Privacy

Last updated September 28, 2026.

We collect as little as we can, we never sell data, and we hold no patient information.

What we collect

Basic usage statistics: which pages get visited, which links get clicked and where on the page they sat (counted in total, not tied to any person), the site a visit arrived from, the general location and network a visit comes from (city or region and internet provider, derived from the IP address), the kind of device and browser used, and how a page is read (how long it stays open and how far down it is scrolled). Words typed into the site's search box are counted in total (how often each word is searched), never tied to a person or a visit.

Repeat visits are recognized with one cookie that holds a random code (see Cookies). Without it, a one-way code derived from the IP address and browser is used instead. Neither can be turned back into your name, but both are pseudonymous rather than fully anonymous, since the same browser keeps the same code.

IP addresses are recorded for security and abuse prevention. They are visible only to the site's administrator, in an activity log that can show the city, network provider, and pages viewed for a visit. They are never shared or sold, and they are purged on an ongoing basis, with a target of 90 days.

Newsletter

If you sign up for the newsletter, we keep your email address and the page you signed up on, only to send you the newsletter. We never sell or share it. Every email will carry a one-click unsubscribe link, and you can ask us to delete your address at any time.

Cookies

One cookie, named ct_v, holds a random code so the site can tell a returning reader from a new one. The site sets it itself; page scripts and other websites cannot read it, and it is never used for advertising, shared or sold. It lasts up to 400 days.

Visitors in the UK, the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland are asked first and get this cookie only if they accept. Their choice is remembered for a year in a second cookie, ct_c. Anyone who declines is still counted, but only the cookie-free way described above.

The site also uses Google Analytics, a measurement service from Google, to count visits and see how pages are used. It sets its own cookies (named _ga and _ga_YV2FEY1JRC, lasting up to two years), and Google processes that data for us under its terms. Its advertising features are switched off, and it is not loaded on the site administrator's own devices. Visitors in the UK, the EU, the EEA and Switzerland get it only if they accept. Anyone can also opt out with Google's browser add-on.

To tell real readers from automated programs, each page runs Cloudflare Turnstile, an invisible check that never asks you to do anything. It looks at limited technical signals, such as your IP address and browser details, only to detect robots, and may use a cookie needed for that check alone. See Cloudflare's Turnstile Privacy Addendum.

There are no advertising cookies. The site's administrator also has a sign-in cookie. You can delete cookies at any time in your browser settings.

Third parties

Cloudflare Turnstile receives the technical signals described above, only to tell people from robots.

Google Analytics receives the page address, the site a visit came from, and basic device and browser details when it is loaded (see Cookies). We never send it names, email addresses, or anything typed into the site.

To answer searches and show drug and recall information, our server asks official databases such as the National Library of Medicine, the FDA and ClinicalTrials.gov. It sends them only the words searched for, never anything about who is searching.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email theclinicaltimes@protonmail.com.

This page is updated when our practices change.