Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 29 July 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data The Statistician collects, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have. It applies to all visitors, newsletter subscribers, and paid subscribers.

Who We Are

The Statistician is an independent data journalism publication based in Denmark. We are the data controller responsible for the personal data you provide to us or that we collect when you use this site.

If you have questions about how we handle your data, contact us at editor@statistician.news.

What We Collect

We collect only what is necessary to run the site and deliver our services.

Account and authentication data: When you create an account or sign in — including via Google — our authentication provider Clerk collects your email address and name. Clerk issues session tokens stored as cookies to keep you logged in. Your subscription plan is stored in Clerk's user metadata.

Payment data: When you subscribe, Stripe handles your payment. We never receive or store your card number. Stripe holds your billing details, payment method, and subscription history. We receive only a customer reference ID and subscription status.

Newsletter email: If you sign up for our newsletter via the site, your email address is sent directly to Beehiiv, our newsletter platform. We do not store it on our own servers.

Free article tracking: To enforce the one free article limit for non-subscribers, we store a list of article slugs you have read in your browser's localStorage under the key articlesRead. This data never leaves your device and contains no personal identifiers.

Server access logs: Our hosting provider Vercel automatically logs basic request data — including IP address, browser type, and pages visited — as part of normal infrastructure operation.

Fonts: We use the Corben and DM Sans typefaces, which are self-hosted via Next.js and served from Vercel's CDN. No request is made to Google's servers when these fonts are loaded.

How We Use Your Data

We use your data only for the purposes listed below, and only on a lawful basis as required by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Authenticating your account and providing access to subscriber content — basis: performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)).
Processing subscription payments — basis: performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)).
Sending the newsletter you signed up for — basis: consent (Art. 6(1)(a)).
Operating and maintaining our infrastructure — basis: legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)).
Complying with legal and accounting obligations — basis: legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)).

Cookies and Local Storage

We use a small number of strictly necessary cookies. We do not use analytics cookies. Non-subscribers and Mean plan subscribers see advertising served by Google AdSense, which may set advertising cookies. Outlier subscribers do not receive advertising cookies.

Clerk sets session cookies when you sign in. These are required for authentication and cannot be disabled while you are logged in.

Stripe sets cookies during the checkout flow. These are required for the payment process to function.

We use your browser's localStorage — not cookies — for two things: tracking which articles you have already read (key: articlesRead, no personal data) and storing your cookie consent choice (key: cookieConsent). Neither value is sent to any server.

For full details, see our Cookies page.

Third-Party Data Processors

We rely on the following services to operate the site. Each processes data under a data processing agreement or their own privacy framework.

Clerk (clerk.com) — authentication and user account storage. Data may be stored in the United States under standard contractual clauses.
Stripe (stripe.com) — payment and subscription processing. Operates in the EU. Data may be transferred to the United States under standard contractual clauses.
Beehiiv (beehiiv.com) — newsletter delivery. Receives subscriber email addresses.
Vercel (vercel.com) — frontend hosting and CDN. Logs access data.
WordPress on Bluehost — headless CMS at cms.statistician.news. Serves article content via REST API and is not visited directly by readers.
Google AdSense — advertising platform used to display ads to non-subscribers and Mean tier subscribers. Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Data Retention

Account data held by Clerk is retained for the duration of your account. If you delete your account, Clerk removes your data within 30 days.

Payment data held by Stripe is retained in accordance with Stripe's policies and applicable financial record-keeping requirements (typically 7 years).

Newsletter subscriptions are retained until you unsubscribe. Beehiiv processes removal within 48 hours of your request.

Vercel server logs are retained for a rolling period in accordance with Vercel's data retention policy.

localStorage data (article tracking, consent flags) is stored on your own device and can be cleared by you at any time through your browser settings.

Your Rights Under GDPR

As a user located in the European Economic Area, you have the following rights:

Right of access — you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification — you may ask us to correct inaccurate data.
Right to erasure — you may ask us to delete your data where there is no overriding legal basis to retain it.
Right to restriction — you may ask us to pause processing in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability — you may request your data in a machine-readable format.
Right to object — you may object to processing based on our legitimate interests.
Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent (such as newsletter subscription), you may withdraw at any time without affecting prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at editor@statistician.news. We will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority — in Denmark, that is Datatilsynet (datatilsynet.dk).

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page reflects when it was last revised. Material changes will be communicated to newsletter subscribers by email.

The Statistician · editor@statistician.news