Privacy
Short version: this is a reference site. It does not want your data.
What we collect
If you use the contact form, we store the name, email address, subject and message you type, plus your IP address and browser user-agent string. That is kept so we can reply and so we can block abuse.
The site counts page views per entry as a simple integer on the entry itself. That counter is not tied to you, your session or your address.
Analytics
This site uses Google Analytics to measure traffic — which pages are read, roughly where readers come from, and which devices they use. It is used to decide what to write next, not to build a profile of you.
Google Analytics sets its own cookies (names beginning _ga) and sends Google
your IP address, browser and device details, and the pages you view. Google processes that
data under its own terms as a separate controller, and it may be stored outside your country.
Nothing you send through the contact form is passed to it.
If you would rather not be counted, any browser's tracking protection or an ad blocker will stop the tag loading, and Google publishes an opt-out browser add-on. Most browsers also let you refuse or delete cookies for a single site.
What we don't do
- No accounts, no logins, no profiles.
- No advertising, and no selling or sharing of anything you send us.
- No tracking cookies of our own — the only ones set here are Google Analytics', described above.
Third parties
Entry pages link out to sources such as Wikipedia, the Library of Congress and the National Archives. Those sites have their own privacy practices, and following a link takes you under their terms rather than ours.
Retention and removal
Contact messages are kept while they are useful and deleted when they are not. If you want a message you sent removed, ask via the contact form and it will be deleted.
People covered by this site
Entries describe public figures in their public capacity, drawn from published sources. If you are the subject of an entry and believe something in it is inaccurate, please get in touch — factual corrections are made promptly.