Privacy Policy

This policy explains what happens to information in connection with this website. It is written to be readable rather than exhaustive, and it describes how the site is set up at the date shown above.

1. Using the tool itself

The Random Decision Maker runs inside your browser. When you add options and ask it to choose, the selection is made on your own device using your browser’s random number generator. Your list of options is not transmitted to us, is not written to a database, and is not stored between visits. Closing or refreshing the page clears it.

Because of that, you do not need to register, sign in, or enter any personal information to make a random decision. There is no account system on this site.

Please note that the options you type are only as private as the device and network you use. If you enter something confidential into the tool on a shared computer, treat it the same way you would treat anything else typed into a browser on that machine.

2. Information you provide

The only place on this site where you are asked for personal information is the contact form, and only if you choose to use it. Depending on how the form is configured, sending a message may involve:

• your name, or whatever name you choose to give;
• your email address, so a reply can reach you;
• the content of the message you write.

Please do not send passwords, payment card details, identification numbers or other sensitive personal information through the form or by email. We do not need any of it, and we would rather not receive it.

Where the contact form opens your own email application to send the message, the message travels through your email provider in the ordinary way and reaches our inbox as a normal email. Their handling of that message is governed by their own terms and privacy policy, not by this one.

3. Information collected automatically

Like virtually every website, this site is delivered by a web host, and the servers involved record ordinary technical details each time a page or file is requested. That typically includes:

• your IP address;
• the type and version of your browser and operating system;
• the page you requested and the page you arrived from, if any;
• the date and time of the request;
• general device characteristics such as screen size.

This information is technical rather than personal in intent. It is used to serve pages correctly, keep the site available, and understand broad usage patterns. We do not use it to try to identify individual visitors, and we do not combine it with anything else in order to build a profile of you.

4. Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by a website or by a service that the website loads. This site may use them for a limited set of purposes:

• Necessary cookies that allow the site to function and to remember basic preferences such as a consent choice you have made;
• Analytics cookies, if an analytics service is in use, to measure page views and general traffic patterns;
• Advertising cookies, if advertising is displayed, which may be set by the advertising provider rather than by us.

You can control cookies through your browser settings, including blocking them or deleting those already stored. Where a consent banner is shown on this site, your choice there also applies. Blocking cookies does not stop the decision tool from working, since the tool does not depend on them.

Our Cookie Policy describes this in more detail.

5. Analytics

We may use a web analytics service to understand how many people visit the site, which pages they read and roughly where visits come from. Analytics of this kind reports on groups of visitors rather than named individuals, and we use it to decide what to improve, not to track any particular person.

Where an analytics provider is used, that provider processes the data under its own privacy terms, and it may set cookies or use similar technologies as described above. If you would rather not be included, you can block analytics cookies in your browser or decline them in the consent banner where one is presented.

6. How information is used

Information connected with this site is used only for the following purposes:

• to reply to messages you send us;
• to deliver and maintain the site and keep it working correctly;
• to diagnose faults and investigate problems that are reported;
• to understand general usage so the tool and the content can be improved;
• to display advertising where advertising is shown;
• to protect the site against abuse, spam and misuse;
• to comply with obligations that apply to us under applicable law.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not send marketing emails to people who contact us. If you write to us, we reply to you; we do not add you to a list.

7. Data retention

Options entered into the decision tool are not retained at all, because they never leave your browser.

Messages you send us are kept in our email account for as long as they remain useful for the conversation and any follow-up, and are deleted when they are no longer needed. Server logs and analytics records are kept for the period set by our host and by the analytics provider, which is generally a limited window rather than indefinitely. You may ask us to delete an email exchange you have had with us, and we will do so where we are able to.

8. Third-party services

Running a website means relying on other companies. Depending on how the site is configured, these may include a web hosting provider, a content delivery network, an email provider, an analytics service and an advertising network. Each of these handles data under its own privacy policy and its own terms, and we do not control how they operate.

Where advertising is shown, the advertising provider may use cookies or similar technologies to select and measure the advertisements you see. Many providers offer their own settings for personalised advertising, and your browser and device also offer controls that apply across sites.

We share information with these providers only to the extent needed for them to perform their function for the site. We do not transfer personal information to third parties for their own independent marketing purposes.

9. Security

We take reasonable steps to keep the site and the small amount of information associated with it secure, including serving the site over an encrypted connection and keeping the software behind it updated.

No website or method of transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure, and we cannot promise absolute security. What we can say is that the design of this site limits the exposure: there are no accounts, no stored passwords and no database of visitor decisions to lose in the first place.

10. Your choices

You have practical control over almost everything described here:

• use the decision tool without providing any personal information at all, which is the default;
• choose not to use the contact form;
• manage or block cookies in your browser, and adjust any consent choice you have made on this site;
• use browser or device settings that limit tracking and personalised advertising;
• ask us what correspondence we hold from you, ask for it to be corrected, or ask for it to be deleted.

Depending on where you live, local privacy law may give you additional rights over your personal information. If you would like to exercise a right of that kind, write to us using the contact details below and we will respond as required by the law that applies.

11. Children’s privacy

This site is a general-purpose utility intended for a general audience. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. The tool itself asks for no personal information from anyone.

If you believe a child has sent us personal information through the contact form, please let us know and we will delete it from our records.

12. External links

Some pages may link to other websites, and advertisements shown on the site will lead to destinations we do not control. Once you follow a link away from here, this policy no longer applies. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any site you visit, since we are not responsible for the content, practices or accuracy of external sites.

13. Updates to this policy

This policy may be updated as the site changes, for example if an analytics or advertising service is added, changed or removed. When that happens, the revised version is posted on this page and the date at the top is updated. Continuing to use the site after a change means the current version applies to your use of it.

We recommend checking this page occasionally if the details matter to you.