google Analytics, Cloudflare Web Analytics and Plausible Analytics. Older "Do Not Track" browser settings have no agreed standard, so we do not respond to them; we respond to Global Privacy Control instead. If we turn down a request, reply to our answer and we will look at it again.

11. Children

fredcornell.com is a news and data site for adults. It is not aimed at children and we do not knowingly collect information about anyone under 16.

12. Changes to this policy

When we change this policy we change the date and version at the top. If a change affects what we ask UK and European readers to agree to, we ask again.