Privacy Policy
This policy describes what happens to information when you read KnowCatHub. The short version is that the site is built to need very little of it.
Summary
KnowCatHub is a publication, not a service, and it needs very little information about you.
There are no accounts, no logins, no newsletter, and no comment system. There is nothing here to sign up for.
The site does not sell personal information, and it does not share it with advertisers for profiling.
| The short version | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do you need an account? | No. None exists |
| Do you set cookies? | Google Analytics can set cookies when analytics storage is allowed. The consent choices are explained below |
| Do pages load advertising trackers? | No |
| Do you sell data? | No |
| Do you track readers across sites? | No. Advertising signals are switched off for every reader |
| Is analytics running? | Yes: Google Analytics 4 and Cloudflare Web Analytics. The control below changes Google Analytics storage |
Policy scope and contact
This Privacy Policy explains how information is handled when you visit KnowCatHub or contact us. For questions and privacy requests, use the address on the Contact page: [email protected].
What is collected
When you request a page, the server that delivers it processes the technical details every web server needs in order to respond.
That includes your IP address, the page requested, the time of the request, your browser's user-agent string, and the referring page where one is sent.
This information is used to deliver the site, to keep it secure, and to diagnose faults. It is not used to build a profile of you.
Search terms typed into the site's search box are processed to return results. They appear in the results-page address and may therefore be included in request logs and Google Analytics page measurements. Please avoid entering personal or sensitive information.
| Data | Collected | Why |
|---|---|---|
| IP address | Yes, in server logs | Delivering the page and blocking abuse |
| Pages requested | Yes, in server logs | Diagnosing faults |
| User-agent and referrer | Yes, in server logs | Diagnosing faults and rendering correctly |
| Search terms | Processed, not profiled | Returning results |
| Name or postal address | No | Nothing here asks for one |
| Account or password | No | There are no accounts |
| Payment details | No | Nothing is sold here |
| Location beyond IP | No | No geolocation is requested |
| Analytics identifier | Yes, where analytics is on | Counting page views. See the analytics section |
Why we are allowed to process it
Where data protection law applies to you, processing needs a lawful basis. These are the ones this site relies on.
- Server logs
- Legitimate interests: delivering the site and keeping it secure
- Search queries
- Legitimate interests: returning the results you asked for
- Email you send us
- Legitimate interests: answering you and recording corrections
- Google Analytics cookies, in the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland
- Consent, given by pressing Accept and withdrawn at any time in the analytics section below
Where you have a right to object to processing, you can send a request using the contact details above. Please describe the information or activity concerned so the request can be assessed.
Analytics
KnowCatHub uses Google Analytics 4 to measure visits and page views. Cloudflare Web Analytics also measures visits and page performance through a separate browser script. The Google Analytics storage control below does not disable Cloudflare's measurements.
Google receives information such as the page address and title, referring page, browser and device details, and approximate location. When analytics storage is allowed, cookies can distinguish visits. Google receives your IP address as part of the request and uses it to determine approximate location; Google states that GA4 does not log or store individual IP addresses.
The Google tag denies advertising storage, advertising user data and advertising personalisation for every visitor. The site does not serve advertisements.
Where your permission is asked first
If you are reading from the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, analytics storage is denied before the Google tag loads. Google Analytics cannot write its cookies until you press Accept on the bar at the foot of the page. Your consent choice is saved separately in local storage.
Elsewhere, analytics storage is allowed when you arrive. If your country cannot be determined, storage is denied until you choose. The control below lets you change your choice.
Declining analytics storage does not prevent the Google tag from loading. It can still send measurements without analytics cookies, including consent status. To block those requests too, use your browser's tracking protection or a content blocker.
Cloudflare's analytics script collects page and performance information, such as the page path, referring site, browser type and loading times. Cloudflare states that this script does not use cookies or browser storage. Hosting and security requests are separate from these analytics measurements.
Your answer is stored in your browser's local storage, not in a cookie, and it applies to this browser on this device. Clearing site data resets it. Declining analytics storage does not delete information Google already holds. You can send a deletion request using the contact details above.
The site does not automatically change its consent setting in response to Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signals. Browser content blockers can prevent analytics requests, and the articles remain readable when those scripts are blocked. Blocking the Google tag does not block Cloudflare's separate script.
Cookies and local storage
The site sets no cookies of its own. There is no session, no account, and no preference cookie.
Google Analytics can set the following cookies:
| Name | What it does | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
_ga | Holds the random identifier that keeps one reader's page views together in the report | Up to 2 years |
_ga_<id> | Holds the state of the current visit, so three pages in a row count as one visit rather than three | Up to 2 years |
In the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland neither is written until you press Accept. Storage is also denied when your country cannot be determined. Elsewhere, storage is allowed by default unless you have declined it. Declining stops further analytics cookie writes; you can remove existing cookies through your browser.
The site writes one thing to local storage: your answer about analytics, under the name kch-analytics-consent. It holds the word granted or denied and nothing else. A record of "no, thank you" stored in the very cookie it refuses would be absurd, so it is not stored in one.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser, and doing so does not affect your ability to read this site.
Third parties and transfers
KnowCatHub loads no advertising, social-media widgets, embedded video, or comment tools from other companies. Fonts, icons, and images come from this site's own domain rather than from a font or media network.
Google receives analytics requests, including measurements without cookies when analytics storage is denied. Cloudflare receives web analytics and delivery/security requests, and the hosting provider processes requests to serve the site. These providers may process information outside your country.
Reading a page also sends a request to the provider that hosts KnowCatHub and to Cloudflare, which sits in front of the site to serve it quickly and to absorb attacks. Both see the request itself, as any host must.
Following an external link sends a request to that website, which receives technical information such as your IP address and may receive a referring address according to your browser's settings. Its own privacy policy applies.
Email you send us
If you email us, we hold that message and your address for as long as needed to deal with it and to keep a record of corrections made to the site.
Your address is used to reply to you. It is not added to a mailing list and it is not shared.
Please do not send sensitive personal information or veterinary records by email. We cannot use them, and we would rather not hold them.
Email reaches us through an ordinary mail provider, which processes the message in transit as it would any email.
How long anything is kept
Nothing is kept longer than it is useful, and most of it is never kept at all.
- Server request logs
- Short-term, for security and fault diagnosis
- Search terms
- May remain in request logs and Google Analytics as part of a page address
- Correction emails
- Kept as a record of what was changed and why
- General enquiries
- Deleted once the exchange is finished
- Accounts, profiles, mailing lists
- None exist, so nothing is retained
If you ask us to delete an email exchange, we will, unless it records a published correction.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may hold rights over personal information about you. Where they apply, these are the ones that matter here.
| Right | What it means here |
|---|---|
| Access | Ask what we hold. In most cases it is an email you sent |
| Rectification | Ask us to correct something inaccurate |
| Erasure | Ask us to delete an email exchange |
| Restriction | Ask us to stop using it while a dispute is resolved |
| Objection | Object to processing based on legitimate interests |
| Portability | Rarely relevant, since we hold no structured profile |
| Withdraw consent | Applies to analytics, where consent was the basis |
To make a request, write to [email protected] and say what you want.
We do not charge for a request, and we will not ask you to create an account to make one.
The site has no reader accounts. Identifying the information covered by a request may require details of an email exchange or visit; please avoid sending unrelated personal information.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how a request was handled, tell us first and we will look at it again.
You may also have the right to complain to the data protection authority in your own country, and you can do that without contacting us first.
Nothing on this page removes that right or asks you to waive it.
Children
This site is written for adults responsible for a cat, and it is not directed at children.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, and there is no account, profile, or submission feature through which a child could provide any.
If you believe a child has sent us personal information, write to us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
This policy will be updated if the way KnowCatHub handles personal information changes.
The review date at the foot of the page shows when this policy last changed.
Where a change materially reduces your privacy, it will be described here before it takes effect rather than after.
Security
The site is served over an encrypted connection, so what you read is not visible to anyone between your device and the server.
There is no account system, no password to be stolen, and no stored payment information, which removes most of what a site of this kind would otherwise have to protect.
Email held in connection with a correction is kept in an ordinary mail account with access limited to the people who deal with corrections.
No system is perfectly secure, and we do not claim otherwise. What we can say is that the amount of information held about a reader is deliberately close to none.
Automated decision-making
Nothing on this site makes an automated decision about you, and nothing profiles you.
There is no personalisation. Two people reading the same page at the same moment are served the same page, in the same order, with the same content.
Site search uses only the words you enter for that request. It uses nothing about you and nothing from any previous visit.
Last reviewed .
Related statements
The Rest of the Small Print
These statements are written to be read, not to be skipped. Each one is short enough to finish.