The short version
This site sets no cookies until you say yes. Analytics are off by default, nothing is loaded from Google unless you accept, and refusing costs you nothing — every page works the same either way. You can change your answer at any time, further down this page.
Your choice, and what it controls
The first time you arrive, a small bar asks whether Google Analytics may run. Until you answer, and if you answer no, this site loads nothing from Google and stores no cookies. Nothing about the site is withheld either way — there is no content behind the question.
Cookies used by this site
If you decline, or have not answered: none. That is the whole list.
If you accept, Google Analytics sets the following in your browser:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
_ga | Tells returning visits apart from new ones, so visitor counts are not simply page counts. | 2 years |
_ga_<id> | Keeps the current session together, so several pages read in one sitting count as one visit. | 2 years |
Both are set by Google LLC. Accepting also means your IP address, browser and the pages you view are sent to Google, which processes them in the United States and elsewhere. Both cookies and that transfer are listed in the privacy policy, where Google Analytics is named as a sub-processor.
Why ask at all
Because these cookies are not needed to make the site work — they are there because it is useful for me to know which pages people actually read. Under UK PECR and the EU ePrivacy Directive, storing anything on your device for a purpose like that requires your consent first. Not implied consent from continuing to scroll. An actual answer.
So the bar has a real refuse button, the same size as the accept button, and nothing is pre-ticked. Declining is the default until you choose otherwise.
Changing your mind
Use the control above at any time. Switching analytics off deletes the _ga cookies from this browser and stops anything further being sent. What was already collected before you switched off stays in Google’s systems — I cannot delete that retrospectively, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. If you want it removed, email me and I will raise a deletion request.
Your answer is remembered in this browser’s local storage under a single key, so you are not asked again on every page. Clearing your browser data resets it, and you will be asked once more.
Fonts and other third-party requests
Typefaces are served from this site’s own domain, not from a font provider’s CDN. Loading fonts from a third party transmits your IP address to that company on every page view, without a lawful basis and usually without the site owner realising — a German court awarded damages over exactly this in 2022. Self-hosting removes the issue.
Apart from Google Analytics, and only once you have accepted it, no page on this site loads code, images, fonts or tracking pixels from another company’s server.
Local storage
Two small flags are written to your browser’s storage, neither of which is a cookie and neither of which needs consent. One remembers that you have already seen the opening animation, so it does not replay on every page. The other remembers your answer to the analytics question. Both contain no personal data, are never transmitted anywhere, and are readable only by this site.
Server logs
Requests to this site generate standard server logs at the hosting provider, containing the IP address, browser user-agent, page requested and time. These are not cookies and are not used for tracking or profiling — they exist to keep the site running and secure. They are covered in the privacy policy.
Questions about any of this: hello@lytheo.com.
Who this is
Lytheo is a trading name of Ajay Kumar Emani, an independent consultant based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Lytheo is not an incorporated company and does not hold itself out as one. Contact for any matter arising from this document: hello@lytheo.com.