Privacy, without the small print.

Last updated: 27 October 2026.

Who runs this site

The Bystander is an independent satirical publication. Contact the editorial desk for publication enquiries. For privacy requests, use the contact form.

What we collect

If you join our newsletter list, we store your email address, the time you subscribed and your consent. If you register interest in paid support, we store your email, selected plan or proposed contribution amount, timestamp and consent to a launch notification. No payment details are collected. If you contact us, we store your name, email address, message and submission time. Providing these details is voluntary.

Why we use it

Newsletter sign-ups and supporter launch notifications are based on consent. The list is being collected for a future newsletter. Campaign emails can be sent when our email provider is configured, only for the purpose you opted into. Supporter launch interest is kept separate from active membership. We also store manually verified membership plan and expiry details, recorded email consent, campaign recipient records, provider acceptance or error status, and unsubscribe exclusions. We do not track email opens or clicks. Our email delivery provider is Resend once connected. Contact details are used to respond to enquiries and manage the publication, based on our legitimate interest in handling correspondence.

Storage & retention

Submissions are stored in the site’s Cloudflare-backed database and are accessible to the authorised editor. We keep newsletter details until you withdraw consent or the list closes. We normally delete closed enquiries after 12 months unless a longer period is needed for an unresolved matter or legal obligation. Hosting providers may process technical information outside the UK under their applicable data-protection arrangements.

Membership and payments

Member sign-in uses ChatGPT identity. We store a site-scoped account ID, email, Stripe customer and subscription references, membership status and dates, email preferences and the Founding Supporter badge. Stripe handles payment details; we do not store full card numbers. Member theme votes are linked to your site account.

Article reactions

Reactions are stored with an article ID, choice, timestamp and hashed account identifier or random browser identifier. Anonymous reacting uses a necessary first-party cookie retained for up to one year. It is not used for advertising. You can change or remove your own reaction. Positive counts may be public; the full distribution is visible only to the editor. Clearing the cookie may allow another anonymous vote.

Cookies, advertising & analytics

We record aggregate page-view counts by date, public page and broad traffic source for up to 90 days. We do not store IP addresses, visitor identifiers, full referring URLs or campaign query strings for these counts. These statistics do not use analytics cookies. We have not installed advertising networks. Essential hosting and editor sign-in functionality may use necessary cookies. Following a share link takes you to another provider with its own privacy terms. Advertising or analytics requiring consent will need a consent mechanism before activation.

Your choices

You can request access, correction, deletion or removal from the newsletter list through our contact form. You can withdraw email consent at any time using the unsubscribe link in campaign emails or our contact form. Email exclusion does not cancel membership billing. You may also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.