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Modern Philosophers

Policies

Privacy Policy

Last updated

Draft. This policy describes how the site works today and is being reviewed before final publication. Items marked “PENDING” are still being decided. Questions? Contact us.

We collect as little as we can: your email if you subscribe, sign in or buy, what you send us, and anonymous page views. We don't use advertising or tracking cookies, we don't sell data, and you can unsubscribe, see or delete your data at any time.

Who we are

Modern Philosophers is run by [PENDING: legal name of the business], [PENDING: postal address]. For anything about your data, contact us via the contact page.

What we collect and why

  • Newsletter: your email address, which form you used and when you subscribed, so we can send you the essays you asked for. That record is also how we remember your consent.
  • Account and sign-in: your email address, so we can send you a one-time sign-in link and show your purchases. We don't use passwords.
  • Purchases: which product you bought, the amount, currency and date, and your email. Payments are handled by Stripe: your card details go to Stripe, never to us.
  • Messages you send us: what you write, the page you wrote from, and your email if you give it, so we can help you.
  • "Was this useful?" votes: which essay and your answer, to learn what readers value.
  • Anonymous usage: which pages are viewed, the website or campaign that sent you (for example a link from Instagram), and rough reading time. No cookies and no identifiers, and we don't store your IP address (our hosting provider may keep it briefly in its own request logs). If your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, we don't record these at all.
  • Site search: we count searches anonymously. When a search finds nothing, the words you typed may be kept briefly in our server logs, with no identifier, so we can add what's missing; anything that looks like an email address or contains numbers is dropped.
  • Technical logs: short-lived server logs to keep the site running and secure. Email addresses and message text are removed from logs.

We don't collect names, phone numbers, addresses or birthdays, and we don't buy data about you from anyone.

We also use what we already know (whether you're subscribed, what you've bought, and whether you have an open support request) to keep our emails relevant: for example, not promoting something you already own, or not sending anything else while we're sorting out a problem for you. We don't track which essays you read individually.

Why we're allowed to

  • Your consent for the newsletter. You can withdraw it at any time.
  • To provide what you asked for: sign-in links, access to what you bought, answers to your messages.
  • Our legitimate interest in understanding, anonymously, which pages are useful and in keeping the site secure.
  • Legal obligations for purchase records (tax and accounting).

Who we share it with

Only the service providers we need to run the site, bound by data-processing terms:

  • Payments: Stripe
  • Email delivery: [PENDING: email provider]
  • Hosting: [PENDING: hosting provider]
  • Database: [PENDING: database provider]

We never sell, rent or swap your data, and we don't share it with advertisers. [PENDING: where these providers store data and the safeguards for international transfers]

How long we keep it

  • Sign-in links: valid for 15 minutes, deleted within 1 day of expiring or being used.
  • Signed-in sessions: 30 days, or until you sign out.
  • Newsletter: while you're subscribed. After you unsubscribe we keep a record that you did, so we don't email you again, unless you ask us to delete it.
  • Messages to support: until your request is closed, plus 24 months; then your email and message are removed.
  • Payment event details from Stripe: usually 90 days, then removed (the fact that an event happened is kept; events that failed are kept until they are resolved).
  • Purchase records: for the period required by tax and accounting law ([PENDING: legal retention period]).
  • Technical logs: 30–90 days.
  • Essay votes: kept as anonymous counts; the link to your account is removed after 24 months.

Your choices and rights

  • Unsubscribe with the link at the bottom of every email, or ask us.
  • See your data: ask us and we'll send you a copy of everything we hold about you.
  • Correct or delete it: ask us. We'll delete everything except purchase records we must keep by law, and we'll tell you what we kept and why.
  • Object or complain: you can object to how we use your data, and you can complain to your local data-protection authority.

To use any of these rights, contact us via the contact page. We'll confirm the request comes from your email address and reply within 30 days.

Cookies and browser storage

We use one cookie, and only when you sign in:

  • wp_session: Keeps you signed in to your library. Set only when you sign in; expires after 30 days or when you sign out.

We also store 3 small items in your browser (not cookies, and not shared with anyone):

  • wp_last_visit_day: The date of your last visit, so we can count return visits without identifying you. It never leaves your browser except as a rough bucket (e.g. "1–7 days").
  • wp_voted:<essay>: Remembers that you already answered "Was this useful?" on an essay.
  • wp_history: Essays you finished, products you opened recently and whether you subscribed, so suggestions skip what you've read. Never sent to us; clear it or turn it off on the "How recommendations work" page.

There are no advertising, social-media or third-party tracking cookies. If that ever changes, we'll ask first.

Recommendations

Suggestions such as "Keep reading" use simple rules based on essay topics. To skip essays you've already finished, your browser remembers them locally; that history never reaches us. For signed-in members we use what you've bought so we never suggest something you own. We don't use support messages or payment details for recommendations. See how recommendations work, where you can clear or turn this off. If your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, nothing is remembered.

AI

Modern Philosophers doesn't use AI features today. If we add them, they will answer only from our published essays and products. We won't use your personal data, emails or messages to train AI models, and we'll tell you whenever you're interacting with AI.

Keeping data safe

Sign-in links and sessions are stored in a form that can't be reused if leaked, access to personal data is limited to the people who need it for a specific task, and we keep backups with our database provider. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we'll tell you as the law requires.

Children

Modern Philosophers is not directed at children and we don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 16.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll update the date at the top and, for significant changes, tell subscribers by email.