Most privacy policies are long because somebody is collecting a lot. Popkulturist is not. The site still has to make the small amount of processing it does clear.
There are no behavioural ads or cross-site profiles here, and reader data is not sold.
Who's behind this
Benjamin Adam Touati, operating as Popkulturist, is the data controller for this site. For privacy questions, write to ben@popkulturist.com. Full legal details and contact information are on the Imprint page.
Audience measurement
Popkulturist uses GoatCounter for privacy-preserving aggregate analytics. It sets no cookies and does not store raw IP addresses or full User-Agent strings in its database or on disk. To distinguish repeat visits, GoatCounter temporarily keeps the site name, IP address and User-Agent in memory for up to eight hours, maps that combination to a random identifier, and then discards the mapping. Aggregate information such as page, referrer, browser family, country, language and screen width may be counted.
There is no advertising tracker or behavioural-profiling consent banner. The site does use a small amount of functional browser storage for features you ask it to remember; that is described below.
Local browser storage
Some preferences stay on your own device. The newsletter prompt can remember that you subscribed or dismissed it. Arcade remembers best runs, sound and game preferences, and the name you last entered. That information stays in the browser unless you choose to submit a score to the global leaderboard. Clearing this site's browser storage removes it.
Arcade leaderboard
Press Run has an optional global Desk of Record. If you submit a run, the chosen name, score and run details are sent to a small leaderboard service at press-run.popkulturist.workers.dev. The request travels through Cloudflare infrastructure, which necessarily handles ordinary connection data such as an IP address in order to deliver it. Nothing is sent to the leaderboard until you choose to submit.
YouTube embeds, before the click
Several pieces include YouTube videos. When the article loads, Popkulturist shows a thumbnail and play button rather than loading the YouTube player. The thumbnail itself is requested from Google's image servers, so normal request data such as your IP address reaches Google. YouTube's player, scripts and player cookies are not loaded until you press play. From that point, the embed behaves like a normal YouTube embed.
Newsletter signups
If you subscribe, your email address goes to Buttondown, the service used to send the newsletter. Its processing can include the email address, IP address, referrer metadata and subscription timestamps. Delivery information may also be recorded, including bounces and, depending on the newsletter settings, opens or clicks. You can unsubscribe using the link in every issue. Popkulturist does not sell the list or give advertisers access to it.
Hosting and server data
The site is hosted on Netlify. Like any web host, it processes ordinary request and device information, including IP addresses and browser/device data, to deliver the site, keep it secure and respond to abuse. Popkulturist does not use Netlify's server data to build advertising profiles.
Your rights under GDPR
You have the right to:
- Request a copy of personal data held about you
- Have inaccurate data corrected
- Ask for data to be deleted where the law gives you that right
- Object to or restrict certain processing
- Receive eligible data in a portable format
- Complain to the Swedish data protection authority, Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten (IMY)
To exercise any of these rights, email ben@popkulturist.com. GDPR requires a response without undue delay and ordinarily within one month. In complex cases, the regulation allows a limited extension if you are told about it.
International transfers
GoatCounter's hosted service stores data on servers in Finland and Germany. Buttondown is US-based and its data-processing agreement uses the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses for covered transfers. Netlify is US-based and documents Standard Contractual Clauses as well as participation in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The optional Arcade leaderboard runs through Cloudflare infrastructure. Cloudflare documents its own safeguards for international transfers, including the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and Standard Contractual Clauses.
Changes to this policy
Material changes will be noted at the top of this page with a date. Minor edits (typos, link fixes) won't.
Last updated: 2 September 2026