Privacy
This site is a place to read and explore, not a machine for harvesting you. Here is exactly what happens to your data, in the order that matters.
If you join the newsletter, Ayestor stores your email address so it can send you the newsletter. That is the whole of what this site collects about you. There is no analytics, there is no advertising, there are no tracking pixels, and nothing is ever sold or shared for marketing.
The longer version below exists because "we collect nothing" is almost never literally true on the web: loading any page means asking someone's server for a file, and that server sees the request. This page names every one of those third parties honestly rather than hiding them behind a cookie banner.
Who is responsible
Ayestor is the creative universe of Paul Horrell, who is the data controller for this site. To ask anything about your data, or to have it removed, write to paul@ayestor.com. You will be dealing with a person, not a ticketing system.
What is collected, and why
Your email address, if you choose to give it
The only place this site asks you for anything is the newsletter form, which appears in the footer of most pages and in the sign-up bands on the homepage and the Proof of Human book page. Submitting it sends your email address to Kit, the newsletter provider, which stores it and sends the emails.
- What is stored: your email address, and the date you subscribed.
- Why: so the newsletter can reach you. That is the only use.
- Your consent: Kit runs double opt in, so nothing is sent until you confirm by clicking a link in a first email. Not confirming means you are never mailed.
- How long: until you unsubscribe. Every email carries an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing removes you.
- Where: Kit is a United States company, so your email address is stored outside the UK and the EEA. Kit's own privacy policy covers how it handles that data.
The newsletter is not a shop and does not profile you. There is no segmentation by what you clicked, no lead scoring, and no third party ever receives the list.
Server logs
This site is served by Netlify, which like every web host records requests to its servers. Those records can include your IP address, the page requested, the time, and your browser's user agent string. They are Netlify's operational logs, used to serve the site and keep it running; they are not read, analysed or exported by Ayestor.
What this site does NOT do
- No analytics. There is no Google Analytics, no Tag Manager, no Plausible, no Fathom, and no home-grown equivalent. Nobody counts your visit.
- No advertising or tracking pixels. No Meta pixel, no ad network, no retargeting, no fingerprinting.
- No cookies of its own. Ayestor sets no cookies and writes nothing to local storage. That is why you have never seen a cookie banner here, and why you never will.
- No accounts. Reading the books requires no login, because there is nothing to log in to.
- No selling or sharing. Your email address is never sold, rented, traded or handed to anyone for their own purposes.
Third parties your browser contacts
Three services receive a request from your browser when you use this site. None of them are chosen for tracking; they are how the site is typed, hosted and illustrated.
fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. Google receives the request, including your IP address, in order to serve the font files.Each of these is governed by that company's own privacy policy, not this one. If you want none of them, a content blocker will stop the fonts and the video player; the site is built to remain readable without either.
Your rights
Under UK and EU data protection law you can ask to see what is held about you, to have it corrected, to have it deleted, to withdraw consent, and to receive a copy in a portable form. In practice, for this site, all of those come down to one email address held by Kit, so:
- To stop receiving email: click unsubscribe in any newsletter, which takes effect immediately.
- To be deleted entirely: email paul@ayestor.com and your record will be removed from Kit.
- To see what is held: email the same address and you will be told, which will be your email address and a subscription date.
If you believe your data has been mishandled you have the right to complain to a supervisory authority, which in the UK is the Information Commissioner's Office.
Children
This site is not aimed at children. Proof of Human and Song of the Dreamer both carry adult themes and violence, and are written for adult readers. The newsletter is not knowingly offered to anyone under 16.
Changes
If what the site does changes, this page changes with it, and the date below moves. Anything that would materially alter how your data is handled, such as adding analytics or a shop, will be described here before it happens rather than after.
Last updated 31 July 2026