This policy explains what rossdawson.com collects, why it collects it, and what you can do about it. Last updated 3 October 2026.

rossdawson.com is published by Ross Dawson and Advanced Human Technologies Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia. If you have a question about privacy, or want to know what we hold about you, use the enquiries form.

Analytics

We measure how the site is used so we know which articles are worth writing more of. Three tools do this, and all three store identifiers in your browser.

  • Google Analytics 4, installed through Google Site Kit. It records pages viewed, how long you stay, roughly where in the world you are, which device and browser you use, and which site or search sent you here. It does not tell us who you are.
  • Clicky, a second analytics service that records similar information.
  • PostHog, hosted in the European Union. It records pages viewed and links clicked, and may record replays of visits with everything typed into forms hidden. If you subscribe to the newsletter, PostHog links your visits to your subscription through a subscriber identifier, so we can see which content subscribers find useful. It does not receive your email address.

None of these tools is used for advertising. This site does not run ads, does not build remarketing audiences, and does not sell or share your data with advertisers.

Comments

Comments are handled by Disqus. Disqus sets its own cookies to keep you signed in to your Disqus account, to notify you of replies, and to compile its own statistics. If you never comment, you can still be given Disqus cookies when a comment section loads. Disqus operates under its own privacy policy.

Embedded video

Many articles embed YouTube videos. When a page with an embedded video loads, YouTube receives your IP address and may store data in your browser, whether or not you press play. This happens under Google’s privacy policy rather than ours.

Forms

Forms on this site run on Gravity Forms. What you type is stored in this site’s database and emailed to us through Amazon Simple Email Service. Forms carry a CAPTCHA to block automated spam. We use what you send to reply to you, and for nothing else.

Newsletter

The newsletter is delivered by beehiiv. If you subscribe, beehiiv holds your email address and records whether emails are opened and which links are clicked. Every email carries an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes effect immediately.

Security

Wordfence protects the site against attacks. It logs IP addresses and request patterns, which is necessary to block malicious traffic. These logs are not used for analytics or marketing.

Affiliate links

A small number of articles contain affiliate links, mostly to books. If you buy through one, we may receive a commission, and the retailer may set a cookie to attribute the sale. This costs you nothing and does not affect what we recommend.

Controlling what you share

You can refuse or delete cookies in your browser settings at any time. The site will still work. Beyond that:

  • Google Analytics: install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
  • Clicky: use the Clicky opt-out page.
  • PostHog: clearing your cookies starts you afresh as an anonymous visitor. To have your PostHog record deleted, ask through the enquiries form.
  • Most browsers offer a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control setting, and a private browsing mode that discards cookies when you close the window.

If you would rather we deleted anything we hold about you, ask through the enquiries form and we will do it.

How long we keep things

Analytics data is held under each service’s own retention settings. Google Analytics and Clicky data is used in aggregate. PostHog data for newsletter subscribers is linked to a subscriber identifier and is deleted on request. Form submissions and enquiry correspondence are kept as long as they are useful for the conversation they belong to. Newsletter subscriptions last until you unsubscribe.

Where your data goes

The services above are operated by companies in the United States and elsewhere, so information about your visit leaves Australia. PostHog data is stored in the European Union. Each operates under its own privacy terms.

Changes

When this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it.