Privacy Void

Last updated: 31 July 2026

This policy explains what Why We Can't Have Nice Things ("the site," "we," "us") collects when you read, subscribe to, or comment on it, why we collect it, and what your options are. It's written by the person who runs this site, not by Ghost Foundation — this site is self-hosted, and Ghost Foundation does not have access to or process any of the data described below.

Who we are

Why We Can't Have Nice Things is an independently run, self-hosted publication. If you have a question about this policy or want to exercise any of the rights listed below, contact us at contact@whywecanthavenicethings.info.

What we collect

Information you give us directly:

If you sign up as a member, your email address and, optionally, a display name.
If you post a comment, the comment text itself, associated with your member profile.
Anything you send us directly, e.g. by email.

Information collected automatically:

Standard web server logs: IP address, browser and device type, and request timestamps, kept only for security and troubleshooting.
A session cookie that keeps you signed in as a member, if you're signed in.

We do not run any analytics, advertising, or third-party tracking scripts on this site. No cookies are set for tracking or advertising purposes.

Two narrow exceptions, both strictly functional and outside our control: the cancellation form on this site loads Cloudflare Turnstile, a bot-verification widget, which may set its own security cookie while you use that form. And if you subscribe to a paid tier, checkout happens on Stripe’s own hosted payment page — any cookies involved are set on stripe.com as part of completing the purchase you initiated, not on this site.

How we use it

To operate your membership: signing you in, remembering your comment history, and (if you subscribe to email updates) sending you new posts.
To keep the site running securely, e.g. detecting abuse in server logs.
To respond if you contact us directly.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with advertisers. If you subscribe to a paid tier, billing is handled entirely by Stripe, our payment processor — we never see or store your full card details. Stripe processes that payment data under its own privacy policy, solely to complete and maintain your subscription.

This site runs on self-hosted Ghost software, and email delivery (for member sign-in links and any post notifications) is handled by our email sending provider acting solely on our instructions. If you subscribe to a paid tier, Stripe receives the billing and payment details needed to process that subscription. Beyond those, nobody else receives your data, and it isn't used for anything beyond running this site.

How long we keep it

Member and comment data is kept for as long as your account exists. Server logs are kept briefly for security purposes and then discarded on a rolling basis.

Your rights

You can update or remove your display name at any time from your account settings. To access, export, or delete your data — including your comment history — email contact@whywecanthavenicethings.info and we'll handle it directly; this is a small, independently run site, so there's an actual person reading that inbox.

Children's privacy

This site isn't directed at children, and we don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we'll remove it.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we'll update the date at the top of this page. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the update.

Policy history

Every substantive change to this policy is logged here, with a link to the exact version it replaced.

31 July 2026 — Clarified cookie handling (Cloudflare Turnstile on the cancellation form, Stripe on paid-tier checkout) and corrected the payment section to reflect that paid memberships now exist and are billed through Stripe. View the previous version →

Everything is fine, except everything — but your inbox stays yours.