Plain language
Privacy and cookies
Effective 6 September 2026 · applies to phylumdigital.com
The short version: this site has no accounts, no uploads and no advertising. The only cookies come from Google Analytics, and it only runs if you click Accept. Everything you make in the meme maker stays in your browser. If you email us, we use your address to reply and for nothing else.
1. Who we are
Phylum Digital is an independent creative studio and meme-culture project. For anything about your data, write to phylumdigital@gmail.com. We handle personal data in line with the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) and, for visitors in the European Union and the United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation.
2. What we collect, and why
Analytics you can decline: Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which pages people read and where visitors come from. It sets cookies and sends usage data to Google, including the pages you view, your device and browser type, and an approximate location derived from your connection. It runs only after you click “Accept analytics” in the banner. Until then, and if you decline, no Google Analytics code is loaded and no Google cookies are set. You can change your mind at any time with the “Cookie settings” link in the footer.
We read analytics as aggregate reports. We do not try to identify individual visitors, and we do not combine analytics with anything else. Google’s own handling of the data is described in Google’s privacy policy.
Analytics that needs no consent: Cloudflare Web Analytics
Our host, Cloudflare, provides a visit counter that counts page views and reports them to us only as totals. In Cloudflare’s words, it “does not use any client-side state, such as cookies or localStorage”, and Cloudflare does not “fingerprint” individuals “via their IP address, User Agent string, or any other data” for its analytics. Because it stores nothing on your device and does not identify you, it runs without a consent banner.
Our own visit counter, and Google Search Console
We use privacy-friendly, cookie-free analytics to count visits, including anonymous counts of what visitors search for on this site. Visitors are counted with an anonymous code that changes every day; no IP address or personal data is kept. We also use Google Search Console to see which Google searches lead people to us. No cookies are set and no personal profile is created, so this runs without a consent banner.
Hosting
The site is served by Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare’s servers process your IP address and request details to deliver pages and protect the service from abuse. Cloudflare’s handling is described in Cloudflare’s privacy policy.
The microphone in The Pit
The Pit, our concert visualiser, can follow music playing in your room if you allow the microphone. The sound is analysed inside your browser to find the beat, and only while the page is open. Nothing is recorded, stored or sent to us or anyone else. You can say no and tap the beat instead, and you can switch the microphone off at any time.
Fonts
Our typefaces are served from this site, not from Google’s font servers, so loading a page does not send your IP address to a third party just to fetch a font.
If you write to us, we receive your email address and whatever you send. We use it to reply and to act on what you asked (for example, to correct a page). We keep the message for as long as the conversation is useful and then delete it. We never add you to a mailing list; there is no mailing list.
3. What stays on your device
Some features remember things using your browser’s local storage. None of this is sent to us.
| Stored value | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Cookie consent choice | Remembers whether you accepted or declined analytics, so we do not ask on every page. |
| Calm mode | Remembers if you switched off motion and animation. |
| Light or dark look | Remembers which look you picked with the ◐ button. |
| Meme maker draft | Keeps the meme you were working on, so it is still there if you come back. |
| Game scores and streaks | Your best scores, your daily-puzzle progress and streaks, your idle-game save and your graphics setting. There are no accounts and no leaderboard. |
| Your swipe likes | The memes you liked in Yay or nay, shown back to you on the home page. The home page has a button to forget them. |
| Offline copy | A service worker keeps a copy of the site’s core files so pages open offline. |
The meme maker, the Ask page and every tool process your text and images inside your browser. Nothing you type, upload or create is transmitted to us or stored by us.
4. Cookies
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga, _ga_* | Google Analytics | Distinguishes visitors and sessions for aggregate reports. Typically kept for up to two years. | Only after you accept analytics. |
That is the whole list. There are no advertising cookies and no social-media tracking pixels. Change your cookie choice →
5. What we do not do
- No accounts, no sign-ups, no passwords.
- No uploads. The meme maker works locally; we never see your images.
- No advertising, no ad networks, no sale or sharing of data for marketing.
- No profiling and no automated decisions about you.
6. Children
Phylum Digital is a general-audience site about internet culture, and we write with young readers and their parents in mind (see the parents’ and teachers’ guide). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children; the site collects almost none from anyone, and analytics runs only with consent. If you believe a child has sent us personal data by email, write to us and we will delete it.
7. Links to other sites
Meme pages link to their sources and to the platforms where memes live. Those sites have their own privacy practices, which we do not control.
8. Your rights
Under the Data Privacy Act of 2012 you have the right to be informed, to access the personal data we hold about you, to object to its processing, to have it corrected, blocked or erased, to data portability, and to complain to the National Privacy Commission of the Philippines. If you are in the EU or the UK you have the equivalent rights under the GDPR, including the right to withdraw consent to analytics at any time using the Cookie settings link. In practice, the only personal data we are likely to hold about you is an email you sent us; write to phylumdigital@gmail.com and we will act on your request.
9. Changes
If we change what we collect, we will update this page and the effective date at the top. Substantive changes will be noted in the site updates.