What the desk collects, and what it does not.

If a reader has written to the editorial inbox, the desk will delete the email and any associated notes on request. The deletion is permanent; the desk does not keep backups of deleted emails beyond what the hosting provider's mail server retains by default.

Anonymous traffic data is not personally identifiable and cannot be deleted per-reader. The desk retains the data for editorial purposes — primarily to understand which pieces the reader-base finds most useful — and discards it after the editorial window closes.

If the reader has a question that is not covered above, the editorial inbox is the best route in. The desk tries to respond within five working days.

The desk's standing rule is that the data the desk collects should be the minimum the desk needs to publish the site. The desk does not need more data to publish well — the desk needs the right editorial product, and the right editorial product is not improved by knowing more about the reader.

The desk logs anonymous traffic data (page paths, referrers, user agents) for editorial purposes. The data is not personally identifiable and is not shared with third parties. The data is used to understand which pieces the reader-base finds most useful — primarily so the desk can hold the editorial room to the standard of writing for the reader.

Why no third-party analytics

The desk does not run third-party analytics because the desk's view is that third-party analytics collect more data than the desk needs, in a way the reader cannot easily audit. Anonymous server logs are a smaller, more local solution — and the data never leaves the desk's hosting provider.

What the reader can ask for

If the reader has written to the editorial inbox, the desk will delete the email and any associated notes on request. The deletion is permanent; the desk does not keep backups of deleted emails beyond what the hosting provider's mail server retains by default. Anonymous traffic data is not personally identifiable and cannot be deleted per-reader — but the desk discards it after the editorial window closes.

If the reader has a question that is not covered above, the editorial inbox is the best route in. The desk tries to respond within five working days.

The desk's hosting provider logs server-side requests for security and operational purposes. The logs are not cookies, and the data in them is the minimum the provider needs to operate the service.

The logs contain the requesting IP address, the requested URL, the response status, the user agent, and the referrer (where one is sent). The logs are used for security (identifying abuse, identifying unauthorised access attempts) and for operations (identifying errors, identifying slow requests). The logs are not used for marketing, profiling, or any form of reader tracking.

How long the logs are kept

The logs are kept for the period the desk's hosting provider retains by default — typically 7-30 days, depending on the provider's policy. After the retention period, the logs are deleted automatically. The desk does not back up the logs to long-term storage.

What the desk does not collect

The desk does not collect names, email addresses, postal addresses, phone numbers, payment details, government identifiers, or any other personally identifiable information unless the reader has chosen to write to the editorial inbox. The desk's view is that the data the desk collects should be the minimum the desk needs to publish the site — and the hosting provider's server logs are part of that minimum.

If the reader has a question

If the reader has a question that is not covered above — for example, about a specific data point the desk holds, or about a specific request the reader wants to make — the editorial inbox is the best route in. The desk tries to respond within five working days, and the editor's reply will be a personal one, not a form letter.