The Drew Archive is built on a simple principle: visitors should be able to read a personal website without being turned into a product. The site collects only the limited information needed to operate reliably, understand which parts of the archive are useful, and support optional conversations through comments and email.
There is no advertising, behavioral profiling, cross-site tracking, or sale of visitor information.
Readership analytics #
The Drew Archive uses a self-hosted instance of GoatCounter to understand which pages are read and how visitors find the site. It records ordinary page views and aggregate information such as:
- the page path, without query strings or fragments;
- the referring page, when the browser provides one;
- approximate country;
- browser and operating-system category;
- screen-width category; and
- the time of the visit.
GoatCounter does not use cookies, advertising identifiers, session replay, persistent visitor profiles, or browser storage. Raw IP addresses and full user-agent strings are not stored in the analytics database. Limited connection information is processed briefly in server memory to distinguish visits and is then discarded.
Browsers expressing Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control do not send an analytics request. Analytics data remains under the control of The Drew Archive and is not sold, shared for advertising, or used to follow anyone across websites.
Server logs #
Like nearly every web server, The Drew Archive’s nginx server creates access and error logs when it responds to requests. These logs may contain the requested address, time of request, IP address, browser user-agent, referring page, response status, and technical error information.
Server logs are used only for security, troubleshooting, and keeping the site reliable. They are not combined into advertising profiles or used for marketing. Logs rotate daily, with 14 rotations retained, and older rotations are removed automatically.
Comments #
Comments are provided through a self-hosted instance of Remark42. Reading the site does not require an account. If you choose to comment, Remark42 stores the information needed to display and manage that comment, including the name you provide, the comment itself, its time and page, and the account information used to sign in.
Email sign-in and reply notifications require an email address. Notification messages are delivered through Resend. The address is used to authenticate you, send requested notifications, prevent abuse, and administer comments; it is not added to a marketing list.
Comment data and verified application backups are retained so conversations remain attached to the articles where they occurred. You may request deletion of your comments or associated account information by emailing contact@thedrewarchive.com.
Contact by email #
Messages sent to an address at thedrewarchive.com are handled through Fastmail. An email necessarily includes the sender’s address, message contents, delivery metadata, and any attachments. That information is used only to read and respond to the message, maintain correspondence, and address abuse or technical problems.
Email is not a confidential channel. Please do not send sensitive personal information that is unnecessary for your message.
Backups #
Important site configuration, comments, and analytics data are included in encrypted off-site backups stored with Backblaze B2. Backup data is encrypted before leaving the server. Backblaze does not receive the repository password.
Backups exist for disaster recovery, not for profiling or secondary analysis. Deleted information may remain in encrypted backup snapshots until those snapshots expire under the site’s retention schedule.
External services and links #
Articles may link to or embed material from other websites, including YouTube. Visiting or interacting with an external service is governed by that service’s own privacy practices. The Drew Archive does not receive the profiles those companies may create about their users.
What is not collected #
The Drew Archive does not use:
- Google Analytics or advertising networks;
- Facebook/Meta pixels or comparable tracking pixels;
- cookies for readership analytics;
- persistent analytics identifiers;
- session replay, fingerprinting, or behavioral profiles;
- analytics that follow visitors across websites; or
- mailing-list enrollment without an explicit request.
Visitor information is not sold. It is not shared for targeted advertising.
Questions and requests #
Questions about these practices, or requests concerning a comment or other information you submitted, can be sent to contact@thedrewarchive.com.
This page will be updated if the site’s practices materially change. The governing principle will remain the same: collect as little as practical, explain it plainly, and use it only to maintain and improve the archive.