A small data footprint, described plainly.

Publisher

Aethel is operated by Hai Pham, its owner, writer, editor, and developer. Privacy questions can be sent through Contact or to bangcesaryahoo@gmail.com.

Reader sessions and first-party analytics

Aethel creates a random, signed visitor identifier in an HTTP-only cookie and a separate visit identifier in browser session storage. These identifiers do not contain a name, email address, or advertising profile. They are used to distinguish visits, record page activity, maintain short-lived online-presence data, and prevent duplicate completed-read records.

The application can store operational analytics for a visit: observed IP addresses with first and last observation times, pages visited, page titles, entry and exit paths, active time, maximum scroll depth, completed reads, referrer without query parameters, allowed UTM fields, selected link and reader-tool interactions, browser and operating-system family, device type, user agent, language, time zone, approximate country, region, and city supplied by hosting infrastructure, screen and viewport size, color preference, touch capability, and connection category when those values are available.

Search-query text, form contents, clipboard contents, precise GPS location, contacts, files, advertising identifiers, passwords, and selected or typed text are not collected by Aethel analytics. Saved-essay contents are not uploaded. Detailed visit records and aggregate usage totals are private operational data and are not displayed as public social proof.

Contact and correction submissions

When a reader sends a message or correction request, Aethel stores the supplied name, email address, message or challenged claim, article reference, supporting link, status, and submission time. This information is used to review and manage the submission. It is not used to create a marketing list.

Saved essays and reader preferences

The saved reading list and article text-size preference are stored locally in the reader’s browser. They are not uploaded to Aethel’s server.

Google AdSense and third-party advertising

Google AdSense ad slots are disabled in the current application configuration.

The application does not load the AdSense script unless publisher verification is enabled or both ad serving and consent-management readiness are enabled.

Before ad serving is enabled, the deployed consent controls and this policy must be checked against the live configuration.

Data retention

Detailed visit, page, event, IP, and completed-read records are eligible for deletion after 90 days in the current application configuration. The deployment must run the deterministic retention command on a documented schedule; the code does not treat ordinary reader heartbeats as proof that cleanup occurred. Aggregate visitor, page-view, read, and session totals may be retained longer. Contact and correction submissions are retained while they remain relevant to correspondence, editorial records, abuse prevention, or legal obligations, then archived or deleted.

Processors, hosting, and analytics

The codebase is designed for managed web hosting, PostgreSQL storage, optional Redis services for rate limiting and short-lived online-presence data, and optional Google AdSense. The production deployment must be checked so that the provider list and enabled services shown to readers match the live environment.

Aethel does not use a separate third-party analytics product in this codebase. Session, page activity, engagement, and article-read records are calculated by Aethel’s own application and kept for private operational review.

Changes

Material changes to this policy update the visible revision date. Privacy questions can be submitted through Contact.

Last updated: July 31, 2026.