The short version
We collect your email address only if you subscribe or sign in with Google, and visit statistics only if you accept analytics cookies. We don't sell or share your data, and we don't run ads. You can unsubscribe or change your cookie choice at any time.
Who we are
Vergebound is a creative project by J.D. Stanton and Daniel Beazley. This page covers the site at vergebound.com and the newsletter.
The newsletter
If you subscribe, we collect your email address. It is stored and sent by our email provider, Buttondown. We use it only to send you new Vergebound entries and the occasional project update. We send a confirmation email first, and every email includes an unsubscribe link. We keep your address until you unsubscribe.
Signing in with Google
Some features, such as early access to the next part of a story and voting in polls, need a Google sign-in, run by Google Firebase Authentication. We receive your email address and a sign-in identifier, not your Google password. Signing in to read early also subscribes your email address to the newsletter (see above, including the confirmation email and the unsubscribe link). To vote in a poll, we store only a scrambled (hashed) version of your email address, to keep it to one vote per person; the poll does not subscribe you to anything. Closing the sign-in popup or signing out leaves nothing further stored in your browser beyond the sign-in session.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics to learn which pages readers visit, so we can decide what to write and how to run the site. It is off by default: the analytics code doesn't load, and no analytics cookies are set, unless you click Accept on the cookie banner. If you accept, Google receives standard usage information such as the pages you view, your approximate location, and your device and browser type. See Google's privacy policy. You can change your mind any time using the "Cookies" link in the footer.
Hosting
The site is hosted on Google Firebase Hosting. Like most web hosts, it processes standard server logs, such as your IP address, to deliver the site and keep it secure.
What we don't do
We don't sell your information, we don't show ads, and we don't use any other tracking on this site. Fonts and images are served from our own site. Some pages link to other websites, which have their own privacy practices.
Your choices
- Unsubscribe from the newsletter with the link at the bottom of any email.
- Decline or withdraw analytics consent with the "Cookies" link in the footer.
- To ask what we hold about you, or to have it deleted, email contact@vergebound.com or reply to any newsletter email. If you're in the EU, the UK, or California, you may have further rights, and we'll honor them.
Contact
Questions about this page or your data: contact@vergebound.com.
Last updated October 1, 2026.