Privacy
This is a history archive. It collects as little as it can, keeps none of it for advertising, and sells none of it.
Last updated 28 October 2026
Written in plain language by the person who runs the site. Not legal advice.
What is stored
Sign-in and comments are the only things that need an account.
| Data | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Email address | when you create an account | to send a sign-in link and to identify your comments |
| Display name | when you create an account | to show who wrote a comment; derived from the email by default |
| Comments | when you post one | to show them, and to moderate them |
| Reports | when you report a comment | to review it |
Passwords are not stored, because there are none: sign-in is a single-use link sent to your email.
What is not stored
- No advertising trackers
- No cross-site tracking
- No analytics and no page-view counting — the site does not record which pages are read, so there is no traffic data to share or lose
- No location data beyond the place a story describes
- No payment details (there is nothing to pay for)
Cookies
There are two, and both are strictly functional.
| Cookie | What it does | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|
ss_reader | Keeps you signed in after you follow a sign-in link. Holds a session token, is HttpOnly (scripts on the page cannot read it), and is only sent over a secure connection. Deleting it signs you out. | 30 days |
ss_state | Remembers which state you asked the map to open on, so it opens there next time instead of wherever the site guesses. Also HttpOnly. Deleting it just resets the map. | 180 days |
No cookie is used for advertising, and none is shared with another site. Because there are no tracking cookies and no analytics, there is no cookie banner.
Other companies involved
Two, and only for what is described here:
- Resend delivers the sign-in email. It receives your email address and the message, and nothing else about you.
- Cloudflare serves the site and terminates the secure connection, so it sees the IP address of every visitor as any web host does. The site uses that address for one thing — guessing which state's map to open on first visit — and does not store it.
Retention
Comments stay while the story they are about stays. Account emails stay until you ask for deletion. Reports are kept for moderation history.
Your choices
Delete your account and comments: email [email protected] and it is done by hand. There is no self-service button yet; there are few enough readers that this is honest rather than lazy.
Correct something: use the correction route on any story page, or the Report button on a comment.
Contact
[email protected] — a person reads this.
Changes
Material changes to this policy will be noted on the about page.