Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 13, 2026

This page explains what information RyanErickson.com collects, why, and what choices you have about it. I've tried to write it in plain language rather than legal boilerplate, because you deserve to actually understand it, not just scroll past it.

What I collect

If you just read the site. Basic technical data your browser sends to any website: pages visited, general location (country/city level, not precise), device and browser type, referring site. This is collected through Umami, a self-hosted service (on my personal server sitting under my desk), which does not use tracking cookies and does not sell data to anyone.

If you subscribe, free or paid. Your email address and your name, if you choose to provide one. That's what a subscription requires; I don't ask for anything beyond it.

If you become a paying member. Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe, not by me. I never see, store, or have access to your full card number. I do see that you're a paying member, at what tier, and basic billing metadata (like the last four digits of a card, for support purposes) that Stripe makes available to merchants. Stripe's own privacy policy governs how they handle your payment details directly: https://stripe.com/privacy.

If you comment on a post. Whatever you submit in the comment itself, plus your name and email as provided.

If you email me directly. Whatever you send me, I keep only as long as needed to respond and, occasionally, longer if it's a nice note I want to remember.

What I use it for

Sending you the installments and newsletters you've subscribed to. Managing your membership and billing status. Responding to you if you write in. Understanding, in the aggregate, how many people are reading and roughly how, so I know whether this whole project is working. I do not sell, rent, or trade your information to anyone, for any reason. I'm not in that business, and this isn't that kind of site.

Who else sees it

Stripe processes all payments directly, as described above.

Mailgun will use your email to deliver the weekly emails to your inbox.

I don't share your information with anyone beyond the services that make the site function.

Cookies

This site uses a small number of cookies to keep you logged in as a member and to remember your reading/subscription status. There will also be minimal cookies created by Umami, again for analytics. These are functional, not advertising, cookies; nothing here is used to build an ad profile of you or to track you across other websites.

Your choices

You can unsubscribe from any newsletter at any time, using the link at the bottom of every email, no questions asked. You can cancel a paid membership at any time from your account page; you'll keep access through the end of the period you've already paid for. You can ask me, at any time, to tell you what information I have about you, to correct it, or to delete it entirely, by emailing [email protected]. If you're in the EU, UK, or California, you have specific legal rights along these same lines (access, correction, deletion, and, in some cases, data portability), and I'll honor requests under those rights the same way I'd honor anyone else's.

How long I keep it

Subscriber and member data is kept for as long as your subscription is active, plus a reasonable period afterward for records and legal/tax purposes, then deleted. If you ask me to delete your data sooner, I will, subject to anything I'm legally required to retain (like payment records, which Stripe and tax law govern independently of me).

Children

This site isn't directed at children, and I don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided information here, contact me, and I'll remove it.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes in any meaningful way, I'll update the date at the top and, for significant changes, note it in a site-wide email

Contact

Questions about any of this: [email protected].