Legal

Privacy policy

Last updated: 11 August 2026

Who runs CitationDesk

CitationDesk is published by Caslon Media, a media company registered in the Netherlands (KvK 64708101), run by Paulo de Vries. Contact: [email protected]. For data-protection inquiries use the same address with the subject line "Privacy".

What we collect

• If you only visit the site: we collect aggregated visit data via Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics 4 — page URL, referrer, device class, country. Clarity also records on-page interactions (heatmaps and session replay). Both set first-party analytics cookies; see the Cookies section below for exactly when. We do not fingerprint you and we run no cross-site advertising trackers.
• If you submit a URL to one of the free tools: the URL is passed through our Cloudflare edge function purely to fetch that page's public HTML (browsers block cross-origin requests, so the fetch has to happen server-side). We do not store the URL, the score, or the result — there is no database behind these tools. Your last score per URL is saved in your own browser's localStorage so the before/after comparison works on a re-run; it never leaves your device and clearing site data removes it.
• If you use our browser extension (Chrome, Edge, or Firefox): when you click it on a page, the extension sends only the URL of that page to the same edge function described above, to fetch the page and show the score. It collects nothing else — no browsing history, no page contents, no personal data — it only acts when you click it, and nothing about the request is stored.
• There are no accounts. CitationDesk is free and has no signup, no login, and no subscriptions — so we hold no account data, no passwords, and no payment details.

What we do NOT collect

• We do not use third-party tracking pixels (no Facebook Pixel, no Google Ads remarketing, no LinkedIn Insight Tag).
• We do not sell or rent your data. Ever.
• We do not process payments and never see payment details — there is nothing to buy on CitationDesk.
• We do not store any data from third parties about you (no data brokers, no enrichment services).

How we use what we collect

• To run the free audit + generator tools when you ask for a score.
• To reply when you email us.
• To see, in aggregate, which pages and guides people actually use — so we know what to improve next.

Sub-processors

CitationDesk uses the following infrastructure providers, each of which is GDPR-compliant. By using CitationDesk you consent to your data being processed by these services on our behalf:

• Cloudflare (hosting, CDN + DNS) — global edge network.
• Microsoft Clarity (usage analytics, heatmaps, session replay) and Google Analytics 4 — US-based.

Your rights (GDPR + CCPA)

You have the right to access, correct, delete, or export your data. Email [email protected] with subject line "Privacy" — we respond within 30 days. If you're in the EU, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority (in NL: Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens). If you're in California, you may opt out of any sale of personal information — there is nothing to opt out of because we don't sell data.

Cookies

There is no login on citationdesk.com, so there is no session or account cookie. The two analytics tools above (Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics 4) do set their own first-party analytics cookies, used only to tell repeat visits apart. We set no advertising cookies and no third-party tracking pixels.

If you are in the EEA, the UK, Switzerland, or California: we run Google Consent Mode v2 with analytics and advertising storage denied by default for your region, so Google Analytics does not write analytics cookies for you unless and until you opt in. We currently show no consent banner, which means there is no opt-in to give — Google Analytics stays in its cookieless, denied state for those regions.

You can block or delete these cookies at any time in your browser settings; the site and every free tool work exactly the same without them.

Data retention

• Free tool submissions: not retained at all — we operate no database for them, so there is nothing to delete.
• Analytics: aggregated visit data is retained by Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics 4 under their own retention windows.
• Emails you send us: kept as long as needed to handle your request, then deleted on request.

Changes to this policy

We will note any material change at the top of this page. Continued use after a change constitutes acceptance.