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Agent Mode AI
Publication

Privacy

This page describes what Agent Mode AI collects, why, how long it is kept, and how to change the choice. The publication's job is enterprise IT analysis; the privacy posture should match the standard the publication holds vendors to.

The default

Until a reader makes a choice, the site runs analytics in cookieless, aggregate-only mode. No persistent identifiers are written. No profile is built across sessions. Page-view counts, country-level geography, and traffic source (organic search, direct, referral) are recorded as anonymous aggregates so the publication can tell which articles are being read and where readers are arriving from.

On the first visit, a small banner at the bottom of the screen offers two choices — Accept or Decline. Both are real. Both have equal visual weight. Decline keeps the default cookieless mode. The choice is reversible at any time via the "Cookie preferences" link in the footer.

What is collected

Vercel Web Analytics + Speed Insights

The site is hosted on Vercel. Vercel's first-party analytics record page-view counts, country, browser, and Core Web Vitals (page-load performance metrics like Largest Contentful Paint and Interaction to Next Paint). The data is anonymous, contains no personal identifiers, and is not linkable to an individual reader. Vercel does not set tracking cookies for this product. This runs regardless of the consent choice because there is no personal data involved.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

GA4 measures traffic acquisition (UTM tracking, referrer flow, conversion paths) and aggregate engagement.

  • Before consent: GA4 runs in Consent Mode v2 with all storage categories denied. Cookieless pings still fire — these provide aggregate page-view counts and country-level geography but do not write cookies, do not stitch sessions across visits, and do not enable demographics or interests.
  • After Accept: GA4 sets first-party cookies (_ga and _ga_*), persists for two years per Google's default. IP addresses are anonymised before storage. Google Signals (cross-device tracking) and ad personalization signals are explicitly disabled at the property level. The data is used only to understand how readers find articles and how the writing performs.
  • Retention: 14 months at the event level (configured in the GA4 property), after which event-level data is automatically deleted. Aggregate reports persist longer.

Microsoft Clarity

Clarity provides scroll depth, time on page, dead-click detection, heatmaps, and session recordings — used to understand how articles are being read and where readers drop off.

  • Before consent: Clarity runs in its default privacy mode. Microsoft documents this as GDPR/CCPA-compliant without explicit consent under default settings.
  • After Accept: session recordings activate. Recordings are masked by default — input fields, contact forms, and any element marked sensitive are blacked out so personal data is never captured. The publication does not collect form data into Clarity.
  • Retention: 30 days for session recordings, longer for aggregated heatmap data.

Newsletter (Beehiiv)

The newsletter is hosted on Beehiiv. When a reader subscribes, the email address and any consent timestamp are passed to Beehiiv along with a UTM source tag identifying which surface the subscription came from (site footer, GAUGE diagnostic, MTTD lead magnet, etc.). Beehiiv tracks open and click aggregates. Unsubscribe is one-click in every send. Email addresses are not shared, sold, or used for any purpose other than the newsletter itself.

What is not collected

  • No advertising trackers. The site runs no ad networks, no retargeting pixels.
  • No cross-site tracking. The third-party tools listed above operate within their own scopes; nothing chains an identity across the broader web.
  • No demographics or interest profiles. Google Signals is disabled at the property level.
  • No fingerprinting. The site does not run any scripts that derive identity from device characteristics.
  • No form data into analytics. Sensitive inputs (email signup, contact forms, the GAUGE diagnostic) are masked from Clarity recordings and not sent to GA4.

The consent storage

The reader's choice is stored in the browser's localStorage under the key agentmodeai-consent, with the value granted or denied. This is a single string in browser storage, not a cookie. It is not transmitted to any server. Clearing browser storage or using the footer "Cookie preferences" link clears the choice and re-prompts.

Rights under GDPR

Readers in jurisdictions covered by the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the UK GDPR, or equivalent regimes have the following rights with respect to data collected by this site:

  • Right to access. A reader can request a copy of the data this site holds about them. In practice, the site does not hold personal data in any queryable form — analytics data is aggregated at Google's and Microsoft's end and cannot be linked back to a specific individual without information the reader did not provide.
  • Right to rectification. Newsletter subscribers can update or correct their email address by replying to any newsletter or contacting the address below.
  • Right to erasure. Newsletter subscribers can unsubscribe one-click from any send; this removes the address from Beehiiv. To request deletion of any analytics data Google or Microsoft hold for this site's traffic, contact the address below and the request will be forwarded to the relevant processor.
  • Right to withdraw consent. The footer "Cookie preferences" link clears the stored choice and re-shows the consent banner. Declining keeps analytics in default-denied mode going forward.
  • Right to lodge a complaint. A reader who believes their data has been mishandled can complain to their national data protection authority. In the Netherlands (where this site is operated): the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.

Data processors

The third parties that process data on behalf of this site:

Contact

For any privacy question, including a request to exercise the rights above, email peter.walda@agentmodeai.com. Responses target a 14-day window; complex requests may take longer and the reader will be told why.

Updates

This page is reviewed when the analytics surface changes. The current version is dated 26 Apr 2026. If a material change is made, the publication's pattern of "nothing is quietly rewritten" applies here too: the previous version stays accessible via the site's git history, and material changes are announced in the newsletter.

The broader editorial charter — review cycles, corrections, disclosure — is at editorial standards.

Vigil · 35 reviewed