Privacy
Last updated: 30 October 2026
This site is run by Alan Conlon in Ireland, and I'm the data controller for the personal information it handles. Questions or requests: hello@alanconlon.com. This page covers what's collected, why, who handles it for me, how long it's kept and your rights.
Browsing the site
You don't need an account to read anything here. There are no ads, no advertising trackers and no cookies of the site's own, so there's no cookie banner.
- Hosting. The site is hosted on Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare processes the technical details of each visit (such as your IP address and browser) to deliver pages and protect the site from abuse. Cloudflare may set a short-lived security cookie if it needs to check that a visitor isn't a bot. I don't keep server logs myself; Cloudflare handles them under its privacy policy. Legal basis: my legitimate interest in running a secure, working site.
- Analytics. I use Cloudflare Web Analytics to count visits and see which posts get read. It's cookieless, doesn't track you across other sites and doesn't build a profile of you. I only see totals, never individual visitors. Legal basis: my legitimate interest in knowing which posts are useful.
- Outside resources. Fonts and images are served from this site, and nothing is embedded from elsewhere. The only things your browser contacts beyond alanconlon.com are Cloudflare's analytics script (static.cloudflareinsights.com) and the place it reports visits to (cloudflareinsights.com), plus Buttondown (buttondown.com) if you submit the email signup form.
Posts by email
The signup form asks for your email address and nothing else. Buttondown holds it and sends the emails, and it's used for nothing else. Buttondown sends a confirmation email first, and the link in it takes you to a page with the free KQL Detection Tuning Checklist. Legal basis: your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR), which you give when you sign up and confirm. You can withdraw it at any time with the unsubscribe link in every Buttondown email. I keep your address until you unsubscribe or ask me to remove it.
Buying a product
Products are sold through Gumroad, which processes the payment and adds VAT where it applies. I never see your card details. Gumroad shares with me what it needs to deliver the purchase: your email address, what you bought and, where you give it, your name. Legal basis: carrying out the purchase you asked for. Keeping payment records: a legal obligation under Irish tax law. Payment records are kept as long as Irish tax law requires, which is generally six years. Gumroad's own handling of your information is covered by its privacy policy.
Emailing me
Email to hello@alanconlon.com is received through Cloudflare Email Routing and kept in my Google Gmail inbox, and my replies are sent through Cloudflare Email Sending. I use your message and address only to reply and deal with your request. Security reports sent to security@alanconlon.com are handled the same way.
Copies of posts on other sites
Posts are also published on Medium and Dev.to, and shared on Bluesky. Those sites have their own privacy policies, and anything you do there, such as commenting, following or liking, is covered by them, not by this page.
Who handles your information
- Cloudflare: hosting, analytics, and receiving and sending email.
- Buttondown: posts by email.
- Gumroad: product sales and payments.
- Google (Gmail): my email inbox.
Some of these services are based in, or process data in, the US. They rely on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or standard contractual clauses, as set out in their own terms.
I don't sell your information or share it with anyone beyond the services named on this page.
How long it's kept
- Newsletter address: until you unsubscribe or ask me to remove it.
- Purchase and payment records: as long as Irish tax law requires, generally six years.
- Emails to me: for as long as they're needed to deal with your request, and I'll delete them sooner if you ask.
- Analytics: I only ever see totals, nothing that identifies you. Cloudflare's own logs are kept under its policy.
Your rights
Under the GDPR you have the right to access the information I hold about you, have it corrected, have it erased, restrict how it's used, object to how it's used, and receive it in a portable format. Where something relies on your consent, such as posts by email, you can withdraw that consent at any time. To use any of these rights, email hello@alanconlon.com. I'll reply within one month.
No automated decisions or profiling are made about you.
If you're unhappy with how I've handled your information, you can complain to Ireland's Data Protection Commission at dataprotection.ie.