Privacy

Routine access data

Hosting and network providers may process standard request data such as IP address, browser details, requested URL and time in order to deliver, secure and diagnose the service.

Cookie-free audience measurement

If you select “Accept analytics,” Cloudflare Web Analytics records aggregate information such as page views, visits, referring sites, approximate country, device type and page performance. Its analytics beacon does not use cookies, local storage or fingerprinting to identify readers. We use these totals to understand which reporting is useful and to improve the website.

Optional Google Analytics

If you select “Accept analytics,” Google Analytics measures page visits, referring sites, general device and browser information and interaction with the publication. Google may set cookies named _ga and _ga_*. We do not enable advertising personalization or Google Signals in the website configuration.

Neither Google nor Cloudflare audience analytics loads before you accept. Your choice is stored in your browser's local storage under a versioned Glimmer Wire preference. You can change or withdraw it at any time through “Analytics preferences” in the footer; withdrawing reloads the page without either analytics service and removes Glimmer Wire's accessible Google Analytics cookies. Hosting and security request processing is separate from optional audience measurement.

External sources

Evidence links open third-party websites. Their own privacy practices apply once you leave Glimmer Wire.

Listener ratings

Reading song and album scores creates no rating cookie. When you choose a star rating, a private browser cookie lets you change or remove that browser’s vote. This is separate from optional audience analytics. We store the song or album identifier, your chosen stars, a hashed browser token and timestamps; no name, email or device fingerprint. The public score is the average of current browser votes, not a verified-person poll.

The cookie lasts up to one year and renews when you rate or remove a rating. After a year without a voting action, your votes leave the average immediately; expired records are deleted in bounded batches as later voting traffic allows. “Remove my rating” on each song or album page withdraws that vote immediately. Clearing the cookie or changing browsers loses access to your votes without deleting them. Version one has no cross-device recovery. Short-lived security rate limits are separate from analytics; the ratings database stores no IP address.

Quiz progress

When you open the quiz, a private browser cookie lets us save answers, resume your round and keep your score and XP. No email, password or device fingerprint is used. This game cookie is separate from optional audience analytics. Your nickname is not a login; it and your score appear publicly only if you opt into the leaderboard.

The browser identifier lasts up to 180 days. Quiz progress is removed after 180 days of inactivity, and public weekly boards are available for up to 90 days. “Delete my quiz progress” on the quiz page removes your saved game data and public nickname and scores. Clearing the cookie or changing browsers loses access to progress, but does not itself delete the saved data. Version one has no cross-device recovery.

Contact messages

If you contact us, we use the information you provide to answer, investigate or document the request. Do not send confidential source material through ordinary email without first agreeing on a safer channel.

Changes

This notice will be updated before adding advertising, subscriptions, accounts or other processing that materially changes what readers should expect.