Last updated: 16 October 2026.
In short
Selfhostr (selfhostr.com) is a read-only editorial site: no user accounts, no newsletter, no sign-up of any kind. You can browse the entire site without providing any personal data. The only processing described below covers audience measurement, advertising, affiliate links and the emails you choose to send us.
Audience measurement
Only if you accept it, the site uses Google Analytics 4 (Google Ireland Ltd.) to measure traffic: page views, traffic source, device type, country. GA4 sets cookies (prefixed _ga) and produces aggregated statistics; IP addresses are truncated by Google. This data is used solely to understand which content is useful and to improve the site.
Selfhostr first-party counter
In addition, a first-party counter, hosted with the site by o2switch (France), records each page view and each click on an outbound link: the page, the date and time, the language, the site you came from (its domain name only) and, for a click, the destination site. It sets no cookie and does not store your IP address. Your browser's identification string (user agent) is only used to keep bots out of the statistics: it is not recorded, only a "bot" or "not a bot" flag is. This counter does not depend on the cookie banner: it runs whether you accept or decline Google Analytics and Google AdSense (to object to it, see below).
To avoid counting the same person's repeated clicks several times, this counter draws a random 12-character tab identifier and keeps it in your browser's sessionStorage (key sh_sid). This identifier belongs to that tab and this site only; your browser deletes it when you close the tab. It is used only to de-duplicate clicks and to count the tabs opened on the site. It is never combined with any other data (not with Google Analytics, advertising or affiliate merchants) and is never shared with anyone.
Retention: the tab identifier is automatically erased from our data after 90 days; the rest of the counter's data, anonymous by then, is deleted after 25 months. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in measuring the site's audience (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). This tracker is one of those the French data protection authority (CNIL) exempts from consent for audience measurement, provided you are informed and can object: that is what this section is for.
Objecting to this counter: if your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal, no tab identifier is created and your page views and clicks are counted without any identifier. You can also turn the first-party counter off entirely in this browser with the button below: no page view or click is sent any more. This choice is saved in your browser's localStorage (key sh_optout, no cookie). It applies to selfhostr.com only (the selfhostr.fr version of the site has its own setting) and is lost if you clear this site's data in your browser.
Advertising (Google AdSense)
Only if you accept it, the site displays ads through Google AdSense. Google and its partners use advertising cookies to serve, cap and measure ads, and where applicable to personalise them based on your visits to this and other websites. To learn more or manage your preferences: how Google uses data, Google Ads Settings, or youronlinechoices.com. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings.
Cookies and consent
On your first visit, a banner lets you accept or decline Google Analytics and Google AdSense. Until you accept, neither service is loaded and none of their cookies are set; declining does not limit access to the site. Your choice (accepted or declined) and its date are stored in your browser's local storage (key sh_consent, never sent to our servers) for 6 months, after which you are asked again. You can change your mind at any time: manage cookies (the link is also in the footer of every page). If you withdraw your consent, the Google cookies set on this domain are deleted and the page reloads without these services.
Affiliate links
Some links are affiliate links, mainly to Amazon (as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases) and to merchants of the Awin network. When you click these links you are redirected to the merchant's site, which may set its own cookies to attribute the purchase. Selfhostr does not pass any personal data to these merchants; the identifier we transmit references the article the click came from, not your identity. Details on the affiliate disclosure page.
Email contact
You can write to us at contact@selfhostr.fr. Your address and the content of your message are used only to reply to you. They are never added to a mailing list, never shared with third parties, and are deleted once your request has been handled.
Your rights (GDPR)
Under the General Data Protection Regulation you have the right of access, rectification and erasure of your data, as well as the rights to object, to restrict processing and to data portability. To exercise them, email us at contact@selfhostr.fr. To object to the first-party counter, the button in the first-party counter section is enough. You may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority (in France, the CNIL).
Changes
This policy may change if our practices change (for instance if a new measurement tool is added). The date of the latest update is shown at the top of this page. See also: legal notice.