Last updated: October 9, 2026
This policy explains what information Pixel Herald (“we”, “us”) collects when you visit this site, why, and the choices you have. We’re based in Texas, USA. If you have questions, email [email protected] or use our contact form.
The short version
- You can read Pixel Herald without an account, and we don’t sell your personal information.
- We collect what you choose to send us (comments and contact messages), plus standard technical data like your IP address in server logs.
- When advertising is enabled, our ad partners may use cookies to show and measure ads. Where the law requires it, they’ll ask for your consent first, and you can change your choices at any time.
Information you give us
- Comments. Comments under articles are run by Disqus (see below). We don’t store your comments or Disqus account details on our own servers.
- Newsletter. If you sign up for the Pixel Herald Weekly, we store your email address, the date you signed up and confirmed, where on the site you signed up, and an anonymized (hashed) form of your IP address used to stop abuse. We use your address only to send the newsletter and the confirmation email. We send from our own server and don’t share or sell your address. Every issue has a one-click unsubscribe link; after you unsubscribe we keep your address only as “unsubscribed” so we don’t email you again, and we delete it on request.
- Contact form. Messages you send through the contact form (your name, email, topic and message) are emailed to the site’s editors and kept only in that mailbox, for as long as needed to respond. To block spam, we keep a hashed (anonymized) form of your IP address for one hour to limit how many messages can be sent.
Information collected automatically
- Server logs. Like nearly every website, our server records each request: IP address, the page requested, the date and time, the referring page and your browser type. We use logs for security and troubleshooting, and they’re deleted automatically after 14 days.
- Article view counts. We count how many times each article is viewed so we can show “Popular” stories. The count is a number stored with the article. To avoid counting the same reader twice, we briefly keep an anonymized (hashed) form of your IP address for 30 minutes. It isn’t linked to you.
- Analytics. We use Umami, an open-source analytics tool that we run on our own server; the data isn’t shared with any analytics company. It uses no cookies and doesn’t track you across sites. It records the pages you view, the referring site, your browser, operating system, device type and country. Your IP address is used to estimate your country and to create an anonymous visitor ID that changes daily; the IP address itself isn’t stored.
- Your preferences. If you switch between light and dark mode, that choice is saved in your own browser (local storage). It never leaves your device.
Cookies and advertising
Pixel Herald itself doesn’t use tracking cookies. WordPress may set functional cookies if you leave a comment (to remember your name and email, if you choose that) or log in.
Pixel Herald is supported by advertising. When ads are enabled, we work with third-party advertising partners, such as Google AdSense or another ad network. They may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers and similar technologies to serve ads, limit how often you see an ad, measure performance and, where allowed, personalize ads based on your visits to this and other websites.
- Google: Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to this and other sites. You can opt out of personalized advertising at Google Ads Settings. Learn more in how Google uses information from sites that use its services.
- Other networks: You can opt out of interest-based ads from many companies at aboutads.info and networkadvertising.org, and in the EU/UK at youronlinechoices.eu.
- Consent: Visitors in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, and in US states that require it, are shown a consent message before personalized ads or non-essential cookies are used. You can reopen it to change your choices at any time.
Our ad partners’ use of your information is governed by their own privacy policies. A list of our authorized sellers is published at /ads.txt once advertising is live.
Other third-party services
- Disqus: article comments are run by Disqus, Inc. When you scroll to the comments, the Disqus widget loads from Disqus’s servers, which may set cookies, show ads and collect data under the Disqus privacy policy.
- Gravatar: avatars come from Gravatar (Automattic), which receives an anonymized hash of the email address.
- Embedded content: articles and the Release Calendar show game trailers from YouTube. We show only a preview image until you press play; then the video loads from YouTube’s privacy-enhanced (youtube-nocookie.com) player, and YouTube may collect data about you. Other embedded posts (for example from X) behave as if you visited that site directly.
- Calendar downloads: “Add to calendar” and “Subscribe to calendar” give your calendar app a file from this site. We don’t receive any of your calendar data.
- Share buttons: the share links for X, Bluesky, Facebook and Reddit are plain links. Nothing is sent to those services unless you click one.
- Search engines: when we publish an article, we notify search engines through IndexNow. Only the article’s address is sent.
How we use information
We use information to run and secure the site, display comments, answer messages, understand what readers find useful, and fund the site through advertising. We don’t sell personal information for money. Where ad cookies count as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information under US state laws (such as California’s), you can opt out using the consent and opt-out tools above. We honor Global Privacy Control signals where the law requires it.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, including the EU/UK (GDPR) and California and other US states, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or get a copy of your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing, including targeted advertising. To make a request, email [email protected]. We’ll respond within the time the law requires and won’t discriminate against you for using your rights. If you’re in the EU/UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Where the GDPR applies, our legal bases are: your consent (for ad cookies and comments), our legitimate interests (site security, spam prevention and basic analytics), and responding to requests you make.
Children
Pixel Herald is a general-audience site and isn’t directed at children under 13 (under 16 in the EU/UK). We don’t knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we’ll delete it.
Security and storage
The site is served over HTTPS and hosted on servers in the United States. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable measures to protect the information we hold.
Changes to this policy
We’ll update this page when our practices change, for example when an ad network goes live, and change the “Last updated” date above.