404//MEANINGSSYS.ONLINE

:: PRIVACY ::

Privacy, kept small

404meanings is a dictionary, not a data business. We collect as little as possible, we don't sell anything about you, and there are no accounts to sign into. Here's exactly what happens.

// Analytics

We use Cloudflare Web Analytics to understand, in aggregate, which pages people find useful — page views, the site that sent someone here, broad location, device and browser type, and how quickly pages load. It sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser, and Cloudflare states that it does not fingerprint visitors or follow them across sites. We use it to decide what to write next, and never to identify anyone.

We also run our own small reading counter. When you leave a page, it reports how long the page was on your screen, how far you scrolled, whether you arrived from another site, and whether you went on to another page here. It sets no cookies, stores nothing in your browser, and records no IP address or anything else that could identify you or link one visit to the next. The figures are kept in our own Cloudflare account for three months and are only ever looked at as totals, to see which pages people actually read.

The site is hosted on Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare processes standard request data, such as your IP address, in order to deliver the pages to you. You can read Cloudflare's privacy policy for how they handle it.

// Cookies & local storage

  • No analytics or advertising cookies. We don't set any, which is why there is no cookie banner.
  • Settings and progress, kept on your device. Some sections remember small things in your own browser's storage so they work the way you left them — for example a nightly visit counter, a chosen mood or theme, how the browse page is laid out, whether a map shows in 3D or as a still drawing, which rooms you have seen, posters you have made, and in the English section your level, notes and progress. These stay on your device and are not sent to any server. Clearing this site's data in your browser removes them.
  • Your pin board. Quotes and words you save, and any notes or thoughts you write on your board, are kept only in your browser's local storage. There is no account and nothing is sent to us. If you share your board, the link carries only which quotes and old words are on it — never your notes or thoughts.
  • Daily tools and streaks. The daily tools — My words, the Quote Checker, the 30-Day Challenge, the Daily Puzzle, the Daily Dilemma, Mind Gym, Today's Sky and the Daily Chart Puzzle — keep your progress in your browser: words you save, your answers and scores, the challenge days you ticked, your results, and a day streak for each tool, which the My 404 page reads back to you. If you choose to save your chart for Today's Sky, only your Sun, Moon and rising signs are kept — never your birth date — and anything you type into the Quote Checker is matched on your device. Nothing here is sent to us or anyone else, and clearing this site's data in your browser removes it all.
  • The Journal. What you write in the English section's Journal — your pages, moods, habits, cover settings and a day streak — is kept only in your browser's local storage. Nothing is sent to us. “On this day” is worked out in your browser from those same pages, and the day's prompt is picked by the date, the same for everyone, so neither needs anything from you. The lock is a privacy screen, not encryption; Export lets you keep your own copy, and clearing this site's data deletes it.

// Things run by others

  • Newsletter. The English section has an optional sign-up form provided by Beehiiv. If you subscribe, your email address is held by Beehiiv to send the newsletter, and you can unsubscribe from any email.
  • Videos. Some pages link to videos on YouTube. They open on YouTube itself, where Google's privacy terms apply rather than ours.

// Your rights

Depending on where you live — the EU/UK under GDPR, California under CCPA/CPRA, and similar laws elsewhere — you have the right to ask what personal data relates to you, to request its correction or deletion, to object to it being processed, and to opt out of any sale or sharing of it. We don't sell or share your data with anyone. We hold no accounts and no database of visitors. The only personal data connected to the site is the email address of anyone who chooses to subscribe to the newsletter, and any email you choose to send us — for example through a “Report a mistake” link, which opens your own email app. We use those messages only to reply and to correct the page, and delete them once the correction is made and you have had a reply.

To exercise any of the rights above, email us at [email protected] and we'll respond.

// Contact

Questions about your data, a request to have something looked at, or anything else — email us at [email protected].

// A reminder

404meanings is an independent, educational project — it isn't medical, legal or financial advice. See our About & method page for how the content is written and sourced.

Last updated 6 October 2026, when the Journal was added; on 5 October 2026 the daily tools and their on-device streaks were added; on 1 October 2026 “Report a mistake” links were added and we said how long those emails are kept; on 25 September 2026 the reading counter was added; on 23 September 2026 the site moved to Cloudflare and stopped using Google Analytics. This policy may be updated as the site grows; material changes will be noted here.