Privacy Policy
This site is the personal and consulting website of Dr.-Ing. Faisal Qayyum. This page explains what data is collected when you visit, why, and what you can do about it. It is written to be read rather than to be legally impressive.
The short version
I do not sell, rent, or share your data with advertisers. There is no advertising on this site. I collect anonymous statistics about which pages get read, and only with your agreement do I collect anything that identifies your browser across visits. If you email me, I keep the email.
Who is responsible
The person responsible for this website and for any personal data it processes is Dr.-Ing. Faisal Qayyum. You can reach me through the contact section on the home page, which opens an email to me directly. There is no contact form on this site, so nothing you write is stored in a database here.
Hosting
This site is a set of static files hosted on GitHub Pages, a service of GitHub, Inc. GitHub records server logs when pages are served, which can include your IP address, the page requested, and your browser's user-agent string. This happens at the hosting layer, before any of my code runs, and I do not have access to those logs. GitHub's handling of that data is covered by the GitHub Privacy Statement.
Analytics and cookies
Two analytics services are used on this site, and they are treated differently.
| Service | Purpose | When it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics 4 | Counts page views and referral sources so I know which articles are read and which are ignored. | Loads on every visit, but in a restricted mode. Until you accept, it stores nothing on your device and sends only aggregate, cookieless signals. If you accept, it sets analytics cookies and can recognise a returning browser. |
| Microsoft Clarity | Records anonymised session behaviour, such as scroll depth and where clicks land, so I can find broken or confusing pages. | Does not load at all unless you accept. Declining means it never runs. |
The consent banner shown on your first visit controls both. Your choice is stored in your browser's local storage under the key fq_consent, so you are not asked again on every page. That value never leaves your device.
Changing your mind. Clearing your browser's site data for faisalqayyum.com removes the stored choice, and the banner will appear again on your next visit. Clearing cookies for this site also removes any analytics cookies previously set.
No advertising cookies, remarketing tags, or cross-site tracking pixels are used. Google's advertising storage and personalisation signals are explicitly set to denied on every page load, whether or not you accept analytics.
Third-party services you may interact with
Some links and buttons take you to services run by other companies. Once you are there, their privacy terms apply, not mine.
- Booking a call opens a scheduling page hosted by Cal.com. Anything you enter there, including your name, email, and any notes, is processed by that service and sent to me.
- Email links and the subscribe buttons open your own email client with a message pre-filled. Nothing is transmitted until you press send.
- Google Fonts are loaded from Google's servers, which means your browser requests those font files and Google receives the request, including your IP address.
- Outbound links to LinkedIn, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, journals, and sources cited in articles are ordinary links. Following one hands you over to that site.
Email I receive
If you email me, whether about consulting, mentoring, a guest post, or an article, I keep that email in order to reply and to keep track of the conversation. I do not add your address to a mailing list without you asking. If you ask to subscribe to new posts, I keep your address for exactly that purpose and remove it whenever you tell me to.
Your rights
If you are in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with comparable data protection law, you have the right to ask what personal data I hold about you, to have it corrected, to have it deleted, to object to processing, and to withdraw consent at any time. You also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority.
In practice, for most visitors, I hold nothing that identifies you at all. If you have emailed me, I hold that email. Ask and I will delete it.
Children
This site is aimed at working professionals, researchers, and university students. It is not directed at children, and I do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16.
Changes to this policy
If the services used on this site change, this page changes with them, and the date at the top is updated. There is no separate notification, so the date is the thing to check.
Questions
If something here is unclear, or you want to know exactly what I hold about you, write to me through the contact section and ask plainly. You will get a straight answer.