A brighter world, one story at a time

Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 17, 2026

Happy Daze is a science-news publication run by an independent operator. This policy explains what we collect, why, and what we deliberately don't do. We've written it in plain English on purpose.

The short version

  • No advertising cookies. No third-party trackers. Every script and every file on happydaze.io is served by us. We do not load Facebook, Google, or any other company's tracking code in your browser.
  • We don't store your IP address. Our analytics count visits using a random identifier and the country/region your connection comes from — never the address itself.
  • We only collect what a feature needs: an email to send you the newsletter, an account to save stories and manage a membership, and payment handled entirely by Stripe or Apple — we never see your card number.
  • You can delete everything by asking through our contact page.

What we collect and why

Reading the site (no account)

When you read Happy Daze we record anonymous, aggregate analytics so we know which stories people read: the page, the time, the country/region and city (derived by our content network from your connection — the IP address itself is not saved), whether you're on mobile or desktop, and, if you arrived from a link, the referring site or campaign. Each browser is given a random identifier stored in your browser's local storage — it is not tied to your name or email, and the daily uniqueness markers we keep for it expire automatically. We also keep standard content-delivery access logs for about 90 days to detect abuse and count traffic (these are processed into the same aggregate counts).

We use local storage, not cookies, to remember a handful of your own preferences on this device: your sign-in session, and your reading settings such as autoplay and animation choices.

Newsletter subscribers

If you subscribe we store your email address, when you subscribed, how you'd like to hear from us (every article or a weekly summary), and — for members — your topic preferences. Newsletters are sent through 3rd party provider. Like most publishers, our emails record whether an email was opened or a link clicked, so we can see which stories resonate; this is stored per campaign and as a simple open-rate for your address. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes effect immediately.

If you signed up through one of our lead forms on Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Meta passes us the email and name you entered there; we store them the same way as any other subscriber.

Accounts and members

Creating an account (email + password, handled by 3rd party provider) lets you save stories, comment, and manage a Premium membership. We store your email, your saved stories, your comments, and your email preferences.

Payment. Premium is billed by Stripe on the website or by Apple in the iOS app. We never receive or store card numbers. From Stripe we keep a customer reference, your plan, and its renewal date; from Apple we keep a verified receipt reference and the same plan details. Apple's own privacy policy governs what Apple collects.

The iOS app

The app collects the same anonymous usage analytics as the website (screens opened, articles read, app and iOS version, device model, country) under a random per-install identifier. The app does not use Apple's advertising identifier (IDFA) and does not track you across other apps or websites. If you turn on notifications we store the device token needed to deliver them; turn them off any time in Settings.

Advertising measurement (server-side only)

When we run ads to find new readers, we sometimes tell Meta or Google — from our server, not from your browser — that a signup or subscription happened, so we can measure whether an ad worked. This is sent as a one-way hash of the email address, and only for the conversion event itself. Nothing is loaded into your browser or app to do this, which is why the site can carry no tracking scripts at all.

Recommendations

For members, "Keep reading" suggestions are ranked by comparing article content, not by profiling you. To do that we generate mathematical embeddings of our articles using OpenAI's API — the text sent is our own published writing, never your data.

What we don't do

  • We don't sell, rent, or share your personal information with data brokers or advertisers.
  • We don't run third-party ad networks, ad cookies, or fingerprinting.
  • We don't store IP addresses in analytics.
  • We don't read, mine, or train on your comments or saved stories.

Your choices and rights

  • Newsletter: unsubscribe from any email, or change cadence and topics on your account page.
  • Account and data: you can see and change your details on your account page. To delete your account and all associated data, or to request a copy of what we hold, use the contact page — we'll act on it promptly.
  • Analytics: there is nothing to opt out of on the page — no ad cookies or trackers run in your browser. If you'd like your anonymous analytics identifier cleared, clearing your browser's site data for happydaze.io does it.
  • Readers in the EU/UK, California, and elsewhere have rights to access, correct, delete, and object; the contact page is how to exercise them.

Children

Happy Daze is a general-audience science publication and is not directed at children under 13; we don't knowingly collect their information.

Changes

When this policy changes we'll update the date at the top and, for material changes, note it on the site.

Questions? Reach us through the contact page.