Privacy Policy - Signals & Systems

Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 4, 2025

Summary

We believe in radical transparency about data collection. We collect minimal data, only with your consent, and give you full control over your privacy choices. Most importantly: declining analytics will not affect your experience on this site in any way.

Who We Are

Signals & Systems is a personal publishing platform operated by JELL. Our website address is: https://signalsandsystems.jellwrites.com/ or https://signalsys.dev

What Data We Collect and Why

Analytics Data (Optional)

With your explicit consent, we use Google Tag Manager and GA4 to collect anonymous usage data including:

  • Pages visited and time spent on site
  • Browser type and operating system
  • Referring websites
  • General geographic location (country/region level)
  • Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)

Purpose: To understand how visitors use our site and improve content and user experience. Also to make nice visualizations.

Legal Basis: Consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a))

Data Retention: Google Analytics retains this data for 26 months, after which it is automatically deleted.

Consent Preferences

We store your analytics consent choice (granted/denied) in your browser's local storage under the key 'ss-analytics-consent'.

Purpose: To remember your privacy preferences and avoid showing the consent popup repeatedly.

Legal Basis: Legitimate interest (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)) - necessary for the proper functioning of our consent system.

Newsletter Subscription Data

When you voluntarily subscribe to our newsletter via the Buttondown service, we collect your email address.

Purpose: To send periodic newsletters containing article updates and insights on technology, systems design, and digital experiences.

Legal Basis: Consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a))

Data Storage: Email addresses are stored securely on Buttondown servers, not on our servers.

Data Retention: Until you unsubscribe or request deletion.

Your Rights: You can unsubscribe at any time via the unsubscribe link in every email, or contact us directly.

What We Don't Collect

  • No personal information beyond email addresses (when voluntarily provided for newsletter)
  • No account creation or user profiles
  • No tracking across other websites
  • No selling or commercial sharing of data with third parties

Data Sharing

Data sharing occurs in the following limited circumstances:

  • Google Analytics: When you consent to analytics, anonymous usage data is processed by Google under their Privacy Policy
  • Buttondown: When you subscribe to our newsletter, your email address is processed by Buttondown under their Privacy Policy
  • No other third parties receive any data from this website

Newsletter Privacy Practices

We are committed to privacy-first newsletter practices. Our newsletters explicitly do not use:

  • Email open tracking: We do not track whether you open our emails
  • Click tracking: We do not track which links you click in our emails
  • Tracking pixels: No invisible images or pixels are embedded in our emails
  • Reply tracking: We do not track your email responses or interaction metrics

Explicit statement: We do not track email opens, clicks, page views from emails, reply behavior, or any interaction metrics. This aligns with our privacy-first approach to respecting your inbox and browsing experience. Email addresses are only shared with our trusted newsletter service provider (Buttondown) for the sole purpose of delivering newsletters.

Your Rights Under GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your data:

Right to Withdraw Consent

You can withdraw analytics consent at any time using the "Cookie & Analytics Preferences" link in the footer. This will stop all future data collection immediately.

Right to Data Portability

Since we only store your consent preference locally in your browser, you can export this data yourself through your browser's developer tools.

Right to Deletion

To delete your consent preference: clear your browser's local storage for this site. For Google Analytics data deletion, you can request this through Google's data deletion process.

Right to Access

The only personal data we store is your consent preference, which you can view in your browser's local storage or by checking which option is selected in our consent popup.

Right to Rectification

You can correct your consent preference at any time using the footer link.

Right to Object

You can object to analytics processing by declining or withdrawing consent.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical measures to protect your data:

  • HTTPS encryption for all communications
  • No sensitive data storage on our servers
  • Consent data stored locally in your browser only
  • Regular security updates to our platform

International Data Transfers

When you consent to analytics, your anonymous usage data may be transferred to and processed in the United States by Google Analytics. Google provides appropriate safeguards for international transfers under GDPR.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. Significant changes will be highlighted in our changelog.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or your data rights, you can contact us at:

Email: contact@jellwrites.com

Data Protection Authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe we have not complied with GDPR requirements.