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Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 20, 2026

This website, cosmicconversations.org, is run by Stephan Martin. This page explains what information the site collects when you visit, why it is collected, how long it is kept, and what you can ask me to do about it.

Who is responsible

Stephan Martin is responsible for this website and for any personal information it collects. If you have a question about your information, or you want a copy of it or want it deleted, write to me at steve@cosmicconversations.org and I will answer personally.

What information is collected

When you write to me

If you use a contact form on this site, I receive the name, email address and message you type, and your answer to “How did you find us?” if you choose to give one. That message is emailed to me and stored on this website's own server so I can reply. Your IP address is recorded briefly alongside the message to block automated spam and to limit how often the form can be submitted from the same place.

When you subscribe to the newsletter

The newsletter sign-up is handled by Mailchimp, a service of Intuit Inc. When you subscribe, your email address is sent to and stored by Mailchimp, and their own privacy policy applies to it. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of any newsletter.

When you simply read the site

This site uses its own visitor analytics, running on the same server as the site. It uses no Google Analytics, no advertising networks and no third-party tracking services. It collects:

• your IP address, browser and device details (User-Agent), screen and browser window size, and browser language and time zone;
• random visitor and visit identifiers stored in cookies, the visit number and the date of your first visit;
• the pages you view, when you view them, the time spent on each page and how far you scroll;
• the page you came from, including search engines and AI assistants, and any campaign tags in the link address;
• clicks on links and buttons, the starting and submitting of forms, and the names of the form fields you open — never what you type into them;
• technical page errors and page load times.

The site also logs requests from automated AI assistant robots such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude: the robot's name, the page requested, the time and the robot's IP address. These records are about software, not about visitors.

Why it is collected

• Messages you send: so that I can read and reply to you.
• Newsletter: so that I can send you the newsletter you asked for.
• Analytics: to understand how the site is used and to improve its content and ease of use.

The legal basis for replying to your message and sending the newsletter is your request and your consent. For visitor analytics it is your consent, given by continuing to use the site; you can withdraw it at any time by blocking cookies in your browser settings, which stops the analytics from running at all.

Who else sees it

I do not sell your information, and I do not share it with anyone for advertising. Information reaches other companies only where the site genuinely relies on them:

Mailchimp (Intuit Inc.)

Stores newsletter subscriptions and sends the newsletter.

The web host

Operates the server on which this site, its contact messages and its analytics are stored.

Google Fonts

Serves the typefaces used on the site. Your browser requests the font files from Google, which means Google receives your IP address as part of that request.

YouTube (Google LLC)

Videos on this site load only after you click on them. Until you click, nothing is requested from YouTube and no YouTube cookies are set. Once you click, YouTube's own privacy policy applies.

Links to other websites — booksellers, Substack, social media and event partners — are ordinary links. Following one takes you to a site with its own privacy policy, which I do not control.

Cookies

This site uses its own first-party cookies for visitor analytics. No third-party analytics or advertising trackers are used, and analytics data stays on this site's server.

The analytics sets these cookies:

• st_vid — a random browser ID, used to tell new visitors from returning ones; kept for 400 days;
• st_sid — a random visit ID; expires 30 minutes after your last action on the site;
• st_sn and st_fv — the visit number and the date of your first visit; kept for 400 days;
• st_optout — set on a browser whose visits are not counted at all: mine and those of anyone helping me run the site, and any browser the site has stopped recording; kept for 400 days.

The identifiers in these cookies are random and contain no name, contact details or other personal information. The analytics never reads what you type into forms.

If a page closes before its visit data has been sent, the analytics may briefly keep that data in your browser's local storage. It sends it the next time you open a page on the site and deletes it from storage right away.

If cookies are blocked in your browser, the analytics does not run and no visit data is collected. Mailchimp and YouTube may set their own cookies if you subscribe to the newsletter or play a video.

How long it is kept

• Analytics data is stored on this site's own server in a protected folder, is not shared with third parties, and is visible only to me and anyone helping me run the site, through a password-protected dashboard. It is kept for 180 days and then deleted automatically.
• Messages you send me are kept for as long as I may need them to stay in touch with you about what you wrote. You can ask me to delete them at any time.
• Newsletter subscriptions are kept until you unsubscribe.

Your choices and your rights

You can ask me to show you what information I hold about you, correct it, or delete it. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time, and you can stop the analytics entirely by blocking cookies in your browser. Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to object to how your information is used, to receive a copy of it in a portable form, or to complain to a data protection authority.

To exercise any of these, write to steve@cosmicconversations.org. There is no charge, and I aim to respond within 30 days.

Children

This site is intended for a general adult audience and is not directed at children under 13. I do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent me personal information, please write to me and I will delete it.

Changes to this policy

If what the site collects changes, this page changes with it, and the date at the top is updated. Please check back occasionally.