Privacy Policy

The site at realitycheck.institute is run by the Reality Check Institute (Reality Check Consulting LLC), founded by Carlo Mahfouz. When this policy says “we”, it means the institute.

Reading the site. Our hosting provider records the usual server logs: your IP address, browser, the pages requested and when. Our analytics record which pages are visited and how the site performs. None of it is used to identify you by name.

Subscribing to The Presence Pulse. We store the email address you give us, the name if you add one, the answers you choose on the welcome page, and which page you subscribed from. We use these to send the newsletter and occasional notes about events and workshops, and to tailor what we send. Every email carries an unsubscribe link.

Ordering a signed book. Payment is handled entirely by Stripe; we never see your card number. We receive your name, email address and shipping address so the book can be dedicated and posted, and we keep the order record for accounting.

Booking a conversation. The booking link opens Cal.com, which asks for your name, email and the time you want. That information reaches us as a calendar invitation.

Writing to us. If you email us, we keep the correspondence for as long as it is useful to answer you.

The site sets no cookies of its own. It stores one value in your browser: your choice of light or dark theme, so the site remembers it next time. Nothing in it identifies you.

Google Tag Manager and the analytics it loads set their own cookies to tell returning visits apart. Stripe sets cookies on its checkout page for fraud prevention. Embedded YouTube videos in the book timeline may set cookies once you press play. You can clear or block any of these in your browser; the site keeps working without them.

We do not sell or rent your information. The following services process it on our behalf, each under its own privacy policy:

• Vercel, which hosts the site and measures its performance.
• Loops, which stores the newsletter list and sends The Presence Pulse.
• Kit (formerly ConvertKit), which held the list before Loops and still receives signups from a few older pages while they are migrated.
• Stripe, which takes payment for the signed edition.
• Google, through Tag Manager and Google Analytics, for visit statistics.
• Cal.com, for scheduling calls.
• YouTube, for the videos embedded in the book timeline.

Some of these companies operate in the United States. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, your information may therefore leave your region; the providers above rely on standard contractual clauses or an equivalent mechanism for that transfer.

We will also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of the institute or others.

• Newsletter details: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them. Unsubscribed addresses stay on a suppression list so we do not email you again by mistake.
• Order records: for as long as tax and accounting rules require, typically seven years.
• Server logs and analytics: for the retention period of the provider, which is measured in months, not years.
• Correspondence: for as long as it is useful to answer you, then deleted.

Wherever you live, you can ask us what we hold about you, have it corrected, have it deleted, or object to how we use it. Unsubscribing from the newsletter takes one click at the foot of any issue. For anything else, email support@realitycheck.institute and we will answer within thirty days. If you are in the EEA or the UK and are not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to your data protection authority.

The site is written for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under sixteen. If you believe a child has subscribed, tell us and we will remove the address.

The site links to ventures and platforms the institute is part of, and to outlets that have featured our work. Each has its own privacy policy, and this one stops at our door.

When this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. If a change affects the newsletter, we will say so in an issue.

Reality Check Institute
support@realitycheck.institute