Privacy
This policy covers oldsymbols.com and whatdoesthissymbolmean.com, which are run together by Rory Hansen and share one policy. It explains what happens to information when you use either site.
The short version: visitors have no accounts, get no cookies and meet no advertising trackers. We count visits without identifying you. If you report a problem, we receive the message you write.
What we collect
Visit statistics
We use Fathom Analytics to count page views, which pages are read, which sites send visitors, and the general type of device and country. Fathom doesn’t use cookies and doesn’t store your IP address or anything else that identifies you, so these statistics can’t be traced back to a person. See Fathom’s privacy policy.
Search
What you type into search is used to find matching symbols. Search words are part of the page address, so they can appear in the page-view statistics above and in our hosting provider’s logs. We don’t link them to you.
“Report a problem”
If you use the form on a symbol page, we receive your message and the address of the page. We don’t ask for your name or email, so please don’t include personal details. Reports are stored as issues in a private GitHub repository that only the editors can see, and we keep them until the problem is dealt with, or longer as a record of changes to the page. To stop the same person sending many reports, your network address is held in the server’s memory for up to an hour; it isn’t stored or included in the report.
Server logs
Like any website, our hosting provider receives technical details with each request, such as your IP address, browser type and the page requested. It keeps these for a limited period for security and to fix faults. We don’t use them to identify visitors.
Cookies
Neither site sets cookies for visitors, and fonts are served from our own servers rather than from a third party. The only cookie is the sign-in cookie for the few editors who maintain the sites, set when they sign in to the editing tools.
Advertising
The sites don’t show ads yet. Before they do, this policy will be updated to say which ad provider is used, what it collects, and how to choose what you allow.
Photo search
Photo search isn’t available yet, and no photos are uploaded or collected. This policy will say how photos are handled before it launches.
Who else handles information
We use a few service providers, each only to run the sites:
- Railway, which hosts the sites and their database.
- Fathom Analytics, for the visit statistics above.
- GitHub, where problem reports are kept.
We don’t sell information about visitors, or share it with anyone else, except where the law requires it.
Children
The sites are for a general audience and don’t knowingly collect information from children.
Your choices and rights
Because we don’t identify visitors, there is usually nothing held about you. If you sent a report and want it removed, or you have any question about your information, email privacy@oldsymbols.com. Depending on where you live, you may have rights to see, correct or delete information about you, and to complain to your data protection authority.
Changes
When what we collect changes, this page changes first. Last updated September 24, 2026.