Privacy Policy
Last updated
Stacked Creator (https://thestackedcreator.com) is a publication, not a service you sign up for. We collect as little personal information as possible. This policy explains what we do collect and why.
The short version
- We use Google Analytics to see which guides are read. In the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK and Switzerland it sets cookies only if you click Accept; everywhere else it does unless you click Decline.
- You can change your choice at any time under Cookie settings at the foot of every page.
- We don’t show ads, we’ve turned off Google’s advertising features in our analytics, and we don’t sell personal information.
- Apart from Google Analytics, we don’t set cookies.
- If you email us, we use your email only to reply.
- When you click a link to another company’s website, that company’s privacy policy applies there.
Information we collect
Technical data processed by our hosting provider
Like every website, our hosting and content-delivery provider processes technical information needed to deliver and secure the site, such as IP address, browser type, the page requested and the time of the request. This data is used to serve pages, prevent abuse and keep the site running. We don’t use it to identify individual visitors.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how the site is used. It sets cookies only as described in Google Analytics and cookies below, and in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland only if you accept them.
Web fonts
Our typefaces are loaded from Bunny Fonts (fonts.bunny.net), a font service run by BunnyWay d.o.o. in the EU. To deliver the font files, your browser connects to their servers, which receive your IP address and browser details in the process. Bunny Fonts says it doesn’t track visitors or log IP addresses; see its own privacy policy for details. No cookies are set for this.
Emails you send us
If you contact us at hello@thestackedcreator.com, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to include in your message. We use it only to respond and keep a record of the conversation, and we delete it when it’s no longer needed.
Google Analytics and cookies
We use Google Analytics 4, a service provided by Google LLC, to understand how the site is used: which guides are read, how readers find them and roughly where they are. We use the reports only to decide what to write and what to update. We have turned off Google signals and ad personalization for our analytics, we don’t show ads, and we haven’t linked Google Analytics to any advertising account.
What it collects
When Google Analytics runs, a script from Google records the pages you view and when, the page or site that sent you here, your approximate location (country, region and city, worked out from your IP address), your device type, browser, operating system, screen size and language, and a few interactions it measures automatically, such as scrolling to the end of a page or following a link to another site. Google turns this into aggregate reports for us. We don’t send Google your name, your email address or anything else that identifies you directly, and our reports don’t show us your IP address.
Cookies and similar storage
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Google Analytics | Tells one browser from another, using a random ID | After 2 years |
_ga_CRR5GM9LLS | Google Analytics | Keeps track of the current visit (session) | After 2 years |
sc-consent | This site, in local storage (not a cookie) | Remembers whether you accepted or declined, and when | We ask again after 12 months |
The Google Analytics cookies are first-party cookies, set on our own domain; their lifetimes are Google’s defaults as given in its documentation. We don’t use any other cookies.
Your choice
Every visitor sees a cookie bar until they choose Accept or Decline.
- If your browser is set to a European time zone, we don’t load Google’s script at all until you click Accept, so nothing is sent to Google before you choose.
- Otherwise, in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland (for example, if you’re travelling with a device set to another time zone), Google Analytics still sets no cookies unless you accept. Google’s script loads, but in Google’s consent mode it neither sets nor reads cookies. It may still send Google basic signals without cookies, such as the time, the page and your browser’s user agent (and, as with any web request, your IP address), which Google can use to model overall visitor numbers.
- Everywhere else, Google Analytics runs with cookies unless you decline.
- If you decline, we delete the Google Analytics cookies from your browser, and later pages don’t load Google’s script at all.
You can change your mind at any time under Cookie settings at the foot of every page. We remember your choice in your browser for 12 months and then ask again. You can also block cookies in your browser settings, or install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, which stops Google Analytics on every website.
IP addresses, retention and transfers
Google says Google Analytics 4 doesn’t log or store IP addresses. For traffic from the EU, the UK and Switzerland, Google uses the IP address only to work out an approximate location, on servers in those regions, and then discards it immediately. We use Google Analytics’ shortest retention setting, so data tied to the cookie IDs is deleted after 2 months; aggregate reports, such as page views per month, are kept.
Google Analytics data is processed by Google LLC in the United States and in other countries where Google operates, on our behalf and under Google’s data processing terms. Google LLC is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, its UK Extension and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and relies on the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses where they are needed. For details, see how Google uses information from sites that use its services and Google’s data transfer frameworks.
Affiliate and external links
Some links on this site go to third-party websites, and some are affiliate links (see our affiliate disclosure). When you follow such a link, the destination company or its partner network may set cookies or use similar technologies to record that you arrived from Stacked Creator. That processing is controlled by those companies and governed by their privacy policies. We receive only aggregated reports about signups and commissions, not your personal details.
Legal basis (GDPR / UK GDPR)
Where data protection laws such as the GDPR apply, we process the technical data and emails described above on the basis of our legitimate interests in operating a secure website and replying to messages you send us.
For Google Analytics, visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland are asked first. In line with the EU ePrivacy rules and the UK’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), we set analytics cookies only with your consent, and we rely on that consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR and UK GDPR) for the analytics data. You can withdraw it at any time under Cookie settings; that doesn’t affect processing that took place before. For visitors elsewhere, we rely on our legitimate interest in understanding which guides are useful, and you can object at any time by clicking Decline.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct or delete personal information we hold about you, to object to or restrict its processing, and to complain to your local data protection authority. California residents have rights under the CCPA/CPRA; we do not sell or share personal information as defined by that law. To exercise any of these rights, email hello@thestackedcreator.com.
If you accepted analytics cookies, you can withdraw your consent just as easily, at any time, under Cookie settings at the foot of every page.
Children
This site is intended for business readers and is not directed at children under 16.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle information, we’ll update this page and the “last updated” date above.
Contact
Stacked Creator, an independent publication based in Japan. Email: hello@thestackedcreator.com