Privacy policy

Who we are

WiserHours (wiserhours.com) is an independent online publication. In this policy "we" means the people who run it. We decide how the information described here is used, and you can reach us about it at privacy@wiserhours.com.

When you read the site

The site is hosted by Cloudflare. Like any web host, it receives the technical details every visit involves: your IP address, your browser and device type, the page you asked for and the time. Cloudflare uses them to deliver pages and to protect the site from attacks. We do not use them to identify you or combine them with anything else. Cloudflare describes its own handling in its privacy policy.

The site loads no fonts, scripts or trackers from other companies, with one exception: Google Analytics, and only if you accept it.

Analytics

We want to know which articles people read, so we can write more of what helps. For that we use Google Analytics on every page. It loads when you visit, unless you have opted out (see below).

Google Analytics:

• sets two cookies, _ga and _ga_<ID>, which tell visits from the same browser apart and last up to two years;
• records the pages you view and when, the site that sent you, your device, browser and screen type, and an approximate location (country and city);
• according to Google, does not log or store individual IP addresses of visitors in the UK, the EU or Switzerland: it uses them only to work out that approximate location, then discards them.

We have turned off Google's advertising features for our analytics, so the data is not used to personalise ads. We see only statistics, never a profile of a named person. Google explains how it uses data from sites like ours in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.

Opting out. Use "Analytics opt-out" at the bottom of any page. We then delete the analytics cookies from your browser and stop loading Google Analytics. Your choice is stored in your browser's local storage, not in a cookie, and is never sent to us; "Turn analytics back on" in the same place reverses it. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser's settings.

Global Privacy Control. If your browser sends the Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as an opt-out and never load Google Analytics.

The newsletter

The weekly newsletter is launching soon. If you subscribe, we will hold your email address, which signup form you used, and when you signed up and confirmed. We use them only to send you the newsletter. You will get an email asking you to confirm, and nothing is sent until you do.

Until the first issue goes out, sign-ups are stored in a database at Cloudflare, our host. Along with your address we record which signup form you used, when, and which version of this policy was in force. When the newsletter launches, the addresses move to Resend and each person gets one email asking them to confirm.

After that, addresses are stored and emails are sent by Resend, an email provider based in the United States, under its privacy policy. The newsletter does not track whether you open it or which links you click. Every newsletter has a one-click unsubscribe link. After you unsubscribe we keep your address only on a do-not-email list, so that you are never emailed again; ask us and we will delete it entirely.

Videos

Some articles include one of our videos, hosted on YouTube. Until you press play, the page shows only our own picture of it: nothing is loaded from YouTube or Google and no cookie is set. When you press play, the video loads from youtube-nocookie.com, YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode, and YouTube (Google) receives your IP address, browser details and viewing activity for that video, under Google's privacy policy. You can also watch our videos on YouTube directly.

Links to Amazon

Some pages may recommend books or products with links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate WiserHours earns from qualifying purchases. If you follow one of these links, you are on Amazon's site, and Amazon sets its own cookies to credit the visit to us. Amazon tells us which products were ordered through our links, never who ordered them. Amazon's handling of your information is covered by its privacy notice. Linked books and products never influence what our articles conclude; see our editorial policy.

Our legal basis (UK and EU)

• Consent for the newsletter. You can withdraw it at any time, as above.
• Legitimate interests for visit statistics, which help us decide what to write. You can opt out at any time, as described under "Analytics".
• Legitimate interests for delivering the site and keeping it secure, which requires the technical details described under "When you read the site".

Where your information is processed

Cloudflare, Google and Resend are based in the United States and may process information outside your country. Each describes the safeguards it uses for international transfers in the privacy policy linked above.

Your rights

You can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, object to or restrict how we use it, or ask for it in a portable form. Write to privacy@wiserhours.com; we reply within one month. If you are in the UK and unhappy with our answer, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office; in the EU, to the data protection authority where you live.

Wherever you live: we do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for targeted advertising.

Children

WiserHours is written for adults and is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to this policy

When what we collect or how we use it changes, we update this page and the date at the top. Substantial changes are summarised here.

• 27 September 2026. Added "Videos": videos from YouTube load only when you press play.
• 25 September 2026. Google Analytics now runs for every visitor unless they opt out, instead of only after accepting a banner. The banner is gone; "Analytics opt-out" at the bottom of every page and Global Privacy Control both turn it off.

Contact

privacy@wiserhours.com