Effective date: October 18, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how GenAI Secret Sauce ("we", "us") collects, uses, and shares information when you visit genaisecretsauce.com, subscribe to our newsletter, or create a member account.
Contact
Questions or requests about your data: [email protected]
Information we collect
- Account and newsletter information: your email address and, if you provide it, your name. We use it to send you the posts and newsletters you signed up for and to let you sign in.
- Comments: if you comment on a post as a member, your name and comment are shown publicly with that post.
- Email engagement: whether you open our newsletters and which links you click, so we can understand which content is useful.
- Signup source: the page and referring site from which you subscribed.
- Usage and device data: pages visited, referring site, approximate location derived from IP address, browser and device type, and similar technical data collected by our analytics tools.
- Session recordings (only with your consent): if you accept analytics cookies, Microsoft Clarity records how you interact with pages (clicks, scrolling, mouse movement). Form fields and text are masked so that what you type is not captured.
We do not collect payment card details. Donations are handled entirely on PayPal's website under PayPal's privacy policy.
Cookies and similar technologies
When you first visit, we ask whether you accept analytics cookies. You can change your choice at any time using the Privacy choices link in the site footer. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as a refusal.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Type | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ghost-members-ssr, ghost-members-ssr.sig | Ghost (first party) | Keeps you signed in as a member | Strictly necessary | Up to 6 months |
gss_consent | GenAI Secret Sauce (first party) | Remembers your cookie choice | Strictly necessary | 6 months |
selected-theme (local storage) | GenAI Secret Sauce (first party) | Remembers light/dark mode | Strictly necessary | Until cleared |
_ga, _ga_* | Google Analytics | Measures visits and traffic sources | Analytics (consent) | Up to 2 years |
_clck, _clsk, CLID, MUID | Microsoft Clarity | Session recording and heatmaps | Analytics (consent) | 1 day to 1 year |
We also use two privacy-friendly analytics tools that do not set cookies and do not identify you: Ghost's built-in analytics and a self-hosted instance of Umami (which also honors your browser's Do Not Track setting).
How we use information
- To deliver newsletters and member features you request.
- To understand what content is read and improve the site.
- To keep the site secure and prevent abuse.
- To respond to you when you contact us.
We do not sell your personal information for money. Allowing Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity cookies may count as "sharing" for cross-context analytics under some US state laws; these tools load only if you accept them.
Service providers we share data with
- Ghost: publishing and membership software that runs this site. Hosted by PikaPods.
- Cloudflare: content delivery, security, and cookieless web analytics (Cloudflare Web Analytics) for all site traffic.
- Mailgun: sends newsletters and sign-in emails and records opens and clicks.
- Google Analytics (Google LLC): traffic analytics, with your consent.
- Microsoft Clarity (Microsoft Corporation): session recordings and heatmaps, with your consent.
- Umami: cookieless, self-hosted analytics running on PikaPods.
- YouTube (Google LLC): plays embedded videos in privacy-enhanced mode (
youtube-nocookie.com). YouTube does not set cookies until you play a video. - jsDelivr: delivers the scripts for Ghost's membership and search features.
- PayPal: processes donations on its own website if you choose to donate.
Some of these providers process data in the United States and other countries. Where required, they rely on safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU–US Data Privacy Framework.
Legal bases (EEA and UK visitors)
- Contract: to provide the newsletter or membership you sign up for.
- Consent: for Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.
- Legitimate interests: for cookieless aggregate analytics, security, and email engagement measurement.
How long we keep data
- Member and subscriber data: until you delete your account or unsubscribe and ask us to delete it.
- Google Analytics: event data is retained for 2 months.
- Microsoft Clarity: recordings are retained for up to 30 days, and heatmaps for up to 13 months.
- Email engagement data: kept with your member record.
Your choices and rights
- Unsubscribe from any email using the link at the bottom of that email, or from your account page.
- Cookies: change your choice any time via Privacy choices.
- Access, correction, deletion, portability, objection: email [email protected]. We respond within 30 days (45 days where California law applies). We may need to verify your request by confirming your email address.
- Opt out of sale/sharing (California and other US states): reject analytics cookies, or turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser.
- We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.
- EEA and UK residents may also complain to their local data protection authority.
Children
This site is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA), and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.
Security
All traffic is encrypted with HTTPS. Access to member data is limited to site administrators.
Changes to this policy
We will post any changes on this page and update the effective date above. If a change is material, we will notify members by email.