Privacy Policy
Last updated: April 2026
The Deductivist ("we," "our," or "us," in the plural of majesty rather than of company size) is committed to protecting your personal information — a commitment we intend to demonstrate not by saying so twice, but by explaining, plainly, what we do with it. This policy covers our website, hosted on Wix.com, and your subscription to our newsletter or other content offerings. By using the website, you agree to what follows, in the same way one agrees to gravity: quietly, and without much choice in the matter.
Information We Collect
Some information you hand over yourself — your name and email address, typically, when you subscribe or write to us through a form. The rest arrives without being asked: your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, the pages you visited, and how long you lingered on each one, all gathered through cookies and similar tracking technologies supplied by the Wix.com platform (which watches the traffic the way a butler watches the coats — not out of curiosity, but because it's the job).
We do not collect sensitive personal data — financial information, health data, government identification numbers — on the theory that a newsletter about observation should not itself require quite so much observing.
How We Use Your Information
We use it to send you the newsletter and editorial content you subscribed to, to answer you when you write to us, to understand how the website is used and improve it accordingly, to meet our legal obligations, and to guard against fraudulent, unauthorised, or otherwise illegal activity. That is the entire list. It was tempting to make it longer. We resisted.
Wix.com as Our Hosting Platform
The website is built and hosted on Wix.com, which means Wix independently collects certain technical and usage data in the course of keeping the platform running — the digital equivalent of the landlord checking the boiler. Wix acts as a data processor on our behalf for hosting purposes. Their own privacy policy, which governs their own conduct rather than ours, is available at wix.com/about/privacy.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Our website uses cookies — small text files left on your device, less like footprints and more like Post-it notes — to enable certain functionality, collect analytics, and generally make the browsing experience smoother than it would otherwise be. Wix may deploy its own cookies as part of running the platform. You are free to configure your browser to refuse them, or to alert you when they arrive, though some parts of the site may then function with the enthusiasm of a machine missing a part.
Email Communications and Newsletter
If you subscribe to The Deductivist, your email address is used for exactly one purpose: delivering the content you opted into. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, because burying an exit is the sort of thing a detective would notice immediately, and we'd rather not be caught doing it. Opt out whenever you like; we will process the request promptly and without commentary. We do not sell, rent, or share your email address with third parties for marketing purposes — a policy we hold to not out of restraint, but because the idea has simply never appealed to us.
Data Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only in a short and specific list of circumstances: with service providers who help us run the website or deliver our communications — Wix.com and email delivery services among them — under proper data processing agreements; when required by law, regulation, or legal process; or to protect the rights, safety, or property of The Deductivist, our subscribers, or the public. Nowhere on that list does "because someone asked nicely" appear.
Data Retention
We keep your personal information for as long as the purposes in this policy require, unless the law insists on longer. If you unsubscribe, your email address is removed from active communication lists within a reasonable timeframe — though, as with most systems built by humans, a residual copy may linger briefly in a backup somewhere, quietly outliving its own relevance.
Your Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal information; to withdraw consent where processing depends on it; to restrict or object to processing; and to data portability. Residents of the EU or EEA may have further rights under the GDPR, which we observe not as a formality but as the actual law. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. We will respond to legitimate requests within a reasonable timeframe — reasonable being a word we intend to honour rather than exploit.
Children's Privacy
The website and newsletter are not directed at anyone under sixteen, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently gathered information from a minor, tell us, and we will delete it — no inquest, no delay.
Third-Party Links
The website may link to third-party sites we neither run nor vouch for. Their privacy practices are their own affair; we'd encourage you to read them before assuming otherwise.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this policy from time to time, and any changes will be posted here with a new effective date. Continued use of the website after that point constitutes acceptance of the revised terms — the same quiet consent-by-silence that governs most of modern life.
Contact
Questions, concerns, or requests regarding this policy or our data practices can be sent to: The Deductivist — https://substack.com/@thedeductivist