1. Who we are
Ross Crabtree is the data controller for Horizon Geopolitics. This notice covers our website, Geopolitics Daily and Geopolitics Weekly newsletters, and audience research survey.
For privacy questions or requests, email info@horizongeopolitics.com.
2. What we collect and why
When you subscribe, our newsletter provider collects your email address and subscription information. Newsletter records can include signup source, preferences, delivery status, opens and link clicks. We use this information to deliver the newsletter, manage subscriptions and understand how our content performs.
If you email us, we receive your contact details and message. We use them to respond and manage any resulting business relationship.
We retain subscriber information for audience analysis and backups. Authorised editorial contributors can access newsletter information to prepare newsletters. We share overall figures, such as open rates and click counts, with advertisers; we do not directly provide advertisers with individual subscriber details.
3. Our reasons for using personal information
We rely on consent to send newsletters and optional survey-related product invitations. You can withdraw consent at any time.
We rely on legitimate interests to respond to enquiries, maintain appropriate backups, understand and improve our content, and keep records needed to respect your choices. These interests are balanced against your rights. Where relevant, we also use information to carry out a contract or meet legal obligations.
4. Website services and tracking
Embedded Beehiiv signup forms and newsletter recommendations are optional. We keep both blocked until you allow them through Website privacy choices. Reject optional blocks both, including the third-party resources they load. You may allow forms without recommendations. You can instead use the Daily or Weekly signup page, which has its own privacy controls, or request a subscription by emailing info@horizongeopolitics.com.
If you allow these services, Beehiiv and its service providers may receive technical information such as your IP address, browser information and interactions, and use cookies or similar browser storage. Forms include bot protection and performance measurement; the optional recommendation widget suggests other publishers after signup. Both may load third-party fonts and other provider resources. See Beehiiv’s privacy policy for its processing. Allowing forms does not subscribe you to a newsletter; you must separately submit a signup form.
We save your choices, the time of your choice and the preference version in this browser solely to remember your preferences for 180 days. Expired or superseded preferences do not authorise these services. Earlier choices that did not control signup forms are not carried forward as consent: we ask again under these updated controls. The preference controls do not send your selection to our server or create a server consent log.
You can change or withdraw your choices using Website privacy choices. Withdrawal removes the signup frames and stops future loading of the services you block; the page may reload to stop already-running provider code. It does not undo information already shared or delete cookies or records held by third parties. Clear their site data in your browser or contact us for help. If browser storage is unavailable, choices apply only to the current page.
These website choices do not control tracking within newsletters or on other websites. Beehiiv may record newsletter opens and clicks. Newsletter subscription and website-service choices are separate decisions. Your browser or email software may offer additional controls for cookies, remote images and tracking.
5. Our survey
Taking part is voluntary. We use answers for audience and product research, relying on our legitimate interest in improving our content and products where answers identify someone. Please avoid sensitive information, political opinions and other people’s details.
An email address is optional. We send early-product invitations only if you provide an address and separately agree. This does not subscribe you to the newsletter.
Our survey provider processes responses for us. We receive answers, optional email and consent choices, any source label included in the survey link, and respondent/submission IDs. A browser-stored respondent ID can link responses within our survey records, so the survey is not fully anonymous. Unfinished answers may also be saved in your browser until you submit them; clearing the site’s browser data removes locally saved answers.
6. Service providers and international processing
We use service providers for newsletter delivery, subscriber-export storage and backups, email correspondence, surveys, website hosting, bot protection and performance measurement. Providers may use authorised subcontractors. Our newsletter provider may also process information for its own purposes under its privacy policy, including relevant advertising and recommendation services.
Some providers process information outside the UK or EEA, including in the United States. Applicable safeguards can include recognised adequacy arrangements and contractual protections. Contact us for details of the safeguards relevant to your information. Our survey provider states that its data is hosted in Belgium.
7. How long we keep information
We retain newsletter records while needed to manage your subscription, and limited records afterwards where necessary to respect opt-outs, demonstrate consent or meet justified record-keeping obligations.
We are introducing a maximum 90-day retention period for downloaded backup copies. We remove identifying information from longer-term analysis when it is no longer needed and retain anonymous statistical reports where useful.
Identifiable survey answers and optional email addresses are deleted or anonymised within 12 months of submission, sooner when no longer needed. Limited consent or opt-out records may remain where necessary. Provider backups may take longer to expire; Our survey provider states that deleted form data leaves its backups within 90 days.
8. Your choices and rights
You can unsubscribe using the link in any newsletter or email us. You can withdraw consent for survey invitations by emailing us; this does not affect the lawfulness of earlier use.
Depending on the circumstances, you can request access, correction, deletion, restriction or a portable copy of your information.
You can object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to use of your information for direct marketing.
Contact info@horizongeopolitics.com to exercise these rights or raise a complaint. You may complain to the ICO or your local data protection authority.
9. Watch, video map and hosting
The Watch feed and video map do not require an account. Horizon selects and orders the feed; everyone receives the same sequence. Likes do not affect that order, and we do not build a viewing profile or use these pages to make automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on you.
Feed likes and sound choices stay in the current page’s memory and reset when you reload or close it. These pages do not save those choices in cookies or browser storage, or send like and playback events to an analytics service. Browser and phone notifications are optional and require a separate affirmative choice on Watch followed by browser permission. The notification provider is not loaded before that choice. Notification storage and processing are described below. Newsletter links take you to the newsletter’s own signup site, with its own privacy controls.
Optional new-video alerts. We use OneSignal, Inc. to send Horizon video alerts to browsers that opt in. Open Notify me on Watch, tick the unchecked agreement box, select Agree and connect, then choose Allow notifications and respond to your browser’s permission prompt. This consent is separate from signup forms, newsletter recommendations and YouTube players; watching does not require it.
When you agree to connect, OneSignal receives technical information including your IP address, browser/operating-system information, language/time zone, connection/session and referring-page information, approximate location inferred from IP, a subscription identifier and notification delivery or clicks. OneSignal uses technical information to operate, secure and improve its service and may use aggregated or de-identified service information for its own business purposes. It uses browser storage and a background worker to deliver alerts while the page is closed. We do not provide your email address, phone number, likes, video playback or swipes to OneSignal. Confirmed subscriptions receive the alert-notice version and opt-in time as consent-related provider metadata. OneSignal’s privacy policy and Data Processing Addendum explain its processing and retention; the DPA includes EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK Addendum for relevant international transfers. Information may be processed outside your country, including outside the UK or EEA.
We rely on consent for optional alert processing and sending. Use Turn off alerts in Watch’s notification panel to withdraw on that browser, including between connecting and granting browser permission. You can also block Horizon notifications in browser or device settings. Turning off stops delivery and revokes the connected software’s data consent; it does not erase earlier processing, provider records or stored browser data. Contact info@horizongeopolitics.com for access or deletion requests. Records remain where needed to manage subscriptions, respect opt-outs or meet legal obligations, with provider retention and backup rules also applying. OneSignal’s Free plan deletes dormant push subscriber records after 18 months without website/app use or processed data points; this does not guarantee that every record or backup expires then. Watch saves a confirmed subscription’s reference, notice version and opt-in time in this browser to help with access or deletion requests. The reference expires after 180 days and is cleared the next time you open Watch; you can clear it sooner in the panel or your browser settings. You can view or clear it under Privacy request reference; clearing it does not unsubscribe or delete provider records. Read Watch’s alert details for device requirements and controls.
Hosting. Hostinger delivers these pages, local video files, thumbnails and map data. Normal web requests provide technical information such as your IP address, request time, requested URL and browser information. We rely on our legitimate interests in delivering a working website, diagnosing faults and protecting it against abuse for this necessary technical processing. We do not use these request records to personalise the feed. The new pages do not create or export a separate visitor-log database.
Technical-log retention depends on the type of record, the hosting service’s log rotation and backup arrangements, and whether information is needed to investigate a fault or security incident or meet a legal obligation. We do not retain a separate exported visitor-log archive for these pages. Contact info@horizongeopolitics.com for information about the records relevant to your request. Hostinger processes hosting data under its Data Processing Addendum, which supplements its service terms and describes processing, subprocessors and applicable international-transfer safeguards. Hosting information may be processed outside your country, including outside the UK or EEA.
Optional YouTube players. Map previews and thumbnails are hosted on this website. We do not connect the map to Google or YouTube until you select Allow YouTube & play for a video. That choice allows the embedded YouTube player to load and process technical information, including your IP address, device/browser information and video request. YouTube may use cookies or other browser storage and process information outside your country. Google’s own processing is explained in Google’s privacy policy. Declining leaves the map available.
Your choice applies to that player only. Use Stop YouTube or close the player to withdraw it: we remove the embedded player, stop further loading through it and ask again before another player loads. This does not undo information already shared with Google or delete third-party cookies already stored; you can clear Google/YouTube site data in your browser or use Google’s privacy controls. Choosing Open on YouTube takes you to YouTube’s own website, where its privacy choices apply. These player choices are separate from the newsletter recommendation choices described above.