This policy explains what information Upful (upful.co.uk) collects when you use the site or sign up to the newsletter, why, and what your rights are. We keep data collection to the minimum needed to run the site. Last updated: 18 October 2026.
Who we are
Upful is the controller of the personal data described here. You can contact us about privacy at news@upful.co.uk.
Reading the site
- No advertising. We don’t run ads, and we don’t use Facebook pixels or any advertising trackers.
- Cookieless Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which stories are read, in a cookieless mode: it sets no cookies and stores nothing on your device, and it doesn’t build a profile of you across visits. Your browser sends Google an anonymous signal for each page view, which includes technical details such as your browser type and approximate location derived from your IP address. Google processes this under its privacy policy. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in understanding how the site is used.
- Anonymous view counts. When you open a story, your browser sends a simple signal that adds one to that story’s view count, which powers our “Most read” list. We store only the count — nothing that identifies you.
- Server logs. Like every website, our hosting provider automatically records technical information such as IP addresses and browser types in server logs, used for security and to keep the site running. These are kept for a limited period and not used to identify readers.
- Fonts and images are served from our own site, so loading a page doesn’t send your data to other companies.
- Share buttons are plain links. Nothing is sent to Facebook, X, WhatsApp or any other service unless you click one — at which point that service’s own privacy policy applies.
Cookies and similar storage
We use one small cookie and some temporary browser storage, all strictly to make the site work the way you’d expect:
upful_nl— remembers that you’ve signed up to the newsletter (kept for 12 months) or closed the newsletter pop-up (kept for 30 days), so we don’t ask you again.- Session storage — remembers, until you close the tab, that you’ve already seen the pop-up and which stories you’ve opened, so a story isn’t counted twice.
None of these contain personal information or are used for advertising. If you log in to the site’s admin area, WordPress sets its own login cookies.
The newsletter
If you sign up, we store your email address, the date you subscribed and your confirmation, using the MailPoet newsletter system on our own website. We ask you to confirm by email before we send you anything. We use your address only to send you the Upful newsletter; we never sell it or share it for marketing.
To understand what readers find useful, our newsletters record whether an email is opened and which links are clicked. Every email includes an unsubscribe link; unsubscribing stops all emails straight away. Our lawful basis is your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
How long we keep data
We keep your newsletter details for as long as you’re subscribed. If you unsubscribe, we keep a record of your address and that you unsubscribed only so we don’t email you again by mistake; ask us and we’ll delete it entirely.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask to see the personal data we hold about you, have it corrected or deleted, restrict or object to how we use it, and receive a copy of it. Email news@upful.co.uk and we’ll respond within one month. If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we use your data, we’ll update this page and the date at the top.