Privacy Policy

Updated October 31, 2025

Who we are

My name is Luke, and this is my personal blog. My website address is: https://beyondthelogos.org.

Your privacy is important to me. This policy explains what personal data I collect from you and how I use it. If you have any questions, you can contact me at: [email protected]

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

I collect data in a few different ways, which are explained below. I only collect what is necessary to run this blog, protect it from hackers, and interact with readers.

1. Comments

When you leave a comment, I collect the data shown in the comments form (like your name and email address), your IP address, and your browser user agent string. This is used to help detect and prevent spam.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. This is so your profile picture can appear next to your comment. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/.

2. Spam Detection

Visitor comments are checked through an automated spam detection service called Akismet. This service collects information including the commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, and site URL, along with the comment data itself.

3. Security

This site uses the Wordfence plugin to protect against hackers and malicious activity. To do this, Wordfence logs the IP addresses of visitors, which are checked against a list of known malicious IPs. This is a legitimate interest to protect the security and integrity of this website.

4. Donations

If you choose to make a donation, your payment is processed by a third-party payment processor, such as Stripe or PayPal. These services will collect payment and billing information from you. I do not see, collect, or store your credit card details or full payment information on this website. Please review the privacy policy of the payment service you choose for more details.

5. Newsletter or Contact Forms

If you sign up for my newsletter or use a contact form, I will collect the information you provide (such as your name and email address). I use this only for the purpose you provided it: to send you the newsletter or to reply to your message.

6. Cookies

This site uses cookies (small text files stored on your computer) for a few reasons:

• For Functionality: If you leave a comment, you may opt-in to saving your name, email, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so you don’t have to fill in your details again. These cookies last for one year.
• For Cookie Consent: The Complianz plugin I use to manage your privacy choices also sets a cookie to remember your consent preferences.

For a complete and up-to-date list of all cookies and to manage your consent, please use the cookie banner and settings provided by the Complianz plugin.

7. Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., YouTube videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if you had visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, especially if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who we share your data with

I do not sell your personal data. I only share it with the following third-party services who help this blog function:

• Automattic (Akismet & Gravatar): To prevent spam and display your profile picture. Their privacy policy is here.
• Wordfence (Defiant, Inc.): To secure the website. Their privacy policy is here.
• Stripe / PayPal: To process donations. (Their privacy policies are available on their respective websites).
• The Newsletter Plugin: To send newsletters you’ve signed up for. Their privacy policy is here.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so I can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically.

If you sign up for the newsletter, I retain your information for as long as you remain subscribed. Security logs from Wordfence are typically kept for a limited period (e.g., 90 days) before being deleted.

What rights you have over your data

You have rights over your personal data. In plain English, you have the right to:

• Access: You can request a copy of the personal data I hold about you.
• Correct: You can ask me to correct any information you believe is inaccurate.
• Erase: You can request that I erase your personal data (such as your comments).

If you have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data I hold about you. You can also request that I erase any personal data I hold about you.

This does not include any data I am obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes (for example, donation records for tax purposes, or security logs).

To exercise any of these rights, please email me at: [email protected].