Privacy policy

Catch Rowing is a rowing news publication. This page explains what we collect, why, and what you can ask us to do about it.

The short version

Reading this site requires no account. We measure how our coverage is read, using a product analytics service, but only if you agree to it — that is the small card on your first visit, and declining is one click. Nothing on the site waits for your answer. We also keep a plain count of how often each article is opened, which involves nothing on your device and nothing about you, so it needs no permission and asks for none. You can tell us whether an article was worth reading. All three are described below. We do not run advertising networks, and we do not sell or share personal data. Beyond that, the only personal data we hold is what you send us, plus what our editors need to run the newsroom.

When you read the site

Pages are served as pre-rendered files from a content delivery network. Our hosting provider records standard server logs — IP address, timestamp, requested URL and browser user-agent — to deliver pages and protect against abuse. We do not use these logs to build a profile of you.

Two things are kept in your browser without asking, because both exist only to do what you asked for: your light/dark theme choice, under catchrowing-theme, and your answer to the analytics question below, under catchrowing-analytics-consent. Both sit in localStorage, neither is a cookie, and neither leaves your device. Clearing site data removes them.

Some images may be loaded from other sites when an editor links rather than uploads them. Those requests reach the host serving the image, which will see your IP address.

Analytics

We use PostHog to understand which coverage is read and how people move around the site, and it runs only if you agree to it. Until you answer, nothing is loaded — so there is nothing to undo if you say no, and nothing to wait for if you would rather not answer at all.

If you accept, it records page views and interactions such as clicks, along with your browser and device type, referring page, and an approximate location derived from your IP address. To recognise a returning browser it stores an identifier in cookies and in localStorageon your device — a random string, not your name or address, and we do not attempt to link it to a real person. Data is processed on PostHog’s European infrastructure, and we use it in aggregate to make editorial decisions.

If you decline, none of that happens. Either way we remember the answer so you are not asked again, and you can change it whenever you like with the Cookies link at the foot of any page — declining after having accepted also clears what was stored. A browser that blocks analytics scripts, or private browsing, keeps you out of it regardless.

Counting how a story was read

Separately from the above, and whatever you answer to it, we keep a running tally of how many times each article was opened and how many times a headline on this site was clicked through to it. This runs for everyone because there is nothing in it to consent to: nothing is written to or read from your device, no cookie or identifier is involved, and no IP address, browser or location is recorded. What is stored is a number per article per day — that a story was opened four hundred times, not that you were one of them, because we have no way of knowing that and have not built one.

For a click we also store which page of ours it was clicked from, as a path such as /category/racing — never the address you came from elsewhere, and never a query string. The totals are visible only to our newsroom, and we use them to decide what to cover. They are never shown on the page as a popularity score.

Voting on an article

At the end of an article you can say whether it was worth reading. That records the article, which way you voted, and a random token that lets us count one reader once. The token is kept in a cookie that expires when you close your browser, and your browser also remembers your choice for the current session so the buttons stay settled. No account and no IP address is stored with a vote, and the totals are visible only to our newsroom — never shown on the page.

The newsletter list

If you leave your address — in the footer, or in the small prompt that appears once in the corner on a large screen — we store it, the page you left it on, and the date. That is all: no name, and nothing bought in from anywhere else. We will use it to tell you when a newsletter starts, and for the newsletter itself once it does. We don’t sell or share the list, and every message we send will carry a way off it. Ask us to remove you at any time and we will.

Your browser also keeps a note under catchrowing-newsletter in localStorage recording that you have signed up or been asked, which is what stops the prompt appearing a second time. It never leaves your device, and clearing site data removes it.

When you email us

Mail sent to an @catchrowing.news address is delivered through Maileroo and stored in our newsroom system so we can read and reply. That includes your address, name, message and any attachments.

Mail addressed to a named editor is visible only to that editor. Mail to a general address goes to a shared inbox readable by administrators. We keep correspondence while it is relevant to our journalism and delete it when it is not.

If you contact us confidentially as a source, say so in your first message and we will handle it accordingly.

Editors and contributors

People who write for us have an account holding their email address, display name and role. That exists solely to operate the publication.

Who processes data for us

• Vercel — hosting and content delivery
• Supabase — database, authentication and file storage
• Maileroo — sending and receiving email
• PostHog — product analytics, processed in the EU

Each processes data on our instructions to run the site. Data may be stored or processed outside your country, including in the United States, under the safeguards those providers offer.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal data, to object to processing, or to complain to a data protection authority. To exercise any of these, email privacy@catchrowing.news. We will respond within one month.

Children

We cover junior and school rowing, so we report on young athletes. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children through this site. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we hold something we should not, or you want a photograph or name removed, contact us and we will deal with it promptly.

Changes

If we change how we handle data we will update this page and the date above. Material changes will be flagged on the site.

Contact

privacy@catchrowing.news — or see our terms of use.