Privacy Policy

Last Updated: February 4, 2026

Privacy policies are usually written by lawyers who charge by the word. This one isn't. You came here to read about economics, not to wade through legal jargon that requires a law degree to understand. So we're going to explain what happens with your data in plain language, the same way we'd explain inflation or mortgage rates.

The Short Version: We don't collect personal information about you. We use anonymous analytics to see which articles people actually read (so we can write more of what you find useful), and Firebase stores the reaction counts when you click those little buttons at the bottom of articles. That's pretty much it.

What We Actually Collect

Anonymous Analytics

We use Google Analytics and Firebase Analytics to understand how the site gets used. This tells us things like how many people read the article about TFSAs versus the one about maple syrup tariffs. We see aggregate numbers, not individual visitors.

What the analytics show us:

  • Which articles get read and how often
  • How visitors find us (Google search, social media, that link your friend sent you)
  • What devices people use (helps us make sure the site works on phones)
  • General geographic regions (country and province level, not your address)

IP addresses get anonymized before we ever see them. We're not building profiles on you. We genuinely just want to know if anyone's reading this stuff.

Article Reactions

Those reaction buttons at the bottom of articles (the Mind Blown, So Canadian, and Makes Sense ones) track total counts, not who clicked what. Firebase stores a number like "47 people found this mind-blowing." Your browser remembers that you already clicked so you don't accidentally vote twice, but that information stays on your device, not our servers.

Comments

If you post a comment, it gets stored in your browser's local storage. Not on our servers. This means your comments only appear on your own device unless you're on a shared computer. We don't require accounts, emails, or any personal information to comment.

Cookies

Yes, we use cookies. Three types:

  • Essential ones that make the site work (like remembering your cookie preferences, which is delightfully circular)
  • Analytics cookies for the anonymous usage data described above
  • Advertising cookies if you've agreed to personalized ads through Google AdSense

You can turn off the analytics and advertising cookies whenever you want. The essential ones stay because otherwise the site breaks.

Third-Party Services

We use a few external services that have their own privacy policies. In the interest of full disclosure:

Firebase (Google)

Stores the reaction counts for articles. No personal data, just numbers like "this article has 23 'So Canadian' reactions." Their privacy policy.

Google Analytics

Provides the anonymous usage statistics. We have IP anonymization turned on because we actually mean it when we say anonymous. Their privacy policy.

Google AdSense

Displays advertisements that help keep the lights on. You can choose whether to see personalized ads or generic ones through the cookie settings. Their privacy policy.

Amazon Associates

When we recommend books about economics or personal finance, we sometimes use affiliate links to Amazon.ca. If you buy something through those links, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Amazon tracks those purchases through their own systems. Their privacy notice.

Managing Your Cookie Preferences

You're in control of which cookies we use. Click the button below to adjust your preferences anytime:

You can also manage cookies through your browser:

Security

We take reasonable precautions with what little data exists:

  • The site uses HTTPS encryption for all connections
  • Firebase has security rules preventing unauthorized modifications
  • We don't store passwords, payment information, or anything that would be valuable to steal

Your Rights

Since we don't collect personal information, there's nothing to delete or modify. But you can:

  • Clear your browser's local storage to remove any locally-stored comments or reaction preferences
  • Adjust cookie settings through the button above
  • Install Google's Analytics Opt-out Add-on if you want to block analytics entirely

PIPEDA Compliance

As a Canadian website, we comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Given that we collect minimal anonymous data and no personal information, most of PIPEDA's requirements for personal data handling don't apply. We mention this because some privacy policies pretend Canadian law doesn't exist.

Children

This site isn't aimed at anyone under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from children. If you're a parent and think your kid somehow provided us with information, contact us and we'll sort it out.

Policy Updates

If we change how we handle data, we'll update this page and the date at the top. We're not going to suddenly start selling your information because, frankly, we don't have any to sell.

Questions?

If anything here is unclear, or you want to know more about how the site works, reach out:

We believe privacy policies should be readable by normal humans, not just lawyers. If you've made it this far, you now know more about our data practices than most people know about their banks'. And our data practices are considerably simpler.