Privacy Policy
Last updated: 29th August 2026
Frank Line Tech is a site about privacy and security, so being careless with yours would be a poor look. This page explains what the site collects, what it doesn't, and which third parties are involved. It's written to be read.
The short version: you don't need an account to read anything, the analytics are anonymized and never sold, and the only time you hand over personal information is when you choose to — by subscribing, creating an account, or getting in touch.
Who runs this site
Frank Line Tech is an independent publication run by Frankline Wegulo, acting as the data controller for the purposes of the GDPR. For any privacy question, or to ask what data is held about you, email [email protected].
What's collected when you just read
Analytics. The site uses two analytics tools: Matomo and PostHog. Both are configured to anonymize visitor IP addresses, and neither is used for advertising. There are no ad networks on this site, no cross-site tracking, and no data sold or shared with data brokers. The analytics measure which posts get read and where visitors arrive from, in aggregate, so I know what's worth writing more of.
Running two tools is deliberate rather than an oversight: Matomo covers privacy-respecting traffic analytics, and PostHog covers product-style behaviour on the site's tools and pages. Both are set up to minimise what they collect.
Server and network data. The site sits behind Cloudflare, which acts as a CDN and security layer. Cloudflare processes standard request data — IP address, browser type, the page requested — to serve content quickly and to block malicious traffic such as bots and denial-of-service attacks. Cloudflare states that it does not sell the personal data it processes or use it for anything beyond delivering its services. The origin server keeps standard access logs for a short period for security and debugging.
Cookies. Ghost, the software this site runs on, sets only essential cookies — a login session cookie (ghost-members-ssr) that exists only if you sign in. It sets no non-essential or advertising cookies. Cloudflare sets __cf_bm and, if you're shown a security challenge, cf_clearance; both are strictly necessary security cookies for bot protection, not tracking.
Matomo and PostHog each set a first-party analytics cookie to count returning visits; these are anonymized and never used for advertising.
What's collected when you choose to give it
Newsletter. Subscribing sends your email address to Kit (formerly ConvertKit), which stores it and delivers the emails. Your address is used for the newsletter and nothing else. It's never sold or shared, every email carries a one-click unsubscribe, and unsubscribing removes you from the list.
Membership account. You can create a free account on this site. Ghost stores your email address and login details so you can sign in and manage your subscription. Membership is optional — everything currently published is readable without one. (Paid membership tiers are planned for the future; see the note at the end of this page.)
Contact. If you use the contact form, it's processed by Formspree, which receives your name, email and message and forwards them to me. If you email directly, I hold your message and address for as long as it takes to deal with it. Nothing from a message goes anywhere else.
Third parties, in one place
The complete list of services that may process your data, each governed by its own privacy policy:
| Service | What it handles |
|---|---|
| Matomo | Anonymised site analytics |
| PostHog | Anonymised product analytics |
| Kit (ConvertKit) | Newsletter delivery |
| Ghost | Publishing platform and membership accounts |
| Formspree | Contact form processing |
| Cloudflare | CDN, DNS and security in front of the site |
| Affiliate merchants | Only if you click an affiliate link (see below) |
Affiliate links
Some posts contain affiliate links, routed through go.franklinetech.com. If you click one and make a purchase, the merchant may set its own cookie to credit the referral, and I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That cookie belongs to the merchant and is governed by the merchant's privacy policy, not this one. Full detail, including every active affiliate relationship, is on the affiliate disclosure page. Affiliate arrangements never change what gets recommended.
Your rights under the GDPR
If you're in the EU, UK, or another region with comparable law, you have the right to access the personal data held about you, to have it corrected, to have it deleted, to object to or restrict its processing, and to receive a copy of it in a portable form. To exercise any of these, email [email protected] and it'll be actioned. For the newsletter specifically, unsubscribing deletes your data from the list immediately.
The legal bases this site relies on:
- Consent — for the newsletter and any membership account. You give it by signing up, and you can withdraw it at any time by unsubscribing or asking for the account to be deleted.
- Legitimate interest — for anonymized analytics and Cloudflare's security processing, both of which are limited to understanding and protecting the site and are set up to collect as little as possible.
- Legal obligation — where data must be kept to comply with a legal or tax requirement.
If you believe your data has been mishandled, you have the right to complain to your local data protection authority — in the EU that's your national supervisory authority, and in the UK it's the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Data is retained only as long as it's needed for the purpose it was given: newsletter data until you unsubscribe, account data until you close the account, contact messages until the matter is resolved, and analytics data in anonymized, aggregated form.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the "last updated" date at the top changes with it, and material changes affecting subscribers will be mentioned in the newsletter.