Privacy Policy

The privacy policy for rubenwardy.com and blog.rubenwardy.com

These websites don’t have accounts, adverts, or tracking cookies. They count visits using privacy-friendly analytics, which you can opt out of below. Your data is never sold or used for advertising.

Last updated: 2026-10-23.

This policy covers rubenwardy.com and my blog at blog.rubenwardy.com. Other projects have their own privacy policies.

What information is collected and how is it used?

Server logs

Any HTTP requests to these websites are logged, including the following information: time, IP address, page URL, response status, the website that linked you here (referrer), and your browser’s user agent.

I have a legitimate interest in logging requests - for security, to monitor performance and errors, and to debug the server.

All communications with these websites are done using strong encryption.

Website Analytics (Plausible)

These websites use Plausible, self-hosted on my server, to count visits and see which pages are useful. The following information is recorded when you view a page:

• The page URL, and the website that linked you here (referrer).
• Links you click to other websites, and files you download.
• Technical information, such as browser, operating system, and device type.
• Your approximate location (country, region, and city), worked out from your IP address.

Your IP address is not stored. Plausible doesn’t use cookies or store anything in your browser. To count unique visitors, it calculates an identifier from your IP address, browser user agent, and a random value. The random value is deleted and replaced every day, so visits on different days can’t be linked together and the identifier can’t be turned back into your IP address.

This data isn’t shared with anyone else or used for advertising.

I have a legitimate interest in website analytics, to understand how people find my work and to improve the websites.

You can opt out below. Your choice applies to rubenwardy.com and all sub-domains. It is saved in a cookie called plausible_ignore, which is only set if you opt out. It lasts for 400 days and is renewed each time you visit. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, you are opted out automatically.

Blog comments

When you leave a comment on the blog, the following is sent to me:

• Your name, if given. This is shown publicly next to your comment.
• Your email address, if given. This is only used to tell you if I reply, and is never shown publicly.
• Your message, and the page you commented on.

Comments are sent to me in a private channel on Discord. I check each comment, and if I approve it, I add your name, message, and the date to the post by hand. I delete the Discord message after review.

The legal basis for this is your implied consent by leaving a comment. You can ask for your comment to be removed at any time, see “User Rights”.

Webmentions and likes

The blog receives Webmentions using Webmention.io. When another website or a Mastodon post links to, replies to, or likes a blog post, Webmention.io receives the public URL of the mention, and I may receive a notification about it. Likes on Mastodon are received through Bridgy.

To show the latest number of likes, blog posts ask Webmention.io for the count from your browser. This means Webmention.io receives your IP address and browser user agent; see the Webmention.io terms.

Content from other websites

Some blog posts include embedded YouTube videos. These are loaded from YouTube when you view the post, which means YouTube receives your IP address and may set cookies. See Google’s privacy policy.

Some pages show images from other websites, such as the Luanti logo on the contact page. Your browser downloads these directly, so those websites receive your IP address and browser user agent, and handle it under their own privacy policies.

Links to other websites, such as donation platforms or social media, are subject to those websites’ privacy policies.

Vendors

Vendors handle the data they receive under their own privacy policies:

• Discord - receives blog comments.
• Webmention.io and Bridgy - receive public mentions and likes.
• YouTube - serves embedded videos.

I don’t sell your data or share it with anyone else, except where required by law.

Data Location

My server is based in the EU. Blog comments are stored by Discord in the US.

Period of Retention

The server uses log rotation, meaning that any logged HTTP requests will be forgotten about after 14 days.

Raw website analytics data is deleted after 180 days. Aggregated reports, such as the number of visits per page, are kept indefinitely; these can’t be linked to individual visitors.

Published comments are kept indefinitely, or until you ask for them to be removed.

User Rights

Under data protection law (GDPR / UK GDPR), you have the right to:

• Access the personal data I hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate data.
• Erase your data.
• Restrict how I process your data.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Withdraw consent at any time, such as asking for your comment to be removed. This doesn’t affect data processed before you withdrew it.

Most of the data collected isn’t linked to your name or an account, so I need your help to find it:

• For comments, include the post, the name you used, and the email address you used, if any.
• For messages you sent me, include the email address you used.
• Website analytics don’t store your IP address or any identifier that lasts beyond a day, so I can’t find data about a specific visitor.
• I do not typically delete request logs on request unless they inadvertently contain personal data. All logs are automatically deleted after 14 days.

I will respond within one month. If I can’t identify your data from the information provided, I will tell you.

To make a request or ask a question, contact the data controller. These websites are operated by Andrew “rubenwardy” Ward, an individual based in the UK.

Contact rubenwardy

If you’re unhappy with how I handle your data, you can complain to your local data protection authority. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Future Changes to Privacy Policy

Changes to the privacy policy will be announced on this page.