Privacy policy

Summary

The short version

• You can read everything on this website without telling me anything about yourself.
• The contact form asks for four things and sends them to my inbox. Nothing is stored on the website.
• The newsletter is for readers of 13 and over and asks only for an email address. Every email it sends has an unsubscribe link.
• Google Analytics only runs if you choose to accept it. You can change your mind at any time.
• I don’t sell your information, and I don’t use it to advertise to you.

Section 1

Who is responsible

This website belongs to Christopher Govero, the author of Clutch. He decides what the site collects and what happens to it. That makes him the data controller: the person responsible for your information in law. In this policy, “I”, “me” and “my” mean him.

Contact

[email protected]

Where I’m based

The United Arab Emirates. The book is sold in the United States.

Write to that address about anything on this page, including a request to see or delete what I hold.

Section 2

The contact form

The contact form asks for:

• your name
• your email address, so I can reply
• the name of an organisation, if you want to add one (this is optional)
• your message

What happens when you press send

First, Cloudflare Turnstile checks that the message is coming from a person and not an automated program. To do that, it looks at technical information from your browser and your connection.

Then your message goes to a small piece of code run by Cloudflare, which hands it to Resend, an email delivery service. Resend delivers it as an email to my inbox, [email protected], which is provided by Zoho Mail. That inbox is where your message is kept. The website doesn’t store your message: there is no database of messages on the site.

Sending a message never adds you to the newsletter. Writing to my address directly works the same way, minus the Turnstile check and Resend.

Why I use it, and for how long

I use what you send only to read your message and reply to it.

Kept in my inbox

I delete a conversation 6 months after my last reply and empty the Trash straight away. Deleted emails can stay on Zoho’s servers for up to 30 more days, and in Zoho’s backups for up to 3 months.

Kept by Resend

A full copy of each message, including what you wrote, for 30 days, after which Resend deletes it. Resend also keeps backups for 7 days.

Section 3

The newsletter

Who can join

Readers aged 13 and over. Before you sign up, the form asks you to confirm your age. If you’re under 13, the form won’t accept your email address. Instead, ask a parent or guardian, who can sign up with their own email address and pass the news on to you.

What happens when you sign up

Your address goes straight to Kit, the service that holds the list, and you’re on it from that moment. There is no confirmation step to click. If an address is added by mistake, or by someone else, the unsubscribe link in any email takes it off again, or you can write to me and I’ll remove it.

What is kept, and where

Your email address, and a record of which emails you open and which links you click, held by Kit, an email newsletter service.

Other sign-up details

None. The form asks only for your email address.

Your age answer

Not stored. The website checks your answer before anything is sent to Kit, and uses it only to allow or block the sign-up.

Open and click tracking

On. Kit records whether each email is opened, using a tiny invisible image, and which links you click. Kit documents no way to switch this off. Kit’s extra link tracking, including passing a scrambled version of your email address to other websites, stays off.

Kept after you leave

Kit keeps your email address, the fact that you unsubscribed and which emails you were sent, so you aren’t added back by mistake. Ask me and I’ll delete all of it, including Kit’s records.

Leaving the list

Every email includes an unsubscribe link. Use it at any time and you’ll be taken off the list.

Section 4

Counting visits

Two tools show me how the site is used: how many people visit, and which pages they read. I use them to see what’s working, not to identify anyone.

Cloudflare Web Analytics: always on

Cloudflare Web Analytics counts visits without cookies and without storing anything on your device, so it runs without asking you first. It records things like the page you visited, the website that sent you here, and your browser, device type and country, and shows me totals.

Google Analytics 4: only if you accept

Google Analytics gives more detail, such as how people move from page to page. It uses cookies, so it doesn’t load at all unless you choose to accept it in the cookie banner. If you decline, or don’t answer, it never runs.

When it does run, Google collects information such as the pages you view, how you arrived, your device and browser, and your approximate location. The cookies it sets are listed under Cookies.

Google keeps data for

2 months for detailed data about visits and visitors, then Google deletes it in its next monthly clean-up, and only totals remain.

Google advertising features

This site’s code tells Google Analytics not to use Google signals or advertising personalisation, and both are also switched off in the Analytics account, in every region. Detailed location and device data is off, no advertising product is linked, and every optional setting for sharing the data with Google is off.

Section 5

Cookies

A cookie is a small file a website saves in your browser. Google Analytics sets cookies on this site, and only after you accept them. This website also saves your cookie choice in your browser’s local storage, which works in a similar way.

Changing your choice

You can accept or decline Google Analytics at any time.

You can also delete cookies in your browser’s settings. If you reject after accepting, this website deletes the Google Analytics cookies already set, and Google Analytics doesn’t run on any page you open after that.

Section 6

Children and parents

Clutch is written for readers of about twelve and up, so I expect younger readers here. Anyone can read this website without telling me anything about themselves, though the services in section 7 still receive technical details, such as your IP address, to deliver the pages.

• The newsletter turns away anyone who says they are under 13.
• The contact form isn’t for under-13s. If you’re under 13, ask a parent, guardian or teacher to get in touch for you.
• If I find out that a child under 13 has sent me information, I’ll delete it.

For parents and guardians

If you think your child under 13 has given me information through this website, write to [email protected]. Tell me the name or email address they used, and I’ll find it and delete it. I’ll reply within one month.

I delete on a matching name or email address without asking for more, because deleting can’t harm the child. Before sending anyone a copy of what I hold, I check with the email address the information came from. If the message was sent less than 30 days ago, I also ask Resend to remove its copy.

Section 7

Services that handle information

I don’t run my own servers. The site relies on the services below, and each one handles some information to do its job. I don’t sell your information to anyone.

These services are in different countries, so information about your visit may be handled outside the country you live in.

Section 8

Your choices and rights

Your first choice is the cookie banner: accept or decline Google Analytics, and change your mind whenever you like using the Cookie settings button in section 5 or in the footer of every page. Your second is the newsletter, which you can leave from any email it sends.

You can also ask me to:

• Show you the information I hold about you, and give you a copy.
• Correct anything that’s wrong.
• Delete your information.
• Stop using information you agreed to share, such as for Google Analytics or the newsletter. Withdrawing your agreement doesn’t change anything that happened before you did.

To ask, write to [email protected]. I’ll reply within one month. Before I send anyone a copy of what I hold, I may need to check that the request really comes from you.

If you’re unhappy with how I’ve handled your information, tell me first and I’ll try to put it right. You can also complain to the data protection authority for the country you live in.

Section 9

Changes to this policy

When the way this site handles information changes, for example if a new service is added, I’ll update this page and change the “last updated” date at the top.

If a change affects information I already hold, I’ll put a notice on this website, and tell newsletter subscribers by email.