Privacy policy

This policy covers joshallan.com. “We” means Josh Allan Dykstra and the small team behind this site. We keep things simple, and we try to keep this page the same way.

What we collect

Things you tell us

If you fill out a form, send an email, or text us, we receive what you share: usually your name, email address, phone number, organization, event details, and your message.

Things your browser tells us

When you visit, standard information comes along for the ride: the pages you view, when you view them, the site that sent you, your browser and device type, and your approximate location (city level, worked out from your IP address). We use analytics tools to measure this, and we do not use it to identify you personally.

Cookies (the digital kind)

Cookies are small files your browser stores. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar identifiers to tell one visit from another and to see how people move around the site. We also use basic site statistics tools inside WordPress. Your browser lets you block or delete cookies, and the site will still work.

How we use it

• To reply to you and to plan and book events.
• To send the newsletter, if you subscribe (see “Who else is involved” below).
• To understand which pages and links get used, so we can improve the site and our book.
• To keep the site secure and working.
• To follow the law.

We do not sell your personal information.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service from Google, to understand how visitors use this site. Google Analytics collects information such as your IP address, device and browser details, and the pages you view, using cookies and similar technologies. Google processes it on our behalf and under its own privacy policy.

You can read about how Google uses data from sites like this one in “How Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps” and in Google’s Privacy Policy. If you would rather not be counted, you can install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Who else is involved

A few outside services help run this site. They handle information under their own policies:

• Hosting and WordPress, which keep the site online and secure.
• Google, for analytics and for services such as fonts, maps, and YouTube videos that may appear on our pages.
• Adobe Fonts, which supplies some of our typefaces.
• Substack, which runs our newsletter. If you subscribe, Substack collects your email address and handles unsubscribes.
• Email and text providers, which carry the messages you send us and the replies we send back.

When you click through to a bookstore such as Amazon, Bookshop.org, or Barnes & Noble, or to another site like the podcast or Substack, you leave this site. Their policies apply from that point on.

We may share information when the law requires it, or when we need to protect our rights, our visitors, or the site.

Texting us

If you text the number on this site, we receive your phone number and your message, and we use them to reply and follow up on your inquiry. Message and data rates from your carrier may apply.

Your choices

You are in charge of your information. Here is what you can do:

• Stop being tracked: install Google’s free opt-out add-on (linked in the Google Analytics section above), or turn off cookies in your browser settings. The site works fine either way.
• Stop our emails: every newsletter has an unsubscribe link at the bottom.
• See, fix, or delete what we have: email hello@joshallan.com and ask. We will answer as the law requires.

Some places, California for example, give you legal rights over your personal information, including the right to know what a business collects and to ask for it to be deleted. Use the same email address for any of that.

How long we keep it

We keep information for as long as we need it for the purposes above. Analytics data stays in Google Analytics for the retention period set in our account. Messages you send us stay in our inbox until we have no further use for them or you ask us to delete them.

Security

We use reasonable measures to protect your information. No website or system is perfectly secure, though, so please do not send us anything highly sensitive by email or text.

Children

This site is for adults and is not directed at children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email us and we will delete it.

Where your information goes

We are based in the United States, and information collected through this site is processed here and by the services listed above, which may store it in other countries too.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. Check back now and then, or do not, and we will still love you.