Privacy and cookies
Heliade is the personal site of Danny Devriendt, operating from Aalter, Belgium. This page explains, in plain language, what data this site collects, why, where it is stored, and what you can do about it. The legal frame is the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Belgian implementing law.
Last updated: May 2026.
Who is the data controller
Danny Devriendt, Aalter, Belgium. Email: danny@heliade.net. For any privacy question, exercise of rights, or complaint, that address is the front door. Replies typically arrive within five business days.
What this site collects, and why
Heliade runs on WordPress, hosted at Hetzner in Germany. The site uses a small set of well-known plugins, each of which processes data for a specific purpose:
- Server access logs. The web server records IP addresses, timestamps, requested URLs, user agents, and referrers, in line with normal hosting operations and security monitoring. Logs are kept for up to 30 days, then rotated out.
- Google Analytics 4 (via Site Kit). Pageviews, session duration, country-level location, device type. Loaded only after you accept analytics cookies in the consent banner. IP anonymization is on by default in GA4. Data lives in Google’s EU infrastructure under Google’s standard contractual clauses.
- Google Search Console. Aggregated search-query data (no personal identifiers) used to understand which articles attract attention and which need work.
- Jetpack Stats. Pageview counts and referral data, processed by Automattic. Loaded only with consent.
- WPForms (contact form). When you fill in the form on the contact page, your name, email, and message are stored in the WordPress database and emailed to me. They are kept until I have replied and the topic is closed, then deleted. They are never used for marketing.
- CookieYes. Stores your consent choice in a first-party cookie so the banner stops asking. No personal data leaves the site through this plugin.
- WP-Optimize and Imagify. Page caching and image compression. Both operate on the site itself and process no visitor data.
- Yoast SEO. Generates SEO metadata. No visitor data involved.
Cookies in detail
Strictly necessary cookies (session, security, consent state) load by default. Everything else, including analytics and any third-party embeds, loads only after you accept in the CookieYes banner. You can change your choice at any time using the small “cookie settings” trigger in the footer.
Posts may embed external content (YouTube videos, Vimeo, occasional Spotify or SoundCloud players). These embeds set their own cookies on click; they are not loaded until you accept.
What I do NOT do
No advertising networks. No retargeting pixels. No data sales. No newsletter list (yet). No automated profiling. The site exists to publish writing, not to harvest readers.
AI crawlers
The site allows AI crawlers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Google, and Apple to read public posts, both for traditional search and for generative answers. This is an editorial choice. If you want to read more about how this site is structured for both human and machine readers, the thought leadership hub explains the writing pillars; llms.txt tells AI engines where to start.
Your rights under GDPR
You have the right to access, correct, or delete personal data this site holds about you, to restrict or object to processing, and to data portability. You also have the right to withdraw consent for analytics at any time and to file a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority (dataprotectionauthority.be).
To exercise any of these rights, write to danny@heliade.net. I will need to verify the request comes from you (a reply from the same email address you originally used is usually enough), then act on it within 30 days.
International transfers
Hosting is in Germany (Hetzner). Some processors (Google, Automattic, Cloudflare if added) may transfer aggregated or technical data outside the EU under Standard Contractual Clauses. If that changes, this page changes.
Frequently asked
Do you sell or share my data?
No. Heliade has no advertising business model and no relationship with data brokers. Aggregated analytics go to Google and Automattic for the purposes described above; nothing else.
How do I opt out of analytics?
Click the cookie settings trigger in the footer and decline analytics. Already accepted and changed your mind? Same place. The change takes effect immediately on the next page load.
How long do you keep contact-form submissions?
Until the conversation is closed. After that, the database row is deleted and the email thread is archived in my mail account, kept under the same retention rules as any other professional correspondence (typically up to two years for tax and audit reasons in Belgium).
Does the site have a newsletter?
Not at the moment. If that changes, the signup will be explicit and double opt-in, and this page will be updated to reflect what data is collected and stored.
Why allow AI crawlers?
Because the writing on this site is meant to be read, by people and by the systems that increasingly summarize the web for people. Closing the door to AI crawlers would mean disappearing from a growing slice of how readers find information. The trade-off is conscious.
What happens if this policy changes?
The “Last updated” date at the top of this page changes. Material changes are flagged in a short note on the homepage for two weeks. If new processors are added (for example, an email newsletter service), they will be listed here before they go live.
Questions, corrections, or rights requests: danny@heliade.net.
