Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal data ByteOrbital collects, why, and what rights you have. We aim to collect as little as we need.

Who is responsible

The data controller is Byte Orbital ("we", "us"). Contact us about privacy at editor@byteorbital.com. We handle personal data under the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

What we collect and why

Reading the site (analytics). We run our own first-party analytics to understand which articles are read and how the site performs. We record page views, referrer, device and browser type, and approximate country. Your IP address is hashed before storage so we cannot read it back, and it is not used to follow you across other websites. We do not use cross-site tracking. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in running and improving the site, or your consent where the law requires it (see our cookie policy).

Newsletter. If you subscribe, we collect your email address and the newsletters you chose. We use double opt-in: you must confirm through a link we email you before we send anything. Every email has an unsubscribe link. Lawful basis: consent. We record when and how you consented, and track delivery and opens in aggregate to see what works.

Reader accounts (optional). You can use ByteOrbital without an account. If you create one, we store your email address, a securely hashed password or sign-in token, saved articles and topic preferences. Reading history is kept only if you opt in. Lawful basis: performing the service you asked for, and consent for history.

Contacting us. If you email us, we keep the correspondence to deal with it. Lawful basis: legitimate interest, or legal obligation for takedown and corrections records.

Advertising. If advertising cookies are enabled and you consent, our ad partners such as Google AdSense may process data under their own policies. See the cookie policy and advertising disclosure.

Who we share data with

Only service providers who help us run the site, for example hosting, email delivery and, with your consent, advertising. Providers process data on our instructions or as independent controllers under their own terms. Current providers: VM6 (UK web hosting), Cloudflare (DNS) and Anthropic (AI processing of public source material only, never reader data). We do not sell your personal data.

International transfers

Some providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on adequacy regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.

How long we keep data

• Analytics records: 13 months.
• Newsletter data: until you unsubscribe, then a minimal suppression record so we do not email you again.
• Accounts: until you delete your account.
• Correspondence: 2 years.

Your rights

You can ask to access, correct, erase or restrict your data, object to processing, withdraw consent at any time, and request a portable copy of data you gave us. Email the address above. We aim to reply within one month. You may also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk), though we would appreciate the chance to put things right first.

Security and children

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect data. ByteOrbital is not aimed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Changes

We will update this page when our practices change and show the date at the top.