Privacy: The Data We Keep

The Yardstick Almanac is a set of static pages. There are no accounts, no comments and no sign-up forms, and the site shows no advertising. This page lists everything the site records about a visit, what is kept in your browser, and how to switch each part off.

Delivering the pages

The site is hosted on Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare handles the connection details of each request, including the IP address, in order to deliver the page. Requests that Cloudflare locates in mainland China or Russia are refused at its network edge. The fonts are served from this site's own address, and no social media widgets are embedded.

Cloudflare Web Analytics

Cloudflare Web Analytics runs for every visitor, in every country, and the consent dialog described below does not control it. It counts page views and measures how quickly pages load, along with the details a browser sends with any request, such as the referring page and the type of browser. It sets no cookies and writes nothing to your browser's storage, and Cloudflare states that it does not use fingerprinting. Its script loads from static.cloudflareinsights.com and reports back to this site's own address. A content blocker that blocks that domain will stop it. Cloudflare's own terms are in its privacy policy.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics 4 measures how the site is used: which pages are viewed, the page that sent you here, the type of device and browser, an approximate location, and interactions such as scrolling, file downloads and clicks on links to other sites. It sets cookies in your browser to tell one visit from the next. Google signals and data sharing with Google are switched off, and the measurement data is kept for 14 months. When it loads, it is told that advertising storage, advertising use of personal data and ad personalization are all denied.

Whether it loads depends on where you are. Until you have made a choice, each page asks this site's Cloudflare edge which country the connection comes from; the answer is used once, in the page, and is not stored. Visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and a few associated territories see a consent dialog. Until you choose Accept, Google Analytics is not loaded at all: no script, no cookies and no data sent. If you choose Reject, it is never loaded. If the country cannot be determined, the dialog appears as well. Visitors elsewhere get Google Analytics without a dialog.

You can change your choice at any time with the link in the footer of every page that reopens the dialog. Switching from Accept to Reject reloads the page without Google Analytics. Cookies that Google Analytics has already set stay in your browser until you delete them in your browser's settings. Google explains how it uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Stored in your browser

When you answer the consent dialog, your answer is saved in your browser's local storage under the key cookie-choice-e02e, with the value granted or denied, so the dialog does not reappear on every page. It is read only by this site's pages in your browser and is never sent anywhere. If you use the light and dark switch, that choice is kept in this browser too, under the key almanac-scheme. Clearing this site's data in your browser removes both.

Site search

The search box filters a list of articles inside your browser. The words you type are not sent to this site or to anyone else.

Email

If you write to contact@theyardstickalmanac.com, your address and message are used only to deal with that message. They are not added to any mailing list and are not passed to anyone else.

Questions and changes

Questions about this page go to the same address. When the site's practices change, this page is updated.

Last updated: November 1, 2026.