Privacy Policy

This policy describes what WaterByTheBook collects, why, and what we do not do. Last updated 28 July 2026.

The short version: the site sets no cookies, runs no third-party trackers and shows no ads. We measure traffic with our own cookie-free counter that stores no IP address and no per-visitor identifier. The only personal information we ever hold is an email address you deliberately give us, and you can remove it in one click.

Analytics: what the counter records

We run a first-party analytics beacon we wrote ourselves, because we would rather count our own readers than hand them to an advertising company. For each page view it records:

  • the page viewed;
  • the referring domain only — for example “google.com”, never the full URL you came from;
  • a campaign tag, if the link you followed carried one (a utm_ or ?src parameter);
  • a coarse device class: mobile, tablet or desktop;
  • clicks on outbound affiliate links, so we know which recommendations people find useful.

It does not use cookies, localStorage, or browser fingerprinting, and it creates no per-visitor identifier. There is no way for us to follow one person from page to page or from visit to visit, which is deliberate.

Your IP address is never stored. It is used in memory for two things — a short-lived rate limit, so the endpoint cannot be flooded, and the Do-Not-Track check — and then dropped. It is not written to our database.

We honour Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control. If your browser sends DNT: 1 or Sec-GPC: 1, the page view is not counted at all. Both are checked on the server, so the choice is respected whether or not our JavaScript runs.

Server logs

Being straight about the part we do not control: like every website, this one runs on a web host, and the hosting company’s web server keeps standard access logs that include IP addresses, for security and abuse handling, under its own retention schedule. That is separate from our analytics and we do not mine it, but it would be wrong to tell you no IP address touches any log anywhere.

Email: only if you ask for it

We do not have a newsletter you get signed up to by accident. An email address only reaches us if you deliberately submit one — for example to watch a water utility for changes, or to ask us something. In that case we store the address and the thing you asked about (a ZIP code or a water system ID), together with the fact that you ticked the consent box.

Alert delivery runs through Kit (formerly ConvertKit), our email service provider, which processes the address on our behalf in order to send the messages you asked for.

Every alert email carries a one-click unsubscribe link, which removes you immediately and without a “are you sure” step. You can also email waterbythebook@gmail.com and ask us to delete what we hold for you; we will, and we will confirm when it is done.

What we never do

  • We do not sell, rent or trade personal information. Not to data brokers, not to filter manufacturers, not to anyone.
  • We run no advertising network, no retargeting pixels and no social tracking widgets.
  • We do not build profiles of visitors, because we do not collect anything that would let us.

When you follow a link to a retailer or manufacturer, you are on their site under their rules, and they may well set cookies and track you in ways we do not. Some of those links are affiliate links — see the affiliate disclosure. We have no control over and take no responsibility for what other sites do with your data.

Children

This site is written for adults making decisions about their household water, and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.

Your choices, in practice

  • Do not want to be counted? Turn on Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control in your browser. We check both, server-side.
  • Want off the alerts? Use the unsubscribe link in any alert email.
  • Want your data deleted, or want to know what we hold? Email us and ask.

Changes

If our practices change, this page changes with them and the date at the top moves. Questions: waterbythebook@gmail.com. See also our editorial policy and terms of use.