Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 25, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how h4ck3d.com (the “Site”), operated by Patrick Clinger, handles information. The Site is a personal technical blog with no user accounts or direct payment processing.

When you request a page, normal web infrastructure receives information needed to deliver and protect it. This may include your IP address, request time, requested URL, referring page, browser or device information, and security or diagnostic signals.

The Site is hosted on Cloudflare Pages. Cloudflare may process request and operational log data to deliver, secure, and diagnose the service under its own agreements and policies. Learn more in Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy.

Patrick does not intentionally provide Cloudflare with sensitive personal information. Log availability and retention depend on the Cloudflare services and account settings in use.

The Site may use Google Analytics 4 (“GA4”) to understand aggregate readership, such as which pages are visited and general device categories.

The Site uses a basic consent approach. Google’s analytics script is not requested and no analytics measurement is sent to Google unless you choose “Allow analytics” in the Site’s analytics control. Declining leaves GA4 unloaded. The Site stores your allow or decline choice in your browser so it can honor that choice on later visits.

If you allow analytics, GA4 may set analytics cookies and process device and usage information. Requests to Google necessarily include an IP address. See Google’s Privacy Policy for its handling of this information.

When analytics is enabled, you can allow or decline it in the initial prompt and later change your choice from this section. Revoking consent disables further GA4 data collection in the current page and on later visits, and clears GA4 cookies where the browser allows. It cannot retract data already processed. Clearing browser storage also clears the saved choice and the Site may ask again.

The Site uses limited first-party browser storage:

• Theme preference: if you choose System, Light, or Dark, the selection is stored locally so the Site can display your chosen theme. This is functional and is not sent to Patrick.
• Analytics choice: when analytics is enabled, an allow or decline choice is stored locally so the Site can respect it. GA4 is not loaded for a declined or absent choice.
• GA4 cookies: these may be set only after you allow analytics.
• Substack embed: the subscription form is not loaded until you activate it. After activation, the third-party frame may use cookies or similar browser storage under Substack’s policies and your browser settings. The Site does not control that storage.

Browser settings can clear or block storage, although doing so may reset the theme or analytics choice.

The Site’s subscription control opens a click-to-load Substack signup form when your browser supports it; otherwise, it follows an ordinary link to Substack. The form is not loaded when a page first opens, so merely visiting the Site does not request it from Substack. No email address is sent to Substack unless you enter and submit one.

If you activate the form or follow the subscription link, your browser connects directly to Substack. Substack may receive the IP address, browser or device information, and other information ordinarily associated with that request, and may use cookies or similar technologies under Substack’s Privacy Policy. The embedded form uses a no-referrer policy, so the Site does not intentionally send its page address in the referrer header. Substack handles subscription, confirmation, delivery, subscription records, and unsubscribe controls.

If you email Patrick, the message may include your email address, name, message content, attachments, and any information you choose to provide. This information is used to read, route, respond to, maintain reasonable correspondence records, prevent abuse, and protect legal or security interests.

Please do not send passwords, private keys, financial account details, or other sensitive information by email.

Blog posts may link to third-party sites. Following a link sends a request to that provider, which handles information under its own policy.

Information is used to:

• deliver, secure, maintain, and diagnose the Site;
• understand aggregate readership after analytics consent;
• manage newsletter subscriptions and delivery through Substack;
• respond to direct communications;
• comply with applicable law or valid legal process; and
• establish, exercise, or defend legal rights and prevent abuse.

Information may be disclosed when reasonably necessary to comply with law, protect people or systems, or address fraud and security incidents.

Retention varies by context:

• Cloudflare retains operational data according to the services and account settings in use.
• GA4 retention is controlled in the Analytics property.
• Substack retains subscription and delivery records under its settings and policies.
• Contact messages are kept only as reasonably useful for correspondence, records, security, or legal needs, then deleted or allowed to age out through ordinary mailbox practices.
• Theme and analytics choices remain in your browser until you change them, clear storage, or the Site changes the storage key.

You can decline analytics, change the saved analytics choice, clear browser storage, use browser tracking protections, unsubscribe from newsletter emails, and choose not to send contact information.

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have privacy rights concerning information about you. To ask a privacy question or make a request, visit the Contact section. Patrick may need enough information to understand and verify a request and may limit a request where permitted by law or where the Site cannot reasonably identify responsive data.

The Site is available internationally. Cloudflare, Google, Substack, and email providers may process information in countries other than yours. Analytics remains opt-in worldwide.

The Site is not directed to children under 13 and does not knowingly seek their personal information. If you believe a child has sent personal information directly, please get in touch.

No internet transmission or storage system is perfectly secure. Please do not send secrets through the contact address.

This policy may change when the Site’s services, practices, or applicable guidance change. The effective date at the top will be updated.

For privacy questions and requests, visit the Contact section.