Privacy

This page explains what data CtrlOut collects, why, and what your options are. It's short because the site does very little.

Who runs this site

CtrlOut is a personal publication by Freerk Kalsbeek. For any privacy question, email hello@ctrlout.com.

What CtrlOut collects

Two things, and only when you choose them: anonymous analytics if you accept the cookie banner, and your email address if you sign up for the newsletter. Nothing else. No comment system, no account creation, no tracking that follows you off the site.

If you accept analytics, Google Analytics records pages you visit on this site, approximate location (country, sometimes region), device and browser type, the referrer that sent you here, and an anonymized IP address. None of it carries your name or email. The analytics side never asks for those.

The newsletter

If you enter your email in the signup form, it goes to Buttondown, the service that holds the list and sends the mail. You then get one email asking you to confirm. Nothing else is sent until you click that link, and every email after it carries an unsubscribe link that works.

The form runs a Cloudflare Turnstile check to keep bots out. To do that, Cloudflare sees the request and your IP address at the moment you submit. It places no advertising cookie and is not used to follow you around the web.

Why

So I can see which essays land and which don't. That's it.

Legal basis

Your consent. For analytics, you give it through the cookie banner; without it, Google Analytics runs in cookieless mode and stores nothing. For the newsletter, you give it by submitting the form and confirming from the email that follows, and you can withdraw it any time by unsubscribing.

Where the data goes

Three companies, all based in the United States: Google for analytics, Buttondown for the newsletter, and Cloudflare for the bot check. Data they receive may be processed there, under each provider's GDPR transfer terms. Google and Cloudflare participate in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework; Buttondown holds the email under its own data-processing terms.

How long it's kept

Google retains analytics data according to the property's settings, with a default of two months for event data.

Your newsletter email stays on the list until you unsubscribe or ask for it to be deleted.

Your rights

You can withdraw analytics consent any time via the cookie preferences. Revisit the site to see the banner again, or clear the cookie in your browser settings. For the newsletter, unsubscribe from any email to stop it, and write to hello@ctrlout.com to access, correct, or delete the address on file. If you believe your rights have been violated, you can lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

Cookies

Strictly necessary cookies: none.

Analytics cookies: set by Google Analytics only after you click Accept. They expire according to Google's defaults, typically two years for first-visit identification, refreshed on each visit.

Changes

If this policy changes, the date below will change. There's no other place changes get announced.

Last updated: 2026-06-10