Privacy Policy

Runlow (therunlow.com) is published by Unique Digital Things LLC, doing business as Dumbotronix. This page describes what information we collect when you visit, why, and what choices you have. Runlow doesn't require an account, doesn't run a comment system, and doesn't sell anything directly — every purchase happens at a retailer's own site, not here — so the amount of personal information that passes through Runlow itself is small.

What we collect

Page views and performance. Runlow uses Vercel Web Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights to see which pages get read and how fast they load. Neither sets a cookie or uses a persistent identifier: Vercel identifies a single visit with a hash of the request that expires after 24 hours, not a value that follows you across visits or across other sites. We see aggregate numbers — how many people read a page, roughly how fast it loaded — never a profile of an individual visitor.

Search queries. Searching on Runlow happens entirely in your browser, against an index (Pagefind) built at publish time and downloaded to your device. Runlow's own servers never receive what you type and never log it. One thing to know, though. Your search also appears in the address bar, as /search?q= followed by your words, so that a result page can be linked or reloaded. Google Analytics, described below, records the address of each page you view, and that address includes the query. So a search stays off Runlow's servers and still reaches Google's. Blocking analytics cookies, or using the opt-out linked below, stops that.

Information you choose to give a retailer. When you follow a "Buy at" link, you leave Runlow and land on that retailer's own site, subject to their own privacy policy. Runlow never sees your name, address, payment details, or order history — that relationship is between you and the retailer.

The newsletter. If you sign up for our weekly email, we collect your email address and the page you signed up from, and nothing else. Both are stored by Buttondown, the service that sends the newsletter for us, under Buttondown's privacy policy. Buttondown first sends a confirmation email, and nothing else reaches you until you confirm. We use the address only to send the newsletter. We never sell it, share it, or add it to anything else. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing removes you from future sends right away. To have your address deleted entirely, email feedback@therunlow.com.

Google Tag Manager. Runlow loads Google Tag Manager, a container Google provides for managing measurement and advertising tags. Loading it means your browser requests a file from Google, which reveals your IP address and the page you're on to Google. The container itself sets no cookies and collects nothing on its own. What it does is load whatever tags are configured inside it, and those tags can set cookies and collect data of their own. Every tag currently running through it is named in this section. When that list changes, this page changes with it.

Google Analytics 4. One tag runs through that container today, and it is Google Analytics 4. It records which pages you visit, how far down them you scroll, which outbound links you click, and what you type into the site search, along with your approximate location, your device and browser, and the site that sent you here. Unlike Vercel's numbers, this one uses cookies to recognize a returning browser, so it can tell a repeat visit from a first one. See Cookies below for exactly which cookies and how long they last. Google processes this data on its own systems under Google's privacy policy. Google states that Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses, using them only to approximate location before discarding them. You can opt out of Google Analytics across every site that uses it with Google's own browser add-on.

What we don't collect

We don't require an account, don't ask for your email to read anything on the site (the newsletter is optional), and don't buy or sell personal information. There's no comment system and no user-submitted content on Runlow, so there's no personal data to collect through either.

Cookies

Runlow uses analytics cookies, set by Google Analytics 4 through the tag container described above. There are two. _ga is what lets Google Analytics recognize the same browser on a later visit. _ga_ followed by the measurement ID holds the state of your current session. Google sets both to last up to two years, and both are first-party cookies stored under therunlow.com rather than shared with other sites.

That is the complete list. Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights use no cookies at all. The tag container itself sets none. Runlow sets no advertising cookies and runs no advertising tags today, and this page will say so before that changes rather than after. You can refuse or delete these cookies in your browser's own settings, or opt out of Google Analytics everywhere with the add-on linked above. Nothing on Runlow requires a cookie to work: every page, every calculator, and the search field all function normally with them blocked.

Third parties

Photographs on Runlow come from Pexels, embedded from files we host ourselves rather than loaded live from Pexels' servers — see the credit line on any photo grid for the photographer, and our footer for the required link to Pexels itself. Outbound retailer links go to Amazon, Walmart, Target, Chewy, Instacart, Costco, and Sam's Club, each governed by that retailer's own privacy policy once you click through. Google is a third party here too, through the Tag Manager container described above, and is subject to Google's own privacy policy. Buttondown sends the newsletter for anyone who signs up, as described above. See our Affiliate Disclosure for how those links work and whether we earn anything from them.

Our social accounts

Runlow publishes on Threads (@the_runlow) and X through each platform's official API. The Threads connection does four things. It publishes our own posts. It reads the view, like and reply counts on our own posts. It reads and manages replies to our own posts. And it searches public Threads posts by keyword, such as "hard water dishwasher," to find people asking questions our articles answer.

Search results are shown to a Runlow editor once, as a list of public posts with a drafted reply under each. Nothing is posted until that editor approves a specific reply, and most are never sent. We don't store search results, build profiles of the people who post them, or combine them with anything else we hold. The list isn't saved after it's read. When we do reply, the reply is a public post on Threads like any other, and the account it answers can see, report or block it there.

Deleting data

We keep no data about you from Threads or X beyond what the platforms themselves hold. If we replied to one of your posts and you'd like the reply removed, email feedback@therunlow.com with your handle and a link to the post. We'll delete our reply and confirm when it's done. Disconnecting Runlow from your own account isn't needed, since Runlow never connects to anyone's account but its own.

Your rights

Because Runlow collects so little tied to any individual visitor in the first place, there is typically nothing to request access to, correct, or delete. If you're a California resident and have a question about what Runlow does or doesn't hold about you under the CCPA, or you have a privacy question of any kind, contact us using the details below and we'll respond.

Children's privacy

Runlow is a general-audience research site about household products and isn't directed at children. We don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes in a way that affects what we collect or how we use it, we'll update the date at the top of this page. Check back here if you want the current version.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or what Runlow does with information about your visit: reach Unique Digital Things LLC (dba Dumbotronix), the publisher of Runlow and of STUD, through the contact information listed on either site.