Privacy & cookies

Last updated: 2 November 2026

We like weird news, not your personal data. This page explains what we collect (very little) and why.

Cookies and analytics

We use Google Analytics 4, provided by Google, to understand how many people visit and which stories they read. It sets cookies (such as _ga and _ga_*) and sends Google information about your visit, such as the pages you view, roughly where you are (country/city level), your device and browser, and how you arrived at the site.

Analytics only runs if you click Accept on our cookie banner. Until then, and if you click Reject, the Google Analytics script is not loaded and no analytics cookies are set. We use Google’s Consent Mode with advertising and analytics storage set to “denied” by default, we don’t use advertising or ad-personalisation features, and we don’t sell your data.

We remember your choice in your browser’s local storage (cookie_consent_v1) so we don’t ask on every page. You can change your mind at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer of every page; if you withdraw consent we remove the analytics cookies we can reach. Google’s own privacy information is at policies.google.com/privacy.

Our fonts and images are served from our own website, so no third-party font or image services see your visit.

Server logs

Like almost every website, our hosting provider may automatically process basic technical information – such as your IP address, browser type and the pages requested – to deliver the site securely and protect it from abuse. We don’t use this information to identify you.

Newsletter

Our Friday newsletter (“the 5 weirdest stories of the week”) currently works by email: when you press Subscribe, your own email app opens a message to [email protected], and nothing is sent until you press send. We keep your email address only to send you the newsletter, we never sell or share it, and you can unsubscribe at any time by replying “unsubscribe”. If we move the list to a newsletter provider, we’ll name the provider here first.

Contacting us

If you email us, we’ll use your message and email address only to reply and to deal with your enquiry.

Links and sharing

Our articles link to other websites, including the news organisations we credit. Share buttons are simple links: nothing is sent to social networks unless you click one. Once you leave our site, the other site’s own privacy policy applies.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law (UK GDPR) you have rights over your personal data, including the right to access it and ask us to delete it. To make a request, email [email protected]. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.