Privacy & Cookies

OwnLife (ownlife.dev) is run by Owen Richards, an individual based in Ireland. He is the “controller” of the personal data described here, which means he decides why and how it is used. Becalmed Media Productions is the brand name he publishes under. It is not a registered company or business name.

Contact for anything privacy-related: ownlife.dev@gmail.com, or use the contact form.

We have not appointed a data protection officer.

1. When you visit any page

Your browser sends technical data with every request: your IP address, browser and device type, the page you asked for, the page you came from, and the time. Our hosting provider, Vercel, receives this to deliver the site and keep it secure, and keeps short-term server logs.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in running a working, secure website (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)).

2. Analytics

Google Analytics 4. If you click “Accept all” on our cookie bar, Google Analytics sets cookies (listed below) and records the pages you view, how you got here, your approximate location (derived from your IP address), and your device and browser. We use it to count readers and see which articles are useful. Before you choose, or if you choose “Essential only”, the Google tag still loads and sends Google a basic, cookieless signal for page views and scrolling, without a persistent identifier (Google calls this “consent mode”). That signal includes your IP address and browser details.

“Accept all” on our cookie bar also covers advertising. Choosing it tells Google that advertising storage, advertising use of your data and personalised ads are allowed, and it switches on Google Analytics’ advertising features. After you accept, your browser also sends Google Analytics data to Google’s advertising services (stats.g.doubleclick.net and Google’s “ga-audiences” address). Google can use this for features such as demographic reports, cross-device measurement and advertising audiences.
Lawful basis: your consent (Article 6(1)(a)), given on our cookie bar, for analytics cookies and these advertising features; our legitimate interest for the cookieless signal (Article 6(1)(f)).

Vercel Web Analytics. Vercel’s analytics script is served from our own domain on every page. It does not set cookies. For each page view it records the page, the referring page, your approximate location, and your device type, operating system and browser. Vercel recognises a visit by a hash of the request, which it discards after 24 hours, and reports to us only aggregated statistics.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in understanding readership (Article 6(1)(f)).

Learn how Google uses data from sites that use its services: How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. You can also block Google Analytics in your browser with the Google Analytics opt-out add-on.

3. Advertising

We show ads through Google AdSense. This is how the site is funded. See “Advertising” below for what that involves.
Lawful basis: your consent for advertising cookies and personalised ads (Article 6(1)(a)), given in either prompt: Google’s consent message, or “Accept all” on our cookie bar. Some of Google’s advertising partners rely on legitimate interest for certain purposes. You can object to each of these in the consent message under “Manage options”.

4. The contact form

If you use the contact form, we collect your name, email address, the topic you pick and your message. The form is protected against spam by Cloudflare Turnstile, which checks your browser for signs of automation. Your message is sent to us by email through Resend and arrives in our email inbox. We use it only to read and reply to you.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in answering messages people send us, and in keeping the form free of spam (Article 6(1)(f)).

5. Images

Most article photos come from Unsplash and load straight from Unsplash’s servers (images.unsplash.com). Your browser therefore sends Unsplash your IP address and browser details when it loads them. We observed no cookies being set by these image requests.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in illustrating articles (Article 6(1)(f)).

What we do not do

Readers do not have accounts. The only login on the site is the private admin area, used by the operator. We do not run a newsletter. We do not sell your personal data for money. We do not make decisions about you by automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects. Google’s own ad selection is automated and, if you consent, uses profiling. That is described below.

A cookie is a small file a website stores in your browser. “Local storage” and “session storage” work in a similar way. Under Irish law (S.I. No. 336 of 2011), we may store or read information on your device without your consent only when it is strictly necessary for a service you asked for. Everything else needs your consent.

There are two consent prompts. Visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland first see Google’s consent message, which covers advertising by Google and its partners. Our own cookie bar covers Google Analytics, including its advertising features and the advertising consent signals it sends to Google (see “Analytics” above). Choosing “Essential only” on our bar means no Google Analytics cookies are set and those advertising features stay off.

Cookies

• ownlife_cookie_consent

  Set by

  OwnLife (first party)

  Purpose

  Remembers your choice on our cookie bar (“Essential only” or “Accept all”).

  Lasts

  6 months

  When it is set

  Only after you click a button on our cookie bar. Strictly necessary.

• FCCDCF

  Set by

  Google consent message (set on ownlife.dev)

  Purpose

  Records the choices you make in Google’s consent message, so it is not shown on every page. Google lists it as a functionality cookie.

  Lasts

  13 months

  When it is set

  When the consent message first loads, to hold your consent state. Strictly necessary.

• FCNEC

  Set by

  Google consent message (set on ownlife.dev)

  Purpose

  Google lists it as an analytics cookie used by its consent message.

  Lasts

  365 days

  When it is set

  After you consent in Google’s consent message.

• _ga, _ga_<ID>

  Set by

  Google Analytics (set on ownlife.dev)

  Purpose

  Distinguish visitors and keep track of a visit, so we can count readers and see which pages are read.

  Lasts

  Up to 2 years (Google’s default; some browsers shorten this)

  When it is set

  Only after you click “Accept all” on our cookie bar.

• __gads, __gpi

  Set by

  Google AdSense (set on ownlife.dev)

  Purpose

  Advertising and security, as listed by Google.

  Lasts

  13 months

  When it is set

  After you consent in Google’s consent message.

• __eoi

  Set by

  Google AdSense (set on ownlife.dev)

  Purpose

  Security, as listed by Google.

  Lasts

  6 months

  When it is set

  Can be set by Google’s ad code on pages with ads, including when you have not consented to advertising.

• IDE

  Set by

  Google (doubleclick.net, third party)

  Purpose

  Advertising, including ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.

  Lasts

  13 months in the EEA, UK and Switzerland

  When it is set

  Only after you consent in Google’s consent message.

• test_cookie

  Set by

  Google (doubleclick.net, third party)

  Purpose

  Functionality, as listed by Google.

  Lasts

  15 minutes

  When it is set

  After you consent in Google’s consent message.

Other browser storage

• theme, greyscale (localStorage)

  Purpose

  Remember the light/dark and greyscale reading settings you chose. Never leaves your device.

  When it is set

  Only when you use the theme or greyscale toggle. Strictly necessary for a feature you asked for.

• stickyReadMoreDismissed (sessionStorage)

  Purpose

  Remember that you closed the “read next” prompt. Cleared when you close the tab.

  When it is set

  Only when you close that prompt.

• google_adsense_settings, google_ama_config (localStorage)

  Purpose

  Google AdSense configuration for ad placement.

  When it is set

  Only after you consent in Google’s consent message.

Google’s consent message also loads fonts from Google (fonts.googleapis.com). Google’s ad code contacts Google’s ad-quality servers (adtrafficquality.google) to detect invalid traffic. Exact cookie names and lifetimes are set by Google and may change. The purposes and lifetimes above come from Google’s own lists: How Google uses cookies, Cookies used by Google’s advertising products and Google Analytics cookie usage.

Changing your mind

You can withdraw consent at any time, and withdrawing does not affect anything done before you did so. To make a new choice, delete the cookies for ownlife.dev in your browser settings and reload the page. Both prompts will then appear again. Your browser can also block or delete cookies generally. Blocking the strictly necessary ones may stop your choices from being remembered.

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.

Google and the advertising partners listed in Google’s consent message (under “Manage options” and “Vendor preferences”) act as independent controllers of the data they collect. We do not control that data. Google explains how it uses it in its advertising policy and privacy policy.

If you do not consent, Google may still show non-personalised or “limited” ads.

• • Opt out of personalised advertising from Google: Google Ads Settings
• • Opt out of personalised advertising from other participating vendors: aboutads.info and, in Europe, youronlinechoices.eu

We use these service providers. Each receives only what it needs for the job described.

• • Vercel Inc. (USA): hosts the site, and processes the request data and server logs described above, plus Vercel Web Analytics. Vercel states that it is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, its UK Extension and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (Vercel privacy policy).
• • Google Ireland Limited (and its affiliate Google LLC, USA): provides Google Analytics, AdSense and the consent message. For advertising, Google acts as an independent controller. See Google’s privacy policy and how Google uses information from sites that use its services.
• • Cloudflare, Inc. (USA): Turnstile spam protection on the contact form.
• • Resend (USA): delivers contact-form messages to our inbox.
• • Google (Gmail): hosts the inbox that contact-form messages and emails to us arrive in.
• • Unsplash: serves article images to your browser.

We may also disclose data where the law requires it, for example to a court or regulator.

Transfers outside Europe

Several of these providers are based in, or use servers in, the United States. Where personal data leaves the European Economic Area or the UK, the transfer relies on the safeguards the provider uses, such as certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension (Vercel states that it holds this), or the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK equivalents. You can ask us which safeguard applies to a provider using the contact details above.

• • Contact messages: deleted 12 months after our last exchange with you.
• • Google Analytics data: Google Analytics keeps event-level data for the retention period set in our Google Analytics account. On standard accounts Google allows at most 14 months. Aggregated reports may be kept longer.
• • Server logs: kept by Vercel for a short period set by Vercel’s own retention policy.
• • Cookies: for the lifetimes listed above, unless you delete them sooner.

Under the GDPR (and the UK GDPR if you are in the UK) you have the right to:

• • access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy;
• • have inaccurate data corrected;
• • have your data deleted;
• • restrict how we use it;
• • object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• • receive data you gave us in a portable format, where that applies;
• • withdraw consent at any time (see “Changing your mind”).

To use any of these rights, contact us using the details at the top of this page. We will reply within one month. We may ask you to confirm your identity first. For data Google collects as an independent controller, contact Google directly or use your Google privacy controls.

Complaints. You can complain to the Irish Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.ie), or to the data protection authority where you live or work. In the UK, that is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk). We would appreciate the chance to fix the problem first.

OwnLife is written for adults and is not aimed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

We update this page when the site changes what it collects or who it shares data with. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change is significant, we will say so on this page.