Conflict Gauge: Privacy Notice
1. Who is responsible
MergeSeat, eenmanszaak, KvK 42166850, the address registered with the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (KvK 42166850), the Netherlands, is the controller for personal data processed through conflictgauge.com, Conflict Gauge emails and Conflict Gauge accounts. Contact for any privacy question or request: editor@conflictgauge.com.
2. The short version
- We keep as little as the service needs: mainly your email address and what you subscribed to.
- Subscriber records are stored in the European Union (Microsoft Azure, North Europe region, Ireland).
- Emails from Conflict Gauge are sent through a service located in the United States (section 5).
- No advertising, no tracking pixels, no third-party analytics and no tracking cookies. We count page visits on our own server, without cookies and without identifying you.
- Payments are handled by Stripe. We never see or store your card number.
3. What we collect and why
| Data | When | Purpose | Legal basis (GDPR art. 6) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email address, digest consent version, sign-up source, confirmation and unsubscribe dates | Free digest sign-up | Send the free weekly digest; prove consent; let you unsubscribe in one click | Consent (6(1)(a)) |
| Email address, plan, subscription status and period end, Stripe customer and subscription references | Paid subscription | Give access, keep the subscription in step with payment | Contract (6(1)(b)) |
| Sign-in links and session records (stored as one-way hashes), times of sign-in and sign-out | Each sign-in | Sign you in by email link and keep you signed in | Contract (6(1)(b)) |
| Read-only API key (stored as a hash, with a visible prefix) | When you create a key | Let your own tools or agents read the machine-readable edition | Contract (6(1)(b)) |
| Per API key and day: request count, time of last use, and salted one-way hashes of the network prefixes used (never the IP address), kept 90 days. A fingerprint of the key in what it reads, which leads back to your account, kept with the account | Each request made with an API key | Enforce plan limits and prevent key sharing | Legitimate interest (6(1)(f)) |
| Apps you connect by signing in: the name and return address the app registered, when you allowed it, and its access tokens (stored as one-way hashes). Per app and day: request count, time of last use, and salted one-way hashes of the network prefixes used (never the IP address), kept 90 days. A fingerprint of the connection in what the app reads, which leads back to your account, kept with the account | When you allow an app on the consent page, and each request it makes | Let an assistant you choose read your plan's editions; enforce plan limits and prevent sharing | Contract (6(1)(b)); legitimate interest (6(1)(f)) for the limits and the fingerprint |
| Team name, billing contact, reader email addresses, reader changes | Team plan | Run the team plan and its seats | Contract (6(1)(b)); for readers added by their organisation, legitimate interest (6(1)(f)) |
| Name (optional), organisation, email, reader count, message or question | Team and brief enquiry forms; team questions | Answer the enquiry, quote, deliver the question or brief | Steps before a contract and contract (6(1)(b)) |
| Emails you send us | When you write to editor@ | Answer you | Legitimate interest (6(1)(f)) |
| Problem reports with technical details of the page you were on | When you use the report form | Fix faults | Legitimate interest (6(1)(f)) |
| Server-side page counts | Every visit | Know which pages are read, without identifying anyone | Legitimate interest (6(1)(f)) |
| Invoices, payment records | Purchases | Bookkeeping and tax law | Legal obligation (6(1)(c)) |
We do not collect special categories of personal data, and we do not use your data for automated decisions with legal effect or for profiling.
4. Cookies
The site sets one cookie, and only when you sign in: a session cookie that keeps you signed in for up to 30 days (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Lax). It is strictly necessary for the service you asked for, so no consent banner is shown. There are no analytics, advertising or third-party cookies. Stripe's checkout and customer portal pages, which open on Stripe's own domain, follow Stripe's cookie policy.
5. Who processes data for us, and where
| Provider | What it does | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure (App Service, Database for PostgreSQL, Blob Storage, Key Vault) | Hosts the site and stores subscriber records and paid files | EU, North Europe region (Ireland) |
| Microsoft Azure Communication Services Email | Sends sign-in links, the digest, editions and service emails | United States |
| Stripe (Stripe Technology Europe Ltd, Dublin) | Payments, the customer portal, invoices; under Managed Payments also the seller of the individual plan | EU and the United States |
| Google Workspace | Our mailboxes (editor@conflictgauge.com) | EU and the United States |
| Cloudflare | Domain name service for conflictgauge.com | Global |
| e-Boekhouden.nl | Bookkeeping records of invoices | Netherlands |
Each provider processes data only on our instructions under a data processing agreement, except where it acts as an independent controller (Stripe for its payment and compliance duties). Where data goes to the United States, the transfer relies on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified, and otherwise on the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.
An app you connect, such as ChatGPT or Claude, is your choice and not our processor: what it reads is then handled by that app's provider under your own account with them.
We do not sell or rent personal data and do not share it with advertisers.
6. How long we keep it
- Free digest: until you unsubscribe; unsubscribed addresses kept as a do-not-send record for 2 years.
- Subscriber account: for the life of the subscription and 12 months after it ends, then deleted.
- Sign-in links: expire after 15 minutes and are deleted after 30 days; sessions deleted 30 days after they end.
- Connected apps: access tokens expire after 1 hour and refresh tokens after 30 days. The connection record is deleted soon after you remove the app, or once nothing can use it, which is 30 days after its last refresh, and with your account.
- Enquiries that did not lead to a contract: 12 months.
- Invoices and payment records: 7 years, as Dutch tax law requires.
- Problem reports and server logs: 90 days.
7. Your rights
You may ask for access to your data, correction, deletion, restriction, a copy in a portable format, and you may object to processing based on legitimate interest. You may withdraw consent for the digest at any time with the unsubscribe link, which does not affect earlier processing. Write to editor@conflictgauge.com; we answer within one month. You may also complain to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl) or the authority of your own country.
8. Security
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Sign-in links, sessions, API keys and connected-app tokens are stored only as one-way hashes. Administrative access requires a second factor.
9. Changes
We will post changes here with a new date, and tell subscribers by email of any change that affects them materially.
Version: 3, 4 November 2026.