Privacy Policy

Who we are

This website, alekdarson.com, is operated by Alek Darson, a musician based in Toronto, Canada. If you have any questions about this policy or your information, email privacy@alekdarson.com.

Information we collect

Information you give us: your email address when you subscribe to the newsletter or request the hidden Panopticon track, plus anything you include in a message you send us.

Payments: when you make a donation or a purchase, payment is handled by our payment processors (PayPal, and Stripe for the shop). They receive your payment details directly. We do not see or store your full card information. We keep a basic record of a donation or order, such as the amount and date.

Automatic information: like most websites, our hosting provider records standard technical data such as your IP address and browser type. We use this to keep the site secure and to limit abuse, for example rate-limiting newsletter sign-ups.

Your browser storage: we save small pieces of data in your browser, such as your cart, audio player preferences, and whether you have unlocked the hidden track. This essential storage stays on your device and is not used to track you across other sites.

Analytics and advertising

We keep our own analytics to understand how the site is used: page views, which tracks are played, which downloads and Press Room materials are taken, and which parts of the Knot are read. We always keep an anonymous, aggregate count of traffic so we know how many people visit.

If you accept analytics cookies in the banner, we also save a random visitor ID in your browser (kept up to about a year) so we can connect those actions into a single anonymous journey, and link it to your email only if you sign in or verify your address with us. We record an approximate location (country, region, city) derived from your IP address through our host; we do not store your raw IP address, only a one-way hashed form when needed for security.

If you accept, we also use the Meta Pixel and Meta Conversions API to measure the performance of ads we run and to reach similar audiences. This shares certain events (such as a page view or a purchase, with your email hashed) with Meta. None of this advertising measurement runs until you accept, and you can decline and still use the whole site.

How we use it

To send you what you asked for (the newsletter, or your one-time download link), to process donations and orders, to keep the site running and secure, and to reply when you contact us.

Who we share it with

We use a small set of service providers to run the site: Vercel (hosting and data storage), Resend (sending email), PayPal and Stripe (payments), Supabase (content and analytics database), and, only if you accept advertising cookies, Meta (ad measurement). These providers only process your information to provide their service to us.

The site also displays Alek's public Instagram posts through Meta's API. We fetch those posts on our server, so simply viewing them here does not send your information to Meta.

We do not sell your personal information.

Your choices

When you first visit, a banner lets you accept or decline analytics and advertising cookies. Declining keeps everything except the anonymous aggregate traffic count switched off, and you can still use the whole site. To change your choice later, clear this site's cookies in your browser and the banner will appear again.

Every newsletter email includes an unsubscribe link. You can also ask us to access or delete the information we hold about you by emailing privacy@alekdarson.com.

How long we keep it

We keep your email address until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove it. One-time download links expire shortly after they are sent.

Children

This site is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13.

Member accounts (future)

If we add member accounts or a subscriber area in the future, we will update this policy to describe the additional information that involves before that feature goes live.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the date shown at the top.