Data & privacy
What this site collects, what it does not, and how to switch off the parts you would rather not have.
Short version: we do not ask you to create an account, we do not want your files, and the only data we look at is aggregate traffic information that helps us work out which guides are worth keeping.
Your images stay on your device
This site is a set of written guides. It does not convert files, and there is no upload form anywhere on it. Nothing you open, edit or convert while following a guide is transmitted to us, because it never touches our servers in the first place. If a guide points you at a third-party web converter, whatever you upload there is governed by that service's privacy policy, not ours — worth reading before you hand over anything sensitive.
Information we collect
We collect two kinds of information:
- Analytics data. Standard web analytics — pages viewed, approximate geographic region, referring site, browser and device type, and how long a visit lasted. This is aggregate and is used to understand which pages are useful and where readers get stuck.
- Anything you send us. If you email us, we hold that message and your email address for as long as it takes to reply and to keep a record of any correction it prompted.
We do not ask for names, addresses, phone numbers or payment details, and there is no newsletter sign-up or account system on this site.
Cookies
Cookies are small files a site stores in your browser. This site uses them sparingly:
- Preference cookies. One cookie records that you dismissed the cookie notice, so it does not reappear on every page.
- Analytics cookies. If analytics is enabled, its cookies distinguish one visit from another so that page counts are not wildly wrong.
- Affiliate cookies. Following an affiliate link may cause the destination site to set a cookie recording that you arrived from here, so that any resulting commission is attributed correctly.
Every browser lets you block or delete cookies from its settings, and most offer a "do not track" or private-browsing mode. Blocking them will not break anything on this site — at worst the cookie notice will greet you again on your next visit.
Third parties
Analytics processing may be carried out by a third-party provider, which will handle the data described above under its own privacy terms. Affiliate networks may likewise record that a click originated here. We do not sell, rent or trade visitor data to anyone, and we do not run advertising networks that build profiles across other sites.
Retention
Aggregate analytics data is retained only as long as it is useful for editorial decisions. Email correspondence is kept for as long as it remains relevant to a correction or an ongoing conversation, and is deleted when it is not.
Your choices
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask what personal data we hold about you, to ask for it to be corrected, or to ask for it to be deleted. Given how little we collect, the usual answer is "an email thread, if you have written to us". To ask, or to have that deleted, write to [email protected].
Children
This site is written for a general audience and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of thirteen.
Changes to this policy
If our practices change — a new analytics provider, a different affiliate arrangement — this page is updated to match. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the revised policy. Questions about any of it go to [email protected].