The short version
- There is no account to create and nothing to fill in, so I never receive your name, email address or anything you type.
- Google Analytics records which pages are read. That sets cookies in your browser.
- Your theme choice — dark or light — is remembered in your own browser and is never sent anywhere.
- Nothing is sold, and nothing is used for advertising or profiling.
Analytics cookies are set when you arrive This site does not currently show a cookie banner, which means the analytics cookies described below are set before you have had a chance to refuse them. If you would rather they were not, the opt-out section tells you how to block them, and doing so does not affect the site at all.
Who is responsible
TechThings.work is a personal project run by Callum Haywood, who is the data controller for the limited processing described here. You can get in touch via callumhaywood.com.
What is collected
Analytics
The site uses Google Analytics 4 to understand which guides people read and which ones nobody finds. It records the sort of thing you would expect:
- which pages were viewed, in what order, and roughly how long for;
- how you arrived — a search engine, a link on another site, or directly;
- an approximate location, usually the city or region, worked out from your IP address;
- device and browser characteristics: type, operating system, screen size, language.
Google states that Analytics 4 does not log or store individual IP addresses; the address is used to derive that approximate location and is then discarded. No attempt is made, here or by me, to identify an individual reader.
Server logs
As with any website, the hosting provider keeps standard access logs — IP address, timestamp, page requested, browser string — for security and troubleshooting. These are a normal function of running a server and are not combined with the analytics data.
What is never collected
There are no forms, no comments, no newsletter, no accounts and no payments on this site, so there is no mechanism by which it could receive your name, email address, postal address or payment details. Nothing here asks you to log in.
What is stored in your browser
| What | Where | How long | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Cookie | 2 years | Google Analytics: distinguishes one browser from another |
_ga_G-142HNLGRKC | Cookie | 2 years | Google Analytics: keeps session state |
tt-theme | Local storage | Until cleared | Remembers whether you chose dark or light |
The theme preference is the only thing this site stores itself. It never leaves your browser, is not sent to any server, and exists purely so the page does not flash the wrong colour when you return. Clearing it simply means the site follows your system setting again.
Why, and the lawful basis
The analytics exist for one reason: to see which explanations are being read, so that time goes into writing the ones people actually want. A guide nobody opens is a guide worth rethinking.
Under UK GDPR the lawful basis for that limited processing is legitimate interests — understanding how a freely published site is used, in a way that has no meaningful effect on the individual reader. The theme preference is strictly necessary for a feature you asked for by clicking the toggle.
Separately from UK GDPR, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations require consent before non-essential cookies are set. As noted at the top of this page, the analytics cookies are currently set on arrival rather than after a prompt. This is being addressed; in the meantime the opt-out below works immediately and completely.
How long it is kept
Analytics data is retained for the period configured in Google Analytics, after which the underlying event data is deleted; aggregate reporting — page view counts and the like — persists, and cannot be traced back to any individual. Hosting logs are kept for a short period by the provider and then rotated away.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to ask what personal data is held about you, to have it corrected or erased, to object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests, and to have your data provided in a portable form.
In practice there is very little to exercise those rights against, because I hold no information capable of identifying you: the analytics are aggregate and I have no name, address or account to look you up by. If you want to stop the collection entirely, the opt-out below is faster and more certain than a request to me.
If you believe your data has been mishandled you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk, though I would appreciate the chance to put it right first.
How to opt out
Any of these stops the analytics completely. None of them affects how the site works — every page, diagram and tooltip behaves exactly the same.
- Block cookies for this site in your browser settings, or browse in a private window.
- Use a content blocker; essentially all of them block Google Analytics by default.
- Install Google’s own Analytics opt-out add-on, which works across every site you visit.
- Turn on your browser’s tracking protection, which most now include as standard.
Clearing your browser’s site data for techthings.work removes the analytics cookies and the stored theme preference together.
Children
This site is written for a general audience and is suitable for all ages, but it is not aimed at children specifically and collects nothing from anyone that would identify them. No age is requested because nothing here requires one.
Changes to this notice
If the way this site handles data changes — most likely by adding a proper consent prompt, or by moving to analytics that set no cookies at all — this page will be updated and the date at the top will change with it.
Contact
Questions about anything on this page, or about data protection generally, can go to me via callumhaywood.com.
See also the terms of use, which cover copyright, reuse and the limits of what is published here.