Privacy & cookies
What this desk remembers—and what it doesn’t
A plain-language note about the small amount of state and the outside services that appear only when you choose them.
The short version
Reading stories does not create an Editor’s Desk account. The site does not run advertising pixels or behavioral analytics, and it does not sell visitor data. Lamp and sound preferences stay in this browser’s local storage; they are not cookies.
The shared vase cookie
When you choose a flower, the site may set a random opaque, HTTP-only, SameSite visitor cookie so one browser can make one soft-limited contribution per issue month. The server stores only a month-scoped HMAC hash of that value alongside the issue, flower, and timestamp. It stores no name, message, email address, or IP address. Clearing the cookie can bypass the soft limit; there is no account-backed identity here.
Services you choose to open
Cloudflare Turnstile appears only when the vase contribution flow is opened. Its token is checked server-side before a flower is written. Cloudflare’s privacy policy describes its processing.
Buttondown receives a subscription form submission directly. It handles validation, CAPTCHA, duplicate handling, and double opt-in; Editor’s Desk does not store the address. See Buttondown’s privacy policy.
Spotify’s player is loaded only after you open an article’s music card or choose the desk radio. Spotify then processes the player request under its own privacy policy; “Open in Spotify” remains available.
The calendar opens Google’s Appointment Schedule only after you select it. Google handles availability and booking on its own surface; this site stores no calendar token. Google’s privacy policy applies there.
Cloudflare Workers Logs are used for reliability and error diagnosis, not advertising or behavioral analytics. Cloudflare may process request metadata as the infrastructure provider; the application does not use those logs to build visitor profiles.
Your choices
You can decline to open the vase, music, calendar, social links, or subscription form. You can clear the vase cookie and local preferences in your browser. No non-essential tracking is loaded on page entry, so there is no consent banner to dismiss today. If that changes, a consent choice will appear before new non-essential tools load.