How Forkast collects, uses, and protects your personal information — and your rights under GDPR, CCPA, and CPRA.
Last Updated: July 25, 2026
Forkast (“we,” “us,” or “our”) publishes news and analysis on artificial intelligence policy, regulation, and markets at forkast.news. This Privacy Policy describes the data we collect from readers, how we use it, and the choices you have.
1. What We Collect
When You Interact With Us
- Newsletter subscriptions: Your email address. We use this solely to deliver the newsletters you request.
- Reader correspondence: If you email us (including tips, corrections, or feedback), we retain the message and your return address.
- Account creation: If we offer account features in the future, we will collect the minimum information needed to operate them and disclose specifics at the point of collection.
When You Read forkast.news
We automatically collect limited technical data from every visitor:
| Data Type | Examples | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Usage data | Pages visited, scroll depth, time on page, referring URL | Editorial analytics — understanding which stories reach readers |
| Device data | Browser type and version, operating system, screen resolution | Ensuring the site renders correctly across devices |
| Network data | IP address (truncated before storage), approximate geographic region (country/region level) | Understanding our readership geography; detecting abuse |
| Referral source | The site or search engine that sent you | Measuring distribution channel effectiveness |
We do not collect: biometric data, financial information, precise geolocation, or data from other apps or services on your device.
Cookies We Set
| Cookie Name | Type | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga |
Analytics (Google Analytics) | 2 years | Distinguishes unique visitors for aggregate traffic reporting |
_ga_<container-id> |
Analytics (Google Analytics) | 2 years | Maintains session state for Google Analytics |
_gid |
Analytics (Google Analytics) | 24 hours | Distinguishes unique visitors within a single day |
_gat |
Analytics (Google Analytics) | 1 minute | Throttles request rate to Google Analytics servers |
forkast_consent |
Essential | 1 year | Records your cookie consent preferences |
forkast_session |
Essential | Session | Maintains your session state while browsing |
You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling analytics cookies will not affect your ability to read any content on the site. Disabling essential cookies may prevent certain site features from functioning.
Analytics Provider
We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how readers engage with Forkast. Google Analytics collects the data described above and processes it on our behalf. Google’s ability to use this data for its own purposes is governed by the Google Analytics terms and Google’s privacy policy. We have enabled IP anonymization, which truncates your IP address before Google stores it.
We do not use any other third-party analytics providers, advertising networks, or data brokers.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use collected data for these specific purposes:
- Delivering newsletters you subscribed to (your email address)
- Understanding readership patterns — which stories get read, how readers navigate, where our audience is geographically (aggregate analytics data)
- Maintaining site performance — identifying broken pages, slow-loading content, and technical issues (device and usage data)
- Responding to reader correspondence (your email and message content)
- Detecting and preventing abuse — automated scraping, denial-of-service attacks, and unauthorized access attempts (network and usage data)
- Legal compliance — responding to valid legal process
We do not use your data for: targeted advertising, profiling, automated decision-making that affects you, or selling to third parties.
3. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell your personal information. We share data only in these circumstances:
- Google Analytics: Processes browsing data on our behalf as described above. Google acts as our data processor for analytics purposes.
- Email service provider: Delivers newsletters to subscribers. Your email address is shared with this provider solely for delivery.
- Legal process: We will disclose information if compelled by a valid subpoena, court order, or other legally binding request. Where legally permitted, we will notify you before disclosing your data.
- Business transfers: If Forkast is acquired, merged, or its assets are transferred, reader data may transfer as part of that transaction. We will notify readers of any such change.
4. How Long We Keep Your Data
| Data Category | Retention Period | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Newsletter email addresses | Duration of subscription + 30 days after unsubscribe | Allows re-subscription without re-entering; 30-day buffer for delivery system processing |
| Reader correspondence | 3 years from last exchange | Allows us to reference prior communications if you write again |
| Analytics data (Google Analytics) | 14 months (Google’s default; we have not extended this) | Long enough to compare year-over-year readership trends; short enough to limit historical tracking |
| Server access logs | 90 days | Security monitoring and abuse detection |
| Cookie consent records | 1 year (matches consent cookie duration) | Demonstrating compliance with consent requirements |
After these periods, data is deleted or irreversibly anonymized. We review retention schedules annually.
5. Your Rights
If You Are in the European Economic Area (GDPR)
Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Rectification of inaccurate data
- Erasure (“right to be forgotten”) — request deletion of your data
- Restrict processing — ask us to limit how we use your data
- Data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect processing that occurred before withdrawal)
- Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority
Legal basis for processing: We process newsletter subscriptions and correspondence under your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). We process analytics data under our legitimate interest in understanding readership (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). You may object to analytics processing at any time by disabling analytics cookies or contacting us.
If You Are a California Resident (CCPA/CPRA)
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act and the California Privacy Rights Act, you have the right to:
- Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose
- Delete your personal information
- Correct inaccurate personal information
- Opt out of sale or sharing — we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA/CPRA
- Limit use of sensitive personal information — we do not collect sensitive personal information as defined under the CPRA
- Non-discrimination for exercising your rights
To exercise any right under this section, contact us at privacy@forkast.news. We will verify your request by matching it to the information we hold (typically your email address) and respond within 45 days.
6. Data Security
We protect reader data using:
- Encryption in transit: All pages on forkast.news are served over HTTPS (TLS 1.2+).
- Access controls: Staff access to reader data is limited to personnel who need it for their role.
- Infrastructure security: Our hosting provider implements standard server and network security measures.
- No stored payment data: We do not process or store payment card information through the site.
No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a breach affecting your personal data, we will notify you and relevant authorities as required by law.
7. International Data Transfers
Forkast is operated from the United States. If you access the site from outside the U.S., your data will be transferred to and processed in the United States. For transfers from the EEA, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or other appropriate safeguards where required.
8. Children’s Privacy
Forkast is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If we learn we have collected such information, we will delete it promptly.
9. Third-Party Links
Our articles frequently link to government documents, regulatory filings, research papers, and other external sources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. Review their privacy policies independently.
10. Changes to This Policy
We will post any changes to this page and update the “Last Updated” date. Material changes will be noted on our homepage or in a newsletter for a reasonable period after publication. Continued use of the site after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.
11. Contact Us
Questions, requests, or concerns about this Privacy Policy:
Forkast Privacy
Email: privacy@forkast.news
For GDPR-related requests, you may also contact our designated representative (if applicable) or your local data protection authority.