Privacy policy

Last updated: July 13, 2026 (revised, added consent gate)

This page explains, in plain language, how Shrinkopedia handles information when you visit the site. We've tried to keep it short and honest.

The short version

Shrinkopedia is a place to read. We use Google Analytics 4, but only if you accept it on the cookie banner when you first arrive. If you reject or ignore the banner, analytics does not fire and Google receives no data from your visit. We don't sell personal data, we don't run advertising trackers, and we don't build profiles that follow you around the internet. See our cookies policy for the specific list of what gets set and how to change your choice later.

A note on health information

Shrinkopedia is an educational publisher, not a healthcare provider. We aren't a doctor's office or a clinic, and we aren't a HIPAA-covered entity. Reading the site doesn't create a clinician-patient relationship. We don't ask for, want, or knowingly collect personal health information about you, such as your diagnoses, symptoms, or treatment. Please don't send us that kind of detail. If you email us, share only what you would be comfortable putting in an ordinary email.

What we collect (only if you accept)

If you accept analytics, Shrinkopedia uses Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-H3QSDSHGHS) to understand which pages get read, which get skipped, how readers move through the site, and where a page could be clearer. GA4 is configured with Google Consent Mode v2, IP anonymization, and no advertising features. It collects a limited set of technical data: the visitor's IP address (used to estimate general location, not to identify a person; Google truncates the address before storing it), device and browser type, the pages visited, the referring site, and basic interaction data. Data is retained for 14 months in our configuration. Google's own privacy practices apply to data it processes; see Google's privacy policy for their side of the picture.

If you reject analytics (or if your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal), none of the above happens. GA4 never runs and Google receives no data from your visit.

Like nearly all websites, our web host keeps basic server logs for security and reliability. These are typically the IP address that made a request, the time, the URL requested, and the user agent. These logs aren't used to build a profile of you and are retained only as long as needed for those operational purposes.

If you email us, we keep that message only as long as we need it to handle your question.

What we don't collect

• We don't require an account, and there's no login.
• We don't ask you to give us personal information to read the site.
• We don't run advertising networks or cross-site behavioral trackers.
• We don't sell personal data. We don't trade it or rent it either.

If you choose to email us, we'll have whatever you put in that email. That's covered below under "Getting in touch."

Cookies and consent

On your first visit, a small banner asks whether to turn on analytics. Accept and analytics loads. Reject or ignore and it doesn't. Your choice is stored locally in your browser under the key shrink-consent-v1 so we don't ask again on every page. You can change your mind any time from the cookies policy or the "Cookie preferences" link at the bottom of every page. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat that as reject automatically.

The full list of cookies and local storage items we use, what they do, and how long they last is on the cookies policy page. We don't use cookies for advertising, and we don't share cookie data with third parties for tracking across other websites.

Third-party services

Running a website means relying on a few outside services, for example, web hosting and a content delivery network. These providers handle some technical data, such as the IP addresses and request details in their server logs, as part of doing their job. We choose services that fit a privacy-respecting approach, and we don't use them to advertise to you or to sell your information.

If Shrinkopedia links out to another site, including other sites in The Shrink Network, that site has its own privacy practices, and this policy doesn't cover it. It's worth reading the privacy policy of any site you visit.

Children's privacy

Shrinkopedia is written for a general adult audience and isn't directed at children. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, please contact us and we'll delete it.

Your privacy choices and rights

You can read Shrinkopedia without giving us any personal information, and you can block or clear cookies in your browser at any time.

Depending on where you live, you may have specific rights over personal information, including the right to know what is collected, to request a copy of it, to ask for it to be deleted, and to not be treated differently for exercising those rights. California residents have these rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act. Because Shrinkopedia is built to be read without accounts, and because we don't sell or share personal information, there's usually very little personal information tied to any one visitor for us to retrieve or delete. If you have a request, email us at [email protected] and we will do our best to help.

We don't sell or share your personal information, and we don't use it for targeted advertising.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the site changes. When we do, we'll update the date at the top of the page.

Getting in touch

If you have a question about privacy, or you'd like us to delete something you sent us, email us at [email protected]. We'll do our best to help.