SportsMaze

Privacy

SportsMaze has no accounts and no sign-up. You can read every page without telling us anything. The site and the app show advertising from Google (see "Advertising" below).

What we count, and only if you agree

When you first visit, a banner asks whether we may count visits with Google Analytics. If you choose "No thanks", nothing is loaded and nothing is counted.

If you choose "Allow", Google Analytics records:

  • which pages are opened, and how long they stay open;
  • how you arrived (a search engine, a link on another site, or typed directly);
  • the kind of device, browser and screen size;
  • the country and city, worked out from your internet address. Google Analytics does not store the address itself.

In the Android app, Google Analytics for Firebase counts the same kind of things: which screens are opened, the kind of phone and the country. In Europe and the UK, Google's consent message asks first (see "Advertising" below), and nothing is counted for analytics unless you agree; you can change the choice under Following, "Ad privacy choices". Elsewhere the app counts without asking, as most apps do; it never collects your followed sports. If the app crashes, Firebase Crashlytics sends a crash report (the phone model, Android version and where in the app it failed) so the fault can be fixed.

We use this to learn which pages help readers and which need work. We do not use it to find out who you are, and we do not sell it or share it with advertisers.

Cookies

If you allow analytics, Google Analytics stores small files called cookies on your device (named _ga and _ga_ followed by a code) so that a return visit is counted as the same reader. The site also remembers two choices on your device: your answer to the banner and day or night mode. Neither is sent to us.

Who handles the data

Google Analytics is run by Google through its Firebase service, under Google's privacy policy. Google keeps the analytics data for the period set in our Analytics settings, after which it is deleted.

Changing your mind

Use Cookie choices at the foot of any page. If you change to "No thanks", counting stops and the analytics cookies are removed from your device. Clearing your browser's data for this site does the same.

Advertising

The website shows ads through Google AdSense and the Android app through Google AdMob. Google chooses the ads and may use cookies, or on a phone the device's advertising ID, to show ads and to measure them, under Google's privacy policy and its page on how Google uses information from sites and apps. Where the law requires a choice, such as in Europe and the UK, Google's own consent message asks first. In the app you can change that choice at any time under Following, "Ad privacy choices". You can also reset or delete the advertising ID in your phone's settings.

We do not give Google your followed sports or anything else stored by the app; those stay on your device.